Vifam7

I hope the Tomahawk will end up with slightly better proportions (like the Yamato toy)

Read my post above. They went back and resculpted the thing. Ignore the photo.

It says at the bottom:

トマホークは、某氏が

「全然気にいらんので、１から作り直した。

　あのボードの画像は信用せんでよろしい。」

とおっしゃってたぞ。ｗ

With regards to the Tomahawk, a certain person said "We don't like it at all, so we went back to 1 and remade it. Don't believe the image on the posterboard."

Different angle. Shows the landing gears a bit better. Not messed up like some of the earlier pics.

Here's a better pic of the VF-25G

In short they would be pulling what they did with Macross 7. They were going to release more valkyrie toys (Miria's VF-17, the VF-19F or was it the VF-19S?) but decided not to because they weren't selling well for some odd reason...

We don't really know if the Mac7 toys sold well or not. Other than the Fire Valkyrie, they did release a VF-19S and a VF-17S. Certainly not the whole range from Mac7 but then Mac7 Valks weren't that popular to begin with.

Also, I just want to ask Graham and the others: what toy would exemplify Bandai's "A" Game for you?

To me, it's the SoC SPEC Dragonar from Opening Silhouette. The toy is everything that a collector's toy of robot mech should be (IMHO). It's perfect in every way. I can't even recall Gundam getting this kind of treatment.

...and on the 1/60 DX everything was compromised.

Well, we don't know about durability yet.

lechuck: Don't forget that we give the YFs some leeway with the toys because it's constantly 2d represented and the proportions sometimes are off. With the VF-25 there's little leeway since 3d models were involved and the models/toys were conceived alongside it.

But just because the VF-25 was created using computer models doesn't automatically mean it can easily be made into identical sculpt toy. I mean, sure it was conceived at the sametime but when you start adding gimmicks to a toy there's no doubt that certain things have to be compromised along the way. Ofcourse the difficulty for a toy designer is deciding what to compromise and what not to compromise.

I'm certain the toy industry, the videogame industry, the music industry, all have similar tales to tell. People are unhappy with the DX VF-25, but the models sell well? It's not a stretch to see them drop the idea of 1/60 toys altogether and concentrate on model kits and other merchandise, rather than dropping the DX and coming out with a new 1/60 toy that would actually appeal more to fans and collectors.

Ofcourse this is all assuming the DX toy isn't appealing to the buyers and/or won't sell well based only on aesthetics. Maybe it will sell well. Maybe this is exactly what the Japanese fans want.

that's kind of a double-edged sword.

on one hand, yes, we can ignore the product & hopefully they get their act together & make us a better one.

but that can also bite us back in the ass.

since they're bigger & have been around longer, they could just as well say

"see? we knew this wouldn't sell. cancel all the other projects related to this & go back to the product that does sell."

Well it seems that VF-25 model kits are selling well, so that's a good sign.

that's something the big company has over us. ego. they could drop this market like it was another day in the park. 'cuz they can!

Companies don't operate that way. They don't drop an entire product franchise just because one product line doesn't sell.

And every company that wants to stay in business will drop a product if it does not make a profit. Also, in one way a smaller company may be quicker to drop a product than a big company since their margins are slimmer. A big company could absorb more hits than a small company.

Maybe it was to mimmick the DX toy.

now THIS I'm worried about... come on Bandai what's the sense in doing that ? I'll be so disapointed if this turns out to be true, 75% of the reason I wanted was because of the packs.

That appears to be the case. It looks like the separate super packs will be available exclusively through Bandai's Tamashii site.

This leads me to suspect that Bandai eventually intends to bundle the super packs at a later time. I bet they're doing to this to get the plain jane VF-25 out the door as soon as possible and give themselves time to develop the super packs. IOW i think it's a delay tactic.

Wish granted...I think...

http://www.geocities.jp/toybu0210/EVENT/MA...SSyokohama.html

If you look close, you can see that it is "stand", not "and". Disappointing. But lots of other cool stuff on that page, including some armor shots in one pic! Though I think it's the DX not the 1/100 that has the armor.

Whoever pulled out (or put in) the nose landing gear was absolutely clueless.

The Imai? God I hope not, swapping an entire cockpit/nose section would suck. Keep it like the Toynami 1/100(not in quality but in transformation); the only swapping parts being the landing gear and the heat shield/canopy.

Ack! No, not like the Toynami. No more visible swing bars please.

So is there an affordable way to get these in the states? And is the green one with the radar dish out yet?

HLJ has these for $45, which is a lot for a model, but they look spectacular. Are these made with super fragile plastic or are they pretty rugged for models?

I don't know of any stateside dealers who have the kit in stock.

Luca's green RVF-25 is not out yet. Probably won't be out til sometime early next summer (just my guess).

As for details on the kit itself, I think Jarrod's exhaustive review answers everything: http://macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=27823

The VF-25's cockpit/canopy looks rather small compared to that of the F-15. I'm assuming they're both the same scale.

