todd77

And now for Brocken on the wrong side of the law! Here's a classic re-imagined encounter with Ohta's No. 2 Ingram...

Hard to beat the sheer power of mil-spec labors...

Ohta takes a left to the head... gets him MAD!

Deftly applied stunstick whacks the visor (and the operator's smile) away...

Coup de grace... Ohta style.

THE END.

I think that's more like Izumi's style minus the riot gun. Then again, Ohta is usually forced to go hand to hand after his usually fruitless bullet frenzy. That's of course if he can still keep the Ingram's head intact... Anyway, awesome pics as usual Drifand. Too bad about the Brocken's build quality - it does look like a nice figure barring the ejecting limbs.

My wave version ingram is Awesome no problems!

Ill wait for Waves Broken rather then getting a crappy QC product from CM

I have both the Wave and CM's Ingram and for me, they are on par with each other. While the sculpting accuracy (TV wise) goes to Wave (at at a slightly bigger size too), the CM's feature nicer gimmicks (ooo, flashing lights!) and more accessories (swappable heads). Both offer roughly the same degree of articulation although the WAVE has a bit more freedom on the legs though with some handicaps on the arms and head due to the rubber shrouds (at least on mine). Anyway, glad you enjoyed your WAVE and I hope that their future releases, the Helldiver especially, improves further on what they already have.

HLJ sent me a replacement Alto a week or two ago - but it doesn't look like the re-issue. Hands still weren't glued together although the Super pack fitted on fine.

BTW, is it just me or are the backpack/wing boosters really crappy at clipping on at the top i.e. the round stub that looks broken off for some reason. I thought it was actually broken when I got my Michel one, then the Alto Super pack came in and it's the same. O_o

If you want a tighter fit (not by much though since it still pops out rather easily), try placing your index finger on the "spike" at the wings and then pushing the booster towards the spike with your thumb. There should be a tiny pop or click, suggesting that the booster has clipped on properly. This "toe-in" effect, as some have suggested, allows a more secure fit and the tail fins won't get in the way of the rear verniers.

i'm thinking it might have something to do with how the head is mounted in fighter mode. those parts are in the cavity where the crotch piece settles in. have you noticed if the head in fighter mode sits a little higher with the crotch armor on?

The head sits normally in fighter mode. I always made sure that the head and neck pieces are fully pushed into their "rails" - it's the one part of the transformation that irks me a little when transforming to battroid as my fingers have a hard time pulling the head "out" from the rails.

Wow I'm one of the few who can get the crotch armor piece to stay in fighter mode? Hah, I thought it was simple, I hadn't had any problems with that particular piece at all.

I don't have a problem with them either - I just transform the toy normally. I didn't have to push the crotch section in with any more force than I would without the armor.

Oh well hopefully I can grow accustomed to hearing "Lockon" instead. Other changes didn't really produce any reaction in me.

At least he has Ali al-Saachez (Hughes) to keep him company

This is not how it's supposed to be. The boosters are attached improperly on the wings in these photos causing them to angle in a tiny bit. It's a very very easy mistake to make. You have to push the booster in on the spike a bit, it's a little scary and hard to explain, but if you do things properly that part becomes very hard to pop off or move left or right and the fins also are clear of the boosters. When my review goes up i have one pic of Alto's parts on with the fins clear (although there's a bit of a camera angle issue making it look as if one fin might be getting hit by the imaginary boost). My Luca review will also have a picture from behind of the GERWALK where you can clearly see there is no issue with the fins being behind the boosters.

You're absolutely right! Pushing in the boosters at the prongs produces a small pop that makes them hang more tightly while steering them well away from the tail fins. Some quick snaps I took:

Thanks for the tip, jenius!

It doesn't cant out as far in the lineart. But I guess thats just being picky. You could always just not fold them out as far and it'd work =P

Actually, that's as far out as the tail fins can go on the DX. It can't fold any farther from the verniers. I doesn't bother me the slightest though.

New pics of Ozma with super parts at Gamu.

do you just put a dab of super glue on the male connector?

