Kinzoku VF

Hey, it's a metal 1/6 figure stands that I converted.

Quick snap of my 31C that landed this morning. Color scheme is great (totally biased, burgundy being my favourite color....). Unfortunately all the annoying issues from the last releases are still here ( to be expected as it's the same mold as the other VF-31s). That gap behind the cockpit, the sucky brown/gold/whatever tint on the canopy. Wish they'd given a spare clear one (like they did with the Draken III and the clear green cockpit of the YF-27 renewal Vers). Bit of a shame as the pilot figures are nicely detailed. Don't intend to get all VF-31 variants. Will pick up the 31E, and the 31A if it gets a DX release, that's it. As for the 35th Anniversary version, might get to appreciate its scheme over time, but it's definitely not 'love at first sight'. Rambling aside, overall pretty happy with the 31C, looks great next to the 31J. Delta's M&M...

I think I got one of the last ones....I ordered it, posted a msg in the discussion, 4 mins later sold out....Wonder if they'll have more tomorrow.....Maybe should get another one.....

Seems like it's already sold out . Man that was close! Lucky, as I nearly hesitated Lol. Might've jinxed it with my comment saying the HMR Macross PO stay open for ages...my bad. (It'll more than likely be available again.... for ¥20000 ) Don't you just love that hobby.....

Still not sure about it though. The Evolution Toy ver (I kept 1..*sigh*) were such a fugly mess. Makes me wonder if the few improvements on the HMR ver are really worth it. As always, the underside is still 'meh'....Notice the picture conveniently angled so that you can't really see too much of that mess...Seems similar to the Evo Toy underside, (aside for the shoulders/arms hinges) . Seem they added an additional extending flap to hide all the mess of the arm articulation etc. Hopefully being a HMR everything should be nice and tight, but that Evo Toy has left me with a bad taste. I just bought one anyway (more for completion's sake) and you know, in case it sells out in 2 days (highly unlikely....most of the Macross HMR preorders stay open for ages.....I remember doing the same for the Miria version, and it was still available on preorder shortly before release. ) Let's keep everything crossed ....Especially my Ma.

Ok. I get et the point...LOL ...I was just really p'd off when I typed that post. As I knew those 2 tiny tabs were going to be a problem from the moment I saw the pics. And law-and behold, 2 weeks or less down the line, there are already casualties. When I said I'd like more die-cast, as far as VFs are concerned, I meant it for the internal structure rather than an all metal body... (although....). Sure as some pointed out , die-cast is not without its faults, but as a rule of thumb if the engineering is properly though-out, it's better than tiny little plastic clips, or hinges that will eventually end up with cracks, stress marks etc...Anyway, I appreciate most of you realised it was written out of cheer frustration/disappointment (although, I still stand by what I said... ridiculously priced Super Parts etc .... ). I would've loved to have it displayed it Gerwalk mode.....but I won't transform mine, until I get a second one, that's for sure....(with a bit of luck prices will plummet when they announce the 'Renewal SVs'.....)

