ROBOBLOG III Archives

6.28.2007

The Anime Expo 2007 Pre-Game Show

As you may recall, last year at Anime Expo (henceforth AX), I was hanging with pal Evan, former Emissaries editor/publisher and one of the handful of dear friends I've made through shared ROBOTECH fandom. Tentatively, from the time we were ready to part ways last July, we'd planned to do it all again this year.

Then on top of that, I found myself in the strange and mysterious territory of being in a relationship in the waning months of last year, and my girlfriend and I also made plans for this year's AX. So there were two definite points of contact for AX '07, two people I thought I could rely on for, I don't know, roommates, or just people to touch base with, to share the joy with.

This being my life, that just couldn't be allowed to last. As 2007 marched on, Evan found himself in a bit of a financial pickle -- car repairs drained his AX fund, if I remember right. And y'know, these things happen. I understand.

Then my relationship dissolved before my eyes, and that's fine, because I don't think that really could have lasted anyway. Probably for the best.

So now I'm sitting at Kansas City International, waiting for a rescheduled flight (arrived at the airport a hair late due to weather, so I missed my ORIGINAL flight), alone. And when I make it out to Long Beach, I will remain alone. No roommate this year. No close friends I know of heading on out.

I'm reminded of my trip out in 2005 -- and not just because it decided to be overcast and rainy today. On the first day of the convention, I was sitting at a table by the coffee stand at the Anaheim Convention Center, waiting for the dealers' room to open, feeling sorry for myself since all the people I knew were guys who were working in that very room. So I start listening in on a conversation nearby where some woman is bitching about how the convention is run, about how such-and-such-a-thing should be open by now, and this line was too long, and that thing was all screwed up. And as I kept on listening, I smiled, because at THAT moment I realized I was FAR from the most miserable person at the convention.

I keep worrying that I'm gonna need just that kind of pick-me-up when I get there. I keep worrying that I'm gonna need to revel in someone else's misery to free myself from my own. That kinda sucks, doesn't it?




I keep wondering what Team HG means by exclusive merchandise. Are they just slapping a special convention-only price on shirts, or will there be something, like, cool and desirable?

Also, I wonder if they'll really tell us "what the future holds for ROBOTECH," or if they'll just hint at what the future holds and tell us to wait for San Diego to find out what's really going on.




Depending on what kind of internet connection I can get at the convention, there may be a shiny new Roboblog Chronicles video up this weekend. We'll see what the hotel's got going on. Certainly I'll start working on putting something together for you all, so even if I can't upload it from Califor-ni-a, there will be a convention special within the week.

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6.23.2007

It's not just Robotech that gets the delays.

Roger Harkavy writes in to let us know that according to Yaco, Aoshima's upcoming 1/48 Legioss fighters -- you know, the ones that are retooled Toynami Masterpiece Alpha Fighters -- have been delayed a couple of months. Originally intended for release in July, they're now slated for the magical month of September.

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Found on the eBay: SDF-1 Playset


Somebody's selling the Matchbox SDF-1 playset on the ol' eBay. They want $500 for it. I don't remember paying that much for mine, but it's been a long time ... maybe I did. I forget. Still seems a bit high, but y'know, it's all "HTF! OMG! WOW!" (Also, $15 shipping seems low. That thing is BIG.)

Anyway, just wanted to point it out in case anyone was in the market.

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6.21.2007

Anonymous Art of Shadow Chronicles book review


A fellow fan who asked not to be named got to thumb through The Art of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles and e-mailed me with the following:

I spent a few minutes flipping through the book and it's very nice. Most, if not all of the pages are glossy full color. It starts with off a few pages covering the original Robotech TV series and Sentinels, and a little surprise in the form of a two-page Robotech 3000 recap, complete with group shots of the characters and a couple of mecha and ship designs. The rest of the book is devoted to Shadow Chronicles. Along with the finalized artwork for the mecha designs (some of which are hand-drawn, and others which are CGI models), there are also sidebars that cover some of the related video game and comic book designs like the Invid Overlord and the Breetai's Bioroid (I forget the exact name of this design). Overall, the layout is excellent, a huge contrast to the sparse style of Robotech Art 1-3, and I think fans are going to spend a lot of time digesting the content.


