zanderwitaz

92612!

Hi everyone, I'm an industrial design student working on my graduation project and I've decided to design a toy in hopes to someday be a toy designer. I haven't decided if it is going to be a macross/gundam/star wars/gi joe etc toy yet, but I need people to answer 10 quick multiple choice questions to help me decide exactly what I should design. I also do not have friends with children, and I know a lot of you do which would help me even more. If all goes well, I will post the final concept development here, and possibly even the finished product/model after next quarter. Thanks for the help! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VPB8WVZ oh, and I would love to hear your ideas/dream toy, so post it up! I have to make something, so theres a chance your idea might help get it made!

I regret my v2 1/72 yf-19 and I only paid 20 bucks for it. The paint was shipped/bubbled to hell. so I stripped it, primed it, painted 4 coats base, 3 coats clear, 1 dull coat. It still chips. pisses me off. and the gerwalk mode is god awful. I also regret the v.1 1/60 vf-1a I have. I only paid 45 for it within a year that it came out and I still regret it. I argued on the forums that the 1/55 chunkey is a better toy, and I still stand by that. partsformer, yellowed when it was MIB out of sunlight (random parts too) and the paint wasnt sprayed properly. on some die cast parts the metal shows through and is a bit rough. the landing gear doors have poor fitment, and to top it all off the tab B broke under normal stress. What a POS. I do love my 1/48s, and even my 1/65 series. (original and bootlegs) but my favorite value is the toynami 1/100 line.

I've wanted toynami to finish their line of 1/100 valks, but I dont think they ever will. so, I got started on my own VE-1 using hikarus vf-1j as a base with the markings sanded off, and the movie super pack as parts for the armor. I got a few parts done tonight so I decided to post. Ill do a few things tomorrow and update, hopefully. wish me luck!

yeah, the shoulder problem was mainly caused by the pin. But, Yamato also got overconfident with the design of the shoulder. the outside sections where the cracks formed on the hingle are too thin. way too thin. and then yamato decided to make those thin tabs beveled. (with holes through them already...). they made them thin so they could make the plastic swaybar that the whole assembly pivots on thicker. (the hinge has to fold onto/ overlap itself) which is dumb, because its like .4-.5 inches thick compared to the 1/16th of an inch or so on each end of the shoulder hindge. they should have compromised and shrunk the width of the swaybar.

Not just detail, bandai also has to worry about nominal wall thicknesses, tolerances (wich are harder to maintain at a smaller scale) and other manufacturing nightmares at that scale. the fact that it looks as good as it does is astonishing. although the v2 yammie is twice as much as the bandai and the bandai is twice as much as the toynami, i still think the bandai vs toynami is a more fair comparison considering they both had the exact same manufacturing challenges from a small scale. anything is easier in a bigger, larger budget scale. (toy-wise) when yamato tries to make something small and transforming, then we'll talk. it really comes down to shelf space, price, availability, brand loyalty, and which one people have already invested in. Bandai is at a disadvantage considering the last factor, but im sure both of these toys will please whoever buys them.

I love flame baiters. it looks great. Though, sadly I wont be able to buy one until the market is saturated and the price comes down. On the bright side, since it is small it will be easy to coat/tighten the joints if they are anything like the 1/100 vf-25 series.

thanks maiden yes, new head, all arm parts, etc. in the works

in progress

what happened is toynami forgot to factor in the thickness of the knee part that goes between the polycap and the thigh. as a result, the arms go too far back in jet mode and get pulled out of the upper sockets because the tab holes in the legs are too far back. if you have a v1, (your vf-1a hikaru is) then you can easily take these knee spacers out. wave 3 and 4 have slightly different (better) knee polycaps and are much harder to pop off.

finally got a CF for the right price but it looks like its a later pull and the mold has degraded somewhat (no, it isnt mold flash. onenose cone half is significantly lower than the other and the bottom nose cone mold parts are slightly recessed) I sanded it down and repainted it, now it looks near perfect. but still, beware. check your wave 4 valks carefully before purchasing! Also, I have a fix for the joint problems of the v1 wave. stay tuned!

why must they release the first one in the most boring paint scheme ever. im also not too happy about the uber flat backpack complete with holes. I might stick to my toynamis on this one. (I do love them)

1/72 f-105 http://data3.primeportal.net/page_images/aircraft/f-105d.jpg

I would use the bandai vf17 as a base for sure. If you want to include all the exact details and proportions and make it look like yamato made it, it could take years. I hope you're a master model maker if you plan on scratch building this. good luck!

my best 1/55 custom was a knock off. (except the nose cone assembly.) the light weight parts allow for ball joints that arent stressed from too much weight.