Sumdumgai

Bandai should have less problems making a VF-171 than a VF-25, as they have already made a VF-17 in the past (which the 171 is based off of), plus they have a transforming CG model to work from, versus only hand drawn lineart. Their previous attempt at a VF-17 looked a lot better than the VF-19 they did. Dunno if the VF-171 still stows the gunpod like the VF-17, but we've seen that the VF-171EX mounts it in the traditional manner, under the fighter. I would love to get a VF-171 even more than a VF-17, so I'll wait and I'll hope. But I won't hold my breath with the way Bandai is going.

Yeah the force you have to use to get the gunpods on is scary at first. After it goes in the first time, it eases up when you take them off and put them on later. To be honest I don't like removing them much, as I dislike having to put them back on, it still remains a bit tough. Didn't know that about the nosecone! I'll have to try it sometime.

This VF-25 is being ripped so hard, is because none of the compromises have strengthened any mode. The battroid looks bad, the gerwalk mode looks bad, and the fighter mode looks bad. At this point the only way it would look that good is going down in flames. The YF-19 and YF-21 still had enough essence of their individual valkyries that people overlooked the compromises. I like the compromises they made and feel it strengthened the toys appearances. There's nothing to like about the compromises made on the VF-25. None of the modes look better. It looks like Bandai is at where Yamato was a decade ago. I do recall what Graham brought up. That it was a choice to make the VF-25 look this way, to appeal to old school fans and fans of the chogokins. Addition: I'd say it's less Yamato fanboyism, and more Bandai is crapping on Macross toy collectors. Bandai is going for a quick buck on selling a mediocre toy to the general population that is less demanding and exacting on looks. For those of us more exacting they throw us the scraps that are the 1/100 partsformers and 1/72 model, and so far the VF-25 is a nice looking scrap, and the 1/72 model looks good too. But for the 1/60 toy, we're probably SOOL for the time being.

There will be a slight gap between the belly plates, it seems to be normal. I originally thought that people had exaggerated how fiddly it could be, until I spent over one hour of frustration wondering why it would not transform properly into fighter mode. The belly plates should be resting nice and flat if transformed properly, gotta make sure they're pressed down nice and good (the ball joint that connects them to the leg really needs to be recessed well). The combination of leg placement+position, plus having the belly plates properly collapsed are key to everything fitting together properly.

Despite it having the same leg/hip/crotch placement as the 1/60 it's looking much better. I'll be keeping an eye on how it develops.

Doesn't have to be Yamato, Bandai could still do one. And if it sucks, they could come back and do a version 2, like Yamato did for the 1/60 VF-1 and the Macross Plus toys, or like Bandai has done with the Saint Seiya toys. And if it takes twenty years for a good one to be released, so be it. It took almost twenty years for a really good VF-1 to be released. I just hope Bandai doesn't pull another Macross 7 on us by giving us a few things, cancelling the rest, then sitting on the license.

Waiting on clarification of SDF-4 Global or if it's another designation, just like the wait to discover what the WTF-1 was going to be. At least Macross Chronicles may fill in a lot of blanks.

I want a bland ole VF-171 if it can be done well, unlike what the VF-25 toy is 98% going to be based upon the test toy pics...

This VF-25 keeps making me think of the 1/65 VF-17 and VF-19 toys. Yeah, Bandai has gotten better at making Macross toys since then, but they're 10 years behind Yamato, and that is sad. What's sadder is that it was a purposeful decision, as demonstrated by the model kit and what we've seen of the 1/100 VF-25. Fighter mode has large legs that aren't very well integrated with the body, and hang too low. Stumpy landing gear, but I can live with that, as long as the gunpod still stores with ZERO problems. It also looks like it has quite the gullet, more so than the Yamato YF-19 Gerwalk looks bad, but I'll palm that off on a number of factors including that it's the first test and probably doesn't fit together well. Battroid problems are plentiful. Hip/leg positioning is too high up still. The forearms seem a little bit too long. Torso seems a little bit too wide. Combination of neck too short and shoulders angled too high, makes it look hunched, as if it were trying to pull its head back into its body like a turtle. Legs seem overly long, especially if they were to correct the positioning of where the legs meet the crotch. Feet too large. Gunpod seems to thin. Interesting to note that it can store the gunpod while in gerwalk without it being attached to the arms. Hands aren't too small either. edit for clarification: I'm not expecting these things to be changed. I'm listing what I view as what's wrong with the VF-25 toy. Why things can't be changed that much at this point in the stage is kind of like why the YF-19 mold couldn't be tweaked into making a VF-19F/S/Kai/P, like David Hingtgen says in the next post.

VF-171 = downgraded to workhorse cannon-fodder fighter, upgraded with fly-by-your underwear add-ons using duct tape and abc dimension-eater gum VF-25 = state of the art, brand spanking new fighter VF-27 = state of the art strike fighter used by cyborgs that can pull insane maneuvers After starting out piloting the VF-25, the VF-171 feels and handles like a piece of poo for Alto.