Two pages on Robotech 3000? Huh. Wasn't expecting that.

Like the rest of you, I can't wait to see this with my own eyes. Maybe not in an "impatiently glaring at the calendar and cursing certain people's names because Amazon hasn't received their shipments and still thinks its coming out in August" kind of way, like some of you ... but I'd really, really like to have that book on my ROBOTECH reference shelf sooner rather than later.

Oh, and did you notice that Robotech.com has changed the release date on their main page from "June 15" to "any day now"?

Hrmm ... yeah.

*sigh*

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6.18.2007

Space Station Liberty - Chris lines up a new interview!


Chris Meadows's Space Station Liberty call-in show will have its first big ROBOTECH series guest in some time this coming Saturday, June 23 -- Greg Finley, series writer and voice actor (Captain Gloval, Supreme Commander Leonard). Show starts at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

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Gah! Long Beach/AX Michael Bradley concert cancelled.

I am totally making the sad face now.

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6.17.2007

The Palladium auctions ...


Looks like the big ROBOTECH items from the aforementioned Palladium Books auctions are finally up. Oh man, they're a few days late! Kevin Siembieda is such a liar!

Heh. Anyway, let's see what's up ...

OMFG, here's the Southern Cross cover painting! It's starting at $500, and that's below reserve! And really, that is a nice frame ...

On the more affordable front, here's some Kevin Siembieda artwork of the Invid, a classic Kevin Long shot of Valkyries on the march, a VF-1S head shot, and some photostats of key, iconic Veritech images. Oh, and a signed proofreader copy of "Lancer's Rockers." Yes, Lancer's Rockers of all things.

If you'd like to browse everything Palladium's got on the chopping block click here. God, I wish I could afford to spend some money on this stuff right now. *sigh*

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6.16.2007

Found on the eBay ...


Wow, the colors on this German edition of the Comico adaptation of "Bye Bye Mars" are ... well, special. (See it here.)

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6.14.2007

Don't Worry, Be Happy.



I don't think I'm the only person who noticed the above at Amazon.com -- for instance, Rosic mentioned it on the comments thread on the previous post. Clearly it appears that a variety of on-line retailers have become convinced that Stonebridge Press's The Art of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles has been delayed until the end of August. Yikes!

However, at the official thread on the Robotech.com forums, Kevin McKeever insists everything is on track for the advertised release date of ... oh, look, tomorrow! His last post on the topic reads:

Today I talked with Peter Goodman, the CEO of Stonebridge Press, about these notice of delays you are recieiving from certian retailers. He has informed me that everything is on schedule, the books are leaving the printer and the retailers should start receiving them any day now.


As with so many things, we'll see for sure what's up when the book is actually in peoples' hands ... but clearly as far as Banky McKevinpants knows, the book is en route to the shops and the on-line retailers are clearly confused. Maybe they just got the tentative release date for the RPG book from Palladium and all assumed they were the same book? Who knows ...

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6.13.2007

Palladium Stuff


I'm on the verge of flipping a coin when it comes to deciding whether or not to record a Roboblog Chronicles tonight. I kind of want to, but I'd also kind of like to get up early in the morning. Maybe I can do it in the early afternoon instead ...

Anyway, Treiz passes along some new Palladium news.

Palladium Collectibles & Art Auction #1

Recent outlays of cash to pay for the new Robotech® RPG license and numerous upcoming Palladium Titles have drained Palladium’s cash reserves to painfully low levels.

This auction will raise money to help make sure Palladium doesn’t stall in its recovery. Case in point, we don’t have the $10,000 to print 30,000 copies of our new Summer Catalog, nor the money to reprint a dozen books. This will help us do so.

Half the auction will be signed books published by Palladium as well as prints, posters and related products, and the other half will be artwork and animation cels. Some items are inexpensive, others are worth several thousand dollars. All are fun to look at.

Please spread the word, especially to people you know who might be interested in some of these unique collectibles, books, posters, prints, Palladium artwork, paintings, comic book art, and other types of art. And make sure you take a peek to see if there are some items you might want to scoop up for yourself. Keep an eye on Kevin's Ebay Store for more details.


