jeniusornome

Man. That is some catastrophic breakage @jenius - if it has happened with age it could mean any eBay Toynami ones are disasters in the making. 

I really wanted Maia’s when it was released initially, held off, then missed the reissue - kind of glad I did now. Might have just been trading one set of problems for another.

I have this sort of general aversion to Toynami, and every time I’m tempted I hear about something like this that reminds me their stuff always seems priced about 3x too high for me to consider it worth the potential QC issues. 

The Aoshima dark Legioss is still looking pretty good though...

@jenius the darker colors on that one, is that the Toynami MPC Alpha/Beta?

They're so tempting, but now that Sentinel has shown their Legioss prototype I'm trying to hold off...

8 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

I have no idea, I haven't actually built it yet. It's in my backlog alongside the Phenex and Banshee.

From one gunpla builder to another, with a stack of 5 Frame Arms kits and 5 RG kits in my “to build” pile right now, I can honestly say... yeah. I know exactly how that is. 

@Sanity is Optional are the joint locks as much of a pain as some reviewers made them out to be?

@Lolicon I just might. It's a really dynamic design and I think it would look great alongside the 31C. I'm considering multiple PG kits (and other sizes) to do same-scale Valk/Gundam pairings on my shelves. Normally I'd just buy when I'm ready to build, but since this was a limited one, it might be worth it to buy now and set it aside for later when I actually have time.

Here's two other fairly recent acquisitions. I'm sort of split on how I feel about the actual figure, but I decided if I liked it enough to keep it, one of these two versions would be the one I wanted. So I bought both. Managed to get them new from Mandarake for close to MSRP. The YF-25's joints were a little looser out of the box than the 25A, but not so much that it really affects anything.

These also had a tricky transformation for me. With both the 25 and 31 I found myself having trouble with the shoulder/collar area folding for battroid mode. Once I got it all sorted out it was much more solid than I'd expected, given how it all folds up and is only held in place by a few clips (or pressure, in the case of the 25).

@Lolicon I hear the Exia is a great kit. Been thinking about doing a Strike myself, heard it's a good choice to get into PGs since it's got an "easy" build.

I'm really tempted by the trans-am mode PG Raiser kit, love the colors on it, love the idea of a 1/60 trans-am Raiser next to a 1/60 VF-31C, but all the reviews I read said the Raiser is a pain to assemble and pose, it doesn't have the same 'play with me' factor that the Exia and Strike have.

If you google Robotech VGF-14 you'll find more renders of the design. I kinda see what he was going for there, trying to come up with something derivative of the VF-1 but noticeably different, but I think the problem is that he tried to make a VF-1 that didn't look like a VF-1, or an F-14 that didn't look like an F-14.

IMO if someone wanted to come up with designs that would avoid any Macross legals, they could have just given up the F-14 base design entirely and used some other contemporary fighter plane. The F-15 might be a little too close to Starscream (or the VF-1 for that matter) to work, but the F-16 and F-18 could have been used as an inspiration instead. The F-16XL would almost work as the first in a line of VFs that eventually included the Alpha fighter, even.

Or, since they'd already changed most of the character names, why not just retcon everything to look like it was pulled from a Mospeada design, since that seems to have less strings attached? The story has already changed so much they could just replace "Zentaedi" with... idunno, "Gorbsplats" or whatever, and you'd be really hard pressed to see any Macross left in there.

Idunno, I guess it's all irrelevant. The comic isn't even mediocre, someone at Titan is really just phoning it in. Or maybe they all are? I don't think I've seen anything else they've published. I checked this out because morbid curiosity, thinking it would at least be fun, but instead it's... well, it's not.

True, I actually have it standing like that right now. 

Well, I'm interested now. Wasn't before, but that Legioss looks incredible.

Wouldn't mind a ride armor as well, been eyeballing Sentinel's current ones. I like the updated design vs. the more "cartoon accurate" ones that have come before.

