HardlyNever
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Another PSA for this valk: The thumbs on the integrated/articulated hands are weak and dumb. I broke one off, and I don't even know how. I was transforming it to fighter mode, and the thumb just seemed to... fall off. I thought it was a ball joint with how easily it fell off, but no, it's just poorly made. It wish it were a ball joint like the DX 1/48 hands, then I could just pop it back in. I never use these hands outside of fighter mode, so it's not a big deal. I've managed to glue it, but now I have basically another fixed-posed fist, just smaller for fighter mode. Just be careful handling the articulated hands, I guess:
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My VF-1D just came in, and I just checked out my feet. While stiff, I guess I got lucky on this release, because they aren't that bad. I had a similar issue to what others are describing with my VT-1, but this isn't too bad. So I guess it is a case-by-case basis. I definitely think Bandai changed the way they do HMR VF-1 feet from the VT-1 onward (a material and/or process change), but I think it can work out, sometimes.
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Also, I know we're talking about Regults, technically, but do they constantly resize Kamjin/Quamzin to fit in a Glaug, then make him big to walk around when he isn't piloting? It's possible, but unlikely, imo. I think the simpler and more likely answer is "anime magic," per usual.
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I'm happy to report that I finally got the arm mechanism un-stuck. I tried multiple things, but what ultimately got it was using a hair dryer on it for about a minute, maybe a minute and a half. Thing is, that is one of the first things I tried when this all started, so I can't guarantee that will work first try. I tried to document all my steps in case anyone else has this happen to them, so I'll list a short summary of everything I did below. I wish I could say there is one magic way to get it unstuck, but I'm not sure that there is. Anyhow, here's what I did (keep in mind this was over the course a week and a half, not all in one sitting): 1) Started with basic up/down and left/right movement of the joint. I did use a hair dryer on it for about 30 seconds or so early on. Didn't seem to do much 2) I tried prying at it with a tiny allen wrench. I don't know how much this helped, and I got minor scratching underneath, so I wouldn't recommend trying to pry at it with anything other than your hands. 3) Used a silicone-based lubricant (last night) and let it set for a while. 4) More pulling/movement by hand. This time more of a circular motion, trying to loosen it from all angles. 5) Hair dryer again, this time for 60-90 seconds. Then a moderate pull, and it was loose. If I had to guess, it was a combination of the silicone lube and hair dryer that got it, at least for me. But I'd recommend starting with the hair dryer for 60-90 seconds first, for anyone that encounters this. That's the best advice I could give. There's a little bit of scratching from the allen wrench, but it is underneath so it doesn't really affect the appearance. The pin/button thing that anchors the whole arm assembly together is a little loser, as well, but it still functions perfectly fine. That much pulling/prying is bound to loosen that part up. What caused it? I can't really say. I didn't mis-transform it in any way, as far as I can tell. The arms were in the proper position. I had it in battroid mode for 6+ months, so that is what I am suspecting right now. I'll examine it more and see if I can determine any other causes. It's a shame this design suffers from so many transformation issues, because it looks great.
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That looks like a manufacturing error, specifically they installed the magnets (which sit at the ends of the booms) the wrong direction. There are two magnets that are supposed to attract each other, and they look like they are repelling. Or somehow the polarization of the magnets got switched... It could be some other issue, it is hard to tell without having it in hand. But it really looks like the magnets are repelling each other in that pic. I don't have that issue.
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Yeah, unfortunately that is mostly just Hollywood stuff. You can make the picture "bigger," but without a higher resolution, you're not getting any more pixels. So blowing it up won't really help. Now if someone has a higher res photo, we could make it bigger and "zoom in."
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I'm getting to my wit's end with trying to get the arms un-stuck. I tried prying them loose with a tiny allen wrench last night, to no avail (and got some minor scrapping underneath for my efforts). Nothing serious, but I'm too afraid to keep trying something like that. Any recommendations for lubricant? I've heard RC shock oil can be pretty good, like this. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. I'm might just resign this to battroid/gerwalk mode, unfortunately.
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Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but is there any reason why Bandai changed the way they handle gunpod-holding hands for the VF-1D? Why did they switch from a hand with a gun grip molded into it, to a open fixed-posed hand that holds a bigger gun grip? Are they just trying something new, or is there something specific to the VF-1D that makes that a better option?
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I think a straight re-issue of the Hikaru 1J is pretty unlikely any time soon. I believe Bandai heavily implied or outright stated the special display stand was a one-time only offer (if that matters to you). A grey visor Hikaru VF-1J is much more likely. Whether or not that will be released around the same time Bandai releases the GBP set is anyone's guess. It would make sense to do so, but Bandai and sense aren't the best of friends, most of the time. At least when it comes to Macross.
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Either of those would work. If you don't care about the color of the base that much, the second link is a better value. The first link is the stand that some HMR toys come with (like the Regults). Most HMR toys come with adapters specific to that toy that will attach the toy to the display arm a lot better than the claw thing does, so you don't really need that. The support arm on the first link is a little beefier, if you're worried about weight, though.
