MacrossMan

Picked up the Yamato V2 1/60 VF-1J with GBP yesterday and also the VF-2SS Max at the Ins-Point shopping center in Yau Ma Tei.

Now there’s some good news and some bad news.

First the good news:

The GBP-1S Armour is absolutely beautiful IMO. Yamato have really outdone themselves. Yamato obviously designed the V2 VF-1 from the ground up to be compatible with the GBP Armor. The folding leg fins on the VF-1 really mean for the first time ever that we can have lower leg armor that is in proportion.

And talking of proportions, the new V2 GBP has absolutely the best proportions of any GBP toy to date IMO.

It’s packed full of detail, lots of nice little touches everywhere and I’m so happy that all the major markings are actually tampo printed on this time.

The GBP not only looks good, but it is extremely playable as well, as all the armor pieces stay on very well and nothing falls off. It's a huge improvement on both the original 1/60 GBP and the 1/48 GBP.

The side torso covers attach very securely and actually clip into place into the U-shape brackets that hold the hip bar in F/G modes - another nice touch that shows the V2 VF-1 was designed from the beginning with the GBP in mind. The cover behind the neck (another nice touch), also clips into place very securely.

Now for the bad news:

I took the toy home last night, unpacked it, transformed the included Hikaru VF-1J from fighter to battroid mode, so I could fit the GBP armor and on the first transformation, the shoulder hinge broke, which means the arm now falls off!

I was surprised to see that one end of the metal shoulder pin is knurled. I thought the factory had stopped using the knurled pins ages ago. In my opinion, the knurling does put too much pressure on the plastic and makes it very easy for the plastic around the end of the pin to crack.

See the attached photos, which show the broken plastic part and also the knurling on one end of the pin.

I have many V2 1/60 VF-1 toys and have transformed them dozens of times, but this is my first time that I have personally experienced a cracked shoulder. I'm pissed that this happened, when I thought the problem was fixed.

I've written to Yamato and am awaiting their reply.

For now, transform the arms with extreme care.

Graham

Seeing that these pieces are causing such a head for Yamato and fans alike why not cast the entire swivel piece in metal and solve the problem?

My washing machine recently had its water pump replaced for the third time in 7 years. The Sears repair guy gave me the part number and showed me how to make the simple repair. The damn pump has metal bearings to make the gears rotate smoothly, but the bearings are tracked in the housing of the water pump which is made of plastic. What does that mean? It means that every 2-3 years, depending on usage, the water pump will eventually begin to leak over time as the bearings' heat from rotating melts through the plastic. According to the repair guy it is Sears way of making money for service calls.

Certainly this is not Yamato's intention because you have to fly through hell and hot water to even get replacement parts. I guess I'm back at my original comment...why not make the piece out of some type of metal or something stronger than the plastic that is prone to break. That way it shouldn't matter what type of pin is used.

I've seen these for the Yamato valkyries and was wondering what the appeal was for them.

Do people get them just to see the internal details on the engines, are they purchased and custom painted or is there some other aspect that I am missing that makes them desirable?

Yep, they are so that you can see through to the engines of the Super & Strike parts.

I knew I needed to score a bag to protect my stuff and the fact that it was only 75 bucks made it a no brainer. I am learning quickly though that between collecting Macross stuff and this photography thing one is going to have to be placed on hold! I've got custom work out the wauzoo lined up, but I keep seeing what I could be buying "camera wise" if I didn't have to pay for the customs.

I am fiending for the Nikon 70-200 version that same Cannon L lens. I'm not going to even delve into tripods because I have seen how expensive they can be. I know there has to be something there driving up the cost, but I do not care to know right now; it'll just remind me of how much money I have to spend that I don't have . Wish this stuff was cheaper.

It'll be June before I can afford 70-200, but that should do it for me for a while as far as lenses for what I plan to shoot.

I can then focus on a nice flash, the nikon camera grip for the D90, and a decent tripod.

If you're looking for camera bags, I recommend lowepro camera bags. I have the slingshot model and I love it.

After some consideration I picked up the Lowepro 350AW. It's a little larger than what I wanted, but it has ample room for the extra stuff I plan to pick up. The selling point for me was the laptop compartment. The bag should make for nice storage as well. Just hope it's small enough for a carry on when flying.

Sent everyone a PM back. If I didn't get you, please PM again.

