I guess what I'm getting at is that I don't see the PG kit (with lighting, etc.) as "too" special. And I see the non-lighting version as even less so. Let me explain before you get the pitchforks. (Full disclosure: I have two of the original PG kits.) With the lights and PE, I thought that was the point. Or more to the point, "this is a really nice kit, excellent details, very accurate, and we are going to make it extra special by offering a lighting systems and even photo etch and call it "Perfect Grade", like that is the grade it gets by the modeling community." When the non lighting version came out (which I, all along, thought was not even labeled as "Perfect Grade"), I just thought it was the standard kit. So, what's left. The plastic, pretty much. It's very good. It's a work of art. It's very accurate. It's very detailed. At Hyperscale, (to mostly non-sci-fi people, mind you) I suggested it should be considered for kit of the year. But this is more of where models have gotten to. As extra special as people might say the PG MF is, it's basically what I might expect from Bandai--and from many other companies in the industry. It's bigger because the "real" ship is bigger and they decided to do it in 72nd scale. And this results in more parts. The parts count is, likewise, not too far off from the FM kit. When the FM kit came out, it blew a lot of people away with it's level of detail, like people figured out, why all along, FM mostly stuck with that "gentleman's scale." If only for the accuracy--grrr. If the FM MF didn't suffer from the shape issues, it would probably be the only one I'd own as I prefer the ESB ship and the 32" model. Now, Bandai pushes the limits with design, but they do that with lots (all?) of their SW stuff. Quite simply (mostly just looking at the plastic) this is the 72nd scale MF I would expect from Bandai--and in this day and age--nothing more, nothing less. Don't take this as an attack on the kit, but more of a praise of Bandai and the level of the modeling industry.
Now, what's an emoji for a pitchfork look like?
Mike Todd
PS: I have a post at the Hyperscale Jets forum that basically says the same thing about "Kinetic Gold." The only response was that someone said it's just marketing.
