Powered Convoy

Good news. Also hope Big West sells some of that Anime Expo merch online. 

1 hour ago, grogall said:

No, I don't think it's a nock-off! I think sadly someone was lazy and put a Bandai VF-1S in a real Takatoku VF-1J box! Sad since the box is somewhat of a good shape!

Maybe someday you can find the Maximilian Jenius VF-1J and put it back in this box!

Thanks! Yeah, it's a good looking box. Also need I find the super parts for the S now. 😅

4 minutes ago, grogall said:

Well since the box says VF-1J and it's clearly a VF-1S, I would say it was packaged incorrectly!? and also Takatoku never produced D.Y.R.L VF-1's!

I figured it was the wrong box but wasn't sure if there was a knock off with a Hikaru S in a Max J box. 

I won this 1/55 VF-1S Hikaru. Anyone know if it's a matter of being in the wrong box or is it some other release or knockoff that came in a Max VF-1J box?

The colors are great. 

On 5/16/2025 at 12:22 PM, MKT said:

That’s quite a nice collection when everything is laid out & displayed. 

I don’t have access to mine at moment, but I now recall there’s an inconsistency between my Sitting Minmays. The one from the Minmay Collection special set (which you have on the second row from front), has the desk leg a bit too long. As a result, Minmay is sort of straddling on both rear chair legs with the fronts off the ground. I can’t see if yours have that issue too since it happened to be blocked in the pic.

The other watercolor sitting Minmay I have is fine though - exactly like yours, all 4 chair legs touching the ground with the desk leg being slightly angled forward.

 

Edit: Couple of pics to show what I mean:
 

I don't know if the length is different but the Minmay Collection version definitely has a hard time getting flush to the ground. I find that one not to fit as well as the other version, but one's mileage may vary as the watercolor version also has a hard time fitting everything together. I think over time that may improve, but yeah there is a lot of problems with the other version sitting properly. 

8 hours ago, MKT said:

I never really understood why figures have a clear-hair variant, and it's not limited only to this line. I wonder what's the thinking behind them.. 

Yeah, I think quite a bit of them look bad with the clear hair, while others look good or fine. 

Bad: Hikaru, Ishtar, Misa

Good: Minmay, Milene, Moa, Sara, Roy, Basara 

The ones that look bad look bad because they either have hair on the side that is painted and therefore doesn't match the rest of the hair (Misa, Ishtar) or it just looks too translucent on its own (Hikaru).

At this point, I've managed to get them all except for series 1 chase and the two WonderFes exclusives. I'm still not sure there is a clear hair DYRL first concert Minmay (I haven't seen any photos of it). 

I originally got some from series 1 and 2 about 20 years ago but had to go back and rebuy an Ishtar (her pinky finger broke off) and get some of the more expensive figures from each series (like both Max figures and solid hair Hikaru). 

Purchased a sealed case of wave 2 to look for the evasive opaque hair Roy Focker (I had what I thought was the opaque hair Roy o only discover it's the clear hair version).

Not only were each individual figure sealed but the case as a whole. So the figures hadn't been swapped in the case or with other cases (which is what I think was the case with my wave 3 case that had 4 Max figures in it).

Here is the case layout for the two columns:

Back

Misa | Clear Misa

Roy | Clear Roy 

Basara | Clear Basara

Sara | Clear Sara

Minmay (watercolor) | Minmay

Front

So even placement of each respective character with the variants being on the left and the normal version being on the right (watercolor Minmay being the normal version for this release and the other version being the variant). 

I decided to go with the lower cost for this one having the YF-19 already (and despite having the Yamato from 20 years ago). Arrived intact. Haven't gotten around to transforming it though. 

Yeah, these are full on coming off the sprues without much effort and then the tubes and rings on the clasps instantly shattered with any force. 

Congratulations on the score!

Talked about it here but wanted to give it more attention. 

Are the black stand pieces for the Isamu / Max / Shammy wave extremely brittle or is it just mine (being kept who knows where sealed in Japan for the last 20 years)? The clasps and the rods each are breaking and cracking without much provocation. 

I did get a first concert Minmay separately and noticed she came with a white stand. So I'm figuring that it may have broken or the person who sold it got confused. 

Thank you. 

