Index of Mark's discussions

The future is now. This is the place for mecha and science.
Post Reply
Erisie
Posts: 182
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:57 am

Index of Mark's discussions

Earlier today, I was thinking about proposing to Mark that he should move the interesting bits and pieces he has written on this forum to his personal site, for easier access, order and archiving purposes (not to mention embedded images).

Instead, I'm doing something of that sort: an index with his more important contributions in this forum to the English-speaking Gundam community. This should make navigation and search a bit easier.

Full credit goes to Mark Simmons (toysdream) and the many contributors of these threads: AmuroNT1, Gelgoog Jager, mcred23, DeltasTaii, Wingnut, J-Lead, MrMarch, Strike Zero, among many others.


Guidebooks and side material

MS Encyclopedia: What's Official?
Canonicity status of games and guidebooks.

New MS Enyclopedia etc
Units included in the Mobile Suit Illustrated 2009 guidebook, compared to The Encyclopedia of Gundam Ver. 1.5.

Enyclopedia of Gundam: U.C. Edition
Contents of 2007’s The Encyclopedia of Gundam: Gundam World U.C. Edition.

MSV Handbooks
Interesting information found in the MSV Handbook series.

From the Archives: Gundam Wars II
Scans and comments of the 7-pages long “Gundam Development History” article, included in Model Graphix’s special edition “Gundam Wars II: Mission ZZ”, from February, 1987.



MS weapons

MS Weapons: Range Against The Machine!
Discussion on maximum and effective weapon ranges.

Beam Weapon Outputs Revisited
Analysis of the discrepancies for beam weapons in several Gundam models

Zeta Gundam Weapons Trivia
Individual uses of MS weapons in Gundam Zeta, in a per-episode basis.

U.C. Space Combat: Doing The Math
Analysis of combat ranges, based on side material regarding the battle of Solomon and MS Igloo.



MS development history

GM Production Info from MSV-R Book
Production run numbers for One Year War GM series.

About the RX-78-4 through RX-78-7
A compilation of sources with information of the post-war RX Gundam line.

MS Development before Zeta Gundam
Mobile suit development between 0081 and 0086.

Mobile Suit Production Numbers
A unified tally of production numbers for several mobile weapons during the One Year War.

GM and Gundam Ground Types
Shared development history between the GM Ground Type and the Gundam Ground Type, from The 08th MS Team.

From the Gundam 0080 Film Comics...
Translation of side material from volumes VII and VIII of Gundam 0080 the OVA Movies film comics, including data on War in the Pocket’s MS units and Zeon’s United Maintenance Plan during the latter days of the One Year War.

MSV-R Series Timeline
History of the weapons featured in MSV-R, from 0070 to 0081.

I Love the 0080s
History of EF mobile suit development after the One Year War, according to MSV-R.

More on Post-One Year War MS
Translation of materials from MS Encyclopedia regarding post-war MS development by the Federation, and the use of Zeon technology.

MSM Series Armor Materials
Recent retcon of the materials used for the armor of Zeon’s amphibious units, and the main weapon of the Zock.

MS-11 to MS-14
Information on the Gelgoog’s development, in regards to MSV-R: The Return of Johnny Ridden’s Uma Lighning.

Shiny New Info from the Master Archive
Timeline of development, rollouts and manufacturing plants, plus weapon specs from 2010's RGM-79 GM Master Archive book.

Hizack Evolution
Variants of the RMS-106 Hizack in animation and side material.

The Jurick and its Peers
History and development of the obscure MSM-06 Jurick.

Galbaldy and Gelgoog
Some comments on Yutaka Izubuchi’s redesign of the Gelgoog for War in the Pocket (Gelgoog Jäger), and its relationship with the Galbady β.

Zaku Cannon Secrets!
Information on the MS-06K Zaku Cannon, translated from the 1980s-vintage MSV kit manual.

Visualizing the MS-01 to MS-04
Comparative analysis of the pre-Zaku mobile suit series, according to MSV materials, model kit manuals, guidebooks and The Origin.

Dawn of the Zaku
Early development of the Zaku I and II series, together with its prototypes.

Mass Produced Psyco Gundams
A bit of M-MSV history on a purported MP Psyco Gundam developed by Anaheim Electronics.

Hyaku Shiki and Proto Zeta
History on the shared relationship between the Hyaku-Shiki and the Zeta Gundam project.

UC Trivia: Mobile Suit Production Costs
Per-unit production costs for One Year War-era units.

