Maczero Merchandising

[reddsun1]

Going back and rewatching MZero. I can honestly say I really like this OVA. All the attention to the mechanical details and capabilities of the VF's that one might have liked to have seen in the original series. Not to mention, the amazing fight scenes. Only one thing I think they "dropped the ball" on though: the support mecha/vehicles that we see in the series. Considering the series' place in the Macross timeline--only 1 year before arrival of Zentraedi/Space War I--a lot more of the support mecha alluded to in the original series should have already been in service by then? Sure, I know--anything Macross is going to be all about cool-ass transforming VF's, right? But still; would have been a good opportunity to see other mecha, given the vast improvements in animation quality and detail:

Anti-UN fighters like the MiM 31

F-203 Dragon II [ok, maybe not that one? it was land based?]

Avenger II attack jet

Tiger's Eye AWACS

Sea Sergeant copter

Commanchero

To have seen some of these in MZero would have made for a nice sense of further connection with the "future" events of Macross. Plus it could've allowed for some enterprising company to market collectibles of some of these in 1/60 or even 1/48; that would have been kick-ass

[azrael]

One possible explaination which I remember talking about is the scope of M0 was much smaller. The MiM 31 and the F-203 Dragon II may not have been used in the Pacific, hence the reason they never showed up. The same goes for the other vehicles. The Commanchero appears to be geared toward anti-infantry and anti-armor, which would have seen little action in the Pacific Ocean. But as I said, the scope of M0 was very small. Considering what was covered in the OAV, I don't really see a need to have those vehicles in the story except for the "Hey look, something from SDFM"-factor.

[Rocket Punch]

I love Eggs Commanchero and a bottle of Corona for breakfast.

The F-24 looks pretty slick. I agree, I'd love for that to be a model or something.

[reddsun1]

Okay, I'll concede there may not have been a place for all of these support mecha, but there definitely would have been a way to work in a cameo for the Sea Sergeant [maybe even the Avenger II? It's definitely a carrier-based craft]; say, hunting for that elusive Anti-UN sub.

Hey, if introducing a mecha into a series solely for the sake of expanding the merchandise/model line can work for Bandai/Gundam so well [i.e. Gudam 0083, etc, etc], why not for MZero?

Edited April 23, 2006 by reddsun1

[Zinjo]

I didn't miss them at all!

Back in '83 they were cool, but since 1999 has come and gone, I preferred that SK not include those vehicles in Macross Zero.

He chose to stick with what was "current" for the time period and the F-14 is still in use.

I'd rather have the VF-0 and the SV-51's duking it out, than conventional aircraft, such as the Dragon II.

The AUN Alliance (which can not continue to be described as a "terrorist group") is a viable threat and Mac Zero is taking place during the Unification War, so it is very reasonable that military advancements would be accelerated at this time and the roll out of the VF-0 series of fighters to counter the threat of the SV-51 series would be most likely. At least until the VF-1 series goes into full production.

I agree that the Comanchero wouldn't be seen in the Pacific theater and the Sea Sargent could simply still be in development at the time. The Seahawk helicopters would still be in wide use at the time, so I don't see any issues there.

So the lack of a nod to SDF Macross in terms of aircraft didn't bother me in the least.

[Viceland]

I love Eggs Commanchero and a bottle of Corona for breakfast.

The F-24 looks pretty slick.  I agree, I'd love for that to be a model or something.

393361[/snapback]

There is/was, Tanmen made a resin kit of the Dragon II, no longer available though.