Arcadia YF-19 coming in 2014

[no3Ljm]

these battroid pictures look real good. but jealous bc i don't have mine in battroid, i'm still waiting for a video. is there a safe way to not scratch the paint in transforming it especially the blacks by the cockpit? hope a vid will demonstrate

There's no way those black paint will not scratch at the back when it transformed. It tends to wiggle first while you transform it. But it will lock itself once the transforming is done. I'm assuming in order not to scratch those is we have to sand a little bit those contact parts from the back panel (along the back area of the nect/head where the cockpit rests), like the edges to make it smooth.

I already scratched mine unintentionally. It's not a major scratch though. At least it's just a small line when I checked it. Hope that helps.

Does anyone tried to pull the ankle joints a little bit more than what we see from the photos? I did it accidentally when I was trying to pull to expose the feet. It looks a little bit awkward since it really exposes the ankle joints. But is that how it is to extend the legs more? Good thing it didn't lock itself so I push it back again to normal extension.

*what a relief*

[Loop]

Harder to perform on camera.

That's what she said...

I was wondering what happened to the video after you announced it the other night.

Edited April 7, 2014 by Loop

[aaajin]

The weight kind of worries me if it topples down. some of the "fragile" joints like the ones of the wing roots could possibly be damaged if the whole weight of the valk is sitting on it.

The metal joints on the wings are starting to become less tight after playing with it for a couple of times (pls no "thats what she - or in this case, 'I' said" joke here )...hopefully it wont become loose anytime soon.

By far its the best yf-19 representative in toy form, but areas like the wings need extra care when handling. I suppose Arcadia/Mr K couldve made a video (minus voice) on their website to show proper handling/transformation. Shouldnt be that hard for the designers...

Edited April 7, 2014 by aaajin

[Pedro2k6]

This is a great bird.....but damn, this fast pack has to be the worst ever. ....that my only cons.....besida that i repeat this is a GREAT BIRD.

[Newtype78]

I received mine from HLJ just before I had to go to work. It didn't have any QC issues upon initial inspection. I removed it from the box and had a few minutes to check fighter mode. So far so good. Hopefully I won't discover a major issue when I fully inspect and transform It later.

[ChaoticYeti]

This is a great bird.....but damn, this fast pack has to be the worst ever. ....that my only cons.....besida that i repeat this is a GREAT BIRD.

Cons:

-High speed mode has too big of a sacrafice.

-Leg fast packs should clip on better, perhaps magnets.

-Gunpod is missing vents on the upper receiver.

-Ankles.

-Ankles..

-Ankles...

Other than that though, it is pretty nifty.

[Kurisama]

Kurisama, you can be made hard points for the old YF-19?

Possibly - but I have not got an old '19 to measure and whatnot - also in the process of moving interstate. Perhaps in a month or two?

[Kanedas Bike]

Cons:

-High speed mode has too big of a sacrafice.

-Leg fast packs should clip on better, perhaps magnets.

-Gunpod is missing vents on the upper receiver.

-Ankles.

-Ankles..

-Ankles...

Other than that though, it is pretty nifty.

Very much agree with those for the most part (High Speed mode is cool, but if the design of that came at the expense of better Fast Pack attachments or another possible design innovation then yeah).

While I haven't transferred transformed mine yet but I did fiddle with the ankles just to see what all of the fuss was about and I can absolutely see how those ball joints can and will become loose ( ).

Still a very nice bird, just a "thing" here or there could have made it great.

-b.

*edit for spelling and grammar

Edited April 8, 2014 by Kanedas Bike

[ChaoticYeti]

Very much agree with those for the most part (High Speed mode is cool, but if the design of that came at the expense of better Fast Pack attachments or another possible design innovation then yeah).

While I haven't transferred mine yet I did fiddle with the ankles just to see what all of the fuss was about and I can absolutely see how those ball joints can and will become loose ( ).

Still a very nice bird, just a "thing" here or there could have made it great.

-b.

Exaclty. I don't feel cheated. Just a little let down by how close it comes to being perfect.

[Mommar]

So essentially they added on several new problems and didn't fix the GIANT problem the old 19's have.

[Scream Man]

i dunno, i always thought the main problems with the last were the gullet, super long legs at the hip and the torso not locking in Battroid. They fixed all those.

My ankles see OK, I dunno what Im doing differently to you guys...

[Mommar]

i dunno, i always thought the main problems with the last were the gullet, super long legs at the hip and the torso not locking in Battroid. They fixed all those.

My ankles see OK, I dunno what Im doing differently to you guys...

VF-19 already fixed those problems.

