VF-1Guy

I'd be happy to get one in either scale. It's better than what we have right now!

I received my VT-1 and VE-1 today. They are not as bad as I had feared. Joints are tight, but they are not without annoying QC issues. I give the VT-1 a A- overall. I like the scuplt and the colors quite a bit. I had planned to display this in the half Gerwalk mode (arms stowed), but now I'm not sure since the Battroid looks so nice! The joints on mine are nice and tight and I have no problems keeing the boosters/backpack in place in any mode. The articulation of the head is great. The only problem I see is that a 1/2" piece of plastic is missing on the inside edge of the right intake. Some of the tan beside the gray intake cover is missing. I give the VE-1 a C+ overall. I don't like that they used half circles instead of a c-shaped clamp to hold the radome mount. Using a clamp would have allowed the mount to be removable so that a atmospheric jet mode was possible. I don't like losing a mode (no matter how impracticle) since it is an $80 toy after all. I would also have liked to have a second joint on the mount near the radome to tweak the position. I can see why people complain about the head. It's tiny - even to the point where I don't have to open the back plate during transformation. I even think the head looks a little small in fighter mode. I don't like that the arm attachments have to be removed to get the hands out, but I can't think of a good solution. I had more QC problems with this one. One of the hands is a darker gray than the rest of the valk. This is odd since this gray doesn't match anything on any of the valks. I also had a broken piece inside the backplate that kept the wings from coming together.

The extra piece makes everything rock solid, but you do have to snap the back panel piece under the tabs first. I had no idea that the back panel snaps into the back until I took a look at LePoseur's picture in another thread.

I'm still waiting on mine. I picked up the VT since I really like the design. I picked up the VE to complete my 1/60 collection. I'm glad the VT head is small since I don't plan to display it in battroid mode. I think the smaller head makes for a better fighter. I'm a little worried about quality though. My Max, Milia and VF-1D are all really loose. I hope the 1/60 line is indeed coming to an end since I feel the molds are getting worn out.

My current favorite is the 1/48 Low Vis, however, I fully expect the 1/48 Hikaru VF-1S with Strike Armor to firmly entrench itself as my most prized possesion since this is my all time favorite valkyrie.

Ikea is a good place to look for shelves and lighting of all kinds. I don't personally own any of their furniture (yet), but I did go to the new Palo Alto store last weekend to check it out. They have a huge selection and the prices are good. I plan to pick up one of the 5 shelf bookcases, replace 4 shelves with glass (center shelf is structural), add clear glass doors and install two of the mini lights in the top and the bottom half. It'll only cost me around $200. You can see it here (with frosted glass doors). My collection is currently displayed in a curio cabinet and on a couple of cheap book shelves. The boxes are all in the garage. You can see pictures of my displays by following the link in the .sig.

I was hoping for next year. I've cut back my collecting to nothing more than Yamato transformable Valkyries, but I'm still over budget! The huge boxes of the recent releases aren't helping either. The cheapest shipping from Asia that I've seen is $15!

This may just be a short term shortage. It may just be a case of retailers underestimating demand or it may be that Yamato has not gotten all the orders filled yet. They (retailers and/or Yamato) may not have anticipated how many people would buy multiple sets. I would think that Yamato would continue to produce batches of FAST packs as long as they sell valks without FPs.

Thanks for the review. I ordered these already, but I'm not all that thrilled with the look. The head on the VT-1 looks huge in fighter mode The spacing between the fighter top, fast pack and dome looks odd on the VE-1 Can the done go over the head of the VE-1 in battroid mode?

1/72 = 6 1/60 = 9 1/48 = 3