SDCC07: Panel Report - ROBOTECH

Harmony Gold and Toynami provide tantalizing glimpses of the future...

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While the Robotech presence at SDCC '07 was small, it yielded several big stories. Robotech did not have its own booth in the Exhibit Hall but it did have a panel on Friday. In attendance were Kevin McKeever, Tommy Yune, Steve Yun, and Ford Riley. Tommy's Q&A session covered much of what was announced at the most recent Anime Expo (see Anime Expo 2007: Wrap-up Report), including details on the upcoming Shadow Chronicles Collector's Edition 2-disc DVD. He again highlighted the commentary track, additional art and inclusion of animation errors and goofs. The most interesting part of the panel came at the very end, though, when Tommy began to talk about the future of Robotech.

Harmony Gold is in the early stages of the sequel to Shadow Chronicles. While they may not have a story for it yet, they do have a title… Robotech: Shadow Rising. I attempted to ask Ford Riley if the title alluded to the middle part to a trilogy but the creators were quick to point out that Robotech will make as many sequels as they can. They even played a ‘teaser’ for Shadow Rising, consisting solely of footage from Shadow Chronicles but with the new title at the end.

In the realm of Robotech toys, Toynami continues its work on the Beta, Cyclone, Shadow Chronicles Alphas and Aoshima-release Alphas. Their display case was very similar to that at Anime Expo (see Anime Expo 2007: Toynami), with a few notable differences. The Aoshima blue Alpha was in fighter mode, showing off the top-mounted missile pod between the battloid arms. The combined Alpha/Beta was farther forward in the display so fans could more clearly see the connecting pieces between them. There will be different posts for each mode of the Alpha. In battloid mode, the long post includes a bracket to hold the figure's waist and a hole in which the Alpha's nosecone fits securely.

One mystery solved at Comic-Con was the curious prototype Beta booster module. The last two Robotech panels have showed a picture of a Beta prototype with the Shadow Chronicles booster/Syncho Cannon on its back. Mysteriously, that piece has been missing from the Betas in Toynami's displays. When asked, Toynami representatives were visibly surprised that Harmony Gold had shown that picture but made assurances that the additional piece will be included with the Shadow Chronicles Beta. The Beta will be released after the standard New Generation versions.

One final tidbit revealed during the Q&A is that Harmony Gold has renewed DC's license for Robotech comic books.

Follow the link below for a Toynami Robotech image gallery tour.

Story by Scott Rubin

Toynami Robotech SDCC Image Gallery