LunchMeat

This morning I met up with @Duymon, who was kind enough to sell me one of his extra DX VF-1J at cost! This is unbelievably lucky for me, as I didn't pre-order and had given up the idea of getting one for quite some time. So I'd like to take a moment to give a big thank you to Duymon for saving the day. You're awesome! Since everyone else is posting first impressions, I'll write mine, as well: On the plus side: People have mentioned the weight, and they're not kidding. I like heft in my toys, it makes it feel like expensive jewelry. Remember when the iPhone whatever came out and people commented on the satisfying weight of it? This is the same. It reminds me of high-end 3rd-party Transformers toys, such as those from FansToys. The overall fit-and-finish is leaps and bounds beyond the old Yamato 1/48. This is exactly what I wanted: a VF-1 with Bandai quality. This is a personal thing, but I don't mind about the absence of missiles, and in fact I glad for it. In my opinion, they just get in the way, and now I have left junk in the box. The use of materials is brilliant. Die cast in the knees, shoulders, backpack hinge, and feet really make it feel better to handle. The hands are great. Way better than the old 1/48. Expressive, robust, and attractive. Articulation is fantastic. Double bicep joint works amazingly and the ankle mechanism is just ridiculous. On the minus side: My single biggest gripe: the ailerons are finicky and prone to pop out during handling, as I feared. The landing gear covers are a little too easy to accidentally pop out. The T-bar clip connecting the two halves is not as strong as it should be. I am tempted to just superglue it together. This is particularly problematic given the tightness of the hip joints (which in-and-of itself is a good thing), meaning that the force you need to apply to rotate the hips is likely to cause the T-bar clip to accidentally disconnect. I am a perfect transformation purist, so this issue bothers me somewhat. The stands are completely uninteresting. Wish they didn't include them. The heat shield, like on the old 1/48, is too easy to pop out. I'm surprised that there are not detents in the wing joints so you know where to position them. Air intake covers don't fit well. The toy is a winner. Most of my complaints boil down to "something is too fragile or easy to pop out," but most of the toy is brilliant and solid. Perhaps these complaints will be addressed in future releases.

I hope you won't mind a few quick questions. Also interested in feedback from anyone who gets theirs. 1. How do the leg flaps and wing ailerons feel? Loose? Easy to pop out? 2. What is the physical mechanism on the shoulder joints? Ball-in-socket or universal? 3. How do the hip joints feel? Think they'll hold up over time? 4. How is the insertion point where the swing bar latches into the nosecone? 5. Overall solidness and playability? Compared with Yamato 1/60 v2, Yamato 1/48, or a typical mass-market Transformer?

The detachment process is optional, unlike on Yamato V1. In the new Bandai, there is a swing bar with a fastener. So you can leave the legs attached, or you can detach them and get a waist swivel. I'd prefer that it didn't detach at all, but I understand the compromise.

Yeah, that's what she said

I'm concerned but hopeful. I got rid of my Yamato 1/48 because it was flimsy. Basically impossible to play with, everything wanted to fall off. The wing flaps broke, the hips got loose, the heat shield broke, the hands were like made of paper. Bandai has a great reputation and I hope that they can improve on Yamato's work, particularly in the area of build quality. What I've seen so far has left me worried. For example, even in the promotional videos, the wing flaps pop out, the hip assembly still looks week, etc. So I'm playing a wait-and-see approach. I really want it to be good. Basically I want a Soul of Chogokin level toy. And frankly, I'd feel a lot more optimistic about the new Bandai VF-1 if they were charging about $100 more for it. At the current price point, I'm doubtful they can achieve the level of quality that I want.

Here's another example of the aileron getting accidentally knocked out, apparently during casual use. I realize this is obviously a test shot and they will hopefully improve tolerances for the final product, but given that this has happened twice in promotional shots, it doesn't bode well for how things will turn out for the rest of us. And speaking of fragile, obnoxious gimmicks left over from the Yamato 1/48, it looks like the nose cone will still open. Although at least it won't be detachable:

Other useless gimmicks I could skip: opening airbrake (again, flimsy and easy to pop off on Yamato 1/48), opening nose cone. I want something rugged that holds up to play. I guess the Yamato 1/60s were better in that regard than the 1/48. Thank god for my old Bandai 1/55.

Good point. My concern is principally with the toy's playability, rather than its accuracy, but your analysis shows that there's even less reason to compromise the toy's durability.

