ArchieNov

What a coincidence. My HMR 19P has practically the same issues as yours. But I was able to tighten the thigh swivel with some Kiki's Joint Fix, and also use the same to work on one of the forearm sliders that didn't want to lock in place. After doing those fixes, it's quite solid and enjoyable to handle now.

Honestly it's quite a shame people are skipping on this DX VF-19. Like I said before, I think it's currently my favorite DX, despite its flaws. And I'm not a Fire Valkyrie enthusiast. I actually think it's the ugliest among the 19 variants because of the ketchup/mustard color scheme and the battroid face. But I think it looks really good and it's enjoyable to handle. It edges out the YF-19 because I prefer the fighter silhouette of the VF-19 over it.

Seeing this brings back the painful memories of my childhood when I used to deploy those spring loaded metal landing gears. Those really hurt!

They missed sliding up the knee gap covers in fighter mode. I just find it silly how the HMR Fire Valk is a lot more like the Yamato/Arcadia than the DX.

I just received my 2nd copy of this valk. It has better hip joints, but it has some weird alignment issue in the flap for the neck cover that prevents it from sitting flat while in battroid mode. If only there was a way for me to swap the lower half of my older copy with the newer one, I'd have a perfect valk lol.

Ouch that sucks. Will you buy another one?

As much as I like the Kairos, I think I'm good with the old one I have. Funny thing is, the main reason I wouod want to get the reissue is because I want the newer box that doesn't use styrofoam. Helps prevent yellowing while stored in the box. Now that I think about it, maybe I should get the reissue just for that. But not sure if I'll preorder or just wait until release date and get it at a discount like how the VF-19 is already discounted now.

Thanks for the info. Good thing I didn't try forcing the leg parts apart after unscrewing the hip screws. I was trying to see if I could wiggle it off. Oh well. Maybe I should just buy another copy and hope that has tighter joints.

I don't live in the US. Tariffs have been around since forever in my country and probably the rest of the world (except for the US until recently).

Whoa. I bet those aftermarket prices will start dropping fast.

Question, what screws should I tighten in order to make the hip ball joints tighter? One of my hips is a little loose. I see 2 screws, one in the front after swinging the leg outwards, and another one at the back of the hip. I've tried tightening both screws but it doesn't seem to help. Is there another hidden screw somewhere?

Personally I really like my DX VF-19. It's probably my favorite 1/60 DX at the moment (it used to be the YF-19). Sure it has its flaws but nothing is perfect. Is it their best engineered valk? Most likely not. But I really like the look in both modes. Sleek fighter and beefy battroid (I don't count gerwalk since that will always be an ugly mode for the 19) Now if they release a VF-19S, that will probably take the crown assuming no new issues.

Yes I saw that. Thanks for pointing it out so I was very careful with mine. My only real issue is the head fin in battroid mode. I'm not sure if I have to fold it all the way back to the end of the slot before pushing it back in. Mine seems to stop leaving about 2 cm before the end of the track. I tried applying more force but seeing how small the connecting piece of plastic was, I don't want to force it any further and break it.

So it's just a change in the material used. No changes on the mold. I see. Thanks.

What's the difference? My Premium Finish one is in storage so I can't compare. Edit: I took this pic from Anymoon.com. I still don't notice any mold changes.

I just received mine and transformed it to battroid. In summary, I like it. The integrated neck cover is kinda fiddly though. I also wish the bicep covers would lock in place in the down position. But otherwise IMO, I think this is currently the best VF-19 Fire Valkyrie at 1/60. It has some pros and cons VS the Yamato one I had from before, and they're pretty much comparable. But I like that I don't need to use a separate shield, neck cover, thigh fill in blocks when transforming.

Personally I think the gunpod pointing down is a very minor issue. Now I'd be pissed if it points left or right, that's the kind of thing that really triggers my OCD. I have a very big tolerance when it comes to vertical symmetry, but for horizontal symmetry I demand perfection.

They don't lock that well, at least on my copy. Try lifting the plane up without cradling the legs and see if you can swoosh it around without the legs dropping. The tabs that click into the legs from the backplate in fighter mode aren't deep enough to hold it. To be honest, it seems like those pegs are meant to help you line things up properly rather than a locking mechanism. Anyway, I pulled my Yamato VF-17S from its box and it's gone all loosey goosey on the ankles. Is there an easy way to tighten these up? I don't think stuff like Kiki's will help since these are metal on metal joints.

I was never happy with my Yamato VF-17S. I thought it was a bad toy, especially when compared to their VF-19S. (e.g. weird gap in the back plate in battroid, legs are too heavy to lock in place in fighter, battroid proportions were also kinda bad, etc). Was intially hoping that Bandai's version would be better, but it has its own set of bad issues. Sadly, I haven't seen any good VF-17 yet, or at least owned any. Now what if by some weird chance, Bandai includes a set of swappable bulkier legs that are only used for battroid mode and make it into an optional partsformer. Would that make people happy? I know there are perfect transformation purists here that would hate that path, but I would be okay with it.

Fortunately, swapping the shoulders is easy and takes less than 10 minutes. Just need to unscrew 2 screws per bicep which are easily accessible.

I suspected it had something to do with the patterns and colors as well. Thanks for explaining it better. But I also agree with Chronocidal's comment about the nosecone hips. Having the additional bulk in that area makes the legs look shorter and thus, not as long and lanky.

It's kinda weird how the proportions look perfectly fine to me with the 171, but it looks off with the 17. And it's not because I'm comparing it to the line art. Just looking at these 2 images side by side makes the 17 look awkward. Maybe it's because of the head design? Seeing a Frankenstein's monster head makes you expect that the rest of the body should be stocky?

Oh thanks for sharing this. I wasn't aware there was an issue when I got mine, but I suspected something was off about the shoulders because it was much harder to get them to sit flush in the undercarriage in fighter mode. I will go an swap mine around and see if that fixes the transformation issue. Edit: Just did the swap now. Pretty easy and non-damaging to the figure. It definitely helped get everything to sit properly in fighter mode.

After getting my Revival version, I think I may have the unpopular opinion that the glossy Renewal version is actually just as aesthetically pleasing as the matte Revival version. I know almost everyone here hates the glossy look, but for some reason it kinda fits the sleekness of the VF-27 and makes it look more high tech and speedier.

Time to buy a new one I guess...