Hi everyone! I stumbled upon the Gatchamania site quite awhile ago and after lurking for long enough, decided to finally take the plunge and join in. Before I continue, I have to give an extra shout out of thanks to Cep and TJ for helping me clear up my registration issues! Like many of you, I grew up watching BoTP In the early 80's. I specifically remembered the episodes "The Fierce Flowers" and "The Duplicate King". It wasn't until many (many) years later that I found out about Gatchaman. I never looked into the show initially, it was something I recently decided to pick up for some reason. I'm totally hooked! While I loved BoTP as a kid, Gatchaman is *so* much better! And as to the eternal question: Eagle or Condor--you will note, I am a Condor Joe fan! (Yep, I'm a total Joe girl....). I'm looking forward to spending time here among other Gatchamaniacs!

Hooray! It's always good to have another Condor girl around! Me? I lean toward the Eagle...but I love the Condor, too... really, I just can't make up my mind. They're both hotties! Hope you have fun here!

Welcome, Redbird! Can't wait for you to jump in to the rest of the insanity!

Originally posted by Springie Hooray! It's always good to have another Condor girl around! Me? I lean toward the Eagle...but I love the Condor, too... really, I just can't make up my mind. They're both hotties! Hope you have fun here!

Oh, I know Springie! It's so hard to choose, the Eagle does have those lovely blue eyes! And thank you for the welcome EW. I'm just starting to "dig in"--there is so much to read and look at!

Welcome, Redbird! It's always nice to meet another Condorphile. If you haven't visited Gatchfanfic yet, that's another fun place to visit. http://www.gatchfanfic.com/

I'm glad you made it onto the site, Redbird! Your story is very similar to mine! I grew up watching BOTP, then learned about Gatchaman as an adult and realized how much better it was! But I still hold a lot of sentiment in my heart for BOTP, since that was my childhood show. In my case, I can't decide between Eagle or Condor, so being a Swan, I like to dally with both.

Welcome Redbird, glad you've finally joined us. Your story is similar to mine too, watching BotP as a kid, then being totally confused when I tried to look it up on the internet as an adult and stumbled upon Gatchaman and the other incarnations. I'm a total Condor girl too, (but then the Eagle *is* spoken for )

Welcome, Redbird! My story, like so many others, is similar to yours. I started watching BotP in 1978, and continued until it went off the air. I learned about Gatchaman around 1995, but didn't have the time or resources to scope it out (I was still learning how to use email). About four years, I searched out both BotP and Gatchaman on whim, and haven't left. The people here grow on you much like the characters in the shows.

Howdy do, Redbird! Welcome to the fun!

So many Condor fans! jublke: Thanks for the fanfic link--I have visited there before. So many talented writers! TJ: I waffled back and forth between Condor and Eagle, but we can see who won! Being a Swan is a perfect choice, I would want both too--why choose! KT1972 & amethyst: I've never seen G-Force (GoS) or Eagle Riders. I do remember a childhood friend telling me years ago, when G-Force came out in the 90's--she was confused because all the names were different. I also grew up watching Robotech, Teknoman (I think that was the 90's though) and Thunderbirds 2086 (no one seems to remember Thunderbirds 2086, it was on TV I think only for an initial run, then never again. I must've been the only kid up at 6:30AM to see it. LOL. It's on You Tube now). k2p2: Thank you for the welcome, I'm feeling at right at home! *For some reason though I'm having problems handling the smileys ....*frowns*

Welcome, Redbird! Like the others, I started watched BotP in 1978 and never stopped. I didn't find out about Gatchaman until 2001. I still prefer BotP, even with Zark *gag*. Jason's my guy. It's that tough but sensitive nature of his. And his urge to pound Mark over the head at times.

Originally posted by Redbird *For some reason though I'm having problems handling the smileys ....*frowns*

I was the same way when I started waaaay back when! I finally printed out a hard copy of the smiley list (it's under FAQs, if you haven't looked for it...) to keep in a folder by my desktop.

A big, warm welcome, Redbird! You've joined the right place with the right people! Differently from many others, I'm very grateful to have had the opportunity to come to know about Gatchaman when I was still very young! Since I come from Malta, the only tv channels that I could watch during my childhood, apart from our then one national channel, were Italian, so I had been fortunate enough to encounter the true Gatchaman when it had been aired on these Italian channels, followed by Gatch II and Gatch F! To tell the truth, a short while before I had discovered Gatchaman, I had also watched a couple of BotP episodes, so I must admit that I had been a bit confused, at first, since albeit my age I could somehow distinguish differences between the two, such as the inconsistency of the plots, different artwork ... and ... Zark! I really couldn't stand him from that very tender age, along with the cheesy conversations between Mark and Princess at his side, so my decision hadn't been that difficult after a while! ... I chose the show which didn't have Zark in it!! From then on I was totally hooked! Robotech and Teknoman had been shows which I used to follow, too! As to my favourite character ... I'm a loyal Eagle fan! Even though I wouldn't mind having the Condor there waiting for me, as it's a bit difficult to choose between the two, sometimes!

