mr.chogokin

| If it pops off easily just add some glue to the plastic clamps to thicken the grips. If the swing bars are floppy, there isn't much you can do about it. Don't try to hammer the sides of the swing bar joint. The metal is really brittle.

Contrary to what is bandied here, the hi-metal 1/100s is not a lesser product. Therefore it is just as good as the Yamato 1/60s if not better. There is no evidence that the Bandai is made in lesser numbers as well. To me, it's a much better made product so it's a lesser pain in the ass to keep; even I have to pay more than retail for VF-1S.

Dudes, I was only talking about the Bandai's VF1's shoulders and how it's not breaking. No need for the teeth gnashing and telling me how the Yamato measures up in other ways... we all KNOW how good they are and how it must look like cheating that Bandai effortlessly corrected their mistake. Hehehe! Btw VF5SS, if you are talking about Bandai's 1/65s M7 valks, IIRC, they came out about the same time if not earlier than the Yamato's 1/72 Macplus valks. And by copying design, I think you meant Yamato's Billy Wong copying and modifying SHE's valks right? Oh but he fvcked-up the design ala the Tab-B along with part fitting issues. The original SHE kits transformed smoother by comparison. Oh and, SHE is like a consultant, funded by Bandai. Hahaha!

Ah, you wished you have gotten that last batch in HLJ. Yamato wished they have made their valks as good as the Bandai's. You'll get over it.

Actually, it is quite obvious Bandai made a better valk toy not only because they are more experienced, but they know it is a toy they want collectors to keep so issues like breakages are prevented thru design and material choices long before they are mass manufactured. I don't see how being able to appreciate that as naive. As far as subpar quality goes, a small drop of piss in the drinking water however little is still too much.

Aside from the often mentioned things we love in the Hi-metal 1/100s VF1s, one point really stood out for me; I personally like the fact that Bandai's result belittles Yamato's repeated attempts to make a perfect VF1 valkyrie. Just take a look at how Bandai's shoulders transform, gives you an idea what a bunch of lazy bums the Yamato guys are; no matter how we often like to think of them (Yamato) as the only company that pushes the envelope for Macross. Yamato took too many years and attempts and yet in the end, it is the fans who clean up their mess in the version 2's shoulder problem. Bandai only took what, one attempt with no breakages resulting from poor material choice or just bad design. Bandai's parts swapping hate and all I can understand, but it's not like Yamato's landing gears and heatshield are going to deploy themselves. Only thing is, Bandai are probably kicking themselves for coming into the market late, now that it's saturated with subpar Yamato valks. Or maybe it's not entirely for profit but to remind us all the perfect VF1 could be made, if not for Gundam.

ah, I see. This misassemble is also known on the vf0s. In fact, I made the same fix on my friends copy. All you need is a thin screw driver to push away the pin and everything else will be easy to fix.

The vf0s has been known to have very tight plastic pincer grips. Just use a bit more strength to yank the swing bar away and sand the pincers down.

Thing is, minute details like that aren't documented it seems. I wish I can read Japanese to know more, but reading this thread, I get the impression that Ishiguro merely lent his name to placate the show's investors but did very little else. For the rest of us who disagree just because our gut feeling tells us different is not enough. But are the subpar quality stories that succeed the original SDFM and DYRL enough, or they aren't important because they are merely fillers between the awesome dogfights and mecha battles?

What I want to know is, since HG is stealing the Super-O and the Elintseeker designs which they do not own, can Yamato and Bandai openly sell their Macross stuff Stateside? XD

How the frakk did they get the rights to those designs??? Or is the whole worldwide embargo not taken seriously now? If so, I hope it paves the way for cheaper Yamatos and better warranty policy outside of Japan.

Yeah it's just the bottom of the neck. On the toys, since the neck is bolted in a hinge, it's just a bevel of the hinge. If the toy is not transforming, that bevel is not even there.

I see Jenius' point about the V.2 collar eyesore but not necessarily deferring to just the lineart. Looking at the various battroid artworks of the many Macross artbooks, and then looking at the various animation - SDFM, DYRL, FEVER... they all consistently say, "no collar". Maybe it doesn't bother alot of people, but to some who have spent more time than others looking at these VF materials and the toys, anything out of the ordinary, however slight is going to stick out like a sore thumb. And I've got to admit, the collar thing is new... it's never been seen in the other older VF-1 toys. Maybe Yamato paid every attention to detail but left the collar thing unfixed because it seemed negligible. Who know? Just don't tuck the chestplate all the way down. On the other hand, if you look at Kawamori's lineart of the VF0 and then compare it to Yamato's rendition, I'd say overall Yamato's rendition is better and more heroic-looking and closer to the animation and Kawamori's drawing is more... skinny. To me, either the animators or Yamato improved the VF0 for Kawamori. In the end, what we got is the VF0 that is consistent in the 1/60 toy form and animation. All I'm saying is, it's not about deferring to any single source material, but deferring to what is consistent from different sources and that "eye" will tell you if it looks right or not.

