BlueMax

Please see the above pinned thread by Grand Cannon

Multiples Have a total of 7 shoulders broken on 4 valks that I know of. 2 Roy Strike Valks - both sets of shoulders Hikaru Super 1A - both shoulders GBP bundled 1J - one shoulder Majority are still in their boxes. May have more surprises when I eventually open them up.

I'm all for competition, but the only that looks better or anything close to how Yamato's VF-1s look are only the Hasegawa's kits... also, any other manufacturer would need to have Bigwest's blessings to make the toys as well in a certain scale.... it might be that Yamato is the only one to have the license for 1/60 Macross/ DYRL/ Plus/ VF-X2 and Seven in 1/60 scale, at least right now. Anyway.... the fixation on the shoulder issues is one of the few things that can be discussed at length.... because there is a lack of updates or news of new releases. That might be why people keep falling back to the same topics to talk about. We need announcements of new toys !! Sad thing is that any new moulds by Yamato is going to be announced would likely to be around mid-year or so.... So.... Bandai! Where is my 1/48 PG VF-25?!?!?!

Well I see it this way: The fact that there are so many threads regarding the V2 1/60s is testament to the fact that peopel are VERY concerned about the problems the valks have and should be a strong signal that things need to be rectified, and pronto! It has been 1.5 years since the release of the V2 , and the problems that plagued the 1st releases are still coming back to haunt Yamato.

The "PLUS" strikes are the ROY and Hikaru Super/Strike 1Ss with the tiny flashlight released with fancy new boxes just last month.

Hi Beatsing, While I understand your frustration, it must be noted that this is not a professionally built model, but rather a mass produced toy. The professional modeller (or at least a serious model kit builder)have to go through quite a tedious process to smoothen out/ putty in the sprue marks, something that I'm sure is not realistic to expect on a mass produced toy. All toys have them, just whether they are obvious or not, like what the other members have pointed out. Here is a sugegstion if you must get rid of the white sprue marks, though please use caution if you were to try it: use a lighter (a small candle would be ok as well), in a back and forth motion, run the part through the flame so that it gets heated up, but not to the point of burning/ melting. You will see the white (stress) marks disappear within a couple of seconds. But of course, use it at your own risk. I suggest you try on some unwanted dark piece of plastic, bend it so that you see the stress mark and try the above method.

http://www.hlj.com/product/YMT00185 Have one on pre-order

According to the G-man dated 4th May, and Max 1S wsa about 1-2 months after the 1D. Of course, it might be possible that some of the 1Ds in the later batch of production had received the knurl-free treatment ahead, in which case, I would congratulate you for having such a fixed copy. However, it might be also possible that the knurling is hidden from view, so maybe you might want to just take a closer look to ascertain.

The 1D was released in circa Mar 2009, I think by that time the pins are still knurled, but the factory had already been alerted about breakages on previous releases (So what?! they still broke anyway ).

Very nice work! I am just curious about some of the markings though especially the circle-bar verniers and the chest obliques, did you paint them or you used decals? I thought the vricle-bar verniers were pretty well done either way

Javabean and GGemini: I thought the same way as well.

Yes, you are right, all signs point to that and I was just too clouded by fanboyism to see that and think rationally.

Thanks Graham, for the detailed update. Good to know that they are( hopefully not lip service!) taking this seriously. Great news for VF fans about the new moulds, though we probably won't see any unveiling of the new VFs til mid year or so for the 2 new moulds. Bad news for destroid fans though, I really thought (hoped, rather) they would be announcing the Phalanx soon, but I guess I was too hopeful to take note of the obvious fact that they are in effect put on hold. Hopefully this year will be fianncially viable enough to finish what they started. Welcome the 1/60 accessories. PS, I'm sure some of the guys at Yamato really hate seeing you with their big boss as this usually means their asses will be fried, and in this case, someone got fired!

Pardon me, but since when was the Phalanx officially on hold, as in on hiatus? The last i heard was that the Phalanx was still coming out, from Graham just somewhere in December.

LOL~! It has to be right under your very nose, inside the PSP itself!

just my 2 cents worth, I noted the discolorations in my earlier post as well. And I have a similar whiter head than the rest of the 1J

Try not utilize the crotch lock for battroid mode until the very last stage of transformation to battroid. Locking and unlocking of the crotch, will lead to loose crotchs

.... which is the whole world except Japan (maybe HK as well).... literally.

That also means that despite the light knurling, which in essence does not increase the diameter of the knurled pins as compared to the smooth pins, the VF-1J is still prone to cracks/ breakages. There are at least 2 examples, namely the G-man, and myself, who have bundled 1Js with osteoporisis. The implication of this is that all other valks, with knurled or smooth pins, are all at risk, unless the plastic is re-inforced somehow.

Great, thanks!

Just got mine yesterday, and I must say that it is really nice! Just a couple of things that I noted, other than the fact that the bundled 1J is old stock with a high possibility of its shoulders cracking: - You can use the default hands rather than the fixed posed hands, just like that 1/48s, but similarly, it would have to carry the gunpod at an "limp" angle - the GBP fixed posed hands are bigger than the normal TV hands bundled with the TV version valks, but thankfully not over-proportioned like the V1s. Those were really laughable. - The GBP white parts be more bluish white than the 1J, the latter of which I though was a little on the on the "warm" side... ie.e very slightly yellow. I know some members have had their 1Js turn yellow, it could be possible the the process already visibly started even though it was in the box. I would have very much preferred ifthey used light grey plastic, like on the V1s. All, excellent rendition of the GBP-1S. As good as the pictures show, at all angles. The only thing they need to do now is reallly to cure the shoulder-plague/ pandemic thats afflicting v2 valks world wide.

running the text through a google translate, seems that the $2300 1/2000 SDF-1 sold better than they expected, and they are hopeing that the same level of success can repeated for the 1/60 monster kit that they want to make, or are thinking of making... I think this monster kit is only in its conceptional stage, but if they are thinking of making it, thats good news, as compared to being totally ignored. That said, it will probably be along the lines of the 1/2000 Macross: Limited and expensive as hell.

I have just gottem my GBP set today, and and I opened it, and presto! Cracked left shoulder! Edit: D'oh! The picture did not attach.... I'll have to do this another time

Yep, he did actually ask for pics of broken shoulders

They look nice, but at 1/20, they are a little too far off from the 1/48s and 1/60s, and probably too small to be passed off as Zentrans