Lolicon

So I finally had time today to sit down with my VF-19 and (partially) transform it. That was pretty irritating. I didn't even do a full transform. I just wanted to pull out the wings and legs out so I could attach the super parts. The wing roots were tabbed in so tightly that I needed to use a mini flathead screwdriver to pry them out. The joint that attaches the wings to the legs was so damned tight I was genuinely afraid I was going to snap the whole thing off trying to swing them out. By far the most frustrating part for me was tucking the legs back into fighter position after attaching the little filler part on the back of the legs. That damn piece would pop right off each time I attempted to put the legs back into position. It was far more frustrating than the pop-off shoulders of the YF-29. Think I spent the better part of an hour just on that part. In general, trying to get everything positioned right was liking playing the world's crappiest game of whack-a-mole. Push one thing into position, another would move or pop out. "Beautiful over-engineered mess" is how I would describe Bandai's VF-19. It looks spectacular, but god help you if you expect to get any enjoyment out of transforming the thing. Maybe if I spent more time with it, I might soften my stance some. Not bloody likely though, because now that mine's back in fighter mode with super parts attached, it's staying that way. If I want to transform to battroid, I'll just open one of my extra copies, because I don't feel like dealing with that crap again.

No worries man. And I was oversimplifying in my original post. I do occasionally read anymoon, though rarely. But then I don't really read toy reviews much anyway, so me saying I don't read anymoon isn't saying much. I still vehemently disagree with the VF-25 praise though. Err, back on topic. So yeah I can be harsh in my toy opinions. I'll be judging the R line accordingly and comparing it to Yamato's 1/60 line. I'll be willing to forgive little things like swapping landing gear and heat shields due to the smaller scale, but it'll be expecting a high quality perfect transformation otherwise. Having no landing gear OR display stand like the 19 is unacceptable.

Yeah, and I like to insult people who don't 100% love my website too!

I stopped reading anymoon back when they praised Bandai for "fattening up" the VF-25 in the original, craptacular release. Making mecha look like a bunch of morbidly obese old men with their pants pulled up to their armpits is NOT something to praise Bandai for. Anyway, I actually bought both, but my S has not arrived yet. Glad to hear it comes with the accessories that the Kai should have come with in the box, instead of being sold separately. Decisions like that make me glad that the old Hi-Metal line died. If they pull this kind of crap with the R line, then it too deserves to fail.

I don't have any of the original VF-1 Hi-Metals, but I just opened the VF-19 I got and I found it incredibly lame that there's no way to mount the gunpod in fighter mode and it comes with a stand clip for a stand that's SOLD SEPARATELY. And the prices for Bandai's Tamashii stands are ridiculous for a shoddy piece of plastic with some holes in it. This is annoying because this thing doesn't have any landing gear, so a goddamn stand should have been included in the box. Hope Bandai doesn't pull this crap with the Hi-Metal R line.

This. Voting with your wallets is always the best option. These are luxury items anyway. No one NEEDS valkyrie toys. That being said, Amiami generally has the lowest prices, even with the consumption tax tacked on. Though I don't order much from them these days now that HLJ has private warehouse and fairly cheap shipping prices. Oh, and also because of their Draconian cancellation policy.

24840 us the MSRP plus 8% consumption tax. All the "discounts" that Amiami gives are based on that price. Though I don't think the tax applies to overseas customers (at least it's not supposed to). I've never been charged it from any other retailer when purchasing online from the States.

Yeah, bought a whole bunch for the different armor sets. This is the first destroid I've purchased. I know it's from the VF-1 era, which is why it feels so small after years of getting larger valkyries. It still looks great though!

New toys! Weeee! Didn't really need a 6th 25F but the price was right. Some 1/100 scale stuff to go with the new Hi-Metals...

I caved and bought another. I couldn't resist the siren call of Amiami's big, orange "Add to Cart" button. Which is kind of a rare sight when it comes to Bandai Macross toys... Figured I'd have one plain fighter, one fighter with super packs, and one in battroid mode.

Oh so tempted to get a 3rd. I already have 2 of these and 2 from Arcadia... when is it time to admit when you have a YF-19 problem??

I believe this is the first time I've managed a Bandai pre-order from Amiami since the initial release of the renewal VF-25F. Hope this line does well so Bandai will release stuff from other series. I'd love a YF-19 or Armored VF-25S in 1/100 scale.

Got a second one from Amiami. That's enough for me.

Amiami died on me. Got cart jacked at Hobby Search. Was able to snag one off CD Japan. Only 8700 yen shipped thanks to points.

Glad I bought some extra armor sets awhile back for the reaction missiles and MDE bombs. Got plenty of spare weapons for the 19 and 30.

A couple unopened ones have popped up on Mandarake at 27k yen. I've been tempted to snatch one each time, but I've held back. They're not up for long though. (I only see them because I work overnight, so I see lots of Mandarake updates as they go up.)

Something seemed off to me about the cockpit and now I know what it is: the seat's too small. Or rather, there's no head rest. Isamu's gonna get some whiplash if he accelerates too fast. Not good for a man his age (as of 2059).

CD Japan won't let me purchase one since I bought one already. And that's how you limit one per customer.

Just got mine finally. I like the sculpt of the Arcadia version more (especially in profile), but overall I like the Bandai version more, what with all the details printed on. I wish I had bought three.

I wish I could say the same for HLJ's service. Requested shipping over the weekend and only got a shipping notice a few hours ago. They've been in business for nearly 20 years and they still have not mastered the art of putting stuff in a box and slapping on a shipping label in under 96 hours. It takes less time for the damn package to actually make the trip halfway around the world.

Thanks! I got both of them from Mandarake. One I got myself from their Akihabara shop, the other was ordered online. They don't show up often anymore, so you gotta snag them as soon as you see them! They can be purchased off Amazon too, for a mark-up though... http://www.amazon.com/Macross-Frontier-Queadluun-Rea-Squadron-Spirits/dp/B003PE9MTI/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434114085&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=queadluun+rare

And finally finished my Pixie Squadron too.

Picked up this baby unused for under $100. Now I have to find Max's. *sigh*

Hey I wouldn't mind them in larger scale either; I don't really mind the "itasha" schemes. I passed on the Sheryl VF-171 not because there's a Sheryl graphic printed on it, but because they chose an ugly Sheryl graphic. Passed on the new VB-6 because I already have the previous SP release and having a different decal is not enough for me to drop another $200 on an otherwise identical toy. I preordered this new YF-29 but I still feel that all the 29s have some of the weakest paint schemes among all valkyries. Off the top of my head, the only schemes that I can think of that are worse are the Macross 7 VF-19s.

I love how one of the ads in that photostream is of a guy forking over a huge wad of cash. At first I thought it was a part of the photo album...