ArchieNov

Since we've had topics like this for Yamato/Arcadia, why not one for Bandai as well? My wish list for them is as follows (in no particular order): - Macross Quarter Renewal (Wings of Goodbye colors). But this time make it solid in carrier mode - Battle Frontier - Battle Galaxy - VF-19Advance repaint from Macross 30 (w/o Advance Pack) - Brera's ghost drones - RVF-171 Mass Production version (with no QC issues) - Q-Rau Pixie Squad roster (1/60 scale) I didn't mention anything they've previously shown or announced (e.g. Vajra) since they already have those on their radar. This is just for things that they haven't shown any hint of but may still produce based on their current licenses.

Hi Yeti. How exactly do you have the pliers only make contact with the rivet and not touch the metal bar itself?

Yeah the metal swing bar inside the wings. It's the middle joint. I guess where I think things can go wrong is if I apply pressure in the wrong way and I warp the metal incorrectly.

I think I accidentally loosened my swing bar rivet joint when I transformed it into Battroid. I read a "fix" for this on the Arcadia YF-19 thread. Will that work on this as well? I tried researching online and one guy recommended placing a ball bearing on the tail end of the rivet between the pliers to even out the pressure. I've never done this sort of thing before so I'm hesitant to try it and risk making things worse. Right now it still holds its pose even when swooshing/normal handling, but it doesn't take a lot of force to swing it out of place. I also saw a tool called a rivet pliers or dimpling pliers which seem like they're great for this kind of application.

Kinda tempted to get a 3rd... But then I'm wondering if there will be any recolors of this and if so, I'd rather get that instead of having too many multiples of this one.

So I finally decided to go and transform my VF-19Advance back to fighter mode again (2nd time) and decided to compare it side by side to my Arcadia YF-19 and check it personally. I know I've said before that I prefer the look of the Bandai over the Arcadia before, but man... finally looking at them together up close, it suddenly feels like my Arcadia is the uglier toy. I wasn't bothered by a number of things about the Arcadia before, but after doing a side by side myself, I must say: The color on the Arcadia really does look too pale, almost sickly, compared to the Bandai The front canards are angled up way too much on the Arcadia. It's probably more line-art accurate this way. If so, then I prefer the stylistic change Bandai did The cockpit bulge looks a lot bigger on the Arcadia, while having a smaller cockpit hatch than the Bandai. This combination makes the nose on the Arcadia look kinda fat The fins on the legs are larger on the Bandai, which appears to be more line-art accurate I didn't bother comparing tampo since I don't really expect Arcadia to use the same amount as Bandai does. I still like my Arcadia toy for what it is, but unfortunately I feel my opinion of it has gone down a bit since I made the direct comparison myself. It does have its advantages over the Bandai in a couple of areas, but I think the Bandai has more of them over the Arcadia IMO

Agreed. I've said before that personally I like complex transformations with a lot of steps. That's part of the appeal for me with transforming toys. It keeps me entertained for much longer than if the transformation was just as easy as a push of a button (like some simple kids toys). The only time I wouldn't like a "complex" transformation is if it compromises the sturdiness of a toy. An example of this is the transforming Revoltech VF-1 (although this wasn't complex, but pulling it off with revo joints was just silly). Fortunately the VF-19 is pretty solid in all modes. So my personal message to Bandai is... keep bringing on the "over-engineering"

Hmm, I could've sworn I've seen that clause in some of the anime/mecha-related Japanese products I've bought before. Maybe my memory could be off, but I recall seeing it on a sticker on the package.

Hey Actar. I completely agree with you and I've actually mentioned a similar thing in a previous post. These are Japanese retailers and their policies do not necessarily follow those of the US. So I don't think it's fair to say they have bad customer service when comparing them to HLJ since these stores most likely adhere to all the requirements in Japanese law. HLJ probably goes the extra mile when appealing to US-based customers because it appears to be owned by Americans, and they are familiar with the consumer rights in the US. I'm not too informed on these things, but are these toys really for export? I think they're mostly labeled with "Not for sale outside of Japan" on their packaging.

Personally, I enjoy the transformation process on the VF-19Advance. Lots of steps that make me appreciate the engineering that went into the design. And when I'm done not only does it look beautiful, but it feels like an accomplishment as well. If I wanted a simple transformation, I would've been satisfied just buying some of the cheaper transformers (which I've long since sold off).

Not sure if people have noticed yet, but they made a minor adjustment to the Bandai stand this time around and allow you to reverse the way you plug in the Fighter mode adapter to the base. With this, you can now display the fighter angled downwards without having to position the base vertically. This wasn't possible with the earlier stands, with the exception of the RVF-25.

Actually, it's not that he did something wrong. It's just that he did the legs right. Some of the earlier review pics didn't have the legs transformed properly and hence they looked lanky. Here's mine. (Pardon the crappy pic).

