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They're almost acceptable IMO, for the price we paid (except for assembly). They're not acceptable IMO, at the anticipated retail prices. Especially with stuff like the Spartan looking like it can't close it's missile doors.

And to me, they don't look much different than the TCI Battletech Plastic Model Kits that were released. Which wouldn't be a big problem, except that was 28 years ago. And I kind of expect improvements to be made in that time. Significant ones.

But like Albertorius said, at least they exist. With this project, I don't think extra time is going to result in better quality.

Morgan Vening wrote:
Especially with stuff like the Spartan looking like it can't close it's missile doors.

It's two different bodies. So yeah.

I'm glad all I'm getting out of this is the resin SDF-1. I had more but my brother bought me out.

 Cypher-xv wrote:

 warboss wrote:
The sale is actually one of the sources of worries because one of their best customers (a guy who buys MULTIPLE copies of books) bought a bunch, paid their exorbitant shipping, and got products damaged in the mail to which palladium washed their hands of. I hope they don't take that attitude with potential missing and/or damaged Robotech items as well.

If that wasn't bad enough the artist who did the cover art for NG 1/2 dissed him on the forums. A year or two earlier Kevin himself dissed the same customer in one of his murmurs. Then in another murmur he disses another loyal customer for simply creating a FB page to show it won't take months to make a FB page. So from Kevin on down they go off on those who don't buy the BS. Heck one guy just got dissed for making one harmless critic. One of the freelancers went off on the poster and that poster just got banned for his critic. It's nuts. It really is like a cult.

Absolutely, it's almost literally insane that folks continue to support people who act like that once the curtain gets pulled aside.

I mean, really - who actually acts like that, as if they're some sort of all knowing and nigh perfect demi-god, wallowing in that kind of adoration without any shred of humility that it might not be a good thing?
Yet people like Kevin Siembieda or Robert Dubois, et al, sure manage to gather plenty of folks to follow them without question and feed into their delusions of grandeur, despite endless occasions where they prove themselves to be otherwise.

Sooo.... It looks like PB really have no understanding that words have meaning, context and implication.

Two weeks ago.
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Robotech® RPG Tactics™ Wave One has gone into manufacturing.

Today.
What it (going into manufacturing) literally meant at the time was that we had placed the order and paid a deposit, which had put things in motion and got the factory started actually making things.

Seriously, I have no words.

well at least their long-time fans are satisfied -_-

Sining wrote:
well at least their long-time fans are satisfied -_-

Maybe they're just so downtrodden, any spark of light illuminates their sky? I compare these miniatures to GW, Wyrd, Privateer and other contemporaries in the industry, and maybe I'm just too jaded, cause I just do not see the cause of jubilation, and the acceptance of the statements PB make. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me 49 times?

Morgan Vening wrote:
Sooo.... It looks like PB really have no understanding that words have meaning, context and implication.

Two weeks ago.
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Robotech® RPG Tactics™ Wave One has gone into manufacturing.

Today.
What it (going into manufacturing) literally meant at the time was that we had placed the order and paid a deposit, which had put things in motion and got the factory started actually making CERTAIN things.

Seriously, I have no words.

I corrected that for you. And, yes, this proves yet again that a glass half empty look for them to exaggerate/leave weasel out room in every statement type of approach is the best approach when dealing with Palladium. Despite that, it is still progress. We should have some form of gashapon by the end of the year baring major screw ups mostly outside of Palladium's/Ninja Division's control now that it has entered a new phase as opposed to the past solid year of screw ups completely in their court.

Out of all the designs ND an PB should have spent more $ on they disappointed me with the vf-1. Who knows maybe when it gets to my hands it might not be so bad. Still those pictures aren't doing ND any favors. I thought they said they were still tweaking the vf-1. Buncha liars.

Those forearms look like they fit together well

Do we know if the factory quickly assembled those like with the spartans or if ND did? I think it is personally a core mistake to make the forearms two pieces but the assembly pics may be beyond their control.

I would say running a blade across some of the sprue cuts would go a long way to improving how the valc. looks.

Really hard to tell if it is a bad fitting model or just a bad fitter.

I must admit they really needed to figure out more... discreet locations for where the sprue connects to the part and they are very large.

I can only see picking out the various grooves with washes would be the way to go but only after a horde of filing and gap filling green stuff. Three models per valc. right? Ouch.

Wish on the Gladiator they recessed the missile bay a mm or two. Looks strange flush to the surface, even some rings / grooves around the missiles would do more. Actually looks better with the bays closed. I think painting a dark grey inside with a black shade/wash with white missiles and red tips would be the way to go to "fix it".

