Drad

These enemy units made me realize just how massive they'd be if they were in proper Bandai DX scale. Holy crap. Are these KC baddies somewhat close to being in-scale with the Veritechs or are they kinda fudging it?

Still waiting for TV versions of Focker, Max and Kakizaki. I ended up buying some DX Valks while waiting for Hi-Metal R to resuscitate it's Macross stuff. Now that I have the DX's I'm wondering if I even want to continue with Hi-Metal R. I was all-in with the line because they were the only ones giving us enemy units to go against the hero characters. Still want that Tomahawk too.

It seems as though the VF-1 is notoriously hard to get right, capturing all the nuances of the sculpt here and there. Every company who tries tackling the VF-1 has to go through several iterations before getting it just right and even then it's often up for debate. I'm happy to see someone else giving it a shot. It's going to be interesting to see how it turns out. Bandai and YamCadia have set a pretty high bar at this point.

4 hours ago, Scyla said:

Nice review Mike.

 I wonder if there will be Toy inspired Dinobots in the future. The toys seem to be mighty fine but too bland looking for my tastes. A bit of toy detailing printed on and translucent plastic would solve that.

Grimlock has that molded detail underneath the gold-painted neck piece. So they could be planning toy deco versions of the Dinobots.

3 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

100% agree with this. They could easily do larger initial production runs, second runs if the first sells out, and/or regular reissues without hurting their business, which we see all the time with Gundam and other lines, but they intentionally make a different decision that just makes all of this so much worse. Bandai also seems to make weird decisions on what to release and when. My love of collecting valks has balanced on the edge of a knife since Bandai announced the first DX VF-1 and I got screwed during PO Madness. Even since then it's been a cat-and-mouse game of figuring out how to get them at decent prices, and it's a game I rarely win. I'm getting tired, though. Over the past year I've passed on the YF-29 Full Set Pack, the VF-31J Movie Version, the VF-25 WWM, the VF-31AX Bogue, the YF-29 Max, the VF-31AX armored parts, and the Angel Birds. I'm being a lot more selective with my time and money now. Granted, I just bought one of those ridiculous plush gunpods from Arcadia, but I'd rather give Arcadia that money than reward Bandai for bad design and production decisions.

It's hard-won information that builds on the experiences of many MW members, so credit should go to a lot of people here for figuring out ways to level the playing field for collectors--even just a little. It's by no means a complete list of suggestions, but I hope it helps people.

I know a few members have run the numbers over the past year or so, whenever the question comes up, and this always turns out to be the answer. Supply, not price, seems to be the primary difference. There must be a happy medium between Yamato's devil-may-care approach that bankrupted the company and Bandai's we-barely-care approach that continually frustrates domestic and international collectors.

More than a few members refer to that as the "old man tax." I'm more willing to pay it these days. I just don't have the time or energy to compete against scalpers.

Oof! Harsh but true, I suppose. Yeah, I'd rather just bite the bullet and get the stuff before it skyrockets on the secondary market.

Now that I think about it, fans of the VF-1 are getting pretty long in the tooth huh? Heh.

3 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Bandai really sucked the enjoyment out of this hobby. 

They're only catering to the domestic market, right? Or are there a buncha Japanese collectors missing out as well?

I just pay the markup but try to find the best deal within that range. I give up trying to get them at retail price.

So far I've got Roy, Hikaru (VF-1J), Max and the VF-1D. I should probably stop there but I'd be very tempted by a mass production VF-1A, TV Kakizaki or DYRL Max VF-1S.

I have to wonder what made Big West agree to yet another arrangement with HG. Yeah it's better than nothing but many of us older fans want the original series and movie merch. 

So.. no chance of the DX  1/48 VF-1's ever being made available outside of Japan? If so, that sucks.

I think it's cool that there are more companies tackling Macross products, but this is looking pretty rough. At least they seem to keep the lines of communication open.

I guess the VF-1 Valkyrie is just very difficult to get right. Lotta nuance in the design.

And the rest of the SDFM TV Valks please?

17 hours ago, sqidd said:

Great, more "reviews" that aren't reviews. I'd really like to see a REVIEW in English.

Same here. I've already heard about some breakages. Not dropping the cash if it's gonna explode in my hands.

These pics are wonderful. Only problem is my inner nerd is screaming, "AAARRRRGGHHH!! SUNLIGHT!! GET 'EM OUTTA THERE, NOW!!!!"

2 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

The first round is already on offer... the worldwide Macross VF-25.

That looks like a great one-off piece. I really like the deco they chose for it. I'm mainly a fan of the VF-1 (I know, I know. Boring) but I might pick up that VF-25 Anniversary Valk just for the colors and the Skull insignia. I would love to see the DX VF-1 Valks offered domestically but something tells me that most of the people who want those will already have them by the time that happens, if it does.

Oh well. As long as the ball is rolling for Macross toys here in the U.S., I'm happy. Gosh, it's been an incredibly long time coming.

When are we gonna be able to buy Macross toys here in the United States without having to import? Has anything changed on that front?

Hi-Metal R was going to be my "affordable" Macross fix, too. Yeesh.

6 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

So would I, but the costs would probably prohibit me from ever getting one. So, the one I posted is a rebuild of the chunky 1/3000 Matchbox/ Takatoku toy.

Eh, I dunno if I would expect it to be even close to decent scale. Just something under five hundred bucks preferably. Reasonable size, transforms, TV accurate deco. I'd be happy.

31 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

So you already have Kakizaki's VF-1A then?

Nah, I'm gonna keep it to TV Valks only, to minimize the impact on my finances.  I'll be happy with the three main aces of SDFM and the training Valk seen in the opening episodes. Gosh, even just four of these things is already over a grand. I can't afford this stuff, but I buy it anyway. I'm definitely not in the high rollers club here, heh. I do enjoy the pics, though.

Pic credit goes to Saburo. Thanks!

I would very much enjoy a Soul of Chogokin TV SDF-1.

On 4/26/2020 at 1:42 PM, jvmacross said:

Bah!

I'll raise you a Henkei...anyone of them.....you pick!

....but at least it tranforms you say?  They sure do...into this...

....actually, never mind.....they're awesome! 

 

I have to admit: I really loved these awful bootleg-level Valkyrie toys. As a young child they were my first Macross toys. I wanted the real deal 1/55 Takatoku VF-1S of course, which wouldn't be in my grubby little hands until years later. But until then, these craptastic dollar store VF-1 figures were as awesome as my imagination could make them. That being said, my imagination had to work some killer overtime.

26 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

RIght?

BTW: nice Ultimate Warrior Avatar!

Thanks! To keep this on-topic, thanks to yman1437, I now have Max's TV VF-1A. He joins Focker's TV VF-1S. Just need Hikaru's VF-1J and that'll be it for me. Well, I do kinda want the VF-1D. So my humble collection of DX Valkyries will be just those four, but I'll be very pleased to finally have them on my shelf.

We're old. But it's nice to be old with a bunch of fellow Macross fans.

yman1437

Had an excellent transaction with him. Brand new Bandai DX 1/48 VF-1A Max TV version. Even sent me a packing video. Thank you so much!

So which accounts were compromised in the For Sale and Trade section? I missed the second one, I think.

39 minutes ago, Shawn said:

Discovering that in our 20 years here...we've outlived many ISPs
Lots of old hotmail accounts too! LOL

Feeling super old doing this...

How many of y'all still have your custom SDF Macross DVD cases by Paul Champagne Designs? There's a blast from the past, heh. I still have mine.