Robotech E6: extra. New Generation 1 - Elements Of Robotechnology VI (Japanimation)

Rating:
Summary: What also might have been...
Review: This disc, originally packaged with the sixth volume of the "Robotech: The Legacy" DVD box set series, isn't among the best of the lot. Like just about all of the previous `Elements' platters, this includes several character & mecha design sketches, and various scenes from the show dubbed in several different European languages. Also thrown in is the English dub rendition of the first episode of `Genesis Climber Mospeada', which was obviously mastered directly from video tape, and a fairly old one at that. The voice-over work here was also rather poor, although the guy doing `Stick' Bernard would be called on to do the `Robotech' version of the same character. Fortunately, his voice-acting skills improved significantly in the interim!

Also included are a few toy promotion videos put out by Matchbox to help push the Robotech toy line. The main presentation is 40 minutes long, and covers just about every little Robotech plaything that was ever made or proposed back then: various die-cast mecha, super-deformed transforming veritechs, a big transformable SDF-1 (I always wanted one of those!), action figures, the SDF-1 playset, Barbie-esque fashion dolls of Rick Hunter & Minmei and more are shown here either in prototype form or in concept sketches. Another eight-minute promo makes its move to drive things home for the potential retailer, and includes a couple of toy commercials. One interesting thing about this particular piece was its reflection of optimism for the future of `Robotech'. In one part, the narrator states that the show will eventually span 150 episodes (85 plus the never-produced 65 `Sentinels' eppies), and that a movie was in the works (which saw only a limited release in the Dallas area and has rarely been seen since outside of the bootleg video scene). But aside from this presentation's review of things that just weren't meant to be, this and the prototype demo video gives the fan a small glimpse into the merchandising aspect of the show.

Bottom line: this one's a good addition to the collection of the curious Robo-Techie who's interested in seeing what might have been with the Invid Invasion segment of the series. For the not-so-curious, this one's worth at least a rental. Good luck trying to find this on the shelves of your fave local rental place, however...

`Late