"Amazing", "drool inducing" they are not, serviceable and providing a challenge to remove join lines they are (<edit> speak like Yoda I do).

Oddly, what I see here I do not mind, get it over with, I can take it the rest of the way to how I want it. I DO feel sorry for someone new to modeling having to do the extra work.

What I am NOT looking forward to is the question of replacement of non-conforming parts: short shots (cold mold), sag (hot mold) and deforms (hot coming out of mold), sprues missing (missed part on pack), missing part (rough packing) and the dreaded "missing shipments".

Wow, negative today. We are at least looking at models now not renders (Yipeeeee!!!!). It is too bad they barely stack up to all the other models of Robotech that came before them... I know they are new to this biz and all but please, really?

My wish to Kevin Claus is to get these to us before the snow flies to fill the time indoors. Nothing will be forgiven because wave 2 may hit my retirement or some other far flung date.

 warboss wrote:
Do we know if the factory quickly assembled those like with the spartans or if ND did? I think it is personally a core mistake to make the forearms two pieces but the assembly pics may be beyond their control.

The update says they were all assembled by Ninja John, so not a harried Chinese factory worker

On the VF-1 sprue attachment points... the ones on the arms, are they recessed/is there a divot there? Or is my colorblindness messing with me?

One thing I dont think that has been discussed is international shipping.

Will they split shipment or will they wait for the complete set to be ready before shipping (ala Myth)

 MangoMadness wrote:
One thing I dont think that has been discussed is international shipping.

Will they split shipment or will they wait for the complete set to be ready before shipping (ala Myth)

Actually, it's really the one thing they were very specific, and up front on*. Wave one will ship to the backers, then they'll do wave one to retail. Then they'll do wave two to backers, and then split wave two over time in a rollout to retailers. It's going to be hella expensive. I estimate that (if I don't get a pledge transfer) it'll cost them fully between a third and a half of my pledged amount. Not the shipping amount, the entire amount of my pledge, to ship the material to me.

* Of course, given what we've seen, keeping promises (or stating facts) aren't particularly high on their agenda. Just be comforted in the knowledge that IF Australians (and other internationals) get unilaterally screwed on this, it'll be spun as the BEST THING EVER, for Palladium, for you, and for the future of this great game. Disclaimer, only two of those groups will benefit, guess which ones.

 MangoMadness wrote:
Those forearms look like they fit together well

I'd be more preoccupied with this:


...what the hell is that?

Also, way to recreate the details of the (sparsely detailed) original lineart, eh? (look at the arms, they're absolutely flat in the mini. Compare with the lineart; was that the "fidelity" they wanted to recreate splitting everything in half?)

I wonder if nd will be involved for the other 2 eras and if this project alone will drag their name down?

 Albertorius wrote:
Also, way to recreate the details of the (sparsely detailed) original lineart, eh? (look at the arms, they're absolutely flat in the mini. Compare with the lineart; was that the "fidelity" they wanted to recreate splitting everything in half?)

That was my issue with Spartangate (beyond the parts count one). I personally didn't have an issue with the seams, because I would have been okay with them being armor seam lines, as I'm not tied to the aesthetics of the universe. But the whole POINT of cutting it into two dozen pieces was to make it "accurate to the original art". So, they cut it up into two dozen pieces, to make sure it's 100% accurate on the details, and then the seams just completely bollocks the whole look. Add in how splitting arms and legs along the vertical plane (especially hollow sections) makes it difficult to modify articulation, and it makes no sense, and is the worst of all worlds. Purists of the anima (not necessarily the same as PB Stockholmers) are going to hate it. People who aren't modellers are going to hate it for parts count. And the lack of posability and difficulty of customization means that only the truly proficient are going to bother.

I'm glad some people seem to love it. I just hope there are enough of them to keep this game level. Else it's going to drop so hard you'll be able to see the impact crater from orbit.

I would have been happier with 1990's battletech quality minis that are 5-6 pieces, I don't really care about massive poseability. Something clean and easy would have been better for me and new players to the market. For the price of these retail they could almost have done Gashapon equivalents of each unit.

http://www.hlj.com/product/YMT00077/Gsh

The way I look at it... getting in on the kickstarter saved me the effort of trying to hunt down the minis as Paulson did individually on ebay. About 5-10 years ago, I tried doing that and had such a hard time that I instead bought a bunch of the old matchbox sized toys to do a mega scale game instead because that was cheaper individually than buying the old 1/100 or 1/200. Now I haven't been in that market for years and wouldn't have spent the time and effort to do so (and probably spent more time complaining about this project over the past year than I would have searching successfully for each mini) but at least I know that I'll be getting some gashapon quality stuff together without further effort barring mispacks/miscasts. I won't ever have to buy wargaming robotech minis likely ever again barring a zentraedi infantry pack (which I didn't get in my battlecry pledge).