Well, still have not transformed mine, and seems I was spot on when I mentioned those crappy plastic clips in a post, before most of us had even received it. Again, these are not Yamarcadias. They are marketed as 'Dx Chogokins'. Some of you don't mind paying the price of a 'Chogokin' to get a plastic VF great..But personally, I really hope it's not going to become a habit. As for the camp saying that metal parts get scratches when transformed, It better in plastic....Sure, whatever, BUT at least you can alway retouch the paint!!! What are you going to do with that broken tab? Nothing. It's f'ked and if you ever sell the thing, you'll be lucky to get a fraction of what you paid for. I love my Yamatos/Arcadias, but not for the same reasons I like the "Chogokins" VF. Notice how most of Bandai's lines are discreetly getting rid of metal....(they even shrank the 'Dx Chogokin' logo). Problem is many collectors just don't seem to mind (that much), they moan when it happens, then forget all about it, more preoccupied getting their wallets ready for the upcoming releases. As soon as one piece comes out, the hype dies off and onto the next. *sigh* ( I know, not everyone is like that don't bite my head off.) But, when you pay ¥20000 + for a piece (adverstised as a Chogokin I insist on that.....) you expect a minimum of quality. Lucky, I didn't have any tampo prints issues on mine, nor am I going to break anything as I won't be transforming it. As for the prices of the Super Parts set...what a joke, they must really think collectors are a bunch of moronic idiots. ¥10000 + this time for 2 Ghosts, a sword/shield ( that should've been included with the VF from the get-go Imo), 4 pieces of leg armor that aren't anything to write home about. Wtf? I mean you can get the Lil Drakens kits for $25! Yes, so, they don't have landing gears (which you'll never use anyway....but at least they don't have that flashy baby blue theme going on ). Really impatient to see them side by side. As someone had already mentioned, and even posted pics, seems like the 1/72 they are pretty close if not 1/60 scale ??...Reminds me of the old 'Renewal' RVF-25 Ghosts, I mean....they are nothing more than painted kits. At least they gave you 3 AND the armor parts (remember, when they did that whole "let's re-release everything again, but this time, we'll raise the price and sell the armor parts separately" lol good times). I remember, paying $70 shipped for this renewal Ghosts and armor set and felt it was too much! Decided not to preordered this set for mow (and unlikely to get it aftermarket either ). But, did order the kit though. Pretty sure I can do a great paint job on them, never mind about the armor parts, they make the plane kinda 'chubby' on the top anyway. :-p ( Trying to convince myself not to get that set, but for once, it's not that hard.) At that rate, you will soon have to pay for the wings separately too........Wait.....they've already pulled this one off.... VF-171....*Sigh* Sorry about the rambling, this whole chapter/saga started with that 'broken tab' post.I am just fuming as Bandai are taking the piss big time (forgive my French....). Let's wait and see what other parts will be next to snap on this SV.....I'm sure more are to come.

Preordered it last November (to avoid any stupid price hikes obviously..), felt like a long wait, but finally landed today \/. No differences in the material as far as I can tell. It's pretty much the exact plastic etc for each of the RHMs. Not sure why people seem disappointed. The shade of red maybe? Personally happy with how it turned out. It fits perfectly with Max's colour . (Like many, I also own the Yamato ones, the Toynamis etc...It would be pointless if they all had the exact same colour tones).

Quick pic of mine. Have some slight alignment issues on the 'arm part' in fighter as someone else also mentioned .... Maybe you can realign it when transforming it. Not transformed it since I received it though... Don't plan to either until I get another one to "play around". I'll leave that one in fighter mode nice and minty...... I showed it to a few peeps, some did not like the design one bit. (Prob just envious.....) Pain in the backside transformation & gaps aside, I really dig its looks. (could also mention the lack of die-cast...it's a supposed to be a 'Chogokin' right? hope it's not going to become a habit, we have Yamarcadia for the plastic VFs, )

The preorders stayed open for ages at NY. I ordered mine last November 2016, and I think early February 2017 it was stil available. (found it odd as preorders had been closed eveywhere else for quite a while). I try and preorder whenever possible, (especially when Macross is concerned....) don't see the point in paying extra (sometimes a lot....) waiting for the piece to be released. Although....when I don't have any disposable $$ or miss the window, then....no choice...I wait.

So tempted to get a second one just to transform it to display it in Gerwalk mode..... Again on these close up transformation pics, you can see stress marks appearing around hinges etc.These dark blue plastics really are worse, as they have a tendency to be more apparent. Some of the old Yamatos 1/60 (YF-21 and others) suffer from the same issue being a darkish blue, the whitening and stress marks from transformation tend to pop a lot more. Not sure how these Drakens will stand the test of time. Especially if transformed 20 times...With that gold bronze painting and supa' tight clearance on some of the parts ....So not only stress marks&cracks around the hinges etc but bound to end up scratched up a lot more than your average DX...Nice piece though.....If only the transformation could be as smooth as the 5 seconds it takes in the anime...

