Lolicon

Nice! How's the canopy? Did a valk inventory and noticed that my DYRL Max 1A is the only Skull squadron member that doesn't have the tinting. Great. Now I have to hunt down an older one that does have the rainbow tint. These are the kinds of valk issues I obsess over!

Still being disingenuous as you're assuming these toys are manufactured and assembled in Japan. Protoypes and product samples aside, I am fairly certain the only time these toys see Japanese soil during the production process is on their final trip to distributors and retailers to be sold. Toys are getting more expensive across the board. An anime figure that would cost me around 6000 yen in 2008 costs around 10k today. But hey, if you want to hold on to your dreams of a magical time where toys are super cheap and everything is made in Japan and simple monetary inflation is the only factor in pricing, go right ahead.

Back in my day, 100 yen could buy you a steak and kidney pie, a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake and a newsreel, with enough change left over to ride the trolley from Battery Park to the polo grounds.

Hey, I'll take all those unwanted bits of junk from your flashlight purchase!

What is a "reasonable" price? Yamato's old discount pricing? That worked out real well for them. I think some people have been spoiled by ridiculously cheap goods for so long and now complain because their toys cost more than they used to. This isn't 2008 anymore. I for one am all for higher wages for my fellow Chinese who make it possible for us over here to have such luxury items. Those guys aren't exactly driving Bentleys on their salaries, you know. Who here seriously thinks the upcoming DX VF-31 will be less than, say, 18000 yen? I'm guessing at least 20k. Ultimately, an item is really only worth what you're willing to pay for it. If the price is too high to you, don't buy it. These are luxury items. No one needs them and you are definitely not entitled to getting them cheaper.

My Arcadia VF-4 was noticeably tighter than my Yamato with the exception of the ankles, which were loose as hell. I just use it with one of the Yamato stands I have lying around. Though I would like to reiterate that I haven't transformed my Yamato version in over 3 years.

Just a slightly lighter greenish hue to the TV super parts. Otherwise completely identical.

I'll take one. Although unlikely, I'm hoping all the markings shown in that pic are printed on.

No one can photograph his Rod like Saburo.

I was just thinking of picking up another DYRL VF-1S. But then it'll look out of place with all my other non-pinkish white DYRL valkyries.

Where's the 101 on the Prometheus? Dammit Megahouse! The only numbering that mattered and you didn't do it!

They better not cancel the stand-alone SAP set. I'm hoping the addition of the SAP will help hide some of the terrible flaws and make fighter mode less of an eyesore. Have one on preorder now that I got my wish for a heavily discounted VF-2SS.

The price point argument is BS to me. $100 is only "cheap" relatively speaking. It's still $100. We're not talking about $9.98 toys you can pick up from Walmart. In any case, no, I don't think we'll see a V3 from Arcadia. Given Arcadia's current pricing, who's going to pay that much for a slightly improved VF-1? I imagine only the most hardcore collectors, and they probably already have a substantial VF-1 collection. If they could manage it at a good price point, say $150 for a new, improved VF-1, then it might be worthwhile. I'd be much happier if they would reissue past releases, especially some of the hard to find items. I'd gladly pay $180 for a super ostrich reissue.

I feel the HMR VF-1 is the weakest entry in that line, with inferior proportions to the Yamato version and questionable build quality and design choices.

Took mine out of the box and transformed it to make sure it's fine while I'm still in the HLJ 10 day window. It was only slightly more difficult to transform than my Yamato only because some parts felt tighter than I remember them (though it's been years since I transformed my Yamato so my memory could be off). Missiles still fall off fairly easily. This and the VF-11C have go to be the plainest looking valks out of the box. Still, I love it! But would it have broken the bank to throw in a gunpod, Arcadia?

Painting those stabilizers is one of the more arduous tasks for me, so I'm in for a couple.

It's made by Eagle Moss. They're die cast and very well-detailed for such small items, with lots of printed details, Aztec surfaces, and clear parts for the nacelles and deflectors. BBTS still has some for sale, but you can find lots of them on eBay for relatively cheap too. http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu.aspx?menu=34&company=623

Maybe making up for the sticker shock when people see the shipping cost.

Great pics as always, Saburo! What great timing too, since I just got my Kakizaki after scrounging around for ages. Makes me want to open it right now!

Great addition to my fleet of starships! I'm going to have to get a second one to display in storm attacker mode. Here she is with a couple of other lesser known sci-fi ships.

Put all the stuff I picked up (or arrived on my doorstep) over the past week into a pile...

50% off? I'll bite. I'll try to make it look a little prettier once I have it in hand.

Looks flawless. Like a lot of the valks I bought second hand like this, the previous owner just kept it for years in its box and never played with it. It's the Japanese davidwhangchoi!

Allegedly second hand, but I inspected the item and found that it had never been used. Still had the original tape on the front landing gear doors and navigational lights. I like all the tampo printing on it. This is the level of printing every VF-1 should have had!

Found another gem today.