I finally received my copy today and I feel most of the negatives are mostly minor nitpicks. Although I haven't tried putting on the super parts yet so I have yet to see how hard they are to get on. The feet could be improved by sliding further in when in fighter mode, but maybe they couldn't do so because of the leg gimmick. So far I've transformed it to battroid. It took me a little under 2 hours on my first attempt mainly because the wing root joints were extremely tight and I was taking my time checking the tolerances and engineering. I must say that the joints are super tight on mine, especially the hips and shoulders. Hopefully they don't become floppy in the future, but it seems that is less likely because the mechanisms used in those joints are different than the VF-25 family. And maybe Bandai has improved on their joints from becoming floppy because my YF-30 still has super tight hip joints up until now. I don't have the same concern as others on the chest locking. Mine is so secure that I can lift the battroid completely and shake it vigorously from the chest and it won't dislodge. Not really sure how the chest can be loose on others because I had to manually pry it wider when pushing it down into the nosecone just to fit through. Moreover, the way the chest locks is better IMO because there are tabs for each piece, and they only tab together in a single way so you'll know when you got everything in the right position. Lastly, I'd like to mention that I love the extending back mechanism. Sliding it out reveals the back boosters underneath. I found that to be a really nice touch. Anyway, that's my initial feedback. May give more once I get home later. Overall it met my expectations and even exceeded it on some. I definitely prefer it over my Arcadia. The Arcadia has tighter tolerances on how the parts fit together, but that's nothing new and they've usually done better than Bandai on that.

And this is the double standard I was pointing out a few pages back. If Bandai utilized something similar to what worked with Arcadia/Yamato's version, people cry foul at them for copying stuff. But reading some of the more recent impressions, people also complain about why Bandai didn't do the canards or knee joints (or whatever else) just like the Arcadia/Yamato version. The same was also seen with the VF-171 vs VF-17 (e.g. the triangles and the hips). It's like people just want to bash Bandai regardless of what they do. I know no toy is perfect. I have favorites from Bandai/Arcadia/Yamato, but all of them can also be improved in one way or another by following a similar technique that's been done by the other company. Anyway, I'm still waiting for mine to arrive so I'll see for myself how it feels in my hands and transforms. Hopefully I get it by tomorrow.

Ah I see. I thought you were ridiculing his actions because of the rolling eyes emoticon. No worries then. He probably doesn't keep boxes to save on space, hence he "repackaged" the Arcadia one in the Bandai box. Would be kinda hilarious though if someone buys a used Bandai VF-19A only to find an Arcadia YF-19 inside the box.

I don't see what's wrong with that. He decided to keep what he thought was the best iteration of the YF/VF-19 in his opinion.

No, June 22. I live in almost the same time zone as Japan.

Mine was shipped last Monday.

Nice! The scaling looks much better between the 2 battroids now. Thanks for the pics.

Dunno why some are complaining about "copying". In previous posts, some of these same people say one way for BandaiArcadia/Yamato to improve on their product is to mimic/copy the way their competitors did it (assuming they did it in a better way). Now that Bandai followed a similar design to something, people are labeling them as copycats. Besides, who really knows who came up with the original design? Are all toys that use double-jointed elbows and knees "copycats" now? How about ball-jointed wrists? Did Yamato "copy" Bandai for adding diecast to their valkyries? My point is, toy design is always evolving. Unless there's a patent on a particular mechanism, then it's only realistic that people will take inputs from things that work. If everybody insisted that everyone should come up with their own unique design, then toys would end up being stupid complicated and may even end up worse. Personally, I prefer Bandai's design over the Arcadia one on all modes. I was never a fan of the chunky look on the YF-19. I liked it on the VF-19S, but on the YF-19 it looked too squat to me. The scale was also way off in battroid mode. But to each their own.

Bandai delivers the 19 I've always wanted. The proportions look perfect to me. I guess Shoji Kawamori really did oversee the proportions as was stated in the product's description.

Personally, the video made me like it even more. I was never bothered by "over-engineering" as long as it didn't result in a floppy mess. Now I wish I can secure a 2nd one at N-Y come release date. I gotta have at least 2 of these.

No changes to the engineering as far as I can tell. The joints on the new one were a lot tighter out of the box than the old one, though my old one still has pretty tight joints until today. Aside from the color scheme change, the only real difference I've seen is that they've now painted the insides of the engine thrusters on the lower row and the bottom of the feet black. The older version had these unpainted. Strangely enough, that was something I wished the old one had way back when I first bought it, so this change works for me.

This is off topic, but I think people are being too harsh on NY, Amiami, or whatever non-HLJ store that comes up. I assume most, if not all, of the ones that complain are Americans living in the US. Well I just wanted to say that the Return and Exchange policy that is practiced in the US is not the same in other countries, such as the one where I live in. You can't just return an item because of some issue that was not due to the fault of the seller. Unlike in the US where I've heard that people can return/get a full refund for a video game from the seller even after playing/finishing the game in less than a week. HLJ appears to be owned by an American so it's probably why their policy on returns/exchanges is more similar to the US. In my country, how NY and Amiami deal with these kinds of issues (defective product) is within normal expectations. The blame should be more on the manufacturer rather than the retailer, which is why their first option is to contact the manufacturer about it. Strangely enough, the only time I've received a defective item from an online store is from HLJ. I contacted them about it and since the item is no longer in stock, they just offered store credit but not equivalent to the item's price.

Did Guld and Myuung actually have sex? I remember Guld giving Isamu that smug look when he was confronted by Isamu about it, but I can't recall it being confirmed that something did happen that day in the hotel. Anyway, I also want the VF-19 Advance to meet/exceed my expectations. I like its sleeker look much better than Arcadia's version. I actually made a comment before about remembering the YF-19 Battroid in Plus not being as chubby/stocky as how Arcadia did it, and wished it had slimmer proportions. Based on the pics so far, Bandai nailed the proportions I wanted.