First and foremost ... so they're paying for the license, that means it's really, truly GO, right?

Right now there's a bunch of random stuff in Kevin's eBay store, but at the bottom of the press release it says that these auctions begin June 14. And for we ROBOTECH fans, the bits right at the bottom are the most noteworthy:

ARTWORK
– Most from Kevin Siembieda’s personal collection.

Kevin Siembieda artwork (various), pencil and ink. Kevin Long artwork, inked. Kevin Long Robotech Painting to Southern Cross ($2200-$3500 est. value). Kevin Long black and white Robotech art. Vince Martin art from Kevin’s personal collection. Robotech®: The Sentinels® animation cels. Rare. Robotech® Macross SDF-1 cel painting. Robotech® New Generation cel. Akira animation cell (Est. Value $2500-$3500). Comic book art (various). Beetle Bailey, 1957 – newspaper comic art (Est. Value $1000-$1500). Hagar the Horrible, 1980's – newspaper comic art. “Colored” Prince Valiant Sunday Page – penciled, inked and watercolor painted by the artist, John Cullen Murphy – super rare! We have NEVER even heard of a Prince Valiant page hand-painted by the artist himself! Rare and unique ($4,500-8,000 estimated value). Robotech Animation cels ($120-$300 est. value). And more . . .


That's right, actual honest-to-god ROBOTECH RPG art, including what appears to be the cover painting to the Southern Cross book. Ye gods, if I wasn't going to California in a few weeks, I'd be all over that. I'm also always quite the sucker for cels. If there are any good Southern Cross cels, I might have to part with some of my trip savings and miss a few meals out there in Cali ...

See this complete release at the Palladium Books website here.

Kevin Siembieda also sent out another press release which contains some more ROBOTECH-related remarks. This one's kind of irksome. He's talking about problems and frustrations he's having with shops ordering books, and then comes to ROBOTECH ...

Robotech®. Here’s the big one you are not going to believe. Hobby distributors seem to have decided Robotech® is old, forgotten and unwanted. As a result, pre-orders are HALF of what they would order for a typical Palladium product. More madness and fear.

Robotech® is the RPG line we get requested more than any other! I’ve had hundreds of gamers tell me, personally, they can hardly wait for the release of new books. Plus, there is renewed interest in it from long time fans who miss it and new fans who have recently discovered it on DVD! The distribs should be ordering double their usual numbers, not half!

We are confident fans want Robotech® and believe we will sell truck loads of the new RPG and sourcebooks. But . . . arrrrrgh, it makes you want to tear your hair out sometimes.


*sigh*

That's life in the ROBOTECH trenches for ya.

See that complete press release here.

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6.07.2007

The Roboblog Chronicles: Episode 9

Yes, it's time for another installment of, "Hey Harmony Gold, here's an idea! MAKE IT HAPPEN!" And nobody's going to listen to me, and I'm going to be sad. Opening music riff from the Super Dimension Fortress Macross soundtrack, composed by the recently departed Kentaro Haneda.

(BTW, it's just a little weird for the world to lose both Kentaro Haneda and Ulpio Minucci within months of one another, right? It's not just me, is it?)

Anyway, on with the show!

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6.04.2007

BETA! IS! GO!


Thanks to Matthew J. Coelho for writing in with this scoop:

It was announced by Kevin McKeever on Saturday at Super-Con that the Beta will finally see production. Apparently there is going to be an agreement between Toynami and Aoshima regarding the production of the Beta. Toynami has loaned the Alpha and Beta molds to Aoshima which will be producing the Beta for Toynami and it will be way less than the projected $200 cost (my speculation based on similarly produced toys it will be $129). The Beta will plug into the Toynami produced Alphas.

This is good news to all of us that have been waiting for a Beta. The only problem is convincing my wife that I need two of them.


Hehe, I hear that, man.

Anyway, fantastic news for all of us who've been waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting!

He adds that this was supposed to be up on Robotech.com, but as always the official site is entirely unresponsive to such excellent and long-awaited news. I imagine if this was another cell phone game or something, though, we'd have heard about it yesterday ...

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