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So I went to transform mine from battroid to fighter to put it in it's box, and I've hit the same issue @skex and @Bishop had with the arm rotation mechanism being locked down. The only difference being my arms are oriented in the right direction. It's been sitting in battroid for months, and now it is just stuck. I've transformed this thing several times before and never had this issue. From reading there responses it just sort of happens... and unhappens? If @skex or @Bishop or anyone else for that matter could shed some light on how to get it undone, I'd appreciate it. It's really hard to see in there, but it almost seems like the peg it recesses on is at a slightly odd angle. Maybe sitting in battroid for so long, with weight on the back, warps the peg it sits on? I might relegate this to battroid-only, unfortunately.
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It seems like between Bandai's preorder madness and subsequent scalper prices, and Arcadia's retail prices that are higher than scalper prices, we can't catch a break. I don't know if I'd call what Arcadia is doing "competition" to Bandai at this point. Seems more like... collusion.
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Enjoyed it overall, but of course there are some plot holes/inconsistencies. The one that bothers me most right now (or that I can't figure out) is:
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I'm honestly just hoping this ends up at a pretty steep discount. That might be the only way I can justify buying one. Enemy mecha + less-popular-franchise + ridiculous price seems like a good combination to be a shelf warmer. Arcadia might be considering that already, though, and make this a very limited run (hence the high price already).
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Yeah... I was expecting over 30k yen. I wasn't expecting basically 40k. I might wait and see if this goes on discount or something.
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No payment request or anything from AmiAmi. This item went missing on their website after their site maintenance. I'd like to think they are related, and it is just some glitch, but I guess we'll find out soon. Luckily, I have one at NY as a back-up.
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That would be odd, since it is still available at NY for 27,500¥. Amazon JP has similar prices. I'm still fence-sitting myself, hoping for another cheaper pre-order window. I'm ok if I miss out on this one, though.
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That looks pretty rough. There is definitely a lot of pressure there during transformation, but that looks like a manufacturer defect to me. Sucks this particular model suffers from so many QC issues, as it is a great piece if you are lucky enough to get one with minimal problems. That might be fixable, at least to hold together better in fighter mode. That thing's transformation days look like they are over, though.
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Personally, I don't think Bandai would ever listen or respond to the foreign market when it comes to these products(even though they are an international company). We just aren't a big enough source of revenue to them to have an impact on their management. We could, theoretically, be big enough to affect one or more of the major retailers, though, if we acted collectively. However, asking people here to collectively boycott a particular retailer that has a product they want is like asking a junky on skid-row to not buy from a dealer that you don't like. It simply isn't going to happen. And honestly, trying to press people into boycotting something isn't really something I would want to do, even if I thought it were possible (which is isn't). So I don't really think we can do much as a group. As an individual, you can always move on to something else, or deal with this BS from time to time. I wish we could do more, but I don't really see it.
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You basically summed up my thoughts exactly. I'm in this hobby for fun and relaxation, and chasing ridiculous pre-order windows or dealing with scalper prices is neither. Some sort of loyalty reward or priority for pre-ordering early with a particular vendor would be nice, but even that kind of system could be abused by scalpers (I'm sure many of them are collectors themselves, and also scalp other product lines, so they probably do a lot of business with these online retailers, too). Still, an early pre-order window with a limit 1 per customer (with bans for people caught trying to circumvent it with multiple accounts/addresses) for long-term customers could help the situation somewhat. I can deal with this once or twice a year, but if this is the "new norm," I'll just have to go find a different hobby. That isn't some threat to Bandai or something, I know they couldn't care less, it is just the reality of the situation. They'll end up quietly losing customers they probably never even knew they had. Which is partially why the situation is the way it is now, I guess.
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The SV-262 is low-key one of my favorite valks, and my wife's favorite (in my collection at least, "because it's shiny"). I bought it when it was bargain-binned, and I got either a QC test sample, or a QC reject. I would assume it was a test sample, as there is nothing wrong with it, as far as I can tell (it was just already opened, which I knew when I bought it from Manda). I still don't have anything wrong with it, other than a tiny scratch on one of the legs, which is bound to happen with this toy. I don't think the transformation is even that bad. It is just gerwalk, especially that one bracket in gerwalk, that is a PITA. I'll admit that is definitely a design failure on Bandai's part. But fighter->battroid and battriod->fighter (skipping gerwalk) really isn't that bad. I'd say it's about the same frustration/difficulty level of the Bandai YF-19. The battroid mode is honestly a work of art. Also packing the sword, shield and missile pods separately was a low blow, but Bandai gonna Bandai.
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Go for it. I'm glad someone enjoys it; I definitely got a chuckle. Just leave the watermark, if you don't mind.
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As we learned this week, Max can destroy more than just wallets:
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Yeah, I also miss figinstock. It was way better than the website notifications. I have alerts/notifications set up on the various websites, but they are way too slow to get these 1-2 openings. The only one that actually worked was the NY one, and that was for the price-hiked version.
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The SV-51 is downright gigantic; one of the biggest valks in the Macross universe IIRC. So I'd say it's pretty accurate.