Bored of line art comparison? We can still look at the animation... there is no collar in the animation.

As far as proportions go, I like the Bandai 1/100 VF better. It's got great proportions on all three modes. Its Battroid has a lesser gap at the side, because the chest is not positioned too far from the back, so it looks less hollow at the side. The head and neck position are just right. What I don't like about the Bandai 1/100 VF are the size of it... Bandai should have made then 1/55 and the minimal part swapping of the landing gears and heatshield.

So awesome! Good job on getting them for so low.

But the 1/48 with the GBP armor looks headless! Ask for a telescoping neck this time.

The DMZ05 Turbo Custom is definitely worth owning, even if you have to pay abit more than retail to get one right now. It also has the biggest box of the entire DMZ line. Only thing to watch out for is the antenna; in fact all the antennas on the DMZs are made of hard but brittle plastic that can break easily. Everything else on the DMZs are built as sturdy as they can be built.

Case: Irvine is worth a watch, there are plenty of good battling action... but I'm not digging the AT designs though. Votoms Finder is quite meh for me. Maybe I'm just not used to looking at the ATs all spruced up with bright colors and with kibble-y weapons. Alone Again was nothing spectacular but there are some cool mecha battle scenes in it to make the time spent worthwhile; it is after all the closing of some sort to Chirico's story.

I think it's part of Takara's plan to make the ATs at 1/18 scale... they get business from both the Votoms fans and the microman collectors. And having owned some old but well-made micromen, I feel that the micromen figs for the DMZ line could have been made better with tighter ball joints and less rubbery feel on the overall plastic and better quality pvc for the brown belt. But if it's the look of the figs that bothered you, I agree they should have used a better sculpt and less chunky exposed joints. Just keep then in the box or in the cockpit.

Takara definitely took some liberties with the regular DMZ scopedog's feet. Even the calf vents juts out a bit more than the line arts. But somehow, I find the feet sculpt on it more robust and complimenting to the upper torso.

Actually, I meant a token fee - For Yamato to make just enough money to pick up from the slack. Maybe the exploding plastics is an honest mistake on Yamato's part... I dunno. It's what you get when you give 1 single manufacturer your entire project and this manufacturer sees itself as a one stop place. AFAIK, many successful brands farm out different parts of a single product to many manufacturers. Each manufacturer would only concentrate on one part of the product ie:- hinge. And this manufacturer would use only metal. When all the parts are ready, another manufacturer would only be specialized in the assembly of all the parts into the final product. From experience, I see this way is more successful than going to a one-stop that thinks it can make everything out of plastic. Who knows, maybe Yamato is already farming out the different parts to different vendors... and the shoulder is an oversight. Maybe it should have used a smaller diameter pin. Maybe the outter hinge with the ball joint should be metal. People say Yamato has improved. But the end product is still plagued with maybes. I'm not promoting the idea that something should be made, sold and then break so that these companies can profit more out of selling parts. I'm tired... I have been holding on to these broken valks for sometime now. And they broke almost as soon as I bought them. I want to move on. Get them fix for a minimal charge or something.

I wonder if the new hinges can distributed and sold for a minimal / token fee. That way there is a small incentive for Yamato and the shops to make and carry them. They can come in the off-white, cream, low-vis grey, light grey...etc. Or just one color so we can paint over them. The hinges don't have to be labeled so there is no breaking of any international distribution treaty. Selling of unlabeled parts may not garner immediate sales, but most of us with the broken valks would know to look for them. For example: Fans of Blade Runner would immediately understand what an unauthorized or parallel product mean when they see a 12 inch figure that goes by the the name "android hunter". Or the hinges can be labeled as "mecha shoulder enhancers" or "Supa Shoruta" or something. And of course no need for the maker company's name. Or if they want, they can call it, Sunwards. Or they can sell them with full "Macross 1/60 VF1 Ver2 spare shoulders" with all the VF colours, but meant only for selling and distributing in Japan, but then somehow, international markets get the privilege to buy them too. Just like the valks. Or they can slot extra shoulder hinges into their unassembled 1/60 VF1 kit. That will boost sales for the kit and collectors get to fix their broken valks. Although it's just an idea, I feel it's worth considering so no one will miss the boat in the future. It's also because I'm holding to some of them with broken shoulders, it has come to the point where I don't mind paying for the spare shoulders, but not too much please.

Oh but they know... and still they sell the plastic a grade or two lower than what they are paid. Not absolving Yamato either cuz when they think they are saving cost, their greed is just giving the manufacturers the green light to cheat more. There are no other manufacturers in the world that can compare to the damn Chinese factories at being unscrupulous about this practice. It's in their tourism, retail. Fvck it's in practically everything that they do for export except for themselves!

This one? http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/microman/mas_vot_top01.html