Did anyone notice that in the official promotional video, the toy's designer managed to knock out one of the connectors on the adjustable aileron on the right wing? I had the same problem with the Yamato 1/48. The wing flaps were just held in by tiny pegs, which made it easy to knock out during handling. Eventually, one of the pegs broke entirely, and I had to glue the flap in. I am disappointed to see that Bandai has not improved on this situation. (I'd consider omitting the adjustable flaps entirely, as in the Yamato 1/60 v2, to be an adequate solution.)

Hi there. I apologize in advance for this long post. This is also my first post on this board, so I apologize if I'm breaking some rules; please let me know. I'd like to let you know about the quality problems I've had with my 1/48 scale Yamato VF-1A AngelBirds Valkyrie. This was my first Valkyrie, in fact my first toy from Yamato, and my first Macross toy of any kind, unless you cound Transformers Jetfire when I was kid. I had considered getting one for a long time, and had mainly admired them from afar, but had heard nothing but praise for them (largely on this forum). It is a generally well-designed toy, but since I got it, it seems everything has been breaking. This may be my fault: I am the sort of person who actually plays with his toys, and I transform it usually at least once a day. I handle it respectfully, of course, but that hasn't stopped some damage. Most of the problems I fixed myself with the creative application of Crazy Glue, but the "straw that broke the camel's back" was when one of the pins holding the heatshield on broke. I can't Crazy Glue the heatshield, because that type of plastic doesn't react well with Crazy Glue. I wrote a letter to Yamato USA, who, of course, couldn't help me, and they suggested that I come here. So I am. Below is the letter I wrote to Yamato USA in full, including the list of things that broke. Take this for what it's worth. I'd be interested in your (collective) opinion on this. Did I get an exceptional, incorrectly assembled product? Are they all like this? Should I stop playing with it? And of course I'd be grateful if anyone could help me resolve my two remaining problems (described at the end of the letter). To whom it may concern, I recently purchased one of your company's 1/48 scale Macross VF-1A AngelBirds, based partly on their reputation for being high-quality toys and partly on my own deep interest in transforming robot toys. This was the first toy I've bought from your company, and for the most part, I was pleased: this is an indeed a masterfully designed toy, far more elegant and thoughtful than the transforming robot toys commercially available in this country. Although I am an adult who handles his toys with care and respect, there were some issues of quality with this particular toy. While unfortunate, I was able to resolve most of them myself (usually with the help of Crazy Glue). I would ask for your help and advice in resolving the remaining issues. Although I am aware that my situation is somewhat unusual, in that I did not buy this toy through the usual retail channels, but through an importer specializing in providing Japanese toys to an American audience, I hope that this will not be a problem in getting technical support for your company. Here are the issues that I've resolved: Pin holding swing bar into cavity below cockpit broke, resulting in unstable robot mode. Solution: Crazy Glue. Rubber pads escaping from hip ball-and-socket joint. Solution: disassemble hip assembly, reseat rubber pad. Small fins on either side of cockpit come unglued. Solution: Crazy Glue. Ratched hip joint, behind air intake (gray components of R-L2) unglued and popped out, resulting in de-ratcheting of leg. Solution: partial disassembly of leg and crazy glue. Tranlucent red plastic "light" on left leg piece L-L9 fell out fell out at first touch. Solution: Crazy Glue. Metal pin assembly connected BD1 to BC1 came disconnected, resulting in chest piece partially hanging off. Probably incorrectly assembled. Solution: unscrew plastic pin fastener piece on BC1, re-insert pin into metal socket (with significant use of force), and rescrew fastner piece. Rear end of gun pod becomes unglued, resulting in gunpod falling apart. Solution: Crazy Glue. Tiny "fin" BP10 on backpack falls out during transformation. This is probably not so much a manufacturing error, but a design error, since there doesn't seem to be much holding the piece in place. Solution: using Crazy Glue, applied a small plastic cover to BP10 keeping it in place without impeding movement. Back of left hand L-A5 fell of, resulting in the fingers falling out as well. Solution: Crazy Glue. Floppy airbreak on BC1. Solution: clear nail polish applied to joint. And here are the problems that I have not yet resolved: Tow hook BD8 on front landing gear falls off. Solution: none yet. Pin broke off heatshield, heat shield no longer connects. Crazy Glue does not work on heat shield. Solution: none yet. The second of these unresolved problems is the most distressing to me, since the design of the retracting heatshield is brilliant and one of my favorite parts of the toy. Since I can't repair it myself, the only solution may be to somehow acquire a replacement heatshield. Any assistance that you can provide in this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and have a nice day. Sincerely, <my real name>