Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0

Hard to tell....in Kawamori's 3/4 linework....the angle of stabilizers inwards to the forearms can't be seen....

I agree with both of you guys. From what I was told years ago, Yamato and now Arcadia, can't release something without Kawamori signing off on it. I too, prefer the way the VF-0D looked onscreen. I think the best solution would be to release 2 versions, the standard Kawamori preferred version and an anime accurate version. Though I get the feeling the anime accurate version will also be the Premium version for 10000yen more.

Is that the latest iteration of the F-15X and is that a side facing camera or just a cutout on the side to show the AESA radar? Glad the upgrade system from the PSP games made it into 7(it was in Infinity too but I wasn't sure it would cross over to a main console game). It's about time. Just wish the upgrades would also be reflected visually on the models themselves(like canards, wider flaps, thrust vectoring nozzles, et al).

I think it's planned, it was teased in an animated commercial by Bandai earlier this year

Sounds like it'll work, sanding the pylon clips just a tad. Has anyone measured the pylon clips on the Yamato V2 and Arcadia? 1mm might not seem much but it would make a difference and explain why the connection is too tight on some samples.

There's more images on their IG page: KitzConcept Instagram

Shoji Kawamori WAY better! Just stripes sure but a small change makes a big difference in this case.

Great shot man, resembles the VF-27

I think they have and they may have lost the Macross 7 license a few years ago. Shame if so since I could sure use a Super Ostrich reissue sans knurled pin shoulders and a VF-19P. They only did 1 release of the Fire Valkyrie with the Sound Booster and gold trim and that was it. Bandai also showed a DX Fire Valkyrie prototype at Tamashii Nations a few years back...I don't think they would've shown that if they wouldn't be able to make it. Hard to say where Arcadia will go from here. As of December last year, they were still trying to get a greenlight from Big West to make a TV SDF-1. We've yet to see a FB2012 Skull Team VF-4 from them, presumably due to still waiting on Big West for approval.

I think Bandai just had the armor and hand sets on display to gauge demand, I'd be very surprised if there ends up being 4 sets. I think it'll boil down to 2 sets; Super pack with super armor and TV hands/standing TV pilots/TV missles. Then Strike set with strike cannon/movie armor/standing movie pilots/micromissle boxes/movie hands.

They(even when they were Yamato's R/D team) point to Kawamori each time color accuracy is brought up. They said he said the VF-0A(not Shin's but for Rabbit team) should be grey, not brown and told Arcadia that he preferred the blue they used for final production on the VF-0D better than the blue that Satelite used in the anime on the VF-0D CG model. I get the nagging feeling that the new SV-51 will be 3/4 of the way we want it. I do hope it's more solid in battroid mode compared to the old Yamato.

Yea I'm not a fan of the M&M paint schemes for the VF-4 either. They don't look as appealing as the Skull team and VF-X Ravens VF-4(which I've grown to appreciate much but more through the years). The other valks in M3 got good paint schemes, the VF-4's in it look lacking in comparison. Hoping to trigger hand is able to retract into the forearm.

Definitely true. From the top the Fire/Blazer Valkyries look shortened with the LERX's pushed up. The toys are easy to transform and very sturdy. They are just very toyetic, especially compared to the last transformable Valkyrie toys Bandai had released prior(1/55 DYRL, 1/72 HCM, 1990 VF-1S Super reissue). Overall they can be fun but might look like the most toyetic Macross toys in your collection. The VF-17 is very fun if modded to enable the knees to bend back.

Strictly on toy terms(as in handling, transformation, intuitiveness), the Yamato VF-17 is a far better toy. It's more of a challenge to adhere to the lineart. Whereas the DX VF171 is far more accurate to its animation model but is much more fiddly to handle compared to the Yamato VF-17. If the DX VF171 was as solid as the Yamato VF17, not fiddly and with a transformation just as smooth, the DX VF171 would be the better toy in my eyes. The way the toys turned out, the Yamato VF-17 has similar transformation mechanisms to the DX VF171, it just does those things better and much smoother/simpler.

I doubt you'll see any internally moving parts aside from the wings and possibly the canopy at most. Most diecast manufacturers opt for parts swapping over functional gimmicks. For example, Century Wings made a cat launch F-14 model but it had wings fixed forward and forward landing gear in the lower elevation used for catapult launches(rather than using a nose gear that could lower onto its mount by itself). Hopefully Calibre Wings doesn't put the engine fans too close up.

Beautiful lemon(cracked nose hinge and crotch hinge)

I would take a VF-31C in Hikaru TV colors and VF-31A in VF-1A brown cannon fodder colors over the made up 35th anniversary scheme for the VF-31. I'd love to see simpler SDF deco on the DX VF-31's over the airshow Delta decos(I like the 31A deco since it looks like a combat bird and Messer's since it's the most subdued from Delta Platoon).

