Bandai DX Chogokin 1/48 VF-1

[eggy99]

25 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

 Would you guys prefer the added details that YamArcadia have on their neck cover option part? I don't have mine yet, but after I checked back the photos in the Tamashii site, I noticed that there's not enough detail on it that suggests that there should be a door somehow for the pilot to release.

 

Maybe they are saving that feature update for the 1D with raised pilot seats option parts.

I can’t recall another time in the TV series we see that feature used except in the 1D. 

[HardlyNever]

2 minutes ago, eggy99 said:

Maybe they are saving that feature update for the 1D with raised pilot seats option parts.

I can’t recall another time in the TV series we see that feature used except in the 1D. 

In the "Miss Macross" episode, Hikaru gets in the GBP vf-1j with the battroid-seat thing.  I feel like it makes an appearance somewhere after episode 27, as well, but I'm not sure.

[eggy99]

5 minutes ago, HardlyNever said:

In the "Miss Macross" episode, Hikaru gets in the GBP vf-1j with the battroid-seat thing.  I feel like it makes an appearance somewhere after episode 27, as well, but I'm not sure.

TWE seat option part to go with with GBP release. 

[seti88]

Wow so many awesome pics posted...moar?....

 

[jenius]

So someone definitely got the pilot size wrong... but if Yamato got it right with their V2... then it looks like the DX is probably right also and the  Yamato 1/48 was way too big...

Edited January 6, 2019 by jenius

[Chronocidal]

The DX doesn't look any bigger than the 1/60 Yamato pilot though, it just looks like it's positioned differently, leaning back instead of hunched forward.  It actually looks smaller overall, because everything is slimmer, and the head is a whole lot smaller.

When I get mine, I'll have to dig out some 1/48 pilot figures to compare to.

I think the real test will be to see what sort of figure Bandai puts in a DYRL version.  The Yamato/DX comparison is roughly on par with the Hi-Metal DYRL/TV comparison.  I know Bandai seems to love adhering to how the animation appeared, but they'd do well to ignore things that are so obviously wrong.

Edited January 6, 2019 by Chronocidal

[no3Ljm]

2 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Don't care for it.

I would have preferred "neck parts"...or some better execution/design.

I have had it for a few days now and find the detachable leg "gimmick" really annoying/dissapointing.  I really cannot think of it as an improvement over the Yamato...unless you are comparing it to the Yamato V1 where both legs detached separately.

In all, I see this DX as a moderate improvement over the Yamato 1/48 , rather than the Yamato V2.  By no means is it a giant leap forward in VF-1 toy design.  This definitely not the "ultimate" VF-1 we were waiting for.  Maybe in another 5-10 years?

With that said, it doeslooks great in all 3 modes, but that detachable leg gimmick, to me, leaves me feeling like something better can be done...perhaps it really does need to be in that 1/35 scale they teased to be able to accomplish "ultimate" status.

I honestly hope that if Bandai ever "downscales" this DX to more of a 1/60....that they drop the detachable leg gimmick, seems more of a headache than what you get out of it.

Thanks JVM! Really appreciate your honesty. Let's drink to the next incarnation for the 'ultimate' VF-1J.

2 hours ago, NeoMatter said:

There's really no detail back there. However, it does give a small semblance that the hatch is there (if you knew there was one there in the first place). Doesn't bother me as I don't look back there anyways. 

2 hours ago, eggy99 said:

Maybe they are saving that feature update for the 1D with raised pilot seats option parts.

I can’t recall another time in the TV series we see that feature used except in the 1D. 

2 hours ago, HardlyNever said:

In the "Miss Macross" episode, Hikaru gets in the GBP vf-1j with the battroid-seat thing.  I feel like it makes an appearance somewhere after episode 27, as well, but I'm not sure.

1 hour ago, eggy99 said:

TWE seat option part to go with with GBP release. 

Thanks guys! Now I have to make sure that I'm not going to look at the back part.  

 

[davidwhangchoi]

3 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Don't care for it.

I would have preferred "neck parts"...or some better execution/design.

I have had it for a few days now and find the detachable leg "gimmick" really annoying/disappointing.  I really cannot think of it as an improvement over the Yamato...unless you are comparing it to the Yamato V1 where both legs detached separately.

In all, I see this DX as a moderate improvement over the Yamato 1/48 , rather than the Yamato V2.  By no means is it a giant leap forward in VF-1 toy design.  This definitely not the "ultimate" VF-1 we were waiting for.  Maybe in another 5-10 years?

With that said, it does looks great in all 3 modes, but that detachable leg gimmick, to me, leaves me feeling like something better can be done...perhaps it really does need to be in that 1/35 scale they teased to be able to accomplish "ultimate" status.

