cube

yea, they really did a nice job on him..the gohan looks perfect too!

I wish I had your self control. I'm already committed to buying basically whatever they put out...hopefully the gohan is cheap, so it makes it easier to afford the inevitable krillin, kid goku, goten...

bbts just posted a preorder for Piccolo!

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product...amp;mode=retail

and so it begins [sadwallet]

edit: did some sleuthing and found some more shots of piccolo as well as...GOHAN!

http://www.toy-world.com.hk/forum/viewthre...;extra=page%3D1

I wouldn't mind creating my own customs, but I don't have the time to do it.

i made my own out of an SOC aphrodai a few years ago...got sidetracked partway through though and never bothered finishing...it was actually turning out pretty decent though. Will probably revisit it again in the fall if i have time.

yea, this is a line that's screaming for the SOC treatment, and it gets glorified, overpriced UFO catcher quality toys...too bad really.

^for proportions, the Fast packs were way to small on the first 1/60 VF-1s, the first yf-21 was a lump, the 1/48 nosecone is huge and the chicken hands are way too small...stuff like that. As for breakages, yes the more complex a toy is, the more likely it is to have breakages somewhere, but the hips of a 11b are not a complex part...neither are the bp8 pieces. My experience with bandai has always been positive, even on the more complex pieces like dancougar (his head is an inch and a half tall triple changer).

my real issue with the yamato toys is their fun value. they might look great in each mode, but they turn into a floppy mess when you try to transform them. Bandai's have always maintained a sturdy feel as you transform. The overall quality and finish has always been much nicer on the bandais I have as well, even at much lower price points. The choices yamato have made weren't necessary, and a tighter/sturdier method could have been used with no sacrifices (ie, the swing bar thingy on the 1/48s...very sloppily done for a very simple piece)

anyhoo, these 1/60 vf-25s are looking great so far and come in at a nice price point....as long as we see Luca's i'm happy

For the person who mentioned the MG EX-S, I have personal experience with the Bandai EX-S Gundam MG kit. It has pretty bad proportions IMO and the ankle on mine snapped on the second transformation. Color me not impressed.

Graham

on the same note, yamato is known for breaking tabs, hips, shoulders, bad proportions, legs that won't stay in etc, etc...and transforming toys ARE their bread and butter. With Bandai's track record of SOC releases, and even their Japanese Rangers/Sentai lines, they have proven they can make excellent, complex transforming and combining robots. Plus, with the volume of toys bandai puts out, they can offer a lot more toy at a lower price point. Most of the toys yamato is doing "right" now, they've had 2 or 3 shots at that were far from ideal.

Still, the more the merrier when it comes to toys...it's just hard to say anything bad about bandai when they have consistently been the leader when it comes to quality toys for the last few years (at least as long as I've been in the toy game)

man, that's REALLY a sharp looking toy...dammit

+1 for no shield ...I tried it with the logo on the nosecone, both in black and red and white and red,and it just wasn't working for me. I've got a couple other autobot logo stickers sitting around still, so maybe I'll give er another shot.

It would be AWESOME if Hasbro licensed an MP version of the Yamato 1/48s for a jetfire

i've always thought the 21 was a bit of a turd in all modes...19 is far better looking.

thanks..and yea, not much chance of screwing things up with these. You cut a bad sticker, it takes 2 seconds to redo it instead of a week/month crying over a botched paint job

Haha! I was starting to think no one liked it

Pm replied...and sticker sheet coming soon

What's the deal with the clips yamato uses to attach the arm armors? I've always thought they were goofy looking on the 1/48, now here they are again on the new1/60s...are they supposed to be like that as per the line art...if not, it seems like a couple hidden pegs could do the trick much better.

other than that, this is shaping up to be an excellent looking toy...may have to pick up a couple when they MnMs, D, E, and T some out...

yea, i actually decided to leave it like that. When I posed it in battroid/robot mode, i realized it matched the snub nose of the original jetfire, and I liked the look of it better than the full red nosecone

anyhoo, after a long day of fiddling and adjusting, here she be! Sticker list is:

-arm lines

-wing lines

-chest color switch with working air brake (decided I might as well make er work)

-chest vent thingies

-strips down each side of the gun

-thighs and hips

-feet

-tailfins

-nosecone and full canopy surround

-white/red logo for heat shield (if I decide to use it...prefer it without right now)

-black bands that wrap around the FAST packs

-black strips for leg armor

-black/red circular autobot symbols for FAST packs

-eye

-covers for the orange shoulder light thingies

in total, it has 44 stickers :eek:

anyhoo, on to the finished pics (armor, of course, still needs to be painted, but there's only so much time in the day):

and yes, I know the heat shield is on wrong, I just plunked it in there for the pics, so you all could weigh in on shield vs no shield (my vote is no shield )

not sure If I'm down with the feet stickers either, but Ima leave em there for a bit and see how I feel once the packs are painted.

