Topic: Battletech (AND Mechwarrior): The Unseen Mechs

[Sapphirus]

Okay (for those who like Battletech and/or Mechwarrior), I shall reveal the long story about these so called "unseen" Mechs

(for those who aren't interested in Battletech and Mechwarrior, you may ignore this)




The Unseen is a term used for some of the first BattleMech designs from the original game. These designs, longtime favorites of BattleTech fans, were based on mecha found in the Japanese anime series' Super Dimension Fortress Macross (Mechs such as the Marauder, Archer, Warhammer, and Phoenix Hawk), Fang of the Sun Dougram (mechs such as the Battlemaster, Shadow Hawk, and Thunderbolt) and Crusher Joe (just the Locust).  Battletech was started in 1984 as 'Battledroids' but George Lucas sued FASA (The original creators of the franchise) for using the word 'droid'

link to the list of the "unseen" that were lifted from those anime series-
http://sarna.net/wiki/Unseen

The ones not on the list are considered done by a company known as Victor Musical Industries (note that the bottom left of the cover of Technical Readout 3055 says "select Battlemech Images, Courtesy of Victor Musical Industries") such as the 8 IICs (e.g. Phoenix Hawk IIC, Marauder IIC), and clan 2nd line mechs from TRO 3055 (e.g. Stone Rhino (Behemoth)

The lawsuit occured in the mid 1990s when Harmony Gold (the producers of Robotech from 1985 that are americanized and merged from 3 anime series from 1982 (Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada) sued FASA for using those designs.  And thus drop down those designs plus the Locust IIC, Griffin IIC, Shadow Hawk IIC, Rifleman IIC, Phoenix Hawk IIC, Warhammer IIC, and Marauder IIC are dropped down (even though the IICs are done by VMI)

In 2003 Fanpro released Technical Readout: Project Phoenix that included the "reseens" that are redesigns of the unseen using their own style

in 2004, there's also the 2nd wave of the unseen (that are once again, done by Victor Musical Industries) that aren't controled legally and thus dropping down to prevent future copyright issues.
The following mechs that are unseen in 2004 are:
from TRO 3055
Howler (Baboon)
Incubus (Vixen)
Jenner IIC (the Inner Sphere variant stays)
Horned Owl (Peregrine)
Conjurer (Hellhound)
Vapor Eagle (Goshawk)
Glass Spider (Galahad)
Black Python (Viper)
Stone Rhino (Behemoth)
Bane (Kraken)

from TRO 3058
Nexus
Raijin
Grand Crusader

In 2005, the 2nd wave of the "reseen" were published for Technical Readout 3055 Upgrade

In June 24, 2009, it was announced that Catalyst Game Labs (the current marketers for the Battletech franchise) had secured permissions needed to utilize the original "unseen" artwork for these designs again.  But unfortinutely, shortly after the return of the "unseen" Battlemechs (on August 10th 2009), the ones originated from Macross are "unseen" again but the Crusher Joe, Dougram mechs as well as the mech images done by Victor Musical Industries, remains.