Basara Nekki and his Space Whale band. Half serious on that. All in all, I don't think anyone is coming to the rescue this season. Now if there's a second season... I'd put my bets on Maximillian Jenius with the new Battle 7, for various reasons. The Macross 7 fleet/settlement (if they setttled) is probably closer, everyone loves Max, and his seiyuu would probably do it. Less likely possibility of somehow Isamu Dyson, Aegis Focker, or Suzie Newtlett, but I really doubt that. A Jenius daughter not featured prominently before could always make an appearance, but I doubt that too.

For years people said that Macross toys would never be revisited and updated. For years people said that Macross Plus toys would never be made. For the longest time people kept saying newer Enemy mecha toys would never be made. Well those "never"s turned out to be BS. I waited over a decade for a good version of the YF-19 and YF-21 to come out, having skipped on the original Yamato releases. There are not just one, but three newer updated versions of the VF-1. While Macross 7 doesn't have very many valkyries that can be repainted to pay for the cost of making toys, Macross Frontier sure as hell does. If Bandai releases its stranglehold on the license sometime down the line, then maybe we could get Macross Frontier toys from Yamato (or another company) down the line. I look forward to the possibility of a better VF-25 toy being made down the line by another company, or maybe even by Bandai. If you've been a Macross fan for a while, than if anything you know patience. I'll wait to see how the finished product looks, but what Bandai has been showing off is beneath what they are capable of. If they decided to make it chunky, oddly proportioned, and ugly to have a chogokin feel to it, great for them! I'll go buy a 1/60 VF-11B or a 1/60 VF-1A v2 from Yamato, while Bandai can keep their chunky funky looking VF-25.

SDF-2 Megaroad/Megaload > Robocrap SDF-2+SDF-3 Global of the 117th Research Fleet > Robocrap SDF-2+SDF-3 My eyes still bleed from seeing the Robocrap designs.

I'm at a loss here. I constantly press the hips to minimize the gap in fighter mode, probably with more pressure than I should too. Maybe the plastic is thinner there on your YF-19? I just can't think of anything that would cause a crack like that to happen, other than what you thought of.

I want a VF-25, but it's looking like I'll probably be waiting at least a few years until Yamato may be able to get a shot at it, IF EVER. Hopefully Bandai will be able to fix it up to look good, but so far it still looks like a chunky piece of poo. Bandai can do better than this.

Call me slow on the draw, but with all the strange things I've read about or seen, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the police tried to arrest someone for whipping out their lightsaber in public.

If Battle Galaxy makes an appearance then it would be the fifth NMC vessel we've seen. Battle-5, Battle-7, Battle 13, Battle-Frontier, and Battle-Galaxy (if it appears).

Stumpy porckchop. Seriously they need to fix where the hips are, that thing looks squat.

Critters. Gremlins. Heavy Metal. Police Academy.

I wonder if it has the same type of gunship, or if it's more like the VF-27's gun but larger...

Remind me never to go to Autralia with a lightsaber. Let me guess you need a concealed carry permit?

I was thinking the same as plasticwerks. Macross 5 fleet composed of: NMC - Battle 5 NMC - Vriltwhai NMC - Formo It would make sense, what with the SDF-4 Global.

Redwolf has a good point. The Macross 7 and the Macross 5 had cosmetic differences. The Macross 13 looked a bit different as well, but overall they shared similar traits in both modes, with mainly cosmetic and weapons differences. Looks like the Battle Galaxy has a different style head/bridge.

Nope the valkyrie designations don't really sound off, because I didn't pay attention to real world fighter craft designations until after I got into Macross. Well things weren't shortened because they weren't. I'm not arguing that it should have been one way or another. All I was saying was that two letters sounds better than three for me, because I'm used to it (not counting the A/B/C/D/F/J/S designations). There were the VF-X-1, and VF-X-11 for designations. So now that I think about it some more, three letter designations don't sound that odd. I guess it's just that I'm already used to "YF" meaning prototype because of Macross Plus, which is my baseline for Macross. VF-X-# came later for me, which I did find weird at the time but have since grown used to. I still kind of have it in my head that pre-Macross Plus in the Macross timeline, prototypes go by the VF-X-# designation, and Macross Plus and after is the YF-# designation. I want to see the YF-24 in battroid. I like those wings on it.

We're going to find out that Brera is actually Shery's biological brother, and Ranka just calls him her brother due to being raised with him. Ranka winds up with Brera (if he and/or she doesn't die), Alto winds up with Sheryl, Klan Klan survives, Lucca bites it, Nanase continutes to pine after Ranka, Ozma stays with Cathy, and Grance and Leon go to hell. Just another random idea by sumdumgai.