@F360 @Darth Mingus got it sorted out. Was going to post pictures, but had to transform it back to Battroid first. As I was doing it I found I hadn't pulled the shoulders out far enough, so I couldn't lower the back piece behind the head to get it locked into place completely properly.

Now it just looks back heavy, with the wings folded back, but it stands just fine. For anyone just picking up one of these for the first time, the pictures in the instructions are pretty good, a transformation video online is even better, but make sure you're pulling those shoulders out to give the top part of the fighter the clearance it needs to fold for battroid.

I love the fighter mode on the 31, and nearly everything else about it, except for dat backpack. But, the 25's design was the same way, I guess that's the way they're doing them now.

Or at least they could reissue them at 2k yen again.

@kkx hooked me up with a nice deal on KC's SD M&M pair, and I am just loving them. This cute couple is going to be sitting right in the middle of my red shelf.

I snagged a 31C from Mandarake! Paid a little more than I would have liked, but it was the only 31 I wanted so I splurged a little. I considered just doing a Hasegawa kit, would have been a lot cheaper. But on this red shelf, I also have Arcadia's 1J Milia (ty @jrhudson311, also where I got the little Miriya) and I’m going to put a PG Gundam kit up there, so the big figures on it will all be 1/60 this way. 

I've got the KC SD Max and an Arcadia 1J Max on my blue shelf right now (got the Arcadia Max in an ebay auction, brand new, for just under $180 shipped, and I had about $30 off of that in ebay bucks, so, woohoo!). Hoping to find either a renewal VF-25G or YF-29b that someone might want to trade for my DX VF-25A for that shelf.

When I finish clearing out the rest of my stuff I'm picking up a PG Strike Rouge, planning to paint with extra red for Miriya (Skygrasper too, going to try and just mirror her VF-1 scheme for that) and a PG GP01/Fb with a blue treatment for Max.

Looks good, but I’ll keep my Yamato one. I actually prefer the more generic color scheme. 

So I managed to snag the one VF-31 I wanted - the 31C, Mirage’s sweet magenta ride - and I am seriously digging the looks of it in plane and gerwalk modes. I like the feel of the figure too; the only other DX I have is a v2 VF25 and while I really like that it is a little more awkward to transform and pose (trying to sandwich everything together to get the torso solid in particular, though once I get it all lined up right it seems solid enough), and feels a bit unbalanced (heavy legs, light torso).

Anyways, battroid  mode on the 31 feels off for me. I’ve checked videos and instructions and it doesn’t seem like I’m doing anything wrong, but, is there some kind of trick to getting the whole thing to stay together and be able to stand up?

There’s clips in the front where the cockpit collapses on top of itself, and the sort of hinged pegs in the back where you fold down the top of the plane / wings, but there’s so much hanging off of the back I either have to stand it awkwardly leaning forwards or put it up against the back of a shelf. 

Am I missing something that makes it so it can stand on its own?

The standalone super part set has stickers you can put on the sides of the boosters. Skull Squadron emblem in red, blue, black and green backgrounds, along with a UN Spacy Kite.

I snagged a pair of sets off Mandarake for about 6k each. More than I’d like to have paid, but my 1D and brownie 1A look good with them.

Plus, you know, strike cannon on the 1D.

@Sanity is Optional they look great together!

Although this may not be a popular opinion with the VE-1 in there, I think Luca's 25 with the ghosts is the best of the lot.

!!!

Those all look great together! Epic photo, TYVM @tekering!

The 25G looks like a really close match to Max's blue. I passed one up just recently since I've got a 25A and YF-25 but now I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have...

Although I also like the contract the blue 29 provides. Hmm.

ty @borgified !

I wasn't sure if Alto's 29 or Mirage's 31 would be "red" enough to sit alongside Milia's 1J... they might, but now I'm thinking maybe they would just go onto my purple "ish" shelf instead.

They were the two colors I was leaning towards anyways, though if anyone has additional side-by-sides I'd appreciate the time.