I put some on the protruding sides (not the recessed part) on the male connector, just to thicken it a little. I also put some on the protruding tabs on the female connector as well. Man, this sounds a little dirty

Finally transformed my vf-25g and as much as i love this thing my hip wont connect strongly =( so that thing just falls over.. I guess i gotta try that nail polish trick =( im not really good with stuff like that so now thats got me worried.. all in all it looks fantastic and love the way it feels.. I do agree, it does remind me of a chunky!! thats what i love about it!!! doesnt lock like a chunky though =( at least that hip part! gonna try and put the armor on later after some RE5 =)

My 25G's hip connector isn't as tight as I would've wanted it as well. It's quite a bit looser than my RVF's. I used super glue instead of nail polish though and now it's quite secure.

I just bought the luca version for 290CDN. The bastard Store I got it from charges ten dollars more because he says the box is bigger! Bullshit the box is the same size!!!!!! as the mikael.

But nothing beats that bullshit when taking the toy you think you would love out of the box to find HUGE I mean this man must have been GIGANTIC finger prints all over the plane. I tried using the windex wipes ..... NOPE no luck. The man must have been a mutant because you cant wipe the oils off. I think some Chinese Factory worker farter took the thing home and played with it and put it in the box again because its all fartin loose!!!

the canopy is a very nice tone of yellow and the wings are all scratched up. I MEAN SCRATCHED when you touch the wings its like touching sand paper. fart i would have paid an extra 30 bucks just to have it made in japan, Germany oh i dont know any place they dont pay the worker 2 dollars a day!!!!! The farter was probably so pissed off about the wages he took the thing home and pissed all over it for all I know causing the canopy to be banana yellow. I took it back to the HONG KONG fart head that sold it to me and would not exchange it telling me he couldnt return it!!!!!!!

Last time I buy anything from him again which I will never understand since I have been a long time customer and spent thousands of dollars in his store!!!!! Well I guess when daddy owns more money than god and playboys all over Macao I wouldnt give a poo about anyone either

Sorry had to let this out as I paid 300 hard earned dollars on a loosy goosy yellowed finger printed sandpapered piece of poo!!!! fart YOU BANDAI for what its worth I will burn my money on the not so perfect yamato valk anyday!!!!!

Sorry to hear about that. But the store guy's right though, Luca's box is a little thicker than Mikhail's. I noticed this when I first took both toys out of the shipping box. Still, sorry to hear you've such a poor sampling of the toy.

Damn that cheap!

Looks like I will order the armored VF-25s from them next time... only 15000 yen!

Yeah, price-wise, they're quite aggressive.

Any guesses on what accessorie(s) those holes are for?

I believe the fold booster is one. Not sure though.

Just got my vf-25g from anime-export! For those guys who were worried about them they are awesome! Not only do I get my emails replied quick, they have great customer service and super fast shipping. I'm completely blown away and preordered the rest of the gang from them because they got the best prices out there so I just wanted to give you guys the heads up because I know it was an issue a couple of pages back. Can't wait till tonight so I can crackit open and see what all the fuss is about!

I also got my 25G (Mikhail) and RVF (Luca) from Anime-Export. They're really quick on the emails and for me at least, shipment too. Canceled both my orders from HLJ (I didn't make the early bird) and quickly made an order with them last Monday. Got the two ships on Friday with nary a hitch. And the packaging ain't bad too. Was worried that my RVF order wouldn't go through since the website stated that there's only two left. Until today, it's still saying that there's only two left... Only downside is, as some have complained here, is that they charge you upfront even for preorders.

Indeed, some of my friends have them and what a beauty they are, especially the RX-78-2. I wish Bandai would produce some chogokin MSG00, starting with O Gundam .

I have it and I can attest to its beauty - it really captures the spirit of the original design. And those sexy legs...

Too bad though, the hip / waist blocks on mine on both sides are pretty loose, making it difficult to hold more dynamic poses. Any idea on how to fix this?

Watching the first episode of the remake now. Did they change Mustang's voice actor? I remember his voice was much deeper. Now he sounds like a certain Lockon Stratos...

I'm trying to remember my color theory, but IIRC green is supposed to have one of the widest spectrums of visibility, meaning you should be able to pick out more shades of green than any other color.

Either that or the more limited color gamut of cameras which seem to favor colors in the green wavelength but don't quote me on this...

