Sildani

It was quite nice. Some scenes were extended, some added that weren’t there before, like a bit of Spock’s exposition toward the end. 

Special effects were good, they really did a great job with the Enterprise and spent quite a lot of time getting it as right as they could. 
 

There was a ten-minute long snippet in the beginning where the SFX crew talk about how they got the original models for the Enterprise, the K’tinga, and the Worker Bee and pored over them to create the digital models of them. Interesting. 
 

They also included the minutes-long entr’acte of the starfield and the orchestral score. Also more shots of the exterior of V’Ger, which was welcome. 
 

So I enjoyed myself. This is the definitive version of the movie, now. 

I’m in the seat now. Will report. 

I’m on that waiting list, but rest assured, everyone, Anasazi’s work is well worth it. 

Last update. Transformed back to fighter. Arms were the worst part, getting them into the fighter-mode “broken” form was a pain, but I figured out what went where eventually. I discovered that you can push in the arms too far into the fighter body, so that the legs won’t tuck up into a notch the arms provide for that purpose. Also, the bicep armor is difficult to keep at the angle it should be kept at. 
 

With patience, and much massaging of Mirage, I was able to get most everything snugged down into place. I can report that after about a dozen connections, the wing tabs on my copy attach to the leg holes and generally don’t pop out with normal handling. As you can see, the arm panels conform to the underside of the wing - mostly - with the cannons pointing dead ahead so long as you’re happy with the panels the cannons are attached to being out of alignment a couple millimeters. The door still won’t shut, but it’s not quite as bad as before. Perhaps if I close it 100 times it’ll wear in. 
 

I discovered the cannon has a blade “sight” on the muzzle that’s supposed to fit into a shallow groove on the crotch piece to keep it pointed straight ahead. Well, with the cannon completely folded up, it’s ever so slightly out and won’t work. If you slide out the muzzle, then slide it back in just before it clicks into place, then attach the cannon to the mission pod, that blade sight will happily slot into the slit provided. It’s possible that with handling, the cannon handle will wear into its slot on the mission pod, and then the blade sight will fit into its slit whilst the muzzle is completely closed. But that brings me to the main issue I have with this model. 
 

It’s not fun to mess about with. Many sharp pointy, uh, points, parts that don’t quite fit, and a lack of QC just make this something I’m not going to handle much. I’ll leave it in fighter, buy its Super Parts for completion’s sake, and that’s it for me. I just don’t think it’s worth the money I paid, and I suspect this will be the case for Chogokin Valkyries going forward. More cost for less quality. And Bandai will get away with it, because they’re the only player in this particular game. After the Super Parts and the WWM VF-25 I’ve PO’d, I’m out. The return on investment just isn’t there anymore.

By the way, what happened to that VF-14 looking VF that was in the movie? No announcement of that being made, correct? 
 

Yep, in a few days. Want to gather opinions on that door first. 

First transformation. Was fairly simple, those arms are annoying. Everything tabbed in, everything felt like it fit together the way it was designed to. Nothing under tension. The central grey chest flap, though, just… flaps there. Nothing holds it in place. 
 

You can also see that one of the wing doors that conceals the hand doesn’t want to stay shut, no matter if there’s a hand there or the arm panel misaligned or anything. It just won’t lock in place. There’s a tension there somewhere that pops it out of place. Don’t know where to start sanding, any thoughts?

Overall, a definite step backwards, maybe not in engineering, but most assuredly in fit and finish. On the Charlie, everything snaps to with authority and everything has a place. Not so much the Kairos Plus. 
 

One positive: I LOVE the head sculpt. Gorgeous. 

It just occurred to me that @jenius didn’t do a video on this Valkyrie. 

So here’s how it arrived. Amazon box custom fitted, with bubble wrap all around. Arrived pretty much safely, with a dinged corner in the upper left that may or may not have occurred in transit. Oh, and no candy. I have a sad. 
 

Ahh… that new Valk smell. 
 

Initial impressions: a poorer design than the 31C. The wing of the Charlie had a beautiful, sculpted airfoil to it to hide the arm in the wing, this thing has flat, angular surfaces. Paint quality seems less as well. I’ll report more later. 

Was this thing VTOL, explaining the louvers under the intake trunks?

Mine is on the delivery truck. I’ll report in when it’s in my hands. 

Anyone get candy yet?

I think it’s worth the watch, if only because the first five or so seasons were absolutely that good. It goes off the rails at the end, no mistake, but at least you’ll KNOW why everyone feels the way they do about it, and if you choose to see House of the Dragon, you’ll have the background you need. 

I’m sure it blew HBO’s mind too. They had the world’s hottest property one year, to having absolutely nothing the next. I’m sure they thought they had the next Lord of the Rings, in terms of spin-offs and merchandising that their devoted fanbase would eagerly snap up. Funny what happens when the writing tanks!

LP just messaged me, Mirage will be moving this week. 
 

EDIT: just got DHL tracking info. 

The more I see it, the more I like it. The first fruit of all our collective longing, hatred, and so on. 

Mm. I ordered this from LP a king while ago, so I suppose she’ll be on her way to me soon. Gotta say, not looking forward to it as much as some others. The apparent lack of QA is a gut-punch. 

Eh? A couple days early?

Mirage’s ride comes out Friday, I’m not holding out much hope for it to have these issues fixed. 

Extra Jeremy Clarkson was installed. 

Exactly. And since not too much moves on the Tornado Parts, not much chance for the finish chipping or scraping. 

21 hours ago, Moosey said:

Have already been imagining mine with Michael’s super parts…

Bought a set of Michel’s Tornado parts to use with it. 

From WonderCon, pic from Facebook’s Macross Fans US page. 
 

Pushed back to June. 

Another awesome transaction with @Bolt!! My wallet hates me. 

Not that the info wasn’t nifty, or on topic, but dang, this is probably the most successful thread necromancy I’ve ever, or will ever, see. 
Long live Macross, indeed!

Awesome transaction with @Bolt! Packed securely and shipped fast!