They did lots of parts to do detail.
We lost detail on the missile bays (Spartan). Other lined details seem very soft. We have seams where there shouldn't be.
We have huge (relatively) offsets on the elbow guards of the VF-1 (hopefully an assembly issue).

Where's the benefit to lots of parts?

it's cheaper and easier to tool?

rigeld2 wrote:
They did lots of parts to do detail.
We lost detail on the missile bays (Spartan). Other lined details seem very soft. We have seams where there shouldn't be.
We have huge (relatively) offsets on the elbow guards of the VF-1 (hopefully an assembly issue).

Where's the benefit to lots of parts?

Does each seam count as a "detail"?

The seams are added "features" to the product.

Let me provide some marketing spin:

"They help lend character and uniqueness to the model.

Truly a collectors item, an "Inverted Jenny" of the stamp world if you will.

Displaying the care-free outlook of the company and it's customers for all to see!

For those who like to spend more time with their models (and who wouldn't!) and prefer more subtle traits; they can fill the features and file to match the fine finish.

The changes in surface texture can best be appreciated by the more senior hobbyists we cater to since their vision is not like it used to be when Robotech aired (1985).

Remember that the company is ensuring that only the largest sprue contact points on the model will do to ensure the highest quality of flow to the model; no short shots here!

Remember to also order our super-heavy-duty Robotech sprue cutter (Toe nail side cutter) to ensure you leave at least 1/16" of sprue on the part for easy cleanup.

For a limited time, order the Robotech "defense field" netting to catch those pesky parts as they fly into orbit when liberated from their hefty sprue! What fun! "

Is it wrong to be able to do this practically forever?
There is so much good source material that it borders on factual.

Or...

This is a feature we added to let you know at a glance who was a true devoted fan and who is more recreational. Obviously the real fans will take the time to sort out minor detailing issues, leaving the pretenders readily apparent.

But yes, you can go on for days, maybe weeks. But could you go long enough to make it to delivery? THAT would be quite the challenge, good sir.

In any case, the common denominator is that, no matter how crappy or douchebag the move, they only do it "for the fans". Of course, the only "fans" they ask are the half dozen fan-friends who rubber stamp everything they do as [Tony the Tiger] Grrrrreat! [/Tony the Tiger]. If they can sell full boxes at gencon, they absolutely will... you know... for the ebay resellers I mean Fans! (who haven't yet signed over their money which in Palladium's eyes makes you instantly irrelevant)

I maintain that by signing over our money that in Palladium's eyes we are irrelevant.

The only fans they will cater to are the ones that for some silly reason have not handed over their money yet.

Hell, if they sell at Gencon, and depending on how long it takes them to ship the boxes out (and where people are in the line/world), it's entirely possible some resellers will buy, list, sell, ship and deliver on boxes to random people who neither backed nor attended before the backers get theirs.

Mull that over for a second. Sure, they'd probably pay a bit of a markup or even a premium, but considering the shenanigans and time it has taken to get to this point, I'm sure there are some interested parties that wouldn't want to wait for retail (whenever that'll be... December at this rate, if they're lucky).

What's funny is that, while they do already have our money, there's also the possibility for some of us completionist types to be a 'sure thing' for future sales. Hell, I wouldn't mind snagging a YF-4 squadron, as I'd already spent beyond what I probably should've during the campaign as it was. That's a retail purchase there, and add in some infantry or something and an individual backer could be good for hundreds of dollars apiece at local shops or online retailers.

Just because they have our money doesn't preclude us from contributing more (well, if things hadn't been such a gak-show, that is), and it's just another example of the unfortunately short sighted approach they have to, well, everything.

 Forar wrote:
Hell, if they sell at Gencon, and depending on how long it takes them to ship the boxes out (and where people are in the line/world), it's entirely possible some resellers will buy, list, sell, ship and deliver on boxes to random people who neither backed nor attended before the backers get theirs.

I guarantee this'll happen.

rigeld2 wrote:

 Forar wrote:
Hell, if they sell at Gencon, and depending on how long it takes them to ship the boxes out (and where people are in the line/world), it's entirely possible some resellers will buy, list, sell, ship and deliver on boxes to random people who neither backed nor attended before the backers get theirs.

I guarantee this'll happen.

Seconded.
They might as well give this a good last push since this is the only bright spot for a failing company.
Every short term money grab they can manage.
They draw it out another year, they will hear from a lawyer.