Graham

In answer to some of the questions that have been asked: - Unfortunately, there is nowhere on the Valk to store the Gunpod connector and knife when not in use. The Valk does not come with any articulated hands. instead, it has 4 different pairs of fixed pose hands, these are: 2 x fighter mode hands, 2 x closed fists, 2 x weapon holding hands, 2 x open hands. The wings do have ratchets, but they are not linked. Also, the wing ratchest only have two positions. Seems quite durable. The only place I have noticed any stress whiteing of the plastic so far in my limited use is on the rim of the plastic sockets on the inside of the wing root/hip guns. There is a really tny stress mark, where the ball joints goes into the hip gun socket. Graham

just picked up my VF-25F Alto DX and VF-25S Ozma DX toys. I've taken a few quick snaps which I've posted below. No time for proper poses yet though. Here's some points of note: - 1) Sadly Ozma's VF really doesn't have much of a neck. I've posted a pic below showing the neck at maximum extension. Maybe some of our intrepid customizers can come up with a neck extension. My Ozma will be remaining in either Fighter or GERWALK modes, as IMO it looks really sucky in battroid mode. if you want a good VF-25S battroid mode, my advice get the model kit, or perhaps wait for the 1/100 scale toy. 2) The pilots are really tiny, compared with the Yamato 1/60 scale pilots. I'm guesing the Bandai pilots are more like 1/72 scale or smaller. Oh and they are non-removable. 3) The headlasers on both the Alto VF-25F and Ozma VF-25S are soft PVC! At least on Alto's VF they don't look so bad as they are thicker. But on Ozma's VF, they are really skinny. On my Ozma, one of the head lasers is already bent and no longer parallel. 4) The legs do lock in place in fighter mode. There is a peg on the underside of the wing glove, that locks into a hole on the side of the knee. This means that when you pick up the toy in fighter mode, the legs will not drop down. Sadly, the legs do not and cannot sit any higher in fighter mode than has already been shown. 5) No sticker sheet is provided. All the main markings are tampo printed on. 6) There is no storage in the shield for the knife. 7) The gunpod can only be attached in fighter mode with the adaptor piec. There is nowher on the VF to store the adaptor piec when not in use. The VF-25 DX is definitely not true 1/60 scale. In fighter mode, it is about 2cm shorter than the Yamato 1/60 YF-19 in fighter mode. Both planes are supposed to be about the same length. 9) The ventral fighter mode folding leg fins are really small and when open sit vertically straight down. They do not angle slightly out like they are supposed to be (unless I am doing something wrong). 10) The connection that holds the two halves of the groin together is not as securre as I expected, despite being quite beefy. I've had a few incidences of it coming unlocked when handling the toy. 11) The gunpod plastic is too light grey in color IMO. 12) Looks like it's not possible to get a GERWALK pose with the nose touching the ground, due to limitations with the knee and ankle articulation. 13) The hands are a 2 peice construction. The fingers and palm being one piece of PVC and the hand guard being ABS. The hand guard falls off really easily on all the hands and needs gluing on. 14) To fit the shield in fighter mode, you do need to fit the special fighter mode hands. It will not fit with the fists, open hands or weapn holding hands. More impressions later. Graham

My 4 1/2 year old is really loving the Voltes V SOC that I got him for Christmas. He's been a big fan of the cartoon since he was 3 1/2 and has been bugging me for a Voltes V toy all year. I will probably have to blunt the tip of the sword though, as that thing is sharp enough to take an eye out. Heh, and I got seriously scolded by my wife for buying him such an expensive toy! Here's a couple of pics of the Voltes V along with some of the Star Wars toys I also bought him for Christmas (he's really into Clone Troopers at the moment) Graham

I will be picking up my VF-25S and VF-25F tomorrow. I'm quite lucky in that there's a good toy shop in the area that I live that always has a good selection of Macross toys. Anyway, I went there today at lunch just to see if they had the DX in already. The shop guy said he would be getting his shipment in by airmail today (26th Dec) at 3pm. Unfortunately, I couldn't hang around until three, so have reserved one of each and will be going back tomorrow to collect them. The only thing the price is quite steep at HK$950 each (approx. US$122.58). This is beacuse as the guy explained, they are being sent by express airmail. Will give a report tomorow. Graham

