drifand

damn! then that would mean M&M TV style Fast packs, sold separately!!! damn you Yamato!!! Not necessarily - they could release them like the 1/60 Super Valks. TV-style armor would be an exclusive to those valks only.

There's still time to hope a TV Hikaru VF-1S will come after the 1J, complete with TV style FPs and an improved head. They could work on it now thru the release of the M&M 1Js (does anyone think Yamato will pass on up those variants?) sometime in 2004.

Hey, we're supposed to be grateful Yamato changed the shirt on the valk! They're not likely to redo the head before they recup the cost from making enough variants. Folks who already like the 1S and are willing to overlook the problem will definitely consider buying it. Others like me will wait for the 1J.

There were at least 3 Destroid Phalanx toys from the 80's. All by Takatoku Toys: Easiest to find: 1/144 scale diecast Mecha Collection Series Nicest/most expensive: 1/100 Conversion Kit (1 engine wih armor for 3 Destroids) Cutest: Sofubi version (soft vinyl figure with almost no articulation) You just gotta look for them!

I haven't watched this before, but your sentiments call to mind another film I dread: SPRIGGAN. How do you find that one?

Since the CF color scheme is not exactly everyone's favorite, this would be the perfect case to have BOTH A & J heads included to sweeten the deal. It'll be cool to have 3 of these on a shelf - a 1J CF leading two 1A squaddies.

You seem to be fixated on baiting me, but anyway try this for size: Material doesn't make a difference? What if the shield was made of something really hardy, like... ABS or even aluminium (an exaggeration, of course)? I'm sticking to my not-unreasonable opinion that the current clear plastic used for the HS is not only brittle, but unecessarily so because the skulls, if any, are printed on top now. Making the change will result in less potential for damage during play and up the satisfaction level, because owners will have one less thing to worry about.

It's just a matter of styling. The VF-1 was done in the days when the F-14 was the hottest cat on the deck. To appeal to a new generation of viewers who may not have seen the orginal series at all, Shoji has to offer something they can relate to. Hence the more modern styling... Gundam fans have had to live with retcon headaches, now we get the same previlege. It's the price of franchise longevity!

It may be only 2-mode capable (Armo Soldier & Diver), but I know some owners who really love it more than the triplle-change toy. That's because it's got lots of diecast in it and actually looks less chunky in robot mode than the larger toy. You've scored it at a good price and everything seems to be in place. Enjoy!

Well, we can't all be "discerning toy snobs," can we? It's a good thing you're here to tell us unwashed masses what's what. It's too late at night to dig up all the threads from the old forums where we criticised Yamato, but I can guaran-damn-tee you that nobody was satisfied with broken VF-11 hips. Just what is your beef with the new 1J anyhow? The toy hasn't even been released yet and you're already starting with the "Worst Toy Ever" routine. Are you going on vacation, and decided to get some preemptive complaining in? Ever consider that you're taking this stuff a little too seriously? These are mass produced toys made in China, not the freakin' Franklin Mint. Since you're directing your post at me, let me clarify a few points for you, Bsu. I haven't bitched about the 1/48 VF-1J TOY. It's going to be exactly what every other 1/48 is like, good parts and bad. I like the head sculpt, which is the only really significant value apart from the other 1/48s. What I felt strongly about (but admit I was wrong), was that the pix of the proto showed the 1J with the FPs. It cheesed me off because it looked like Yamato was going to use the opportunity to sell the toy at an inflated price with a pair of FPs that was never used by the mech in the TV series. Now the TV-style FPs looked great, but it would be even better if they were released with Hikaru's VF-1S - then a premium price would be pretty well justified, no? Some of us fans dream of the 1J sold with the GBP-1S, or at least having the opportunity to buy both. It really bites to have to fork over extra for the 1J if it comes with armor you don't want/need. So - it is not a "Worst Toy Ever" issue at all, thank you very much. About the 11B hips - you're probably right! We ALL got shafted by Yamato. Some of us just don't feel the pain as much as others. And please don't patronize me - I'm not a toy snob. I can appreciate a beautifully detailed 100yen ZOID minifig as much as a 9800+yen SOC. If the gashapon turns out to be crap, then I'll call it that. I thought the SOC Daikumaryu wasn't worth the asking price - and I never bought it. And that goes for Macross toys as well. Just because everyone else thinks something is cool don't make it so. Good night.

The Tomahawk is probably the most interesting with its aggressive design and weapons load. Somehow, I get the feeling if the smaller destroids are released, the Tomahawk won't be the first. The first may be Defender (nice but not the most popular), followed by the Phalanx (funky but still cool), the Spartan (maybe the least popular?) and then the Tomahawk.

