ArchieNov

Personally I think those launch stands are horrible. I have one but can't really use it because it's not stable, further exacerbated by Yamato/Arcadia sometimes placing the connection mount in areas very far away from the valk's center of gravity.

Yes. And as mentioned before, the lil drakens that go with Keith match even better with the S.

3 hours ago, Mommar said:

The hue on the movie versions are extremely attractive IMO.

Indeed. But I think the ones that came before look really nice with Arad's 31

VF-31E preorder cancellations aside, I got my Drakens from NY earlier today but didn't get a chance to open them before leaving for work. But now I'm home and had the chance to put them on. They're okay. Nothing surprising. 

Got it at AmiAmi. It actually went a lot smoother this time around compared to the recent preorder madness with them.

Hey the pic looks perfect now. So my earlier comment no longer makes sense lol.

Great shots as always.

Don't want to come off as nitpicky, but I think you forgot to bend the legs in fighter mode for when the fast packs are on. Then you need to clip the shoulder parts into the back of the calves.

Other than that, looks great!

No pics to share but I recently got the WeiJiang M05 Hide Shadow (aka Blackout). Had the original Hasbro Studio Series version at first but sold it in anticipation of this one. I must say that this one is a really awesome piece. The increased size and improvements they made over the original make it one of the best Transformers I've handled.

Also received SoC FA Daimos. It's a nice piece and I'm glad I finally have a Daimos toy after wanting one for over 30 years, but I am just not feeling it right now. I just gave it a once over and stored it back in the box.

Something must've been wrong with your Strike Cannon. It's supposed to be able to fold down 90 degrees without any mods.

2 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

So what part is that? Care to share from where it fell from?

 

That's one of the small pieces that flip out near the chest guns.

So I just heard that Chuck's VF-31E will be a Tamashii Exclusive release. Anyone else heard this?

I wonder if I'm just really lucky with my 2 copies, or if there's something being missed by those with the arm tabbing issue in fighter mode. Both of mine tab in very securely with no signs of it trying to dislodge itself. They don't need the gunpod or legs to help keep them in place, and they're both aligned with each other and no need for offsetting.

I would like to help but not sure how since most peolple with the issue are experienced owners, some waaay more than I am. Hard for me to imagine that they're doing something wrong.

But anyway, in my case what I do before transforming the valk from battroid to fighter is to make sure the arms are rotated down all the way at the shoulder hinge as far as it can go. It's a tight joint so best to grab it at the base of the shoulder or upper arm when rotating down rather than using any part below the elbow or else it might not be fully rotated. If not done all the way, I can imagine that may cause it to want to flex outwards (or downwards in fighter mode), coming undone at the tabs.

Again not sure if that will help anyone with the issue but thought I'd give it a shot.

1 hour ago, eggy99 said:

BTW, who else has this awful mold mark on their gun strap? It’s on all 3 of mine. 

I only have 2 but both of their gunstraps are fine. That's really really unlucky to get them on all 3 of yours.

4 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Just want to confirm regarding the chest part. Once in Battroid mode, the chest doesn’t lock that much like the YamArcadia and it can easily be move or shake even if the shoulder cavity fillers are folded. Let me know.

Other things I noticed besides what’s already been posted is that I like the backplate small fin that presses down when the backpack is folded. It’s going to eliminate the paint rub on the tail fin esp for colored Valks (e.g. Skull black tail fins).

And there’s a few things that I want Bandai to fix or update on the next release: A.) Have a thin neck base filler. I don’t like the view looking down on the neck area from the back side of the figure. B.) Remove the backplate folding locking mechanism to the nosecone. And instead, Bandai should revise the backplate locking arm peg in Fighter mode to be a lock that wraps under the nosecone in Battroid mode. Kind of like what YamArcadia did. C.) Add the ‘grill’ detail on the backpack’s thrusters. D.) Make the shoulder chest cavity filler metal so it’s more sturdy like Arcadia’s VF-0S/A.

But overall, I like the figure. Didn’t expect that it will took me twice the time of transforming it compared to the 1/60v2’s.

 

The chest locks solid. You may have missed a step. Try pushing down on it more until you hear it snap into place.

31 minutes ago, spacemanoeuvres said:

Anyone else still waiting for NY to ship theirs out?

I paid the extra shipping cost and it’s been “in progress” ever since. 

Have you tried opening a ticket to say that you already paid the additional? That works for me. 

It feels sturdy enough to me, but time will tell. Certainly feels less prone to breakage compared to Yamato/Arcadia shoulder hinges as you don't flex the plastic as much.

Yes, you have to push it past the detent at the base hinge.

No, your current position is not correct as it hasn't gone past the detent. Once you do, the base hinge should be locked solid.

I don't know why people are so concerned with fast packs now when no one has any clear idea of how they'll be implemented yet. It's needless worrying at this point in time.

58 minutes ago, treatment said:

 

As nice as this DX-1J is, I just hope it doesn't get loosey-goosey like some other Chogokins tend to get.

That said, I'm already a little annoyed with the arm-slots not really locking with the underside-tabs when in fighter-mode. 

Seems like the design makes it dependent on the legs being connected to the backpack to support the arms in place so that the arms don't sag down or dislodge by themselves.

 

Both my arms tab in no problems on the underside, so I don't have that drooping issue.

I agree that there's a chance it may become loose over time. Hopefully tightening the screws at the hips will help fix that. But for the ankles, I don't see how that can be easily remedied.

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet, but this probably has the best fit among all of Bandai's valks to date. Gaps are very minimal.

And I must say that this thing is really beautiful. My love for the design had diminished over the years, but this DX has made me appreciate the VF-1 all over again.

Just received my first one. It's pretty much perfect without any of the issues reported so far. Hopefully my second one is just as good.

I know it was in the anime, but I'm wondering what's the point of the gun strap when they can just connect the gunpod to their forearm.

Even if it's an exclusive, there's most likely a set limit for the production count. After all, Bandai has thousands of other toys to manufacture and I'm sure there's a schedule to be followed.

I don't think it's 8 years old yet. Maybe half that as of now.

This guy should really get someone else to hold his camera for him. So awkward to watch him fumble with things with one hand.

Looks like we now know what became of him later in life.