BlueSkull

Awesome job! Definite interest for several here as well

Nice I got my 11B last year for around the same price. (150-ish usd, 2nd hand) As for a V2, I don't think they could really improve much on it. Maybe just making the tailfins a bit bigger and improving arm articulation. Other than that it's perfect. (Yes, even the fiddly canopy. Once you get how those tiny tabs work, it's no bother transforming it at all.)

Wow. Just Wow. Awesome work!

RE: the new 1/72 kits, I find the head (at least for the S) to be excessively ginormous. Once you notice it, you can't unsee it.

@Tking22 I understand your frustrations completely. The 25A was my first VF25 and I did NOT enjoy transforming it the first time at all. Same problem area for me. The neck plate is supposed to slide up and out, and the entire assembly needs to go up-ish like in the manual, but the damn thing's joints were so damn tight on mine, that I had to apply a very scary level force to get it to move. Thankfully, it worked and nothing broke. https://www.dropbox.com/s/a5p472adar6jvmj/VF25A-head.png Here's a pic of how far the neck plate needs to be pushed up and through. You can pop off the head to make it simpler

I really want the VF1A CF, but the ebay prices make me go WTF every time I see them. I have the set of mac plus gnudous, and I like them a lot. Excellent plastic quality, and these guys do not fall apart nearly as often as the revoltechs do. They're also nowhere near as fiddly. My only complaint besides the price is the weird almost SD-level proportions for some parts, but that's definitely not a dealbreaker.

So that's a good price for it? That's around how much it goes for around here. (Stores still have it in stock)

Thanks guys! Much appreciated. Guess I'll be pulling the trigger then.

Hmm, now I kind of want to get myself a himetal VF1, but I'm a bit worried about QC issues. Is there any variant that should be avoided, or is there any variant that is known to have spectacular QC? (Like how the 1/60 VF25A is top-class in terms of QC, while the earlier ones are loose in general) (Or is it basically a crap shoot for whatever model I get?) I'm trying to decide between getting a Max 1J, Hikaru 1J and a Max 1A. Thanks in advance!

Evilbay

Finally arrived today. This baby was always a grail of mine, as I was in med school when it first came out, and $200 was a CRAZY of money for me back then. It is everything I hoped for and more. (And I haven't even transformed it yet!)

I came to the party very late, and only have the one 25, the 25A. It was my first modern bandai valk, and I liked it so much that I bought an Isamu 29 when it came out. I initially resisted the temptation to buy more Frontier valks (found the F and RVF at very good prices), and now I'm glad I did. I feel no need whatsoever to acquire any more frontier valks. The main reason for me is that they all have that exact same weird torso transformation that I find annoying (I like the design, but hate bandai's engineering). I might get a renewal 27 if they ever come out with a different color, but that'll be strictly to appease the completionist in me that wants at least one of every Valk type.

Yeah, pretty much this. When you get your grail, it only means that you're gonna start pining after a new one a few days after haha. I thought that a 1A CF and an 11B were all I ever wanted, but all buying them did was open the floodgates.

Harmony Gold: "NOT ON MY WATCH!" (Seriously though, I REALLY hope it gets through )

D if you display in Battroid, T if you display in fighter/gerwalk. They're both nice, but i don't personally feel any urgency to get a T.