Lolicon

Picked up these earlier today. Won't open them till I return home though.

Anyone know of any place in Tokyo where these can be found? I've had no luck so far finding a VF-25.

I'm sure it's just an animation error, since the white head crops up from time to time throughout the series.

Are we allowed to openly talk about the movie yet?

Paid for mine. $160 at current exchange rates. Ouch. You EMS high rollers please let us know how great the toy is, especially how well the paint and markings hold up to handling and transformation. EDIT: Never thought I'd say this about a Bandai product... but the toy looks more anime-accurate than the model kit.

I'm pleased that my opinion carries enough weight that people feel the need to justify their own preferences, as if that was even necessary. I'd like to have Alto's unit in both plain and armored form, but even I have to bow to budget constraints and get only one.

I absolutely will not buy a 25S unless it comes with armor packs. Selling Ozma's unit without them is criminal.

Wow even the pilot figure looks better painted on Ozma. I hope it comes as an Armored bundle in January or whenever it comes out.

This is probably going to be as good a VF-25 as we're going to get, short of waiting a decade or two for Yamato to obtain the Frontier license. With the last movie come and gone, I doubt we're going to see a V3. I've had my preorder since preorders opened and I'm looking forward to its release, despite the minor flaws, after the spectacularly crappy V1. I'm sure I'll be even more pleased once I have it in my hands, barring any major flaws like entire limbs breaking off. If the most recent scans are of the final production version, I know I'll be doing my own touch-ups for the sake of anime accuracy, including repainting the ugly pilot figure, painting in cockpit details (like the ex-frame), painting the underside of the lerx, and painting the battroid's "mouth." I see it's missing the SMS emblem on the front fuselage, though I'm sure that's just a goof, since it's present on the prototype, and is rather large detail to miss.

I transformed my YF-19 this past summer for the first time in a few years, having kept it in fighter mode all these years. One arm broke off completely and the other had major cracking on the upper arm endoskeletal structure and was extremely loose, exactly like the pics Graham posted. After some emergency surgery, I was able to reattach both arms securely, "welding" the sides of the internal plastic parts shut using super glue. There's also a generous amount of super glue inside, in and around the screw chamber (if that makes any sense). Arms are stronger now and retain full movement and functionality. Even though I was able to fix it myself, for a toy that costs $200, I shouldn't have to.

I must have the Magical Girl Ranka.

I'm very happy with the V1 VF-25 line. They made them awful enough that the thought of buying one never even crossed my mind, saving me hundreds of dollars that I can now use to buy the V2 line.

AmiAmi charges 1890 yen to ship the Hobby Japan with vignette to the States, more than the cost of the magazine. I know because I bought mine from them. It ships in a box that's way too big for the magazine. I was not happy with them over that. Also, I think the Ranka vignette looks better than the Sheryl vignette.

Even with CG there's anime magic involved. I don't see how you can completely conceal the lower tailfins without making them smaller or expanding the size of the leg.

Another Obelisk Sheryl up for sale for those that wanted one. http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/shop/en/item_s-690751.html

I love the ridiculously bright green jeweled visor (how it appears in the anime). It was always too dark on every VF-25 I've ever seen.

I don't even remember the YF-29 having fast packs in the movie. That's how little of an impression they made.

They sure will. It sure beats all the ebay gougers.

I got mine off Mandarake. They don't have one for sale atm, but these game prizes crop up from time to time. Mine was 2000 yen. I'd just check daily and when one comes up, grab it. http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/shop/en/item_s-660593.html Aside from Mandarake and ebay, only other place I know where you can get one is Yahoo auctions, but honestly it's not worth it to pay a proxy bidding service for such an inexpensive figure.

Newest Sheryl SQ figure. Another game prize figure, and they actually got her hair color right this time around. Much better than the old emotion style figure that came out awhile back, despite being a fraction of the price. Those are some really short shorts, I have to add...

If those photos are indeed Photoshopped and Bandai releases actual production photos that look nothing like what we've seen, you always have the option (and I know this sounds like the ravings of a madman) to cancel your preorder. Scandalous! HLJ and Amiami will let you cancel, at least. Hobby Search changed their cancellation policy a few months back but I forgot what it was.

Wow Chronocidal, I've never seen someone spend so much time trying to conduct a pseudo-intellectual discussion over something so innocuous and harmless. Perhaps you should write a letter to Bandai expressing your displeasure at these kinds of fighter marking sets? And maybe ask them to stick to "realistic" paint schemes like every other VF in the Macross universe.

Has anyone tried putting a lacquer clear coat on theirs to protect the paint job?

I heard Bandai is going to incorporate Takatoku VF-1 style hip bars for more stability.

Preordered it. Bandai finally does justice to my favorite VF design.