Actually, this are meant to compliment the Yamatos.... so it's "WITH your face Yamato!" LOL

Ha! I'm sure others feel the same frustrations that they don't add the simple stuff like this that compliments their Valks so well. These figures along with the dual seats elevating from the VF-1D just seem like no brainer accessories to throw in with each Valk. I won't bitch about them not producing them because they have done a fabulous job with the V2 1/60's which is allowing me to offer some of my 1/48's for custom work since the scale isn't complete. Just glad you and other members are here with the skills to satisfy our wants.

Didn't know you had the skills to do this type stuff. These are absolutely must haves so if you decide to take orders I am definitely down for a set. Really nice compliment to the 1/60 scale; and as someone else posted...in your face Yamato!

Just curious to know if anybody has purchased from Hobbygen.com before. If so, what has your experience been?

Got mine today!!!

That 7th pic makes it a winner for me. Nice!

Man what I wouldn't do for an Ikea store with stock in my area.

Very nice indeed!

My current lenses. The Nikon Nikkor 35mm 1.8 was at the door when I got home today.

I hope I can ask this question without us getting into a pissing match about which one is better, but I am curious to know why some choose Cannon and others choose Nikon. After all my research I found that Cannon generally stays on the bleeding edge with technological advancements while Nikon generally focuses on simplicity and making better what is already good. My research also led me to believe that Nikon, in genral, produces nicer lenses than Cannon. The choice for me was easy because I wanted a nice simple body with solid performance with a nice array of lenses to select from.

Why did you choose the camera you have today?

speaking of bokeh.....some pics of my tennis rackets' butts.

Damn Vegas, if you hadn't said what they were I wouldn't have known what I was looking at... That, my friend, is nice bokeh!

Heh. It is really nice, but there are issues with it from a technical perspective. Won't want to spoilt your fun with the new cam though, we'll come back to it in due time.

Hey I promise you won't bring me off my high horse because I know it's nowhere near a "great" shot, but compared to stuff I've taken before it is definitely one up on those. The bokeh reference was really for fun because it is something I never would have paid attention with past photos. Heck I wasn't even trying to achieve good bokeh, I just noticed the blurred background and was like "Ha! That's bokeh!" So by all means, critique the photo; it's the only way I can see myself getting better before I learn how to tune this thing in.

Sorry to interrupt you Cannonites, but a newby Nikon D90 shooter is in town

I've read on several forums and websites that your equipment is only as good as the person shooting. If that aint the biggest sack of horse s h i t I don't know what is! I just popped my lens (Nikkor AF-S DX VR Zoom 18-200mm f/3.5-5.5G IF-ED) on the body of this thing without a clue as to what I was doing. Everything is in auto mode I think; letting the camera make all the decisions. Without any effort I have pulled off nicer shots than any point and shoot I've used. I can't even imagine the shots I'll be able to pull off when I learn how to use the program mode and dial in apperature and iso settings and what not. Nothing to shake a stick at, but these are the first shots I took just sitting here at my desk. Was actually leaning back in the chair playing with the zoom on the first two imgages just to see what kind of pictures this thing will capture. Again, nothing to "wow" about, but I am surely impressed with it. Less than 50 shutter actuations on the body and I got the lens for less the $600 with no creeping, as it had been a reported problem. I plan on taking the lens and body to work tomorrow to let our photographer test drive them to see what they think. Anywho, I think I have been bit by the photography bug like I was bit by the Macross bug in January 2008! Check out the bokeh on the MG picture. Had to get some pics of this beaut before it ships off to its new owner.

Enjoy!

Looking at just the scale and poseability of this thing, I will probably pick it up even though I'm not a fan of the Macross Frontier toys. I love big scale Macross stuff which is I am still loving my 1/48 Valks. If only we could get an SDF-1 like this...that would be amazing!

the computrekker is a nice bag, but honestly too big and cavernous for my needs (I highly doubt I'm going to need to carry two full size bodies plus half a dozen lenses.)

If I needed 1 bag to carry everything I'd be more interested in the compuPrimus. it's got room for a body plus several large lenses and a big separate storage compartment (I never liked the idea of throwing junk in with my camera/lenses). also it's got rear access with a waist strap like the flipside and side access like the fastpack so best of both worlds.

I agree. For anything I plan to shoot I probably won't need more than two lenses with me at a time. It's like with my DJ'ing; I never bring all the equipment I have to a gig. I only bring the stuff I need to get the job done. I'm looking at one of the smaller Lowepro shoulder slings.

@MM - enough talk!... show us some test shots already!

Patience young padiwan! My lenses havne't shown up yet, so talking is all I can do for now!

I wouldn't say a prime is a specialized lens.. that would be more like a fish eye or other effect type lenses. It's just the basic lens that usually offers the best IQ and speed while sacrificing versatility.