Originally posted by Redbird *For some reason though I'm having problems handling the smileys ....*frowns*

Yeah, the smilies are kind of complicated. I don't think anyone knows them all, even Cep! I think most of us just have 10-20 memorized, and then we look up the others if we need them. Or sometimes we just see a weird one pop up on the random selection and decide to try it out. Once I tried to start an IF using just the random smilies that showed up, but it didn't get very far. No one else seemed interested in my silliness.... I know, right?

I was the same way when I started waaaay back when! I finally printed out a hard copy of the smiley list (it's under FAQs, if you haven't looked for it...) to keep in a folder by my desktop.

I did wind up copying the whole smiley list and saving it, EW. Good idea to print it out & keep it handy! Becky Rock: I was surprised that Mark & Jason never wound up beating the heck out of each other. Interesting that in Gatch, you do see Ken & Joe taking shots at each other. Guess they thought us kids couldn't handle cartoon violence back then! Gatchamarie: I agree, as a kid I wondered why the animation was different when Mark & Princess were in Zark's control center! I'm amazed at how much they cut out from Gatch. If you liked Teknoman, there is the original version Tekkaman Blade, which I haven't seen yet. TJ: Yeah, it took me a minute to realize those smileys on the left side of the screen were random and that I couldn't just scroll through them.

Redbird... ahem... just wondering... Is there any special *symbolism* behind your avatar of a smiling Joe holding his gun/drill at the 'ready' position? I mean, I know what *I* think of... but then again, that's me...

Errr...I choose the right to remain silent! LOL. Oh man, I can see my avatar is going to become the stuff of fic fodder by the end of the week!

Originally posted by Transmute Jun Redbird... ahem... just wondering... Is there any special *symbolism* behind your avatar of a smiling Joe holding his gun/drill at the 'ready' position? I mean, I know what *I* think of... but then again, that's me...

Oh! For some reason that hadn't occurred to me! But now that I have something to think about......

Originally posted by Redbird If you liked Teknoman, there is the original version Tekkaman Blade, which I haven't seen yet.

Many thanks for the tip, Redbird! I'll certainly look into it the first chance I'd have, since you've gotten me curious! Maybe I'd discover that I've come across the original version already, or maybe even that I've been referring to that one when I thought that I wasn't, since English names and titles vary from the Italian ones and, many a time, I'd get confused and might refer to the wrong series! Plus ... many years have passed and my memory isn't that lucid anymore!

Gatchamarie: You might have seen the original at some point since you did see the original Gatch on TV. Teknoman is the American version of Tekkaman Blade--they changed stuff from the original show for American audiences (just like what happened with BoTP). I think there were only 43 episodes shown versus Tekkaman Blades 49. You can find Tekkaman Blade in Japanese with English subs.

Nice to meet you, Redbird! I'm yet another who loved Battle of the Planets as kid and then discovered Gatchaman as an adult.

Thanks lborgia88! Likewise! And another Condor fan!

Welcome! And don't worry, we're not mad...most of us anyway...at least not all the time...

DT! I love your avatar!

G'day Redbird I'm the same as many others here Battle first Gatchaman second Still struggling with Eagle Riders I'm an Owl woman with a side order of condor EW as for the avatar I'm thinking http://www.gatchfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=1365 G-force space opera - enter Doctor Eviscerator! Thing the condor found some of the left over equipment

LW:

Redbird: I was going to say the same for yours! The Condor is ours to share,

Hi LW, nice to meet you!

Originally posted by littlewolf I'm an Owl woman with a side order of condor

Now that is an interesting combination and not one you hear of often!

Originally posted by Daniella T Redbird: I was going to say the same for yours!

Aww, thanks DT I tried to find a nice feather shot that wasn't being used, but I gave up! LOL.

[The Condor is ours to share,

Sorry for the late welcome Redbird! I have been absent for the last few weeks as I start back to work in my classroom. I know everyone was able to give you a warm welcome. It is nice to have new members join us. BTW: the Duplicate King is one of the episodes I remember, from when I watched BoTP.

Hi there CD! Thank you for the welcome! As to the Duplicate King, I always remembered the part about the coffee, after it spilled and Princess exclaimed "Look at the carpet!", with Mark replying "Imagine your stomach."

My best memory of this episode is of Mark "pinky swearing" with the little boy in the sewers. It depicted how good Mark would be with children, and how much he cares for others ... even if he can not show it to Princess.