Looks that way on the pic, but it's actually well secured on a Flight Stand angled slightly downwards. I'm having a hard time displaying everything 'properly'. Most of my Detolfs are for vintage stuff (Popy,etc). The other Detolfs that are exclusively for Macross are full of mostly 'Classic' Vfs, various SDF-1s versions, Hi-Metals, vintage Takatokus and Mospeada stuff etc..Not an inch of room left. Volume-wise, Detolfs are not ideal. Wishing I had more room....or less stuff (don't we all..)

Great pics as always Saburo. Kinda looks better in pics. Received mine this morning. First impressions.....not too sure. Granted, having reservations before even having it in my hands, probably did not help, but on this instance I feel they were justified. Love the color scheme, no issues with the tampo prints etc. Main gripe: it's really 'gappy'. The fact that the patterns are spread on many separated parts makes it even more obvious. Not transformed yet, not sure I'm looking forward to do so. I can already spot some tiny plastic rods that must slot into equally tiny plastic clips.....( the kind and size you find on the Hi-Metal !!!) Does not feel very inspiring. As I've mentioned previously, I'm a real 'maniac' when it comes to marks, cracks etc To recap, looks-wise, different, but not bad at all. Manufacturing side of things, it feels fragile even when handling it in fighter mode. (Not transformed it yet as I've already said, it might feel more robust in Battroid). But all these little flaps etc.... *sigh* aligning everything back afterwards will be a pain.... Hope it's just an impression. The mode that I really dig from pics is Gerwalk.....Next to the Zero's SVs, looks like a long lost brother! On a positive note,after quickly removing and cramming a few other VFS, it blends in completely in a random crowd of VFs, you can hardly see it.....(no room to fit it in my Detolfs, so it will most probably end up on the ...." Messy shelves " for now .....) Overall....still not sure!! Need to fiddle about with it a bit more for a definitive opinion. But won't be getting 4 though that's for sure, ( getting the 'drones' though.....I mean that flashy blue scheme, is just too cool to pass ).

Top part of that wing hinge for example.....Not the end of the world, but for something that was only transformed once or twice ( just assumption from my part as it has just been released...).

Still not got mine....so only judging from what I can make out from some of the pics etc. And the overall feeling I get is not : "Wow, best DX to date!" or "Such a unique piece with amazing engineering". Lots of mitigated opinions. Not saying people seem disappointed, but not elated either. Is it just a "Meh" release? Or just too 'unique' for its own good? (It does not look very 'Macrossy'....so if you haven't watched Delta you won't relate as easily....) Looking at some pics, I can already see stress marks on some of the parts! With the amount of hinges, and swivelling parts all over, not sure if the plastic route is a good thing. Cannot stand stress marks on any of my Valks (one of the reasons some never even get transformed.). Will they eventually emulate the Yamarcadia manufacturing trend and end up 97% plastic (3% being the screws and the occasional metal bar..). I don't have any (or hardly any) scratches on the die-cast parts of my other DX, (Not everyone treat their DXs like 'Transformers' going back and forth between all modes 5 times a day....). Cannot see any valid reasons behind this lack of die-cast other than saving on materials whilst still selling at a premium. Maybe it's just an 'experiment' for this rather 'unique' VF design to gauge people's reactions. Hopefully with mostly mitigated feedbacks, they'll forget about 'plastifying' their Chogokins as much. Or possibly it was an 'on purpose', rushing it in order to give us an improved 'Renewal' version down the road, (after having released at least 5 coloured variations of course......) Hoping this lack of metal does not become a trend, as it's already prevalent in a lot of their other lines Hi-Metal (lol...), Socs, Srcs.....Who knows, maybe they plan to revive the old 'Pla Dx' from the golden Popy days. (Ok....I'm pushing it....). Anxiously waiting until it arrives next week so that I can get some clarifications regarding this 'odd' VF.... Rambling as usual...