I honestly hope that if Bandai ever "downscales" this DX to more of a 1/60....that they drop the detachable leg gimmick, seems more of a headache than what you get out of it.

 

+2

[Hikaru1234567890]

Has anyone tried using a 1/48 Hasegawa pilot? I'm curious cause I want to use the DYRL pilot figure with this.

[manfred17]

3 hours ago, jenius said:

So someone definitely got the pilot size wrong... but if Yamato got it right with their V2... then it looks like the DX is probably right also and the  Yamato 1/48 was way too big...

For me the Ikaru DX pilot is a bit skinny.

A little more muscles would be welcome.

[rsvictor1976]

After being stuck in ISC Los Angeles since Jan 2nd, I finally received my VF-1J from Nippon Yasan today. I gotta say, I love the heft and stability on this thing. 

I have a question to those that already received it. In Gerwalk mode, I tried to attach it to base it came with but noticed the adapter doesn't seem to be fit tightly to bottom of the 1J. Am I doing something wrong? Are the two little tabs on the adapter suppose to go directly into into the holes next to the head's laser or just over it? I'm afraid to try inserting the tabs in fear of breaking them off.

In fighter mode, when it's attached to the same base, I can pick up the entire thing, including the base, just by picking up the 1J. But now in Gerwalk mode, the 1J just detaches from the base when I try to pick it up. 

Edit: I'm referring to the regular base it comes with and not the limited edition one.

Edited January 6, 2019 by rsvictor1976

[MacrossMania]

I'm no photographer, so the poses/shots/poor lighting will have to do in place of the truly inspired pics on this MB, but here's a few I took tonight as well as some of my thoughts below.  Maybe some of the hardcore photographers on here can take some of my setups and do a better job.

So my impressions are this: hands down the best valkyrie made, ever.  I know that's a tall order, but true.  First let's get rid of some of what I feel are the misguided criticisms.  Bandai could never design this from scratch because of the momentous leaps and bounds that were made by Takatoku's original design.  Remember, Takatoku virtually created the Transformers market with this design, along with many others, and set the bar high when it comes to elegant but simple transformation.  There's just no other way to put it: there's one and only one way to transform the VF-1J, and that's the design that Kawamori and later Takatoku with the Chunky Monkey originally envisioned it.  To say that the DX VF-1J falls short as a masterpiece because it isn't revolutionary in its engineering misses the point entirely.  Bandai is clearly building on the work of its predecessors, and it was late to the "masterpiece" game in the first place, only seriously entering the market after Yamato blew it wide open with the 1/48's, and so it could only do one thing, use Takatoku's basic design and improve on the slight improvements that Yamato had offered with its own 1/48.

And we also have to remember the fact that Yamato only really "improved" the Takatoku design by making the first serious undertaking of the VF-1J as a high-end collectible.  That was what was truly transformative about it.  It wasn't about reenvisioning the design from the ground up, but taking a beloved toy and launching it in the 21st Century, all dolled up with CGI effects and engineering.  The perfect dream toy, if you will.

Of course the shortcomings of Yamato's 1/48 toys were legion.  They were fragile to handle, would break at a mere glance, and had very little if any die cast.  And while the jet was certainly elegant, the robot mode was clunky and awkward, had a long nosecone, awkward limbs, skinny arms, and ... those hands!

And herein lies the true glory of this masterpiece!  Look at how beautifully designed she is!  The trick, as for any valkyrie, is to make the robot mode believable and anime accurate while at the same time retaining the elegance of the fighter mode.  And the DX nails it.  And that is no easy feat, believe me.  How quickly people forget the shortcomings of the 1/48 in this regard.  Of course the 1/60 V2's were extremely popular, and typified the so-called "perfect" valkyrie design for the time period.  But again, Yamato has always seemed far more concerned with the "masterpiece" side of toy making, at least in my mind obsessing over the real-life version of the toy to the exclusion of the more charming characteristics of its anime counterpart - the hyperbolic poses, the thick, almost Popeye-esque arms and legs, the quirky rabbit-like ears that form a V at the top of its head.  All of that was missing from Yamato's versions, both the 1/48 and the 1/60 V2's.

Moreover, Bandai seems to have learned the lessons from its YF-19/VF-19 outing.  It's left the plane looking sleek and elegant as ever, managing to incorporate the Popeye-esque arms and legs into a compact, yet elegant, fighter mode.  Performing that real-life anime-magic trick where all of the anime characteristics of robot mode disappear in fighter mode, which retains its elegance and beauty.

