alchemo

Did anyone ever try it on the old 1/60 VF-0?

Kawamori and the design team of the 1/72 fully transformable kit... http://bandai-hobby.net/site/character_macross_img/02_130125a.jpg http://bandai-hobby.net/site/character_macross02.html

The Destroid and the Armored VF-1 look nice, but the VF-1(s)still look odds to me, the hip joints are too wide apart in B mode and the whole body looks too wide in F and G mode. The shoulder transforming mechanism is better then Yamato's but that's the only thing that it out does the 1/60 V2 in my opinion. (Still, I bought and kept 1 Hi metal VF-1S, and it has two left knee caps...) Bandai really knows how to get fans excited with their product fairs but often many of the products they show in a fair would not be produced after all. For M&M, although many members here claimed that they want them so much (in all scales) except for the first batch of 1/48, all other released end up being sold at deep discount. 1/60 v2 with super parts were sold once at USD100 and 1.48 re-issued were even cheaper. The same happened with C/F, some people may buy multiples but still most of the time they just don't sell.

Why hate them, they are just a toy company which make money producing toys that sell well. In retrospect. I think Bandai had contributed a lot in bringing up-to-date technology into toy engineering and production since mid-1990, starting with the Master Grade series.

I wonder how much protection will the heatshield provide to the pilot. Think about Roy in DYRL

If it is just a re-release why can't they just display a sample? Although unlikely, are they going to put some update into it?

Right, I forgot the jtow 11s ^^

Preordered mine from my usual a HK seller but I can only go there to pick up the coming Saturday or the next...Hope mine is in good condition.

All M7 mechas are still available in Hong Kong and with various discounts...

I may be wrong but I think the new YF-19 will be re-released later on and then sell at a discount, nearly all Yamato Hero valks, and many non-hero valks too, have been re-released (except VF-4, VF-19F and VF-17D because Yamato went down shortly after they were release). If you are not that desperate for it, wait a few months and you may likely get some discount. I have preordered this one because I am very desperate and I have been saving up for it when it was announced almost a year ago Back to the pricing of Arcadia, developing and manufacturing costs for toys of this kind of precision are high, there is also the cost of licensing and promotions and they do have to make a fat profit to go on making new molds. Also, items from older Macross series does not sell as good as those from the new series. All the above were explained by many members already. To think that Arcadia's pricing policy is intended to make Macross products a luxury items for a limited group is, in my opinion, a negative and self-alienating mindset that makes no others but oneself feels miserable. And if they are not appealing to you, then how much they are priced doesn’t even bother you. In 10 years or so I can barely afford an MG kit per month because of other liabilities, I bought my PG Zaku on the month I got my yearend bonus and have some surplus after paying what I owe earlier in the year. In fact, I only started my toy collection in late 2009 because I could hardly afford any completed models / chogokin before that and I did not feel miserable because they are not the first priority at that time. Let's have fun with toys.

The design of the 1/72 kit has quite a few fundamental flaws which put many, even die-hard fans, off. The worst, IMHO, would be the infamous "hold my pee" pose due to the oddly designed hip-thigh swing joint. Just that one is enough to stop me from buying any of them, even with discount. For the Hi-metal line, I have one VF-1S, (with a minor QC flaw: a left knee cap for the right knee so the right knee and thigh will not flush in fighter mode ) I find the hip joint a bit too wide so the legs are too much apart in all modes, and the jolly roger marking is too high up the heatshield so it emphasised the excessively long lower torso. other that those, the rests are as good as other Bandai 13cm robot figures, fun to play with but not really meticulous with details. The way the shoulder unfold in the High-Metal is definately better then the 1/60 though.

1/60 V2 Max & Millia VF-1J were once sold at about HKD785 in some Hong Kong retail shops. (just asked one of my friend to be sure) and 1/48 reissue even cheaper, not for a very long time but maybe a few months It was around 2009 as I remember. Actually that was the time when many Yamato 1/60 V2 can be found at discount in Hong Kong. I remember it because that's when I start collecting Yamato VFs, and I was lucky enough to have got quite a few of them at very reasonable price.

I personally am not a fan of the Macross Frontier show and had skipped all the V1 VF-25(s). But personal tastes asides, I find the renewals quite ok for their price (MSRP), nothing extraordinary but not uninteresting, at least on par with Yamato's products of the same period, except for the gross finish and the ocational scractches. for loose joints and broken parts, they happened with Yamato too, and other makers. As for after market prices, it's really difficult to tell. Now that everyone wants the M&M, but when the 1/60 was issued, they did not sell that fast at all. they were sold at around USD100 (each one) for some time. only when the stocks were cleared the prices started to go up. same thing happened with the 1/48 M&M (could be bought at less then USD100 once). Can see why Yamato did not reissue them until the end.

Most of the stuffs sold by Mandrake are pre-owned, used or unused, some of them are marked with a lowered price because of a damaged package. I was in Nagoya last month and there was a Gundam head money bank with an unopened but badly damaged box for 1,500 yen only. Too bad it was too big for my luggage. I never encounter any quality problem with them except maybe a few loose joints ( Those are Robot Tamashi Dunbines and was marked "box opened")

My understanding is that store front items at Mandrake means that it is being listed on line and display at the store at the same time, so it might be possible that someone at the store bought it before the online transaction was confirmed.