Edit: I'm seeing it may be common but hoping to hear more from the forums. 

Managed to get a sealed box / case of wave 3 from Japan for about $100. Lucked out in the selection of figures. 

2 Meltrandi Max

2 Valkyrie Max

3 Shammy

2 Isamu

1 Minmay

1 Flower Girl 

1 Roy Cockpit 

I have a friend that is going to take the extras, but I feel I really lucked out trying to fill in my collection as I originally never bought this wave and had hoped I'd be able to get both Max variants. 

Edit: I don't know if it's just the ones I got but the black stand pieces except the base are extremely brittle. Shattering and breaking without much provocation. 

Very cool!

Song by Junna. 

https://youtu.be/T4nBc4zfvRc?si=_Vlxa7iNUi8Rq2x2

On 4/4/2025 at 5:35 AM, pengbuzz said:

Hey; I just wanted to follow up and see how that worked out for your Miria 639 figure. How is that doing?

Seems to have worked pretty good for the interim. She feels perhaps a little too smooth but not sticky or slimy in an unpleasant way. The dress one perhaps less so than the other two. 

This week, I also managed to find my originals from when they were first new and they are about as good as the newly opened ones after several washes. 

It makes me think it has a lot to do with humidity, as my original have been kept in a humidity controlled area for most of the time. 

Started going back and recollecting these. 

Things I will point out is the second Minmay at the desk is almost completely different than the original. The desk and chair are the same, but most of Minmay is entirely different than the original. 

Also, the glow and the dark Minmay is easy to spot as the main part of her dress is almost all white while the normal version has pink and blue coloration. 

Here is a photo of three "lost in the Macross' Minmay's (not to be confused with the better, IMO, first concert version). 

The two on the right are glow in the dark versions and the left is the normal version. You can see some pink, blue, and gloss in the dress of the normal version. The glow in the dark are more flat. 

Popular YouTuber Yuuki Sakuna's version. 

https://youtu.be/eMfo8NoyyIM?si=ngQlACzeVrQ12bfK

Hatsune Miku's version of the song. 

https://youtu.be/LoqefvRyWcE?si=GkRjj1vIY6LvY6_n

It's here! 

Mine is due Monday. I'm excited, as I haven't watched this series outside of a fan sub of episode 1 over 20 years ago. 

On 3/11/2025 at 10:18 PM, Paco Grande said:

Good to see you on here! I have a Darth Vader lightsaber that has black rubber strips on the hilt. They have gotten incredibly sticky and gross. I was doing some research and some people were saying to clean it using Goo Gone which will cause the sticky layer to peel off and leave normal rubber underneath. I'm wondering if that would work on your figure. No idea if it's the same material or not. Huge warning that I have not tried that yet myself so I have no idea what it will do to your figure. You might want to try doing some more searches about the Goo Gone method to see if you can get more info.

Edit: Wait, I just realized that this figure is painted. I don't think Goo Gone is a good idea on a painted surface at all. Sorry about that!

 

Thanks for the advice. I followed what Big s had suggested and washed her in some detergent a few times. That did the trick for now. 

I will follow your advice with the Goo Gone for my Anakin FX lightsaber, as the black strips have gotten sticky like your Vader's. 

26 minutes ago, Big s said:

I’d try cleaning it first, otherwise the top coat might not stick. Also a lot of standard paints and top coats don’t really stick to pvc. Maybe have a test figure to try it on first. Stay far away from enamels, because they can turn to goo on the surface of softer plastics 

Good advice, thank you.

Does anyone think a coating of mat finish spray may help?

Glad to hear I'm not the only one to have this problem and that Miria 639 is the worst of the bunch.

I had purchased a Yamato Miria 639 figure set when they were first released. In the 20 or so years since it first came out and moving out of my parents' place to my own home, I have since misplaced my original. 

In trying to rebuild some of my collection, I started rebuying and buying for the first time some of the PVC figures, including rebuying this Miria set. 

So I purchased a brand new sealed set from Yahoo Japan, and upon opening it, there was a slimy residue over all three figures. I don't recall this happening with the ones I had 20 or so years ago, but knowing how things can age and potential residue. Has anyone else had a similar experience or know what it is and how to deal with it?

I have her soaking in some warm soapy water currently hoping it helps...