Official Bandai 1/60 Scale DX Toy Thread Ver.5

[UN Spacy]

Wizatars review is up for the VF-25 Micheal and the fast packs.

You're about five days late.

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...st&p=737527

[Hikaroso]

Has anybody gotten their hands on a restock Alto?

[logos]

You're about five days late.

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...st&p=737527

poo I usually pay attention to this thread, can't believe I missed it.

[rikiryou]

HLJ sent me a replacement Alto a week or two ago - but it doesn't look like the re-issue. Hands still weren't glued together although the Super pack fitted on fine.

BTW, is it just me or are the backpack/wing boosters really crappy at clipping on at the top i.e. the round stub that looks broken off for some reason. I thought it was actually broken when I got my Michel one, then the Alto Super pack came in and it's the same. O_o

[MacrossJunkie]

HLJ sent me a replacement Alto a week or two ago - but it doesn't look like the re-issue. Hands still weren't glued together although the Super pack fitted on fine.

BTW, is it just me or are the backpack/wing boosters really crappy at clipping on at the top i.e. the round stub that looks broken off for some reason. I thought it was actually broken when I got my Michel one, then the Alto Super pack came in and it's the same. O_o

Have a look at page 2 for some suggestions others have posted regarding attaching the wing boosters. When done right, it shouldn't wiggle around at all. It may still be kind of weak, but you would be able to tell the difference regardless.

[todd77]

HLJ sent me a replacement Alto a week or two ago - but it doesn't look like the re-issue. Hands still weren't glued together although the Super pack fitted on fine.

BTW, is it just me or are the backpack/wing boosters really crappy at clipping on at the top i.e. the round stub that looks broken off for some reason. I thought it was actually broken when I got my Michel one, then the Alto Super pack came in and it's the same. O_o

If you want a tighter fit (not by much though since it still pops out rather easily), try placing your index finger on the "spike" at the wings and then pushing the booster towards the spike with your thumb. There should be a tiny pop or click, suggesting that the booster has clipped on properly. This "toe-in" effect, as some have suggested, allows a more secure fit and the tail fins won't get in the way of the rear verniers.

[promethuem5]

I'm still waiting for my Restock Alto from BBTS... if HLJ finally got them, hopefully I'll see mine soon.

[Salamander]

Can't be bothered to re-write my TBDX review, so here:

I just retrieved my RVF-25 from the post office, and either people here are really unlucky, or they should fiddle a bit more with their VF-25's and perhaps read/look at the instructions a bit better. Or I got really lucky...

The bad points:

- Trolley cart landing gear. Could have been about 0.5 cm longer. I had some real trouble getting them to fold out, as my fingers were almost too large to reach the tab to pull them out (and I have *small* fingers) and they are kinda stiff.

- The $%$%^^%&^ transformation to Battroid mode. Way too fiddly to get things right inside the chest while the torso was also flopping around at that point. If it was 1/55 or 1/48 scale it would have been better.

- The ball joints that the shoulder missile pods attach with. I think Bandai should have used pegs here instead. The fit is kinda tight with the balljoints, and the balljoints are tiny. Scary.

- Floppy waist joint. Why use a plastic ball joint at that point, Bandai? Also, one of the ankle joints is a bit loose when fully extended.

- Knife storage non-existent.

- Some joints could have used a larger motion range, especially the hips and elbows.

Minor bad point:

- The Goddamn Trays that contain the stand and armour parts. Hard to open without spraying parts all over the room.

The contentious points (aka "tips"):

- Getting the wings to lock in in fighter mode. This requires you to push the legs up, as they tend to sag down and then the peg and hole go out of alignment.

- Getting the landing gears to lock in fighter mode. Just push them in further until they 'click'.

- Getting the crotch to stay together/lock in (notice a pattern?). If you use the waist joint, the tab holding the crotch together tend to pop out and then go out of alignment. So don't use the waist joint, then re-align the crotch tab (that sounds dirty) and pop it in the connector (that sounds worse - Valk self-gratification, anyone?).

- Getting the (lower leg/upper leg/crotch/chest/back/shield) armor to attach properly. Just make sure you look well at the pictures on the box/in the instructions, 'click' everything into place, and it should hold. Yes, including the upper leg armor that is said to pop off easily - I can tug on mine and it stays put. It may help to first pop in the lower tabs/pegs and then the upper (on all parts mentioned).