This is probably my favorite thread here within the last 10 years. I have a question, @Xigfrid, can your DX VF171 replacement triangles stand up to repeated transformation? Also I think I got a new one for you guys. I don't recall seeing this crack before. It's the hinge for the radome/nose on the DX VF-25G Renewal. This part might be ABS(I didn't look close). Crazy thing is the crotch hinges look like POM to me yet they're cracked on mine! I saw those cracks a while back. For the radome cracks I think I could fix it by seeping some Krazy glue or epoxy and moving the nose gear back and forth while drying. I was able to save some cracked V2 1/60 VF-1 shoulder hinges doing that back in the day. Hopefully Bandai makes a DX VF-25 3.0 for the 10th anniversary of Macross F with diecast for main hinges instead of POM and solid pins instead of spring pins.

Hopefully a regular rerelease is on the way, I'll even take an unpainted kit version. Not sure why Arcadia hasn't brought those back.

Found the control art for the 1/72 VF-1. The swing bar appears to be in the nose instead of parallel to the back in Fighter mode: https://kitzconcept.hk/index.php/blog/KC918/ Also shows retooling planned for the VT-1D

Did Arcadia ever specified a tentative release date for Max this month?

I heard that the F-15SA has FBW, but is there a hard G-limiter built in? I was reading forum posts elsewhere about the F15C VS F16 in DACM and the Eagle guys said they sometimes had the edge because their system wouldn't limit them whereas the 16 was limited to 9G's from its FBW FCS. Also read that the F15E bled speed pretty fast when in DACM compared to the F16.

They can't use Macross designs/likeness in future media(movie, cartoons) but are able to produce toys/models based on SDF Macross designs. It does look like a reverse engineered Yamato with different articulation for the hands and it's hard to tell if the knee/lower leg is able to extend to bend the knee forward more for guardian mode. It isn't clear if the ankle can extend either. Ultimately I'm hoping for something sturdy as I like the size and the guy who designed this used to work for Mattel. However I worry since Yamato's V2 1/60 mold was already tricky to get right by Yamato themselves(anyone remember the cracked shoulder hinges!?), what more for a company reverse engineering it, at a smaller scale too? As is it looks good. Maybe this will be George Sohn's dream come true; a modernized HCM. For Robotech toys, this is a huge leap from the MPC and 1/100 VF-1. For Macross fans this is the only other 1/72 VF-1 toy aside from the HCM from 30 years ago, but scale aside, Macross fans have had better options prior. I think it won't stand toe to toe with the HI METAL R and Yamato 1/60 - 1/48 VF-1 toys. If the qc is good I think it'll be looked at as an affordable VF-1 option but not the best overall. I am willing to give Kitzconcept a shot but proceeding with caution. Might wait for reviews from first adopters. I am pleasantly surprised that this comes with a stand. Also surprised at the price. It's been a while since we've seen a perfect transformation VF-1 toy for under $100. If this had the heat shield transformation, knee/ankle articulation and details of the Yamato VF-1 with the arm/lower body transformation and bigger vertical stabilizers of the HI METAL R VF-1 I would be very pleased. I want to see shots with the gear down and from the underside in Fighter. I wonder if the head will be able to tuck in flush without the visor showing(something I love about the VF HI METAL/HI METAL R VF-1). I doubt the side covers are integral but would be very surprised if they actually are incorporated into the transformation. I hope the gun can be held tightly(MPC had issues with that). I don't care for the lights. I would be all for it if removing them would slash cost. I'm not sure why Toynami seemingly insists on LED's so much. Hopefully this toy turns out decently. I bet for Robotech fans that never imported the Japanese Macross toys, this toy must seem like a god send.

I'm not sure. I never knew who the designer actually was. All I knew was that it was the same designer from the Yamato VF-17 and I read that from your old posts. The 171 doesn't strike me as one of TREX's designs though. I could be wrong. I'd love to see the 171 retooled with a much sturdier crotch lock mechanism, a redesigned mechanism to transform the lower legs and less parts overall. That toy was a victim of having too many moving parts got transformation coupled with the usual loose Bandai Macross diecast ball joints. The forearm and lower leg transformations came off to me as needlessly more complex than they should be. Not that they were actually complex but to get to step A to B required more steps than it should have on those parts.

I get the feeling it's either their Bandai's internal design team or the freelancer that designed the 171. Hope TREX designs a Renewal 262. There's reason enough for one to be made moreso than there was for a 27 Renewal.