Salamander

Well, ff95gj was so kind as to link to another forum where other users were mentioning it as well. The people in HK seemed to have gotten their hands on the RVF-25 before the official release date (which was yesterday) and so they were the first to notice the problems.

Two or three people in total. How many people didn't report any problems?

Actually the photo's posted with flash had less apparent colour difference than the ones without flash.

...which was taken under tungsten artificial light. Which, just like a flash, tends to give weird color effects on things. There's a reason that artists who want to use natural colors don't use those kinds of lights, you know...

That's true, but you are tarring good people with the same brush as the whiners,

I did?

I actually wrote:

I haven't, because I have the very strong suspicion that many of the reports are made by:

Note the word "many".

Does 'many' mean 'all' in your world?

decreasing the chance that these people will be willing to post reviews or photos again, if all the response they get is just to be labelled whiners, complainers or panickers.

My post was actually aimed at people like OmegaD3k who keep saying that all of their VF-25 Valks broke one way or another or keep falling apart, but when asked for pictures they remain incredibly silent.

It was not aimed at people who back up their claims with facts (eg. pictures). If it seemed that way, my apologies.

Without them, how are the rest of us going to get reviews that help us decide whether to buy the toy or not?

From the people who don't actually own the toy, but are handy with Photoshop?

I thought that both ff95gj, Macross Junkie and QuinJester gave great reviews that were not biased.

Could you please point out where *exactly* I named them as giving crappy reviews?

Because, you see, I didn't. You are the one who brought them up.

So YOU are the one who actually suggested they were crappy reviewers. That's nice (<- 'nice' in a very sarcastic way).

But, ah, wait. You reacted the same way to eriku's post. Reading doesn't seem to be your strong point.

All they did was point out flaws in the toy that were obvious to them (and in some cases, very obvious). They even posted pictures to prove that the problems were real. Kudos to them, they truly don't deserve to be flamed

I didn't flame them. Nor name them.

and in some cases, helping us decide not to buy a toy and save the money instead, which is critical given the current economy.

...

If you are so strapped for cash that you can't afford a toy, you should have the insight that perhaps you should stop buying them without needing to read a review. Don't tell me there's nutters on here that are starving themselves just so they can buy toys...if so, FFS, get your priorities straight (and go get some counseling)!

Do you even read the complaints or is this some random "you guys suck and I rule" rant?

Oh, I read them. I just take them with a grain of salt. Especially since I haven't seen any complaints about Luca elsewhere yet (and MW is known for having users that magnify any minor problem as if it were the apocalypse)...

Unless you see in a different spectrum than normal humans do (and maybe even then), the same colour problems will appear on your Luca as well.

I bet it will. It's just that I think that the color difference is less bad than suggested. Flash photography is known to make color differences more apparent (due to reasons already mentioned).

<snip>

But to imply that the kind, helpful people like ff95gj and MacrossJunkie who have bought the toy and made the effort to take pictures and tell us what problems they experienced with the toy--- to imply that people like that are idiots who can't read instructions or whine alot or have some secret hidden grudge against Bandai--- that is just the height of internet trolling itself.

Just like, for example, replying to every other message in this thread, you mean?

It's just that I see a lot of people whine about how bad this toy is. In some cases, like the broken shoulder screws, that's understandable. In others, like apparently expecting that a transformable toy should survive falling off a high shelf, it is not. I mean, you don't blame the manufacturer of your car when a tree falls on it and damages it, right?

(unless you're one of those people who sue a company when you drop your hot cup of coffee and discover that, yes, coffee can be very hot indeed...)

Now what I really cannot comprehend is that there's people who whine about the quality without owning the toy, say they won't buy one, then buy one and....whine about it. Self-fullfilling prophecy.

If you don't like it, don't buy it. It's not like Bandai forces you to buy it with armed machine guns and Gundam tanks pointing their barrels at your head... Other people who like it more will buy it, and some of them are even likely to give a proper, non-biased review. There's a few of them on this board, even.

*wonders why attempts at injecting logic into this place seem to fail so often...something in Yamato's plastic?*

I wonder how many people have canceled their pre-order for Luca already.

I haven't, because I have the very strong suspicion that many of the reports are made by:

- people who can't read instructions properly and therefore don't put things together the right way,

- people who spend five minutes with the toy, having already decided that it sucks beforehand, put the armor in place without pressing it down, and then whine,

- people who didn't read the instructions at all and don't know how to apply the parts,

- people who are completists, but think Yamato is God and everything else is garbage, and then buy for completion and maginificate every small flaw there is (unless it's Yamato - even broken arms are good quality control ),

- people who want the thing to be made from 24 carat gold and diamonds, yet expect to only pay $1 for it ("if it's more expensive and lesser quality it SUCKS"),

and finally:

- people who don't actually own the toy, but are just trolling.

So I'll see for myself.

Well what I meant to say was that yamato's QC as of late is good. I'm not saying they're perfect by any mean but yamato's latest releases have and are still currently alot better than what bandai has churned out recently.

MW must be the only place where "arms break repeatedly" means "good", then.

IMPORT!

Australia is Region 4, IIRC. Not Region 1.

It could be a simple case of "These parts are made from a different plastic or have a different structure, so they reflect light differently".

So in a picture taken with a flash you'll see the difference more that under artifical lights in your room, and the difference will be nearly gone in daylight...

Which doesn't mean that the color difference doesn't look pretty awful in pictures, of course (just adding this since people here tend to read stuff into messages that isn't in them...)

Though he does say he got what he wanted from the chogokin toy.