Wondering if any of you might be able to help me out with a purchase decision.  

I’m setting up three color theme shelves - red, blue and “purple ish” - and I want to add a YF-29 and a VF-31 to them. Possibly a 25 but I’d have to sell one I’ve already got to do that. But I’m not sure which colors will work alongside the two Arcadia ones I already have.

Any chance someone might be able to post a picture of any of these? Doesn’t matter what modes they’re  in, just trying to gauge whether the colors will work together or be too far off.

Arcadia Milia and DX YF 29 (Alto)

Arcadia Max and: DX VF 25g (Michel) or DX YF 29b (Rod) or DX VF 31j (Hayate)

DX YF 29 Alto and DX VF 31c (Mirage)

@tekering love those photo booklets! What a neat find!

@Lolicon aha, tyvm for that. I thought maybe I was doing something wrong but couldn't find another way for it to go on there.

Thanks @F360 I might check out YJ... although that Buyee link has a warning at the top that says Buyee has reviewed the item and it is prohibited for bidding, not sure what that's about...

I bought three. Digging the look and the heft, though it seems at the most angled my Super 1S has a tendency to rotate a bit - not enough tension to hold it entirely sideways.

i feel like the adapter for fighter mode is set so the weight isn’t quite centered.

Anyone who bought these new stands have one of Arcadia’s clear simple stands they’re looking to unload?

one of these I mean:

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1065690534&ref=alist&lang=en

looking for one for my 35th 1j. 

@kkx I've had it happen before where it looks like the package is just sitting, having not even been picked up - then suddenly it shows up on my doorstep.

Like if it isn't scanned in one place it takes a while to catch up, or something.

I found punching the tracking number into the USPS website occasionally gets me updated information faster than Japan Post, if that helps. /shrug

I'd like to see a 1A/1D as their next release, along with a standalone set of VF-1 super parts.

Outside of SDFM... did they get all of the Yamato molds? Wouldn't mind seeing some M+ releases from them - VF-11 and YF-21. Destroid reissues would be neat too.

Are they working on anything new, or is all the new stuff going to be coming from Bandai at this point?

thanks @tekering that's super helpful! Is that the ver.3 MG RX-78? It looks good - I haven't build an RX-78 since the first once 20+ years ago.

@Alto-23 yeah their scales are the same but the heights are different because the mecha heights are different. A PG Strike is about 30cm tall, vs. a 1/60 1J at 22cm or so. An MG of the Strike would probably be about the same height, though the scales would be mixed up, similar to how an HMR and 1/144 RG/HG kit would probably be.

I like the idea of it all being consistent scale for a display, but I also have limited room to work with. A pair of PG Strike Gundams, their accompanying Skygraspers, and 1/60 VF-1s would be like... two whole shelves. But with smaller kits I could do the same thing and still have room on the shelf for a few others without it feeling too crowded.

/shrug, I'll get around to actually putting stuff together one of these days.

And actually, this reminds me - do any of you guys collect Frame Arms kits? They're "1/100" scale. I was looking at the lineup and thought that Genbu might make for a pretty good Nousjadel-ger substitute, and a Ji-dao with some booster packs attached could be a stand-in for a Queadlunn-rau. Didn't know if anyone had either to see how they'd look with HMRs. I've got a Rapier Zephyr and a Revenant Eye here I haven't put together yet but the Rapier's aesthetic is more "pointy sparkly gundam" and the revenant eye has a "one year war" kind of look to it, not sure either would look good alongside HMR.

On 7/7/2019 at 12:07 AM, Sanity is Optional said:

Slight correction: Arcadia doesn't have much choice but to sell the same thing with an increased price. Manufacturing is more expensive now than it used to be.

Also I'm pretty sure their production volumes are lower than Yamato, which makes the cost to produce go up as well.

