HardlyNever

Got through at AmiAmi.  One is enough for me, good luck everyone.

1 minute ago, orindlt said:

Well 17:00 Oz Eastern would be 4pm Japan time, so could be an attempt to be helpful for us.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking, it just fails by leaving the "Japan Time" on there.

2 minutes ago, orindlt said:

Weird. This is what I see 

This is what I'm getting: 

Maybe their converter is messed up and it really means 3:00 my time, but still says Japan Time?

1 minute ago, MacrossJoe said:

anyone know what's wrong with amiami.com (their global site)?

 

amiami.jp seems to work fine.

amiami.com shows the items but when you click on it, it says "item not found" for everything.

I'm using this link fine:

https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=FIGURE-041234

1 minute ago, orindlt said:

Showing 17:00 JPN time on my listing

I'm seeing 15:00 japan time.  Which is an hour earlier than predicted?

I feel like this is relevant here.  Always good to reassess every once in a while (don't judge a book by its cover, watch the video):

After sitting around at the Tokyo airport for 4 days, mine is finally en route.  This is my first vf-31, I'm excited.

35 minutes ago, Ridden001 said:

It also has barrels molded into the cannons alongside the intakes.  This thing rocks.

Ah, the old "what are those things."  I've seen those called laser guns, or sensors.  Same thing with the red dots on the front of the nose cone (some say guns, some say sensors).

I just rewatched SDMF, and I can say that 100% they shoot lasers out of the red dots on the front of the nose cone, multiple times (in different episodes).  Not so sure about the things on the intakes, but it is possible (the animation is pretty rough sometimes).

Or you could chalk it all up to animation errors.  But it is the 80s, everything that could be a weapon, is a weapon.  And some things that couldn't be weapons, are still weapons.

4 minutes ago, MikeRoz said:

SLT Hikaru Ichijo?

Second Lieutenant.  But that definitely seems like an odd way to abbreviate it. 

5 hours ago, DewPoint said:

I just had a thought. Since the current VF-1s are largely a 9 year old version of a 36 year old design, how much more innovation are we expecting from these toys? At what point does "better" become simply "different"? I know that with the varying opinions, we could nit-pick anything to death.

I brought this up in the 1/48 thread.  I agree, we are quickly hitting the place where obvious improvements aren't possible; more like stylistic choices about what to emphasize on the vf-1.  Which, like you said, will always be subjective about who did it "better."  I'm glad to see a waist swivel, better articulated hands, and the gerwalk antenna back on the bandai 1/48, but these are pretty minor improvements in the grand scheme of things.

We could always go bigger and try to cram in more gimmicks ("magic hands," internal lights, sounds, things like that) but there isn't much economic incentive for a company to make a single, giant vf-1.  The money is in milking the mold for multiple releases, not making a single "definitive" release.  

15 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

Or...you know, they can keep doing what they are doing which is selling out every Macross product they release? That has to be good for their business.

Eh... that's being a bit selective.  HLJ still has several of their newer releases in stock, as does NY (especially the sdf-1).

And this is when they had, undoubtedly, the best vf-1 on the market.  That won't be true after the Bandai 1/48 is out.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it is all doom-and-gloom for Arcadia.  But I doubt they can just keep doing what they are doing with their vf-1s and be fine.  There is a new kid on the vf-1 block, and they need to acknowledge that.  I think their non vf-1 lines will be the way to go, for the immediate future. 

6 minutes ago, ScrambledValkyrie said:

 I might wait and see if they do a TV VF-1S.

I didn't see a clear answer on whether or not this comes with missiles for the hard points. It would appear that it doesn't, since they aren't shown anywhere in the pics?

Yeah, I might only get this release and the VF-1S and get the super parts after.  I mean, I have both of those in 1/60, but my 1/60 vf-1j has a gray visor and GBP, and the vf-1s is the dyrl version.

So I can justify getting a white visor vf-1j and tv vf-1s, because they are technically different, right?  Right? 

And we might be getting scammed on the missiles.  They are suspiciously absent.

15 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

I've gotta find a yardstick and make SURE this thing in battroid mode will stand up in a Detolf! Assuming I get in in pre-order hell..which I have a sinking feeling is going to be nigh-impossible.