Mobile Suit Rollout Timeline, June 2011
Information on rollout dates for a number of One Year War-era mobile suits, according to a number of side material sources. (thanks to mcred23)



MS technical data

Vintage MS: Playing With Specs
Heavy Mobile Suits
MSV-R and Vintage MS Specs
Vintage MS Specs: 2013 Edition
Vintage MS Specs Forever
Discussion on the (incompatible) mobile suit specification data presented in side material.

The Archeology of MS Specs
Old, outdated information on the height and weight of several One Year War mobile suits.

Vintage MS Specs: What Does The Zack Weigh?
Competing specs on the Zaku's weight.

Magnet Coating Details
Representation of the RX-78's (and its successors') magnetic coating on the limb joints.

Return to the Valley of the Skirt Thrusters
Analysis of thrusters and their capacity across a number of mobile suits, based on Master Grade model kits. Special emphasis on Stardust Memory units.

The Bigness of Smaller Things
Comparative analysis on the height of several Zeon units, including Gelgoog, Galbady and Dom.

Gundam ZZ: The Bigness of Things
Mark’s comparative analysis of ZZ Gundam’s mobile suit sizes.

Other Gundam Worlds: What Do Specs Measure?
Translations for the official terms of heights and weight in AU series.

Random OYW Questions, October 2010
Some discussion on the GM series, including Mark's clearing up some older misconceptions. It is linked to another thread discussing Stardust Memory in some detail. (thanks to mcred23)

The RGM production Tree, September 2010
Quick summary on the history of the GM series' production and development. Mark adds in some interesting information later on. (thanks to mcred23)

Old Gunpla's Manual Scans (pics inside) August 2011, revived in 2012
A collection of images scanned from model kit manuals, with Mark's comments on possible inconsistencies with other sources. (thanks to mcred23)



MS markings and codenames

Zeon markings and numbers explained!
Katsumi Kawaguchi’s explanation of the unit codes in Master Grade kits and MSV material.

Federation Markings, MS Igloo 2, Odessa etc
Analysis of the Federal Forces' unit markings, based on the Universal Century Hard Graph line of model kits and MS Igloo.

More Markings Madness
Discrepancies in markings for a number of MSV pilots and units.

Multiplying Divisions with Zeon
Analysis of Zeon’s military organization, based on the Wehrmacht's nomenclature for its Panzerdivisions.

Neo Zeon Model Numbers
Analysis of the mobile suit numeration schemes used by Axis/Neo Zeon.

The Anaheim Gundam List
All the greek letter-coded Gundam models developed by Anaheim Electronics.

Secret Bases of the 0080s
Understanding the codes used by the various Newtype research labs featured in Gundam Zeta and its sidestories.

Zeta Gundam: Strange Color Variations
Analysis of a number of uniquely painted mobile suits featured on early episodes of Gundam Zeta.



Spaceship sizes and tech data

Size of ships and LARGE objects
Analysis of ship and asteroid sizes. Mainly from the Universal Century, but also covering other timelines.

The Bigness of Things
Comparative analysis on the size of various spaceships.

The Neo Zeon Fleet
Comparative analysis of the sizes of Neon Zeon’s ships.

Papua Don't Preach
In-depth analysis of Zeon’s Papua-class supply ship.

Mobile Armor Bigness
Comparative size and weight analysis for the Bigro and Elmeth, based on the official data for the Big Rang.

The Airspeed of an Unladen Garuda
Discussion on the maximum speed of a Garuda-class transport aircraft, based on animation and guidebook data.

Mystery Ships of the Early One Year War
A look at a couple of forgotten ship classes.

Fates of the Pegasi: What happened to the Pegasus-class?, August 2010
Pegasus class fates, December 2009
The Pegasus Class: Decoy Ships during the One Year War?, September 2009
Pegasus class: reconciling model numbers and other info, February 2009
Several threads with analysis, model mumbers and fates of the Pegasus-class series of cruisers. (thanks to mcred23)



Fleets

More on One Year War Fleets
Fleet compositions for both Zeon and the EFSF, based on a number of side material sources.

MS Capacity: What The Games Say
Analysis of the MS hangar capacities for a number of ships, based on RPG numbers.

Untitled Fleet Thread
Fleet compositions for the post-One Year War, plus Yoshiyuki Tomino's battle numbers in the Mobile Suit Gundam novel series.