[Kanedas Bike]

i dunno, i always thought the main problems with the last were the gullet, super long legs at the hip and the torso not locking in Battroid. They fixed all those.

My ankles see OK, I dunno what Im doing differently to you guys...

For sure, many issues were fixed and improvements made, it's just some design choices seem odd.

You're probably not doing anything differently, I imagine each unit will have varying degree of 'tightness' to the ankles and dependent on use will get loose over time.

-b.

[Swoosh]

There's no way those black paint will not scratch at the back when it transformed. It tends to wiggle first while you transform it. But it will lock itself once the transforming is done. I'm assuming in order not to scratch those is we have to sand a little bit those contact parts from the back panel (along the back area of the nect/head where the cockpit rests), like the edges to make it smooth.

I already scratched mine unintentionally. It's not a major scratch though. At least it's just a small line when I checked it. Hope that helps.

Does anyone tried to pull the ankle joints a little bit more than what we see from the photos? I did it accidentally when I was trying to pull to expose the feet. It looks a little bit awkward since it really exposes the ankle joints. But is that how it is to extend the legs more? Good thing it didn't lock itself so I push it back again to normal extension.

*what a relief*

I sanded mine before I transform it, but it still scratched a very tiny spot, not very noticeable, average dusts is bigger than it.

[Chronocidal]

Yeah, the ankles were really the only problem the VF-19 series had, aside from the skin-slashingly thin wings on the F and S.

Just picked up my pair from HLJ, opened one, and glanced at the other to see all the pieces were there. Opened one looks like it's in good shape so far, but it's interesting seeing the kinds of changes they made between designs.

Specifically, they made an interesting change to the way the wing gloves swing out from the intakes, and I don't really care for it, or understand it. They redesigned the sleeves so that the wing gloves cannot rotate outwards until you lift them away from the intakes.

This causes.. well, two problems, but they're really the same problem in two different directions. First, moving out of fighter, they are a royal pain in the ass to get loose from the hips. Because of how everything interlocks, they can't just be pulled out, and folded down... The insets for the laser barrels in the roots are so deep, it's difficult to get the corresponding tabs on the back of the intake portions to come out.

Similarly, on going back to fighter from battroid, rotating the wing gloves into position is a pain, because you can't rotate them freely unless you extend those pivots.. which of course, means none of the tabs anywhere will line up, and you can't push the chest back into position.

It's kind of a messy thing, and I really don't know why that change was made in the first place, since it was never a problem on the VF-19s.

The way i found around it was basically to actually rotate the intakes a little inward, pulling the feet closer together, which seems to help get the wing gloves loose from the little plate that locks into them. It's kind of a mess honestly.

Feet on mine are a little loose, but they won't spend much time pulled out anyway.

Aside from that, it's gorgeous. Also, on the positive side, the shoulders latch down nicely, but are nowhere near as difficult to lift as they are on the VF-19s. At various points, I've resorted to using plastic spoons to pry those things up, and they sometimes broke before the shoulders lifted.

Btw, I couldn't resist trying it out of curiosity, but no, the Bandai armor pack wings don't fit like the super packs. You can kind of wedge them on if you rotate the wings back, and slip them in between the clips, but the notches on the wing gloves don't line up well enough to hold them on.

Edit: Oh, also, I was able to get the canopy to stay open just fine without actually dropping the nose. The trick is lifting the canopy out a little, pressing the anti-glare panel down all the way, and then pressing the canopy back in. There's a slot for the anti-glare panel's little tab to pop through the cockpit, but it won't go all the way down unless you lift the canopy hinge out of its slot a little.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Chronocidal

[SaitouSad]

not exactly, YF.. but the VF-19 was announced by Arcadia.

Also I got my YF-19 early last week, but was too busy with the birth of my daughter to give it a run though.

Transformed it to all 3 modes and back, and was fairly satisfied. Most of the points brought up did happen to me though, such as the loose ankles after posing it in Gerwalk. While it can still stand in either modes, it's quite disappointing that it became loose so fast. No more 1 legged Battroid poses for me I guess.

The wing hinges were surprisingly tight, though the joint on the wing which lets it swing back became a little too loose (it moves too easily when touched, but will sit still otherwise).


Other than these issues, the whole Valk was very satisfying. The remaining joints were so tight, and the amount of added articulation on this was great!

Sorry to hear about the broken wing issue (email inbox got flooded with easily 4-500 replies from this thread). I can see why it broke though. The tip of the wings are very thin, and do feel like they could break if enough force was applied (i.e. putting the missles on the hardpoints), though I guess it could have been a QC problem or shipping problem. Kinda glad I got a 2nd one in my HLH PW, which I will keep permanently in fighter mode, or sell off if I ever got sick of it.