Woohoo, my RVF and 25G are finally here. Here are my first impressions:

25G: Came with the neck portion of the plane slightly mis-transformed - it was angled downwards a little bit revealing portions of the battroid's chest. The paint job is quite nice barring a slight smudge (like a light pencil stroke) on one of the white stripes but it doesn't bother me. Otherwise, I've discovered no major paint chips thus far. I was really cautious in transforming it for the first time due to the amount of painted parts on it. Can't handle it as roughly as my 1/60 v2s or my YF-21 but then again, it is my first time. Now I understand the fuss about the two portions that click together on the hips. On my 25g, there is a click but it isn't as strong as the one on my RVF (which actually sounds like a double click). One bad thing though: in the midst of transforming it and despite being very careful about it (or perhaps because of it?), I accidentally broke off one of the tiny pegs at the back (the part that slides upwards) that locks in the arms in fighter mode Managed to fix it with some super glue but I don't think it'll hold. For those of you with more experience with the toy, how crucial are these pegs? Anyway, I'm quite relieved that the shoulders aren't scarred in anyway and the paint job here is really smooth.

RVF: Echoing the thoughts of others, the color difference isn't really noticeable when you're holding the toy in person. To me, it has a more beautiful finish than my 25G (whose 5-dot block has a more noticeable hue shift than the rest of the body). Again, no paint chips on mine or slop. And like I said before, the hip blocks click together more tightly than my 25G which is a plus. I did notice though that one side of the headphone antenna is slightly longer than the other, resulting in a slightly lopsided arc. Again, it's only a minor quibble. And mirroring what Quinjester has mentioned, the RVF's head sculpt does look menacing. Evil more like, as it has a sort of bird-of-prey kind of look (it looks like a beak to me with evil red eyes). And yes, I love the spin-happy radome. And the underside antenna / tail fin looks really nice too.

Anyway, those are my first impressions. Haven't even fiddled with the super parts. As of now though, I'm really happy with both purchases. Here's a quick snap that I took of both of them under normal daylight conditions. The RVF actually looks a lot less green in the pic, sort of desaturated. Took it with a white balance of 4550k.

I agree with everything said above, with the exception of the "keeping it in fighter mode" because I love the RVF-25's headsculpt too much. Curses! Actually, I have to say I prefer both Lucas Fighter mode and Battroid mode to any of the other 25 valks. It must be the odd seafoam green. I'm a sucker for odd colorways. Spinning the radar dish is strangely soothing, too. The modified backplate that everyone was freaking out about earlier was definitely for Luca and the radome, P.S., in case anyone had any doubts.

Noticed that your RVF has a small "battle scar" on the right shoulder. Was it like that out of the box? Otherwise, awesome pics as always.

Maybe it's because the Lancia Delta Integrale is a bad-arse car?

No need to tell me that. Just wished they'd use something less, um, famous? Maybe a Stratos since the Gundam character shares the same name anyway but hey, that's for another thread. Sorry for the derailment.

Sorry to nitpick but Bandai's forgetting to tampo print certain areas of Alto's Super Packs.

Both missile pods have the triangles printed. In the link above one of them are missing.

http://www.toy-world.com.hk/forum/viewthre...%3D1&page=2

Good catch on that one. Really sloppy on Bandai's part, considering that it's a web exclusive item.

Alto's Super Parts spread:

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/type97/20090331

Ozma's Super Parts spread:

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/type97/20090401

Wow, the Ozma one looks especially good. Love the yellow bits on that one. It should look even better with the neck improvements.

And finally some pics of the same toy with the super packs attached.

It definitely looks better with the packs on to both hide miscolored areas and to break up the colors so that the mismatching greens are not directly adjacent to each other.

Even under normal lighting, the difference in greens seems much smaller and definitely tolerable with the super packs on.

That looks really good. Thanks for the pics.

Is it me or does MacrossJunkie's Luca VF-25 have legs that stick up a bit more in fighter mode? Maybe its just the camera angle? I don't know it looks a little better than photos I've seen of Alto or Ozma DXs.

I believe someone posted a few pages back a trick to do this - something about not fully inserting the peg on the wings or somethings. The side effect is that the legs will touch the floor when grounded.