Fleet count for battle of Solomon and ABQ during the OYW?, April 2011
Analysis and discussion on the number of ships deployed by both Zeon and the EFSF during the latter campaigns of the One Year War, according to various sources. (thanks to mcred23)

OYW SHIP COUNT, August 2009
More discussion on the subject of late-One Year War fleet numbers, among other tangents. Includes Mark's excellent explanation of what different sources say. (thanks to mcred23)

The Dra-C and Delaz Fleet Mobile Suit composition, February 2011
An outlook at the MS and ship numbers of the Delaz fleet and how it is broken up for various parts of Operation Stardust. (thanks to mcred23)

UC Faction Size Comparison?, April 2007
Page 2 of this thread includes Mark running down the size of the Titans, AEUG, New Desides, both Neo Zeon movements, the Crossbone Vanguard, League Militaire, and Zanscare, with some further discussion of the Victory numbers on page 3. (thanks to mcred23)



Anime & Manga threads

Summaries of the original MSG final episodes?
Mark's summary of the original plans for the "missing" episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam. (thanks to Wingnut and PowerdGNFlag)

Gundam: What's Official?
Information on Dengeki Hobby's “MS Expert Committee” series, with the input of several Gundam experts from across Bandai’s divisions (including its videogame department, Studio Sunrise and Bandai Hobby) regarding the canonicity of several MS units across manga, videogames and MSVs. Emphasis placed on the “Harmony of Gundam” design series project.

Small Wars Journal, U.C. Edition
Mark’s summary of a number of obscure engagements across the Universal Century.

The Principality's Birthday
Comparative analysis of the purported dates for Zeon’s foundation, according to the original setting notes, Roman Albums, MSV manuals and The Origin.

Operation Star One: The Original Plan
Information about the EFSF’s offensive strategy in the final days of the One Year War, according to The Origin.

Gaia Gear: A Story Summary!
Translated story recap of Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Gaia Gear novel.

Revelations from the Zeta Gundam Novels
Summary of events from Yoshiyuki Tomino's Gundam Zeta novel series, including character backstories.

Secrets of the Enhanced Humans
Information on the Cyber-Newtypes' history from Yoshiyuki Tomino's Gundam Zeta novel series.

The Axis Years
Analysis of Char Aznable’s life and events in Axis according to Akinori Endo’s novelization of ZZ Gundam and other sources, compared to the events chronicled in Hiroyuki Kitazume’s Char’s Deleted Affair manga series.

Gundam Sentinel as Historical Allegory
Notes on the many parallels between Masaya Takahashi's Gundam Sentinel and the historical events of the Boshin War during Japan's Meiji Restoration era.

More One Year War: North American Counteroffensive
Addition to the Zaku Cannon’s MSV history, in reference to the Federation’s counteroffensive in North America and the capture of California Base.

A Baoa Qu and the Compass
New information about the orientation fields used by Zeon’s A Baoa Qu fortress.

Federation Space Campaign: Where's Revil?
Locations and commanders of the EFSF’s fleets during the One Year War.

Char's Counterattack: Where's Sweetwater?
Discussion about the location of Sweetwater Colony and Axis during the events of Char's Counterattack.

White Base: The Combat Record
Combined kill tally for the White Base and its mobile weapon complement.

Gundam Unicorn's Mystery Box
Outdated speculation on the nature of Gundam Unicorn's “Laplace’s Box”.

Uma Lightning
Minor trivia about the source for the name of MSV-R: The Return of Johnny Ridden's Uma Lighning.



Timelines analysis and notes

Timing for Zeta
Timing for Zeta II
Sources for Gundam Zeta's timeline, including on-screen references to dates.

Zeta Gundam Timeline Revisited
Analysis of the succession of events in Gundam Zeta.

Believing a Timeline of Zeta
Comparative analysis of the various sources for Gundam Zeta‘s timeline, according to the Entertainment Bible and Data Collection books, Newtype and Model Graphix magazines, plus some notes from Sentinel.

AoZ: The Traitor to Destiny Timeline
Translated timeline for Advance of Zeta. The Traitor to Destiny novel series.

Timeline Tweaks -> Unicorn Timeline
Some additions to the One Year War timeline from a number of Master Grade model kit manuals, plus dates and times of Gundam Unicorn‘s events.

Gundam UC Timeline in progress
Timeline of events depicted in Gundam Unicorn, as per the novels and the anime adaptation.