Unless I'm missing something, this basic fact of the design and sculpt of the DX seems to have been overlooked in previous posts.  I'm only pointing it out because I think the DX VF-1J deserves high praise in this regard.  And the "masterpiece"/high end collectible market, at least when it comes to valkyries, was never about redesigning the transformation, but only about making the best possible rendering of the toy in real life considering design, sculpt, fit and finish.  Yamata's entrance into the market with the 1/48's, and continuing with the 1/60's, was only ever about this strategy in my mind, and Bandai's too.  In that regard, Bandai hits it out of the park.  

With all of that said, it is not perfect.  Despite the far superior fit and finish, the superior die cast and plastic, it still tends toward the fragile in certain areas.  The leg fins (by design) break off, when it probably would have been a better move just to make them a little thicker, smaller, and therefore without the need for a fail-safe detachable hinge.  The valkyrie is simply too big to handle, and the most obvious way to handle any VF-1 is by the legs, behind the wings, which puts your hands right over the fins, flopping them all around.  

The same is true with the tail fins.  I almost broke one of them trying to fold them for the backpack, and I can see that being a problem in the future.  And just generally, while it is certainly elegant to look at on the shelf, much of the plastic on the leading edges of the wings and intakes is extremely thin and not hardy at all.  And the same goes for the ailerons (while a vast improvement over Yamato's, which almost always broke off the wing, I am still very nervous about handling them).  I suppose this is just a natural byproduct of making a high-end collectible, where a "real-life" rendering is prized over sturdy durability as a toy.  But still, it is a shortcoming in my mind, and places the DX VF-1J still firmly in that sphere of Yamato's valkyries which were so often criticized as being nothing more than display pieces.  

I still long for the 1/35, and hold out hope that one day we will get it.  But for now, the DX VF-1J is clearly the champion.  The mother of all valkyries if ever there was one.  It will probably reign supreme for easily the next ten years, and see no serious challengers without a license in the pipeline for a competitor, which I don't see happening given Bandai's dominance in the market and its status as a flagship toy company in Japan, indeed the world.  That leaves the 1/35.  Until then, I will be rabidly collecting all of the permutations of the DX 1/48's I can get my hands on, and consider myself luck to do so.

Edited January 6, 2019 by MacrossMania

[treatment]

uhmm, ok, then.

why do you have the leg-fins folded inwards?

[beatsing]

15 hours ago, sharpnel said:

Just got mine from CD Japan yesterday.  Beautiful bird.  Gonna take mine time to enjoy each mode.

 

Hi,

 

where can I get that chair on top of battroid from?

[CRYO]

22 minutes ago, beatsing said:

Hi,

 

where can I get that chair on top of battroid from?

That chair comes with Yamato/Arcadia 1/60 VF1 that have the deco parts.

 

By the way, this new 1/48 DX VF1J is designed by Bandai with the help from T-Rex, which is the toy design team behind all Yamato and Arcadia VFs, and they also helped all Bandai VFs since VF25 renew version, that’s why Arcadia’s new mold release slowed down to such a pace...

[Sildani]

And the chair is on top of a 1/60 VF-1J. 

[Tekkaman2k5]

On 1/4/2019 at 9:06 AM, Tekkaman2k5 said:

my part to try and fix my leg will be here tomorrow. Will try to fix on sunday!! wish me luck. if not will return to Amazon and hope can snag another one even if have to pay more.

well I cannot get this panel open...already broke one plastic tool that ordered.

[505thAirborne]

 

[davidwhangchoi]

51 minutes ago, Tekkaman2k5 said:

well I cannot get this panel open...already broke one plastic tool that ordered.

yeah, that's the hardest part, as mentioned before, it'll be really tight. you can use something very dense and thin like a razor and get it open but risk scarring the surrounding leg.those tools are meant to got in tight areas without scarring it.

thankfully you have amazon as you mentioned you'll most likely return the defective leg if you can't fix it, 

hope you get it open! i know it took me a while the first time on the arcadia 0A.  

[Tekkaman2k5]

5 minutes ago, davidwhangchoi said:

yeah, that's the hardest part, as mentioned before, it'll be really tight. you can use something very dense and thin like a razor and get it open but risk scarring the surrounding leg.those tools are meant to got in tight areas without scarring it.

thankfully you have amazon as you mentioned you'll most likely return the defective leg if you can't fix it, 

hope you get it open! i know it took me a while the first time on the arcadia 0A.  

just going to go through with returning whole thing back to Amazon japan

[sharpnel]

14 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Looks gorgeous, @sharpnel!  

 

Quick question for those who have it. What do you guys think about the back neck part of the DX version? Would you guys prefer the added details that YamArcadia have on their neck cover option part? I don't have mine yet, but after I checked back the photos in the Tamashii site, I noticed that there's not enough detail on it that suggests that there should be a door somehow for the pilot to release.