If you're looking for camera bags, I recommend lowepro camera bags. I have the slingshot model and I love it.

Yeah, I guess specialized is too specific of a term. The prime means this specific lens is the "prime lens for these shooting conditions" but probably won't do as well in other conditions.

I had been looking at a really nice leather holster type case for my camera, but after seeing lowepro bags I will be ordering one tonight! It is exactly what I envisioned for hauling my stuff around. I'll still get the leather case, but that will be more for travel or a family get together because it's freaking stylish!

A prime lens is one that transforms into the leader of the camerabots, a race of autonomous cybernetic organisms from the plant oneexpensivefreakinghobby-tron.

It just means it has a fixed focal length like "35mm" or "5omm" as opposed to a "zoom" lens which is a lens with some sort of mechanism that allows it to vary it's focal length like "18-55mm"

Nice lens selection btw

Nikonous Prime

Anywho, thanks for the explanation. That makes perfect sense. I guess it's like knives or something. You can have a general purpose knife that can be used for a number of things, then you have specialized or "prime" knives like a filet or cleaver. You wouldn't use a cleaver to peel an apple just as you wouldn't use a fisheye lens to do family portraits or wedding pictures. I'm guessing prime is more of a specialized lens and it will more than likely have a fixed focal length.

After reading until my brain was tired I finally decided the 18-200 was the lens I was looking for as my "general purpose" lens. Everywhere I looked everyone had pretty much the same thing to say about it; even Ken Rockwell to a certain extent. The only problem I saw with it was the "creep" issue which shouldn't be too much of an issue as long as I stay level while shooting. I plan on purchasing a nice holster to keep my camera in when i'm on the go that I don't have to worry about holding it and the lens "creeping" out.

You guys have a been a great help and I really appreciate it. Hope to have the lens on Monday. The 35mm 1.8 is sold out everywhere locally so I'll end up picking it up online. Most stores have it for $199 shipped. Locally it's $219.99 plus tax.

So when you guys say a "prime" lens what do you mean? Is that just a lens that isn't one that comes with the camera or not a "kit" lens? I ended up getting the Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX VR 18-200mm IF-ED Zoom Lens that I plan to use as my primary lens and I plan on ordering the 35mm 1.8 DX as well. This the lens I want to use for my toys.

congrats macrossman! hope to see some dslr picture goodness from you soon

I will undoubtedly be posting up some cool pics as soon as I learn to shoot. Hope to meet some local guys to go out on photo adventures and fine tune my skills. Where have you been man? You've been missing in action.

he must have left the card in there, the counter should go to -E- immediately after removing the memory card.

Oh snap! You're right eugimon! There is a 2GB SD card still in the camera! After being arrogant and all the bastard left a card in the camera. I was just about search for a high speed card. The old me would keep his card and say his loss, but I plan on taking it back to them. Once I took the card out the display went back to showing the "E". Now let me see what kind of pictures he was able to get yesterday. Thanks man!

Excellent info here guys! Thanks! It's amazing that with the little bit of information I have been reading about and watching tutorials that I now see errors in a lot of the picitures I had been taking of my Macross collection. Not that I was attempting to take good photos, it's just odd looking at them now and recognizing depth of field and how I might have made them better with subtle adjustments to the camera.

Question about the D90. Before I took the body to the store to be tested [ - E - ] showed in the display. Now the display shows 483. I read the manual and it states this number represents the number of images remaining. Problem is is that I do not have media card in the camera. Does this number represent the number of images that remained on the card that the sales guy used at the store? Thanks again!

Woohoo! Congrats!

Thanks man! Took it by my local camera and video shop to have them give it a thorough work through to make sure it worked properly. Arrogant bastards were reluctant because I didn't purchase it from them. If the guy had been nicer I would have given him the commission on the lens I plan to purhcase, but after that experience he can go kick rocks. I might go by their other store on across the river. Good news is that it the body checked out just fine. It's a brand spanky new U.S. model with a clear serial number that I was able to register online for the warranty without any problems.

I'm so damn wishy-washy with choosing a lens though. One minute my mind is made up and the next minute it isn't. Quick and dumb question about lenses. I plan on doing a lot portraits and hope to be able to get wide shots. Not neccesarily super wide shots, but on the chance that a few generations of family members are at the same get together I'd like to get a nice portrait that I could get enlarged to like an 10 x 13 or larger. I see the 70-200mm, 55-105mm and so on and have no idea what those numbers mean. Can one of you provide some sort of explanation on these numbers? Many thanks! Really looking forward to getting into this whole world of photography. Been catching some really cool tutorials on Youtube. Thanks again!