I think that the detractors of (the) Bandai (toy) will just continue saying that that isn't true because otherwise they'd have to admit they're wrong...

looks like some of the lasers fell off the left leg...oh oh.. doesn't look promising.. hope its not like that when we get it where the lasers/turret guns fall off easily

It's a resin hardcopy. Resin is quite fragile. Stop trolling.

Looks really good so far painted!! However is that simply the pose they chose or is that Mac quarter having a hard keeping it up, The Guns & shield I mean?

Considering the size of the gun and shield, I think they'll have a hard time making joints that can hold them up. Either the joint do hold them up and moving the joints is near impossible without breaking the arms, or they'll won't hold them up.

I personally prefer the second option, and it would be great if Bandai included a stand to hold them up...

I see your points; but I don't think the 1/72 kit is fragile... except for decal chipping.

A couple more metal parts for the 1/72 model (the shoulders in particular) I would actually say it's sturdy.

Three words:

styrene vs. ABS

I ordered the super part for VF-25S at $450, but what else can I do (except wait)?!

Surely that's a typo?

And what does that have to do with yellow plastic? What did that have to do with China when it is a well known problem with toys made from anywhere? Is it because of your well publicized prejudice?

Uh, because the stuff put in the milk was put in because it would make the milk nicely white, so people couldn't see water had been added (milk with water is translucent whitish...)?

Instead of going haywire, perhaps you too should get your facts straight.

This is so true. I just don't get how Bandai does it's research when it comes to rereleasing these again. You would think that it was quite obvious that mint VE-1, VT-1, and Strike VF-1S still fetch quite a bit of money on eBay. These are sure-sellers. I know I'd be pre-ordering these babies. I'm paranoid about even pulling out the vintage ones from time to time. Be nice to be able to display some reissues of these. Bandai is so obsessed with starting with the first releases. I give them credit for finally making a VF-1A Max, but that should have come after the no-brainers. Some generous extras and more tampo-printing would be nice, too. I was shocked to find out that the Origin of Valkyrie VF-1J Hikaru actually came with a heatshield this time around.

Bandai Japan doesn't bother with Ebay. They release what the Japanese customer wants, not what a bunch of fanboys with too much money want.

Oh, on the 2001 reissues, only the first Valk came without a heatshield.

? And they just decided to put holes and reissue their VF-25s for fun? No. I don't think so. They put in the holes because they needed them.

Yes. Of course. Because the Alto Super Packs weren't announced a few months back AND SHOWN FITTED TO ALTO'S VALK, but just now.

Bandai = Satan. Bandai hates MW and wants to eat its members' babies. :o

</sarcasm>

Why do I actually bother trying to use logic on this board...?

The hell? That's pretty lame... Maybe we can all send our valks back to the shop saying they're defective and missing those holes.

On that note, just shipped my VF-25F with the broken hip back to HLJ - I'll either get a refund or a repair. Probably no replacement since the re-stock doesn't arrive till April; but I'll need one since I already put money down for the FAST Pack. =/

I thought their replacement policy only applied to products that arrived broken, not to ones that the customer broke?

Aww mann... thanks for screwing all of us early buyers, Bandai.

Dude. Right now it's speculation. I bet the Alto and Ozma Super Packs will attach just fine to the earlier releases.

As for the Armour & Luca/Mikhail Super Packs - were you planning putting those on your old Valks? The first includes its own Valk...the two others are not color-matched.

I've no idea how well the clearcoat will adhere to the plastic-- I don't think anyone has actually tried it yet. You could be the first

Be aware that the clearcoat may react with the paint and screw everything up, so try it out somewhere you can't see before doing the entire Valk. Also, not being able to take certain assemblies apart might be a problem...

*preorders Armoured VF25S at HLJ*

Back in the 80s even with their excellent QC, I didn`t really like`em cuz the of lack of possibility

"1980s" and "poseability" aren't two terms that I tend to think of together...

The 1/55 Chunky was one of the most poseable transforming toys of the early 1980s with a fairly realistic alternate mode. Could you name what other transformable toys back then had ankle, knee, hip, neck, shoulder, upper arm, and elbow articulation back then?

...why are people complaining about the thing being a partsformer when they knew beforehand that it would be a partsformer from hell?

Sometimes I think people on MW only post to complain.

This reads like a parody. Not a very good one, mind you.

Toynami? They're not stopping HG from selling MH Ride Armors when they are imminently releasing a much more expensive ride armor

Mega House = Bandai (subsidiary).

In Europe -

May I suggest you leave Europe out of this?

HG certainly doesn't force Robotech DVDs and toys onto us, and, in fact, the only Macross DVD set released so far (besides M2 and M+) has nicely accurate subs and uses the remastered Japanese animation and soundtrack. AFAIK, it is officially licensed from Harmony Gold/Tatsunoko, but that's about all of their involvement, since it was actually produced by a French company. It only mentions Robotech in the booklet, in a very, very neutral way. It does feature the openings and endings of M7 in the bonusses and some other stuff. Heck, MW is even mentioned in the booklet.

This all makes me believe that what may apply to the US with regards to HG does not necessarily apply to Europe.

Wow, such a pessimist. This valk was designed with CAD. If any valk could be done in 1/100 with PT, it's this one.

Sigh. CG model used for animation ≠ 100% possible in real-life. How often does that need to be repeated?

Ok, that's the worst Ozma's has ever looked. If it was human, his hips would be right under his nipples...

It looks like the same picture that they've been using for quite a while now. IMHO, anyhow.

I read a while back they would be ABS and POM. Just like the HCM-pro, right?