Anyways, let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

Thanks.  If Bandai decided include a pilot sitting there it would make sense to have some nice detail neck cover.  As you can see, they did a good job covering the neck area.  I did the transformation last night.  I'm not bother at all about detaching the torso.  I have been collecting Macross from early Yamato to late Arcadia and left for 4 years.  It's refreshing coming back to this.  I love the weight, design improvement and articulation.  

 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2019 by sharpnel

[vlenhoff]

Bandai will release the telescopic chair for this ^ ^ ^ ^

for 40 dollars more.

[Lolicon]

Anyone out there with a 1/48 Hasegawa VF-1 kit willing to scan the decal sheet and put it in the decals library? For science.

 

[NeoMatter]

16 hours ago, seti88 said:

Wow so many awesome pics posted...moar?....

Will these do?

Action Pose 1 by Vicki Lee, on Flickr

Action Pose 2 by Vicki Lee, on Flickr

Charge by Vicki Lee, on Flickr

Assault Charge by Vicki Lee, on Flickr

Can't get enough of this beast. It's way more fun than the 1/60 VF-1 v2s.

[Mazinger]

Is it just me or do these transformation videos make you nervous.  Thankfully these are new toys and not some 30-year old brittle plastic.  Every time I hear a snap my heart skips a beat.

[spanner]

Gahhh! I want this thing so bad! Hopefully it arrives today.. fingers crossed. 

[eggy99]

@jenius Nice transformation guide. I haven't handled my Yamarcadia VF-1s in a while, so this is a nice refresher for when I receive my Ami order. Looking forward to the full review.

About the pilot figure size. So while looking into the Hasegawa 1/48 VF-1J kit for the additional decals, I looked at the pilot figure. Looks bigger than the DX Hikaru. Yes?

It definitely feels like they have purposely under sized the pilots for the DX series so they can make the 1D with less retooling/resizing in the cockpit area. It was mentioned a few pages back, currently the DX VF-1J looks like it can accommodate 2 seat configuration as there is a lot of equipment behind Hikaru's seating position. So Bandai will probably just adjust the canopy shape for the 1D and put in the 2 seat parts.

[Slave IV]

On 1/5/2019 at 11:42 AM, sharpnel said:

Just got mine from CD Japan yesterday.  Beautiful bird.  Gonna take mine time to enjoy each mode.

 

Looking good! Just wondering about the limited stand...can you mount the fighter facing away and up to hide the bottom attachment part?

[Hikaru1234567890]

HAs anyone gotten there shipment notice from NY? Or they still holding out for a bit.

[Agent-GHQ]

I’ve dumped the majority of my 1/48 Yammies in favor of the 1/60 v2. Now after handling this DX 1/48, it sure brings back that good ‘ol old school 1/55 feel again. Overall, I’m elated! 

But since there seems to be some nit pick, I’ll share mine too. I noticed the gap around the tail fin and the arms in fighter mode. Not a deal breaker but just kinda a sore eye if seen from behind. 

Perhaps it was done intentionally to make the backpack proportional? 

[jenius]

31 minutes ago, Agent-GHQ said:

I’ve dumped the majority of my 1/48 Yammies in favor of the 1/60 v2. Now after handling this DX 1/48, it sure brings back that good ‘ol old school 1/55 feel again. Overall, I’m elated! 

But since there seems to be some nit pick, I’ll share mine too. I noticed the gap around the tail fin and the arms in fighter mode. Not a deal breaker but just kinda a sore eye if seen from behind. 

Perhaps it was done intentionally to make the backpack proportional? 

 

 

 

I was wondering about that too! Did they downsize the backpack at some point?

Edited January 6, 2019 by jenius

[jenius]

1 hour ago, Slave IV said:

Looking good! Just wondering about the limited stand...can you mount the fighter facing away and up to hide the bottom attachment part?

Negative. if you put the toy on the stand the other way it will be diving down, there's no pivot for direction of the nose.

[Tekkaman2k5]

3 minutes ago, jenius said:

I was wondering about that too! Did they downsize the backpack at some point?

think maybe they did it for super parts space for legs?

[jenius]

Sure, I'm super curious about the super parts, particularly the backpack boosters. Can't wait to see  more of them...

[Tekkaman2k5]

Just now, jenius said:

Sure, I'm super curious about the super parts, particularly the backpack boosters. Can't wait to see  more of them...

once I get my money back from Amazon  japan and procure another one I will be more excited. Been bandaied lol. 2nd time in a row with a bandai macross lol. I seem to be only person with a critical flaw in mine : /