Gundam Seed Destiny in C.E. 74
Some minor observations on SEED Destiny‘s events timeline.
Last edited by Erisie on Thu May 01, 2014 1:46 pm, edited 4 times in total.
User avatar
Chris
Administrator
Posts: 3380
Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2006 5:20 pm
Contact:

Re: Index of Mark's discussions

Wow, thanks for compiling all this! I'm going to sticky it for easy access.
Co-founder/editor-in-chief, MAHQ
Pronouns: he/him/his
Erisie
Posts: 182
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:57 am

Re: Index of Mark's discussions

Thank you so much, Chris. I'm humbled.
What do you say if I also add Mark's contributions from the Anime/Manga section?
User avatar
Chris
Administrator
Posts: 3380
Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2006 5:20 pm
Contact:

Re: Index of Mark's discussions

That would be helpful as well, thanks.
Co-founder/editor-in-chief, MAHQ
Pronouns: he/him/his
Erisie
Posts: 182
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:57 am

Re: Index of Mark's discussions

EDIT TO OPENING POST: Added threads from "Anime & Manga".
User avatar
PowerdGNFlag
Posts: 405
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 6:45 am

Re: Index of Mark's discussions

It might be harder to compile, but would threads where he contributed significantly to the discussion (at a level where he all but made it his own) be included here?

Also, those frequently-requested bits of info (e.g. original MSG 52-episode outline, original ZZ Gundam summary, etc.) may also be included (IIRC you can link to specific posts, so that might help.)
Well, I guess I'm a nobody...
Erisie
Posts: 182
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:57 am

Re: Index of Mark's discussions

EDIT TO OPENING POST: added some contributions that mcred23 sent to me via PM. Thanks, dude.
PowerdGNFlag wrote:It might be harder to compile, but would threads where he contributed significantly to the discussion (at a level where he all but made it his own) be included here?
As you well said, it will be a more daunting task to compile that information. For that reason, I make an appeal to the community and help me recopilate as much useful information Mark has posted in this forum, so it can be indexed.
PowerdGNFlag wrote:Also, those frequently-requested bits of info (e.g. original MSG 52-episode outline, original ZZ Gundam summary, etc.) may also be included (IIRC you can link to specific posts, so that might help.)
I've found Mark's summary of the MSG outline posted (and, surprisingly, properly credited) in a number of Internet boards (MAL, Gaia, Tumblr, etc.), except this one. It might sound rude, but I think it's time for a new, fresh thread around here to cover the material in the Mobile Suit Gundam Record Collection 5 book, don't you think?

About the ZZ summary, I haven't found a thing. Care to help?
User avatar
PowerdGNFlag
Posts: 405
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 6:45 am

Re: Index of Mark's discussions

Erisie wrote:
I've found Mark's summary of the MSG outline posted (and, surprisingly, properly credited) in a number of Internet boards (MAL, Gaia, Tumblr, etc.), except this one. It might sound rude, but I think it's time for a new, fresh thread around here to cover the material in the Mobile Suit Gundam Record Collection 5 book, don't you think?

About the ZZ summary, I haven't found a thing. Care to help?
Here's the (only) instance of the summary I can find in the forum.

Also, I screwed up in crediting the ZZ summary to Mark; it seems that RGZ-91/Mark064 was the one who posted the summary in the forum, and also appears in an old Mailbag issue over at MAHQ.
Well, I guess I'm a nobody...
Zeonista
Posts: 1178
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:47 pm
Location: in ur colony, steelin ur gundam

Re: Index of Mark's discussions

Thanks for doing this, it is very helpful! :)
"I am fire. I am death. I am Hashmal."

"Discontent is the first step in the progress for a man or a nation." - Oscar Wilde
Erisie
Posts: 182
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:57 am

Re: Index of Mark's discussions

EDIT TO OPENING POST: Added PowerdGNFlag's observations about the Mobile Suit Gundam summary. Since it's already answered in the Mailbag, I'll leave out the ZZ one.
Zeonista wrote:Thanks for doing this, it is very helpful! :)
You're welcome.
User avatar
Koshernova
Posts: 375
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:30 am
Location: Glasgow (the city, not the Knightmare Frame)

Re: Index of Mark's discussions

I just wanted to chime in to add to the gratitude. Mark's contributions were what drove me to join Mechatalk in the first place, as well as the discussion and thoughts others put in around it. So, I really appreciate this :)
"There's always hope tomorrow will be taco night."
Post Reply