Aw OK. I'll learn to change my standards and be one of the crowd. Give me another VF-11B scenario! Broken hips are no problem at all. And while you're at it, keep making bad joints and poor fitting parts. No need to check if a gimmick actually works properly before producing it.. Fix it later and make the fans buy it all over again. No need to go the extra mile for us fans right from the start - "good enough" is fine for the majority here, even at 120 a pop. I guess some of us here will never see eye to eye with regards to Yamato. Never will. Yup.

Ahhhhh! Do you know how many times I've popped into some hardware store hoping to find that magic elixir that is Futures floor wax? I'd love to try that mod but, man! No one sells it around here! If you know where I can get it in Sinagpore, please let me know. Thanks! Mechamaniac, I was inspired by another post on the old boards which showed off a whole squad of VFs in a hangar. I liked the way the FP cowling was shown and duplicated the style. You just have to balance it, that's all... the forward tips have sufficient grip, but you can always add a bit of blu-tack. For the canopy, same solution: Blu-Tack, applied in a small lump towards the back of the cockpit. The canopy isn't that heavy, so it stays in place alright. After seeing that light-up bootleg 1/55, I'm thinking of buying one to use the gunpod for a mod on the 1/60s...

And the fans are clamouring for... ? GBP-1S. What do we get? A non-canon VF-1J Super Valk. Whee! Pay more for what you really wanted. I don't worship blindly at the altar of Yamato. Non-cannon VF-1j? you mean the 1/60th version. Graham already mentioned the 1/48 !J is not coming with Fast packs, Yamato just slapped them on for display purposes at the show the 1j was unveiled at. I'm sorry about that - I must have missed it in one of those 20+ page threads back on the old boards. It just seemed to be another case of milking the fans for as much as they can. I sincerely hope the 1J is released without the superfluous FPs. If anything the "special" TV FPs should be sold with Hikaru's 1S.

And the fans are clamouring for... ? GBP-1S. What do we get? A non-canon VF-1J Super Valk. Whee! Pay more for what you really wanted. I don't worship blindly at the altar of Yamato.

I think it's because of the proportions - it's pretty svelte comapred to the aggressive chunkyness of the original destroids. I guess it can't be helped that this series will also end up looking more advanced than the originals...

Graham, any chance Yamato will ever decide to use solid color molded plastics for the heatshield instead of the brittle clear type we're still getting?

1st Yamato (and almost my last) was the original YF-19. It suffered Tab-B breakage and now it's just a $40 piece of junk waiting to be used as spare parts for the rev 2 someday. I guess I loved Macross Plus more than I feared Yamato's QC back then. I must be one of the lucky ones whose VF-11B is still intact after numerous transformations. Yamato revived the franchise and I give them credit for trying. But the honeymoon is long over for me :-/

Oh wow, I feel your pain, man! I think short of getting a replacement from Yamato, or maybe a recast, it's going to be almost impossible to superglue the bits back AND hope they'll stay on. The clear plastic they chose for the heatshield is pretty brittle from several accounts. I keep hoping Yamato would wise up and use real color-molded ABS eventually. Afterall, they don't print the skulls behind, and quite a few releases won't even have skulls. But form the shots of the Low Vis, it's still the same deal... Maybe another same-damage victim can share some tips on getting a replacement?

It's been stormy all Saturday, so I took the opportunity to tweak my 1/60s a little bit more. Previously, I had loosened up the shoulder polycaps and widened the elbow clearance on all three 1Js. Not too long ago, I also painted over the too-bright tri-barrel muzzles with a darker gunmetal shade; plus, I drilled thru the tri-barrels so that they looked more realistic instead of being filled up with paint. This afternoon, after I fixed the see-thru chestplate on the Hikaru 1J, I finally decided to do something about the hopeless misshapened optional left-hand as well. If any of you have tried using it to support the gunpod in a fighting pose, I bet you would find the curvature of the palm very strange indeed - there's only one particular angle where it will accomodate the gunpod correctly AND where the thumb won't get in the way. Any other angle would look out of place, i.e. the Valk looks like an inept soldier who's all thumbs and doesn't know how to hold his weapon. I can't really fix the sculpt but I could do something about the thumb. So I sliced it off and reattached it with a short pin at a new angle. The pin works like one of those "mono-shaft" joints in Kaiyodo toys. I did the same fix to the tip of the thumb so that it looks "right". Now my 1J looks much more presentable: After that, I started fiddling with the Max 1J. Decided to show it in a pre-flight situation with the FP hatch and canopy open. Then I asked myself: why not give Max a real neck so that he can "look around". Took out my cutters, snipped the head off and reattached it with another short metal pin. I like the result I'm not sure I want to do the same to Milia, so I called it a day... Anyone else has good mods for the VF-1s? I'd love to fix the skinny gunpod connector section!