^^thanks

and an update...ghetto no more

hard to see from the pics, but every panel line that got covered was redrawn on the sticker...only "sacrifice" was the airbrake, which i decided to cover iwth a single sticker instead of two separate pieces...always hated the airbrake anyways, so it helps keep it from pointlesly flopping open.

battroid pics in the afternoon...i need some sleep

lol it's like a dream come true

update: almost finished the template...added the tail fins and a buncha panel lines to stuff...did the chest colors as well and it turned out better than expected. only tricky part is getting the piece that goes around the canopy to work as one piece.

I picked up new cartridge for my printer today, so should be able to get them all sorted out over the weekend. Once I get them perfect I'll definitely post the template for anyone to print off if they want em (including the one on the nosecone for people who REALLY don't want to paint anything other than the packs)

thanks

I'll probably leave the chest, but I will try making a sticker and putting some panel lines on it so I don't lose the detail. There aren't many panel lines anywhere else, just a couple of those circle things on the nose that I'll need to work into the stickers.

The stickers on there right now are SUPER ghetto (old cd labels colored red with a sharpie marker, but the finished ones will be printed (my printer's out of ink right now, so I had to macguyver it).

Here are some shots in fighter mode, so you can see the canopy stickers better...these still need to be adjusted for the finished version, and as i mentioned, the removeable nose cone will be painted (even though I don't mind the way it is now)

you can see there are a few white spots around the canopy and a gap above the canopy, but those will all be tightened up once i print off the real ones

I finally got my 1/48 hikaru 1S and decided to do a quick, ghetto mockup for a custom jetfire. My plan is to keep the painting to a minimum, and do as much as I can with stickers. So today I whipped out some templates for the stickers and gave it a whirl. The only paint on the final version will be the removable nosecone , and the rest of the red bits will all be done with color matched stickers. Got the arm stripes, wing stripes, chest vent thingies, eye/visor, and entire canopy area done. Will probably leave the upper chest area as is instead of reversing the colors cause honestly, I can never remember what way it's supposed to be anyways, so it doesn't bother me if the red and black are reversed.

Why stickers? Wanted to make it as easy to do as possible, without having to take the whole thing apart. Didn't want to have to worry about messing it up either. Can't really screw up painting the nose, since it's removeable, and the stickers fit perfectly on the rest, so it's not much of an issue. Haven't painted the packs yet, but will for the final version. i think I'll remove the heat shield as well, so it's as close to the original as possible.

Even the ghetto version I have now looks great on the shelf, so I have high hopes for the finished product

^you can see i had to leave the very tip of the nosecone colorless for now, as the stickers wouldn't wrap smoothly...fit perfectly everywhere else though.

should have the packs all painted and the finished stickers done this week (fingers crossed)

how do these compare size-wise to the banprestos from a few years back?

+1 here for Neova!!!! Great deal, great packaging, and super fast shipping!

my opinion:

1) the original 1/60 yamatos are nice and heavy, great in fighter mode, but turds in the other two modes

2) yamato 1/48...too big, plastic is cheap looking, transformation is finnicky, there's no metal in it, and I've never been happy with the hands. Every one I've owned, I've ended up selling except for 3.

3) Bandai 1/55s...this is the classic jetfire looking guy you remember. If you want something that reminds you of your childhood, can be picked up, moved around and manhandled without falling apart or losing its"pose", this is the one to get. Looks good in all modes, but isn't espeically poseable. Also has a nice mix of metal and plastic, so it has a good heft to it.

The yamatos all tend to have a dull plastic, while the bandais have nice shiny plastic, which has always appealed to me more.

If you don't want the old school looking ones, wait for the new yamato 1/60s that are coming out. They appear to be the best option available.

gawd, i love the look of the elint! Not to bash or anything, but no matter what yamato comes out with, the look, shelf presence, sturdiness, and ease of transformation of the ol 1/55s is unsurpassed. Really one of the greatest toys ever designed. No floppy, finnicky transformations and legs falling off here

yea, where the hell do you get a rocketeer backpack!!! That thing is awesome!

yea, I've gone in and out, buying and reselling various combos of 1/48s as my tastes changed, but I've finally settled on this guy and a couple Cannon Fodder super vf-1As (with custom olive green armor) as must haves.

Got one!!! Thanks!