I literally just did this (well, not a yard stick).  If it does come in at 27 cm, there is plenty of room at least on the top shelf.

The way I see it, Arcadia's options are:

1) Abandon the vf-1 completely (for the foreseeable future), and focus their efforts where there is little/no competition like their Macross Zero line.  Maybe move into Macross 7, or other less-common valk designs (from video games, etc.).

2) Keep making their (soon to be outdated) vf-1s, but focus on the rarer birds.  Things like the vt-1, ve-1, vf-1d.  Maybe go back to custom/weathering versions.  But even with that, I think they would need something to sweeten the deal, whether it is premium finish at current non-PF prices, or some really killer bundles.

3) Try to beat Bandai to the punch with a v3 1/60 that incorporates a lot of the improvements of the upcoming Bandai 1/48, and maybe more.  I personally don't think Arcadia has the resources to do this, but it would be great to see.

I do think Arcadia has seen this coming for quite some time (even before November 2017, when the Bandai 1/48 was first announced), so I imagine they have a plan internally.  I'm sure they will still release the Max VF-1J PF, and the anniversary valk (that no one wants).  But what comes after that will definitely be interesting to see.

Price is great, I'm in for at least one.  Where are the missiles, though?

I want to love this thing, but I just kind of like it.  I still haven't seen any shot or feature that got me really excited.  I think we're at the point with the vf-1 that any new mold is just going to be a small improvement over the last,  with its own set of compromises and quirks, rather the huge jumps in quality that occurred last decade.

I'm only 2 deep into the v2 1/60 vf line, so I wouldn't be opposed to collecting more in this scale, but I just can't get that excited about it.  I'm also worried about the price per unit.  

I'm in for one, but I won't know if this will actually be something I want to collect until I have spent some time with the first one.

With all that detail they can't fill in that one line on the heat shield?  Seems a bit lazy...

It looks like we finally might get "modern" articulated hands, though, which we sorely need on a vf-1.

34 minutes ago, tekering said:

Oh man, I'd forgotten how plain it looked without the Premium Finish... almost like an unpainted test shot.

Looks like AmiAmi has their Paypal issues sorted out.  I just successfully paid, if anyone is still waiting.

3 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

That's a cool one, HardlyNever.

I was also thinking about the same thing, rdrunner. But HardlyNever already used the original intro so I used a different source.

Here it is. Hope you guys like it. 

 

I'll probably do more over the weekend.

 

I like the turrets poking through .

I'm thinking about doing some from the pachinko machine animations (is that what this is from)?  There is a lot of good original mech action in those animations for most of the pilots.

AmiAmi requesting payment for the 31S now.

The reality of the vf-1 is any designer is going to have to make compromises and concessions in one mode or another (unless they want to do some seriously extreme parts swapping).  There is just way too much inconsistency between modes to get a perfect transformation toy to look anime-correct in all 3 modes.

I think the yamato/arcadia v2 has a very screen accurate (for the most part) fighter mode.  The battroid mode is overall too slim, but I still think it looks aesthetically pleasing, just not really accurate to how the vf-1 battroid is generally depicted.  

It looks like Bandai is focusing a bit more on battroid mode with this one, which is fine with me.

On 7/19/2018 at 1:49 PM, Slave IV said:

1/48 works for me. I don't have the Yamato VF-1J Hikaru so it will go well with the other ones I do have.

@no3Ljm We need a new wallet gif! Closest I could find

18 hours ago, rdrunner said:

Im thinking of the TV OP where the -1J charges through the city in Gerwalk mode -> transforms to battroid -> rolls -> guns down a regult/wallet around the corner...:D

Too lazy to do a better job.  Maybe Noel will step in.

Looks good, I'm excited.  I'll probably be one of the last to get mine, as I'm mid-move and need to get mine sent to my new address, but at least I'll save a bit on shipping.  The colors look better in toy form than animated, imo.

Also glad to see the reaction missiles made it.

30 minutes ago, Alex GS said:

Does somebody already got their payment request email from AmiAmi  for the 31S?

 

 

Still waiting here.