beatsing

@vlenhoff yup the spartan really feels like HI Metal. if all the mechs were as good quality as the spartan, the HMR line would compete with the DX line. Me too, I don't really like the spartan design in the TV series compared with the Tomahawk/defender/monster, but in hand, it is rock solid. It's like the regult and glaug, in hand it's quality. @sqidd that glaug should be up there as the regult, the glaug's quality is the best in my opinion.

@Saburo nice photo and backdrop.

@sh9000 nice work. Did you ever do missile effects parts for the GBP?

@sh9000 the cartoon filter looks very nice as the shades make the white look better, though the blue is not as bright. It also looks less like plastic Ha ha brain fart on my part. I meant the plain V stripes that the 1j had, were these only on 1j types? The S types have a filled in V stripe with red or yellow, blue etc., which have a different look because of the extra color. AFAIK, but I haven't watched the tv series for a long time, the 1a types didn't have any stripes and were plain one color on the chest. As much as I like Max's blue, the plain chest could use some color. My next valk is likely one with a different head and chest paint, even though I like cannon fodders. Me too. I usually like the battroid and fighter mode more than gerwalk but this Dx has the best A stance. nice weathering.

@sh9000 the filter makes it look cartoony, like the intro pose. Nice @Lolicon nice panel line work, breaks up the white on top. If Max's cartoon ride had a V like Hikaru's chest V it would look less bland. Was the V only for the 1j rides?

nice pose

Yup

@jeniusornome totally read my mind below. As the swingbar separation is "optional", it's a perfect trans. I was also excited when they announced the kit was based on the line art, and we'd get an accurate valk transformation. I suppose the kit's parts kept falling apart makes it a parts former for me - no dis on Kawamori's original design. I think Bandai could do this today too. The DX line is far far better quality than the 1/72 model kits for the Frontier and Delta lines. exactly Yup, the parts that clip together get loose after a few transformations to the point that they just fall off and you better glue them but then it doesn't transform. Yup so excited about that design, what a let down. The swing bar is boring, but it works. I'm not sure if it's true: MP-01 was fan designed. You should submit yours. Yup, anime accuracy is awesome, but not if it's a flimsy mess like the model kit, cuz that's a crappy toy. Those hip connectors look different from the DX's. I wonder what those connectors do.

Same

Yes that's a good point @jenius. My initial transformations with the Max did not disengage on their own. Then I tried the instructions using the tool to disengage and swivel/rotate the waist. After that, the plastic piece seems a lot looser. Also, when the plastic housing pegs into the back of the nosecone, the metal bar is not parallel with nosecone or upper body. I've tried multiple transformations (with and without locking in the Y shaped bar that clips the back to the chest) to fiddle with the bar/plastic housing angle, but if the plastic housing is flush to the nose/cockpit, the bar isn't. More experienced hands on this board may be able to fiddle with it more to get both pieces flush and parallel, but it's design tolerances are pretty shoddy compared with both Yamato's 1/48 and 1/60 swing bar design that had enough tolerance to not have to try multiple times just to get the piece flush without popping itself out when we're not trying to separate the pieces. Ha ha I call it like it is! Yup we were very close to the near perfect Vlalk. If Bandai fixes this issue, they can reissue all 3 valks and peeps would just eat it up. @vlenhoff, did you look at Bandai's model kit a few years back? They did the lineart where the legs swing down, and detach from the chest with "appendages" that reattach to the nose cone. it didn't sell well. The model kit, like many of their Macross model kits, aren't for the feint of heart. But also a lot of peeps don't like the partsformers, and like the perfect trans. Not sure if it's because the legs were too heavy, or Bandai didn't want to get sued for plaguerising Yamato/Arcadia's awesome design, but you're right, Yammie's /HMR is a better option. My initial transformations were quite solid with Max, but after disengaging the swingbar to try out the swiveling cockpit/waist out, the plastic on the swing bar has become much looser and can disengage while transforming. At the store, the 1j disengaged right away, but it's probably been handled by other peeps since it's on display. Attack of the clones I don't have the link, but there was a Youtube that had a self transforming metal VF-1 in that scale at a mall. It did perfect transformation from fighter to battroid and back. I thought that by now, some company would have miniturized it and sold it as a toy.