Still waiting for mine.... Not sure what to make of this VF. Only reason I did not skip on it, was the unique design. Transformation seems like a pain in the backside..(amazing engineering for sure though.) The Battroid mode looks great, probably the strongest of all 3 modes imo. Fighter is o.k, but looks more like a 'Shmup spaceship' (Dodonpachi etc...) than a 'proper' Macross VF. Even the more recent VFs (Frontier...) look more like fighters. Lastly.....Battroid mode. *sigh*. Not digging the head at all. And the whole thing looks like a TF Decepticon or something (sorry TF fans..) Not to mention the upcoming sword accessory. It'll look like some kinda Sci-fi 'robot-dragon-thing'.... Delta was a weird chapter in the Macross saga. Like a 'Love Live'' chapter on steroids. Sure, music always had an inherent part in Macross. But It's becoming a bit much. Banpresto is having a field day with this one....So many outfits to choose from . Hard to tell if I will like that one until I have it in my hands. Might be one of those VFs that needs a bit of time to truly appreciate..... I'm rambling....

"Supaaa attack modo".....Was fiddling about with the Cronos and a twin attack mode sprung to mind.....Not seen any pics in that 'mode' yet? (haven't opened the instructions...so not sure, might be a legit transformation mode?).

Sorry Spanner, late reply....Yes, I think I had posted pics of one of them ages ago on MW ( I'm usually more of a lurker....) . These are some Yamato unpainted VF's that I painted (I really wish Arcadia would re-release those unpainted kits, they were just great. I still nave 3 or 4 unpainted sets left, but cannot get myself to paint them until I come up with some kick ass paint schemes.) Anyway, here are 2 clearer pics I found in some of my albums.

Quick on the fly pic....(forgot to close the drone bays.). 1st impressions are positives. The box imo is perfect....If only all boxes could be as sturdy with a top lid like that one. The inside presentation with the blueprint cover thing is excellent too. As for the VF, haven't transformed it yet (I rarely transform my VFs.... Some never, others just once for pics). Great looking bird, still prefer the YF-30 though....Not sure I'll be shelling out to get all 5. Maybe 2...tops. Like the 01 VF-31S and the 03. Rambling....

Still don't get the price hikes on these DX Deltas.....It's really too much 😒. I mean ¥15000/¥17000 should be an average price for DX at retail. There aren't any extras with this VF to justify the price. At this rate, most newly released VFs are going to end up costing ¥30000. I did pick up a VF-31J. But not the SP. (Wish they could have a 'pay later' for those....). As it is, I'll skip and wait 6 months or so to get them 2nd hand. They look great in battroid mode (adds a bit of bulk to the skinny frame) , but I don't like them on the fighter....With 90% of my VFs displayed in fighter mode guess it's not a must-have for now.(trying hard to convince myself to skip the SP.....) As for the VF itself, hope it'll look better irl than on the pics. It's cool sure,but not "blown away cool". We'll see! Kinda like the box though 😓 Rambling as usual...

Sorry about the crappy lighting. A quick pic. Modern Vs vintage Takatoku Sofubi, nearly identical right?! .(Love Sofubis, granted, they don't transform, but you can drop them without having a heart attack, they have the 'VF' on the legs AND you can play with them in the bath..priceless 😁)

Thanks! I assume you're talking about the SDF-1. It's the 1/3000 Yamato SDF-1.

Randomness....Playing around with my 1/100. For the longest time I could not stand this line.The first one, I got years ago from the original releases, felt like it was a $20 toy. Not that there are much differences between the two lines, ( aside from he thicker upper arms and metal swivel things for the shoulders)... But, really got to appreciate the fact you can just fiddle around with them anytime anywhere, (Forget about Yamarcadias,Dx Bandai etc I never touch those, just display fodder...). Not to mention the amount of space you could save, especially for those of us collecting other bots aside from Macross. (Although not planning on replacing my extensive VFs collection for 1/100 anytime soon....) My only gripe(s),same as with the first line: the material used feel cheap for what they charge, too delicate, many tiny plastic hinges everywhere, some stress marks right out of the box, metal content is a joke, and fiddly transformation...). $50 a pop would be more reasonable,but I guess Mr Tenjin has to eat, same goes with the licensing etc. Not even gonna delve into the obligatory 'on purpose' price hikes if you don't get the darn things the second they come out...(but nothing new here, it's Macross after all..we should be used to it by now..right?)..Rambling. :-p

Arrived today as well. Supa nice! Kinda prefer the blue on this one compared to the old version.