Absolutely fantastic work Gubaba! You are my new hero! That introduction paragraph is extremely interesting. Can't wait to read more. And happy belated birthday. Hopefully this will lay to rest the debate that the VF-25 is indeed superior to the 19 and 21/22 series. Graham

That's one of the main reasons Yamato abandoned diecast for external body parts as getting an exact color and finish match with the ABS plastic parts is nearly impossible. Howeve, the color difference does tend to show up more in photographs than when seeing the toy in person. I think that's in some part beacuse those two holes will be used as the plug-in attachment points for the Super Pack shield. Graham

Too much CG can definitely be a bad thing. Definitely prefer the old school cell animation of the original movie, to the redone CG. Graham

Well, that's hardly surprising is it, as the toy is not actually released for general retail sale yet! Graham

IIRC I got both the VF-171EX and VF-25S when I completed the final mission, the one where you have to kill the Vajra Queen. Graham

I wonder if they come with sticker sheets, or if all the markings are tampo printed on. Hopefully the latter. Graham

Err..........which are the 'before' and which are the 'after' pics in the post above? In every instance, I think the bottom pic of each pair looks far better. Graham

I bet it's impossible for the VF-25G DX toy to rest on it's landing gear with the sniper rifle attached in fighter mode. The sniper rifle is just too big and the landing gear too short and stubby. I think the model kit may be able to do it and possibly the 1/100 partsformer, but no way the DX toy. Graham

Line art of the RVF-25 radome and Luca's Ghost from the new February 2009 issue of Hobby Japoan magazine, just released yesterday. I will do a better scan later, when I remove the page from the magazine. Graham

Pics of the figs from the new February 2009 issue of Dengeki Hobby magazine, just released yesterday. Graham

New pic from the just released February 2009 issue of Dengeki Hobby magazine. While the toy looks great IMO, that's an awful lot of small swappable parts to keep track of! Graham

Spoke to a couple of shop keepers here yesterday and they both told me the release date is December 25th in Japan and the toys should be here in Hong Kong by sometime next week. However, one shop keeper admitted that the Japanese wholesaler he ordered from has only allocated 24pcs to him, even though he ordered 120pcs. Perhaps the demand in Japan is expected to be very high, like with the initial release of the Alto model kit, so Japanese wholesalers are keeping most of the initial stock for the domestic market. Anyway, attached is a scan from the new February 2009 issue of Dengeki Hobby magazione (out yesterday), which shows that the VF-25S does indeed have a neck, although it could still just be the angle of the pose. Graham

Anybody else having trouble uploading pics? I've got some new magazine scans to post, but they won't upload for some reason. Graham

My list would go: - Yamato 1/60 YF-21. Yamato 1/60 VF-1S Hikaru Strike Valkyrie. Yamato 1/60 Destroid Tomahawk. Takara 1/18 Scopedog Turbo Custom. Haven't bought any other toys for myself this year, although I've bought a ton of Star Wars toys for my son. Graham

Scream Man, aren't numbers 5 & 6 on your list model kits, not toys? Graham

No, the heatshield is perfect transformation, don't worry. The removeable cockpit is the 'escape capsule' feature that was first shown in Macross 7 on their VF-11C. Graham

Neither can I. Guess some people just like, stubby and chunky. Oh well, the more chubby chasers there are, the more of the slim sexy ones are left for me. errr...............now what were we talking about again? Graham

So, if someone made an animatronic fully functioning Minmay, Sheryl or Klan sex doll, how many of you guys would jump at the chance to buy one? Graham

Judging by the large number of white markings on the Super Packs, I guess they are going to come with fairly large sticker and decal sheets. Graham

Kudos to Bandai for offering the Super Packs as seperate items for the model kits. Never in a million years would I have imagined them doing that, given their track record with kit releases. Now as long as they don't make them webshop exclusives, or some such stupid thing, like they are doing with the Super Packs for the DX toys. Graham

LMAO That is so funny! And sad, but most likely true. Graham