- Getting the Fast Packs to lock (really, all the same subject - can't be a coincidence, can it?). Slide them onto the wing near the wing root (wing extended, tail fin extended), then slide them inwards a bit until they 'click' onto the wing root. Fold the tail fin down, and fold the wing back.

- General advice: before screaming "IT IS LOOSE", be sure you put things together right and made them 'click' together.

The color:

- Frankly, I couldn't see a difference until I looked really well under natural light. There's a small difference under artificial light that seems to be entirely due to some parts being glossier than others. Maybe I got lucky...

The good:

- Shoulders are equally tight in the balljoint, perhaps a bit too tight in the metal hinge joints

- No paint/tampo-print rubbing/flaking. Dry, non-sweaty/greasy/dirty with chemicals like alcohol hands help.

- Oooooh! It can stand ON MY CARPET with no stand and full armour in BATTROID mode!

- Hands fit tight yet are easy to remove.

- The RADOME. THE RADOME. *drool*

- The armour. *drool*

- The general finishing. Nice, smooth, sharp. Nearly zero badly painted bits (a 0.5 square mm areas was rough near one of the wing roots).

- The diecast. Could in fact be increased IMHO.

- The additional hands

- The box. Mmmmm, styrofoam. Compact, and yet a nice presentation. No window through which the toy can yellow.

- No major QC problems like every single Yamato Valk has.

- Modern Chogokin Bandai Valk. Nuff said.

Of course, being a collector's toy, it is not fit to zoom across the room with all armour bits attached like I did when aged five, as that will lead to certain breakage (it did too on some of my childhood toys - G1 Bruticus, sorry I accidentally ripped your arm off while battling Computron (Lightspeed lost his head, too)...)

[Jasonc]

Finally got my Michel today, and it's nice. I don't have any complaints regarding the armor holding secure. My one complaint is that stupid lock for the torso is very weak. a problem I didn't have with the Ozma or Alto. Other than that, it's pretty bad ass. I'm liking the sniper rifle. That thing just looks menacing when extended.

[jenius]

Finally got my Luca review up. Click here to go there, sample pic below:

[drifand]

Here's Luca in a desperate fight to the finish... armor half blown off, no gunpod... KNIFE FIGHT!!!

[drifand]

And just a gentle reminder: stock toy in Gerwalk ain't half bad. You just need to PLAY with it a bit, you know? Don't worry, it won't break. :-)

[edwin3060]

Great review Jenius! Are you ordering 3 Ghosts through Overdrive as well?

[UN Spacy]

Great review jenius.

Is the final score out of 40 or 50?

[Ivan]

Does anyone know if Bandai is still going to reissue the VF-25S (Ozma) stand alone version or has it been cancelled due to the release of the full armored version? Thx.

[eriku]

Excellent pics as always Drifand. Your photos always seem to say more than any review can.

[tank]

I'm wondering if it is possible for bandai to team up with yamato and ask yamato to make the line. under bandai may the line be called project B.Y like what bandai does with medicom, on their line of project B.M 1/6 figures.

[jenius]

Great review jenius.

Is the final score out of 40 or 50?

OOps, typo, fixed to 50.

[eugimon]

Excellent pics as always Drifand. Your photos always seem to say more than any review can.

Yup, Drifand's pics fill me with more DX lust than anything I've seen or read elsewhere.

[Hikuro]

Seriously just feels like the super packs were a real afterthought for the DX in comparison with the 1/72 line...I don't know why they did what they did but the weakest point of those packs were the thigh covers, they're so damn flimsy and they just fall right off with the slightest of touch. Just irks me off. I took the packs off my Micheal and just keeping him barebones for right now.

[miriya]

How does one obtain a Sound blasters speaker and ranka accessory kit for Michael for the 1/60 DX toy?

[mpchi]

Just got my Alto Fast Pack last night. Took a little while to put them all on, and pretty much has similar issues with most people. Most parts fits on nice and snug, except the hip armor and boosters. The boosters are not loose, but I can see it get looser if I put it on and off more frequent. The hip pieces catch good, but pops off a bit too easy because the hooks on it to catch the grooves/holes on the hip is very shallow. Added a piece of double sided foam tape in each and they get stuck pretty good.

