A History of Mechapinoy
As one of the last few active original members, I would like to put down the historical past of Mechapinoy, if only to make sure that there will be an archived copy of our origins. Some of the particulars may be inaccurate, but not due to the fact of a wish to alter fact – rather, this all occurred far more then 7 many years ago, and it can be tough to recall details from that far back.
Origin (Mechapinoy Mailing List)
The Gundam Mailing List (Mark 1) has been in operation for some time by 1999, and some Filipino members learn each other there. This leads to some greetings and other communications in the native language. One particular or two of the Filipino members are reminded in private that the lingua franca is English. This prompts the formation of the Mechapinoy Mailing List (MPML) on December 21, 1999.
The original members (the ones who joined in the first year of MPML's life) had been as follows:
Richard Ramos (creator of MPML)
Fed Makabenta
Charles Tan
Gomer Coronel
Garrick Lee
Benj Cabrera
Of the Original Six, the remaining active members of Mechapinoy right now are Richard Ramos and Benj Cabrera. Fed Makabenta is nonetheless active from time to time, Charles Tan has moved on to other fandom and is busy with operate, Gomer Coronel has become silent on the net as pertaining to Mechapinoy, and Garrick is in the identical scenario as Charles.
The MPML grows gradually, but by 2002, the group is already considerable in size. By this time, MPML is known to routinely meet in the Greenhills Neutral Grounds shop, courtesy of the generosity of Luigi Scarella and other Warhammer enthusiasts who are also into Gundam. Later on, Mechapinoy would uncover other places in which they could meet (mainly either Megamall or Richard Ramos's property, and for a short time yet another toy shop in Greenhills), as their growing numbers make meeting in Neutral Grounds inconvenient for all concerned.
Mechapinoy Core Group Mailing List
The MP Core Group Mailing List is produced on October 18, 2002 with the following active core group (at the time) as members:
Richard Ramos (creator of MPCML)
Winn Sevilla
Garrick Lee
James Ravelo
Jake de Guzman
The MPCML is constructed on the concept that there need to be a separate ML for those who had been, at the time, the leadership of Mechapinoy.
Mechapinoy Forum / Web site
On November 1, 2002, The Mechapinoy internet site goes up. Even though bare, it sets the stage for a considerable transformation inside of Mechapinoy.
On December 29, 2002, the Mechapinoy Forum goes up, with Garrick at the helm. Gradually, activity on the MPML shifts to the Forum. Garrick, even though nevertheless active at this point, steadily fades away from active participation, and is now mainly an observer.
At the moment, Mechapinoy is defined as the Forum, with the two Mailing Lists serving as a backup for communication amongst members, just in case the Forum is rendered inaccessible.
Alliances
Mechapinoy is at the moment allied with the following:
Ban Kee:
Mechapinoy is most closely allied to Ban Kee, which is the official Distributor of Bandai Gundam model kits. The interaction among MP and BK began in September of 2002, with very first make contact with via Arvin Lim (by Del Bohol, then in charge of Gundam for Ban Kee) as far as records can ascertain. To date, MP is still the official fan organization companion of Ban Kee.
IPMS-BAC:
In the planet of Scale Models, IPMS-BAC is MP's ally. Members from both have participated in meetings and builds. As of this writing, some of the crucial members of MP are also members of IPMS-BAC, or are allied to them also in their person capacities. Speak to was first by way of Israel Buenaluz in the PEx forums.
New Worlds Alliance:
New Worlds Alliance is a unified set of fan groups for a lot of of the main sci-fi and fantasy franchises (i.e. Star Trek, Star Wars, etc...). Mechapinoy is presently a member of the Alliance, and is identified as the first anime-based group inside of the organization.
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