I'm sure many of us put lots of effort into displaying our valks and showing them off in the best light. I don't often turn on the spot lights but when I do, I notice one thing about my 1/60s that disturbs me. The bright lights literally "shine through" the thin plastics used to make the chestplate. It looks like a dull x-ray with some of the molded undersides showing up as shadowy blobs. I guess why it bothers me is that the toy loses the illusion of being a really solid represenation of my favorite mecha. This is similar to another post I made on the older boards about the translucency of the VF-11B's heatshield. Bright lights shine thru the thin red plastic and shows thru at the canopy edges as a "thin red line", destroying the illusion of a sealed canopy with a solid shield on top. In the end, I took the heatshield off and coated the inner surface with an opaque black marker. No more eyesore. For the VF-1J, I decided to do a similar thing for its see-thru chestplate. Unscrewed it and painted the underside with a dark gray Gundam Marker. I didn't want to use black because it might show thru on the front side instead! Anyway, seems to work well. I'm looking at it hold a great pose under the spot lights... and there's no sign of his "undershirt" anymore

The proportions of the 1/48 will always be up for debate. I think we can all agree it's gorgeous in fighter mode - but that doesn't mean the toy is going to wow every fan 100% of the time. I think partly why I wasn't super thrilled with the overall toy is that I've seen really ingenius efforts on the part of modellers who made their own fulll-transformation VF-1 from the Hasegawa kits. They got the "swing bar" mechanism done, integrated heatshield, gunpod that doesn't hit the ground in fighter mode, and even side panels in one case! AND... they looked fantastic to boot. No strangely skinny arms with too-small hands, no slightly flattened look for the canopy, no bulky torso in Battroid mode... Yes, yes, yes - those were model kits. But they represented the ideal VF-1 for me. The 1/48 is comes up short. I'm only willing to buy the VF-1J because the extra hands will help mitigate its appearance, and ultimately, a dream set of GBP-1S armor will cover up its less than perfect proportions. There, I've said my piece. Please understand this is not an attack on anyone who loves their 1/48 toy, just sharing my opinion on the as-yet best representation of our favorite mecha.

Yes, I'd probably get the 1/48 1J as it is my favorite VF-1 design. I had planned to get a VF-1S too but was totally cheesed off by the lazy production effort with regards to the infamous seam line. I've learnt to keep my expectations low for Yamato products. Despite the perfect transformation of the 1/48, I'm more happy with the overall proportions of the 1/60 line-up. But since the 1/48s are the premium product for Yamato, they seem to have decided to shortchange the 1/60s in little bitsy ways: no improvements to bad shoulder design, slightly shorter than ideal FPs, and no news of FP upgrades for quite a while. Here's another guess: Once the 1/48 FPs are out and they've secured sufficient sales, THEN maybe they'll announce 1/60 FPs, along with the Destroids and Zentradi armor to kick-start the 1/60 line again. This will probably be the same situation with regards to the GBP-1S armor. If the 1/60 version comes out first, some fans will be happy enough to have it and not spend the bigger bucks on the 1/48 version. Although all this speculation is just that - specualtion, it does get me feeling jaded when everything seems to work out so logically. They can get away with it too, because Big-B dropped the ball and left the court. I just tell myself I seriously don't need every single Macross toy ever released to enjoy the franchise. If a company wants my dollars, it's got to meet my standards - strictly my personal opinion.

Slightly disappointed (surprised?). So close to being my perfect valk, but I'd always preferred the Battroid mode to the Fighter mode. The Battroid mode is a let down for me. Then the price tag struck me.

Pure speculation of marketing strategy: 1. Shows off 1J prototype to whet fans' appetite 2. Long awaited release FAST Packs end of Aug 3. Dangle Hikki 1S as a carrot to enhance sales of FPs for those who want the Strike Valk of their dreams but may not have desire/budget to buy FPs for other 1/48s. No extra development cost for Hikki 1S, just change the paint stripe, and it's "improved" too. 4. Also hope fans will buy it to: a) Stave off hunger for 1J b) Get an improved 1S c) Support the line d) Complete their collection e) All of the above