Mine has some paint flaws, mostly a smudged paint spot and some tiny chips, but livable. The markings are very clean. While the parts attach snug in most case, it does add a lot more weight on the valk and made the figure less handle friendly. But it does look darn good. Just too bad the new chunky is slowly turning into a less playable piece with the add-ons.

My Alto'c crotch connection was decently tight and gives a nice click everytime. But now with the armor added, the additional weight (wing boosters especially) is adding a toll on it, causing it to pop much easier than without Fast Pack. So for people that like displaying the valk in battroid mode, using that provided display stand may not be a bad idea. It supports the figure from the bottom of the cockpit block, lessening the weight on the crotch connector peg a lot. Might minimize premature wear on it, and make it a lot easier to grab the figure by the stand. And seeing how they designed the stand to give extra support in different modes (gerwalk especially), it looks like the super vf-25 is really meant to go with the stand, while hard to offset the weight issue on its own.

Edited April 20, 2009 by mpchi

[edwin3060]

How does one obtain a Sound blasters speaker and ranka accessory kit for Michael for the 1/60 DX toy?

Overdrive will be ordering them eventually. Or you can try Tokyohunter. Both offer great service

Comments for my Alto Super parts:

1) The wing boosters definitely lock into position with a click-- and they will be clear of the fins and won't sag in battroid after that. You just have to use your index finger and thumb to push the booster against the wing spike until you hear the click.

2) The crotchpiece can also definitely be attached in fighter mode-- but the clip for it impinges a little with the piece connecting the crotch to the fuselage so the alignment will be a little off-- but the legs etc can all still be aligned properly.

3) The intake armour is an irritant, it is looser than Yamato's VF-0 fast packs and definitely interferes everytime you handle the toy. Some blu-tack may solve the issue, but I'm afraid that the blu-tack will strip paint off the metal intake However the armour pieces cover up the ugly front part of the intake so I'm gonna leave it on.

4) With the Super parts on, the wing roots are no longer angled upwards, which is good, but the wings themselves are still curved, which is bad. I really don't see why Bandai couldn't have moulded the wings as one flat piece.

Overall, the DX Alto should definitely have come with Super parts like Luca or Michael-- it's the configuration he flies with most often in the show, and the DX toy's flaws are mostly covered up with the Super parts.

[waverider]

Me Likey Bandai Valks!

[Salamander]

I'm wondering if it is possible for bandai to team up with yamato and ask yamato to make the line. under bandai may the line be called project B.Y like what bandai does with medicom, on their line of project B.M 1/6 figures.

Dear God No.

I can see the complaints about broken crotch connectors already, where the connector cracks and breaks in two pieces. Not to mention that the miniature pegs for attaching the upper leg armour will also break, since they are too flimsy to survive repeated insertion. And then the boosters will fit on fine, but the ultra-thin wing-root hinge will crack after 2 months.

Then after 5 years and two 5,000 yen price increases we finally have a perfect rendition of the VF-25, and the shoulders still desintegrate if you twist them the wrong way - or in fact just leave the thing standing on your shelf.

Of course, I bet Bandai would be perfectly happy with the additional money flow caused by the sales of spare parts.

They might be slightly less happy when some collector's kid pokes out one of his eyes on the broken off shoulder of his Ver.3.5 1/60 Really Absolutely Perfect But For That One Little Thing But That's Now Canon Dixit Kawamori-San Transformable VF-25...

[eriku]

Dear God No.

What, you don't want your VF-25 toy packaged in a box roughly the size of an average American sedan?

I hope Yamato can make Frontier toys in the future just because I'm curious what they would be like. I don't know how interested I'd be in buying one because Bandai's Frontier toys are pretty close to 100% of what I want a toy to be.

[ff95gj]

What, you don't want your VF-25 toy packaged in a box roughly the size of an average American sedan?

I hope Yamato can make Frontier toys in the future just because I'm curious what they would be like. I don't know how interested I'd be in buying one because Bandai's Frontier toys are pretty close to 100% of what I want a toy to be.

I respect people with different preferences.

I suppose Yamato would come up with something more lineart accurate. Less durable (the current 1/60 v2 is durable enough for me) maybe, but more pleasant to look at.

I don't "play" toys now, and I want poseable nice-looking units for display. So I like the Yamato way better.

[mpchi]

1) The wing boosters definitely lock into position with a click-- and they will be clear of the fins and won't sag in battroid after that. You just have to use your index finger and thumb to push the booster against the wing spike until you hear the click.