Well, the HM Valks in 2010/2011 were around ¥6,000 SRP, and the 1J/1A HMR ones that were the equivalent (without super parts) were around ¥7,000 in 2016. TBH it seemed to be like HMR was a lot more expensive than that, but that's probably because the secondary market prices are so high, and also because 9 of the 12 HMR Valks have included extra accessories (armor, super parts) I didn't account for, so it actually tracks pretty well with expected price increases due to manufacturing costs.

My overall impression of the line's pricing was incorrect, but there's also nothing to compare newer jets like the VF-4 and VF-2SS with in OHM.

18 hours ago, Lolicon said:

No, no, Arcadia charges more than Yamato because they're greedy, plain and simple. It has nothing to do with increased labor costs or increased cost of materials or economies of scale or any of that nonsense. Also let's ignore that toys across the board have skyrocketed in price in the past 10 years, from valkyries to anime figures and everything in-between.

No, it's just pure 100% unadulterated greed on Arcadia's part. Bandai is still charging a measly 12000 yen for their latest Delta valkyries.

As I've admitted, my impression of HMR pricing was wrong.

On the other hand, Yamato's Valks were ¥9,800 in summer 2012. Arcadia's first release after the 30th was fall of 2013, and was ¥16,800. That's a really steep increase for a little over a year's time. Maybe they are trying to recoup some of the costs for buying the molds, but those prices went up fast and they've stayed up since (because if people are buying it, why drop the price, right?).

Bandai's DX "V1" VF-25s were around ¥12,000 in 2008, and the V2s around ¥14,000 in 2011. Slightly higher price for more complexity, increased manufacturing, yeah, that sounds reasonable. But the YF-29, also in 2011, was ¥17,000 and then the VF-31s rolled out 6 years later at ¥20,000.

I don't doubt that manufacturing costs have increased over the years, but we are talking about a 70% increase from Yamato to Arcadia in one year, and a 60% increase for Bandai over 8 years.

(looking at the timeline of pricing, though, now I wonder if the success of the YF-29 in 2011 informed both Bandai's future DX pricing and possibly Arcadia's as well - companies monitor the market for that sort of thing).

-----

Anyways I've diverged the conversation from HMR more than enough, so let me contribute:

"Escort Duty" - been re-working my limited display space and I had this idea for the more "unique" VF-1s.

I have a VF-1A mass production off to the left of this, and a set of HM super / strike parts on the way to add to it, along with a dark blue trident plus stand. Putting either my HMR Super VF-1A on the other front position, or maybe a custom paint job one I want to do. Going to hang a starfield background behind it, which would be multi-purpose for me since I'd be able to put just about anything in front of it and have it fit.

Also really dig the HMR VF-4, although I did just get a sweetheart of a deal on a Yamato VF-4 with some very minor damage and I'm waffling about whether I want to keep the HMR one now. I just love this design - I feel like if you asked any kid in the 80s to draw a picture of a "space fighter jet" it would look just like the VF-4.

I <3 Max and Milia (or Miriya, if you prefer). I really, really hope KC gets around to doing them in their 1/12 line, would buy them in a second. I liked that the white on these was the DYRL white as used on the super VF-1A and not the bleach-white as used on the Hikaru 1J, I think it would have been too bright with the red and blue being the primary colors here.

Trying to figure out what to display with them - I don't have a lot of room so I'm trying to mix and match from a couple of lines, in this case Gundam and Macross. I thought maybe an RG Strike & Strike Rouge with some added blue and red accents would make a nice pairing, and I think the kits are about the same height as the HMR VF-1. I could do the RG Skygrasper in Mirage's colors and put it in the middle, although the scale there would be a little off.

Or maybe MG kits next to them and forget the Skygrasper part, not sure. Would be closer in "real" scale at least.

Way back I had this idea that I could do a pair of PG kits, the Strike and Strike Rouge, all custom'ed up in Max and Milia's colors, same with the PG Skygraspers, and put them alongside the 1/60 Yamato/Arcadia Max/Milia VF-1Js, but I was a lot more ambitious about what I could do with my free time before I had kids.

Still, I can dream.