warrhead

Yeah, these are sorta based on the old 1/100 toys but scaled up. Still smaller than the 1/55 though.

I bought one early last year for HK$16 (US$2) and frankly it wasn't even worth that. The plastic was very brittle and the toy snapped in three places (hip bar, tail fin hinge and shoulder joint) after only two transformations.

Graham

Wow, I guess I dodged that bullet!!! I appreciate the heads-up, and from the man himself!!!

hose things where awful.

I remeber I got one and it was bad to say the least...

And it's ALWAYS good to hear from you Seba!!! Have fun in HK guys!!!

I saw these here. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...9&category=4696 They look like recasts of the old Taka 1/100's but from the size comparison to the 1/55's it seems like they've been scaled up... possibly to around 1/72 scale(?) Someone correct me if I'm wrong... Does anyone know anything about their quality? Are they worth $7 apiece? I have no problem with repainting 'em, I just wanna' know how crappy (or not) their assembly is... I'd like some VF-1's in my 1/72 display, but I'm not quite willing to shell out the dough for the HCM's.

I have transformed my Hikaru once, and now I checked it, I also have the stress crack but on the left leg intake.

Would it be a big problem eventually? as I was planning to transform it a lot in the future..

I can't imagine that it's a good thing... it's possible that the cracks formed during the plastic's drying process and are as bad as they're going to get... but it's still a little unsettling for buyers in America unable to take advantage of Yamato's product support.

...so am I the only one who thinks this is a REALLY big deal? I mean, the need to be careful is one thing, but a product that is unable to handle the stress of it's own designed function is another think entirely... I dunno, maybe I'm just being an alarmist.

I was just looking over my 1/48 Hikaru VF-1A and noticed something that was a little disturbing. On BOTH air intakes where the screw goes there are stress cracks that have developed that I can only assume are the result of moving it's adjacent detented joint back and forth when converting between modes. I have been pretty gentle with this toy, and it has never been dropped, so I can't imagine where else thes cracks may have come from considering the stiffness of these detents (I don't even transform the thing excessively!!!) If they start to develop the the Fokker S-type that I just bought then I think I'll have to stop buying these. Does anyone else's 1/48(s) have this problem? The only other possibility that I can think of is that perhaps the screws that these cracks are near were tightened excessively when the toy was assembled... Bummer

Reading through the thread, I noticed an unanswered question which has recently become relevant to me... IS it possible to buy 1/48 replacement parts from HLJ (i.e. the backpack hinge?????)

Just got the fast pack for my 1/48's today... unfortunately the back thrusters don't stay upright in battroid mode... I noticed that the instruction booklet for these highlights the small tab for keeping the Valks backpack upright, so I tried to click it past this tab, breaking the backpack joint in the process (which REAALLY BLOWS!!!!!) I am using the small fold-out clip-thingy provided to secure the backpack, but that just end's up pulling down the part that it's attached to... Am I missing something?

Just moved back to Santa Cruz after being away for YEARS... pretty slim pickin's foir toy shops around here. I'm itchin for some instant gratification and was wondering if anyone knows of any toy stores in Watsonville, Boulder Creek, San Jose, Oakland/Berkeley, or San Francisco... I'm looking for eighties mecha (1/35 Alphas, Taka 1/55 Gazette or Tulcas, Bandai Hi-Metals, or newer 1/48 Yamato and Bandai Chogo- EVA's.) I COULD do the mail thing, but I'm looking to go on a mission today...