This trick sure works, after taking some time figuring out the 'clicking sweet spot'. I am not really sure if the toy was designed to have this click, since all the promo pics, ads, magazine article pics I've seen all don't tend to get this part right, you can see it from the wing connection and the tail fin overlapping the burner. Nor was it mentioned in the instruction sheet. Seems like its like the locking neck/chest tilt that works, but not sure if intended. As I realized with the locking chest/neck tilt, while it makes the torso more stable, it doesn't have enough clearance to angle (45 degree) the shoulder missile pods between the space of the shoulder and the wing booster. So need to position the missile pods pretty straight instead.

Edited April 20, 2009 by mpchi

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

I suppose Yamato would come up with something more lineart accurate. Less durable (the current 1/60 v2 is durable enough for me) maybe, but more pleasant to look at.

If it looked good AND was very durable it would be a toy I'd like to buy eventually. Yamato has shown that they can do both, it's just in some cases, you usually get one over the other(for example the new 1/60 VF-1 is very very pleasant to look at, and very durable, but has the hinge problem. The YF-21 and Nora SV-51 look phenomenal and managed to be released with very few breakage reports). So they can certainly make something accurate and very durable(let's not forget the 1/48), the question is, why do they overlook durability at times? I don't prefer looks over durability, when I know Yamato has proven that they can do both with the complex 21 and 51.

I don't "play" toys now, and I want poseable nice-looking units for display. So I like the Yamato way better.

That's perfectly understandable, it's just that no one, including fans who leave stuff on dispay or guys like me who pay with the toys(not manhandling or being rough with them), likes seeing a toy break especially when every other part on the toy is durable. I understand wanting to have a consistent flow of new product to shelves and sticking to schedule, but I would not mind waiting until all the problems were fixed. It's not like Yamato is a company that makes you wait more than 2 years for a toy only to see it constantly delayed and ultimately disappointing.

Anyways I look forward to the Armored Messiah in June. I am very excited for that, and still hold hope that a Alto Super Messiah is eventually released as a bundle with added fixes, such as armor that fits better.

Edited April 20, 2009 by Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0

[eugimon]

Oh god, less bitching about yamato and more mecha porn please.

[thankheaven]

I respect people with different preferences.

I suppose Yamato would come up with something more lineart accurate. Less durable (the current 1/60 v2 is durable enough for me) maybe, but more pleasant to look at.

I don't "play" toys now, and I want poseable nice-looking units for display. So I like the Yamato way better.

Thats how i feel too. Im more of a display oriented collector and don't "play" so much with them so 100% solid isn't a must for me, i rather have near perfect looks in my own opinion.

I have never had a single one of my 10 Yamatos break or damage but i can understand people who do have problems its not pleasant on a $150-200 toy.

I will eventually get a DX, i'll just wait a while and see if Bandai makes some refinements and just pick the version thats been perfected the most in the looks department.

Make it a little slimmer overal, have the legs sit higher in fightermode, redo the hip placement and give it better and longer landing gear ( I don't care if they have to be detached in order to do that) and its a done deal for me. And perhaps a few magnets on the armor pieces that are too loose.

Edited April 20, 2009 by thankheaven

[todd77]

Anime-Export already has the Ghost and Fold sets up for pre-order, if anyone's interested. Like Overdrive, you'll have to pay in advance though.

[mpchi]

Oh god, less bitching about yamato and more mecha porn please.

There you go. How about a quick photochop?

[MacrossJunkie]

Yeah, I saw that and then I saw the price and thought wtf?

The price of these stupid sets are even higher than the price of a 1/60 vf-1 or destroid and close to the price of an alto VF-25 as well... and that's not even considering the regular price. Even the 1/48 GBP armor cost me less than that when it first came out and you got a lot more for your money than what you get in these sets.

I would have liked to get a ghost, but at those retarded prices, I can easily do without.

It's too bad we can't even submit our RVF or 25G coupons for the discount.

Edited April 21, 2009 by MacrossJunkie

[edwin3060]

Well I kinda lucked out-- I ordered from the second batch of VF-25G/RVF-25 from Overdrive, and asked them if they could use the coupons to order my fold boosters/ghosts-- and they can, provided you allow them to open up the box and take out the coupons. They haven't asked me for payment yet as well-- I think they are waiting until the web orders come online!