Then again the F-15's canopy is pretty darn big compared to most other aircraft anyways.

I'd really like to know do newer, less selective fans prefer a chunky or something more anime accurate?

For me whenever I buy a toy, whether it's Macross or any other anime, I always want the toy as detailed and accurate as possible.

Graham

Ofcourse every fan out there wants a toy as detailed and accurate as possible. Key words being "as possible". Because it's not just detail and accuracy that fans want. That's where things get a bit tricky.

**sob*** It's soo beautiful that I'm crying!!!! I have a quick question since we are on the subject of Dangaioh. Can somebody tell me the relationship between the original Dangaioh and Dangaioh 2? I only saw the first tape and did not like it so I didn't pick up the rest of the series. If there is a link between the two, I might look for it to add to my collection.

If you're talking about the "G Dangaioh" series, ignore it! Pretend it doesn't exist. You'll be happier that way.

There is a link between the 2 series but it's extremely weak and the G Dangaioh series doesn't exploit it to the potential it has. G Dangaioh had a lot of potential and could've been an awesome series, but the producers utterly blew it.

Oh yeah, it has by far one of the worst endings ever if one could call that an ending... I might have been more forgiving of the series if it weren't for that WTF? "ending".

Yes, and the fact that Varibale fighters are just that, Variable, and they are NOT meant to be models with flimsy plastics, and are

highly complex in design compared to a Mech that is made purely for hand to hand. (the flying brick variable Gundams don't count).

So it really is that bandai are ignorant on not applying more care with a "toy" release, fobbing it off like "hey it's not a perfect grade model like

our Gundams, it's just a toy.." totally miss-understanding the importance of developing a HIGH END Variable Fighter.

Yamato sure does though. (except i'm really pissed off on some of their short-cuts lately ala VF-1D canopy, VF-1 1 seater crap)

I'm over this now, i understand Bandai now pretty much, i'll wait patiently in the next 2 months before cancelling.

I was talking more about the fans than the company.

I don't know if it has been brought up before if it has please close but when they design valks in the context of the show why do they design them? Like if it for pilot safety which is why many newer ones have the pilot sit in the back of the battroid? Why do they design more complex transformation? Is there a purpose or are the designer just want to show off how complex they can make them. If you guys designed one how would u do it? Mind you this is in the context of the show like when General Galaxy or L.A.I. designs them.

Well, like real life combat aircraft, the design will be dictated by what the user wants in order to accomplish its missions and what the maker feels is the best design for such requirements. And ofcourse politics and economics.

do we even have confirmation that the CAD shot we saw official? There was some debate about that afaik... and I can't believe you seem to consider a partial CAD render to be more final than a painted and transforming plastic prototype, complete with promotional type backgrounds and poses.

Yes, bandai has the money and the talent to go back and re-engineer the whole thing to make it work and to make it look like a modern toy, but like I've always said about Bandai and Macross, they just don't care enough to do it.

Please. It's not about caring. It's about what design and direction they decided upon (however wrong it may feel to some of us).

And really, if they really didn't care then why did they bother sponsoring Macross Frontier in the first place?

is it even possible they are that ignorant or uncaring? Wouldn't bandai have feedback branches that can score some much needed customer info on if it's gonna be a seller or if (as it does) suck??

The feeling I get from Japanese fans is that - if you want accuracy you build a model kit. And that chogoukins are for kids or nostalgia old-timers.

This mindset may be related to how Gundam is also treated. Ever since the advent of Gundam and the "real robot" genre, plastic models have been the backbone of its success. Fans themselves seem to snort at buying a "toy". Perhaps the realism of the mecha and the sophisticated stories suggested that (insert anime title) is more adult-like and thus = kids buy toys - adults build models mindset.

How do we know that's the final final version?

I've got a Hasegawa VF-1 kit and want to assemble it into a VF-1J. I've never done anything on this scale before so I need some advice. I think I'll be OK with assembly, but I particularly need painting advice. I have no airbrushes or any of the Hasegawa colours recommended, so I'm worried about the approximation of paint colours and getting a good effect without airbrushing (I don't know if I can afford to spend a lot of money on that at the moment). Any advice would be appreciated.

EDIT:

One more thing. It seems there are some very small components that are supposed to be painted. Being inexperienced with hobby kits I'm not sure whether the parts should be painted before assembly or not.

If it's a Hikaru VF-1J you could probably get away with just using the base white plastic for most of the parts, paint the small components, and blow clear flat on top. I don't have a airbrush either so I brush paint too. I'd use enamel paints instead of the more popular acrylics because it's less apt to leave brush marks.

For dark areas, a bit of gray Gundam marker paint will help cover those sprue marks. I've used this technique and it works. The gray blends in and is pretty much invisible.

I've also read that a bit of sanding and a coat of clear flat at the very end would help make the sprue marks disappear.