Will post some quick pics I took while transforming later

[Mommar]

Weren't there already plenty of Kai's floating about out there? Is this going to be a seller?

[Chronocidal]

Actually, I did notice something interesting about the wings, which might have contributed to the breakage. Mine look slightly warped downward at the tips, which makes me wonder if there are locator pins between the layers that are slightly off-set from where they should be. If the wings were forced together without proper alignment, it could definitely stress them, and they might shatter.

[Mommar]

Actually, I did notice something interesting about the wings, which might have contributed to the breakage. Mine look slightly warped downward at the tips, which makes me wonder if there are locator pins between the layers that are slightly off-set from where they should be. If the wings were forced together without proper alignment, it could definitely stress them, and they might shatter.

I can look right inside my wing, there's no locator pins I can detect.

[Shukenzero]

Why did arcadia overlook the vents on the gunpod? It was such an obvious point that didn't require much engineering. Also, the colouring...minor gripes but it means they can go in for a V2...

[GU-11]

Also, the colouring...minor gripes but it means they can go in for a V2...

I didn't buy the V2 so I have no idea how the gun pod looks in person, but from the pics, it looks gray. Maybe not the right tone of gray, but better than olive drab at least.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Someone mentioned the holes would interfere with the collapsing thing or interfere with a gimmick of some sort I remember.

Maybe they should give us two gunpods like how bandai gives two wing sets for himetal?

[xrentonx]

Damn. Usps left me a note so I'll be picking my two 19s on Saturday. I get to sweat it out for another five days

[skullmilitia]

Regardless of the hate...

I think it's perfect.

[Magnus]

Just got it, and it's a pretty bird. The right arm can't really hold the weight of the gunpod, and there's the issue with the ankles that's of concern, but apart from that i'm pretty happy (however the metal hip bar is incredibly frustrating).

[abbadon]

I just got mine today. I'm liking it so far. Hope nothing breaks.

[Shukenzero]

Regardless of the hate...

I think it's perfect.

Minor gripes for me. Still think it's hot sh*t!

[Newtype78]

After having the chance to examine the YF-19 more thoroughly and transform it a couple of times, I'm happy to say I seem to have an issue free unit. All the joints are tight but not overly so.

I do like some of the unique points of transformation such as the way the LERX components reconfigure in Battroid mode.

I was hoping for more innovation in design deviation from the Yamato VF-19 family of toys. On one hand, one could definitely say that it's difficult to improve upon such a good design of the VF-19 toys. On the other hand, something like the re-use of the ankle design is a significant missed opportunity to improve upon the VF-19 toy base design.

While I like the idea of including a plethora of missiles, I would rather omit them but keep the FAST Pack parts and have the MSRP less than $300. The option to have a fold booster or a FAST Pack arm armament unit would be preferable as well.

[Loop]

Regardless of the hate...

I think it's perfect.

The shield it upside down

[Scyla]

In the image skullmilita posted is the wing drooping by itself out of the wing glove or is it not aligned perfectly to begin with. The left wing of the YF-19 that is.

[SaitouSad]

Quick pics as promised.
Did not take any in fighter mode, because there's plenty of that already.
Gerwalk fans should be pleased at the angle it could go. But doing so could loosen your ankle joint. It happened with mine
This made it relatively hard to get it in any poses to make it stand on 1 foot.

Still, it could stand fine on its own though. Needa find a way to tighten that ankle joint... everything else is so tight.

I really love the Battroid mode on this. Still my favourite design.

My one other gripe aside from loosening wing joints (it's not that bad, because the mid joint and the joint that's attached to the main storage compartment are really tight) and the ankles, would be how difficult it is to get it back into fighter mode. Kinda felt like I had to force the joint in. Especially the entire wings assembly. Much harder than a DX Chogokin.

[Silverstreak]

Quick question as I've decided to get this:

I usually buy stuff like this from HLJ, but am a bit cautious given the issues that people have had with returns/exchanges from Amiami. How are HLJ to deal with if it goes pear shaped?

[Reïvaj]

Quick question as I've decided to get this:

I usually buy stuff like this from HLJ, but am a bit cautious given the issues that people have had with returns/exchanges from Amiami. How are HLJ to deal with if it goes pear shaped?

They're simply the best.

[Sebastian]

Got mine... no complains on the toy. GREAT piece.

Still missing some water decals, but aside of that, it is AWSOME!

[HG Blows]

Well I finally got around to transforming mine, same loose right arm and loose ankles that a lot of other people are reporting. One of the thigh joints was super tight as well, I thought I was going to break it trying to straighten the leg. Still, looks very pretty.