Yup, same here. I saw a reviewer set the legs on a table so the weight doesn't strain the joint (@jenius, maybe?) but it'll still pop out. This kind of fit problem should have been dealt with at the testing (and redesign) stage. I've fiddled with it a lot, and the top part vs the bottom part is never really flush to both the top of battroid and the cockpit connector, unlike the yammie which is flush even though it has a little give. I wonder how many prototypes broke at the swing bar during testing. It's still an awesome product, but this part of the transformation process is really important as it's weight bearing. Looking at the clear plastic adaptor for the stand, it's obvious that it encloses the swing bar connector to support it. without it, leaving it in battroid mode for extended periods of time would put a lot of strain on it, and sitting on a shelf, the top half would nose dive when the joint disengages. If that weren't the issue, Bandai didn't have to make the adaptor enclose the swing bar joint to lock it in. This is something I haven't seen much discussion about online (although I don't speak Japanese, so I don't know if they have discussed it), just comments about the stupid disengaging swing bar. But not much about the "bandaid" of the adaptor, or that they could have designed it differently.

This DX is lots of fun right now, but that plastic/metal swingbar might be an issue down the road. And the arms probably will droop more too. I'd rather Bandai not swivel the waist and have a solid swing bar, solid metal bar on a metal bracket because metal on plastic will eventually put too much weight on the plastic.

The arms sometimes droop in fighter mode; I think others pointed this out back when the 1j came out. On my Max, it does it sometimes and takes some fiddling to get the arms/legs/backpack/gun all tight, bcuz when you move one thing, the others shift thoses fore arms off of the pegs. The yammie didn't have that problem even though it came out a decade ago, and mine are still tight enough. It's a small issue but noticeable compared with transforming the Yammie.

A swing and a miss. Haha. No idea. The fact that the yammie 1/60 v2 arms stay in place is another issue that the DX has that even with the pegs, doesn't stay pegged but the yammie is solid. I also liked that little hook for the backpack in battroid mode.

IIRC, it was bcuz some peeps had a hard time getting that swing bar into / out of the connector on the bottom of the cockpit. Mine works fine, though, so I don't speak from experience. The DX swing bar isn't totally flush with the cockpit, I think because of the part that goes from the back and clips to the inside of the chest in battroid mode. I think Bandai knew about this problem, added to the problem of the weight from the heavy legs, and the torque, so they made the swing bar have a release part. The swiveling waist seems like an afterthought. If Bandai had designed it around separating the swing bar just for more waist swivel, they should have made the swing bar attach better, like on the Yammie as you pointed out.

Cool vid. Suggestion: compare the Yammie 1/48 vs 1/60 v2 vs DX, since the DX seems like amalgamation of the two other than the shoulders, hands, ankles, and of course that swing bar joint.

+1 Glaug is the best toy in terms of quality, build, articulation/size. See the youtube reviews like @jenius and you'll see. it's better than the Regult, which is also very nice. Both these toys can shrink into parking mode, and stretch into crazy poses. The quality is like DX Chogokin and the size is similar (for the Glaug) but the price is not so high like the Regult. The Regult is similar in size to the HMR valks but quality feels nicer, but the Regult price is high. The spartan isn't my favorite ground mech, but the toy is better than the defender, which I prefer the art/design. Both these are available for a decent price. The Monster bigger and heavier than most of the toys in my collection. It's also very articulated, and lots of metal. It's a chogokin. It's on sale a lot. But the shipping is expensive because the box is 2/3 size of a copy paper box. The armored vf1j and strike 1s are nice.

Who are you kidding? You're going to recreate the Miria and Max scene with a whole squad of QRau's. Ha ha If they make a missile set for Miria that would be a blast!

and its now 24000Y

Looks good. That blue is so cool.

You've already taken the red pill, might as well see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Quoting Troy McLure: "The only difference between our marriage and anyone else's is, we know ours is a sham" Ha ha ha Mickey hands! Now I can't unsee that. Right up there with frog face on Tomahawk

Some third party or Arcadia should make articulated hands for the 1/48 and 1/60, I'd buy those. Also maybe articulated cartoon hands for DX. And Bandai should make the stands have a tray to hold all the hands, etc.

This. Some MP take half an hour to transform. This DX like the Yammies are like the old chunky monkeys - easy to transform. BAndai could make window boxes with lids like the Yammie boxes for collectors who don't like to open their mint boxes. A better DYRL launch arm stand. making preorders available to everyone. Pilots that are big enough to hold the joystick. Flight crew that came with the destroids. A better swing bar. Bandai really did a good job on this valk. It's not groudbreaking, but it's the best valk on the market. I like the extra hands, and I like the articulated hands because middle fingers! and I don't have to swap them out all the time when I transform the valk cuz the Yammie hands were so small.

I like them all. The 1j has those racing stripes and different chin. The 1a/VT have realistic heads. The 1s has a skull shaped head for the skull theme and the real yellow black paint scheme.