brouken

And just like that, pre-orders closed.

I know what's you're saying Noel. But you have to admit that the 31 and its predecessor the 30 have a more refined and sturdier way of locking the back compared to just relying on those two shoulder hinges. I still love the 25 though, and the Armored 25S remains my third most favorite valk after the 0S and the 1S. The 31S will probably come fourth. :-D

Missed the pre-order on this one and paid the price (literally). Ordered both the super parts and the valk from NY in one order so I'm gettting them in March. No Delta valk this Christmas. :-D After seeing the video review, I'm very pleased to see that Bandai included a lot of locking tabs to keep this valk solid in Battroid. My biggest gripe about Frontier's valks is the loose back, which just hangs there by force of gravity. I'm surprised too that it can stand on its own despite looking back-heavy. Of course, the super parts will probably change that. I wasn't really planning on getting this valk since Delta was a huge letdown for me. I was really only planning on getting Messer's and Arad's. But after seeing all the new improvements in engineering, not to mention the cool new packaging, I'm sold. Its really just too bad we didn't get to enjoy seeing these valks in as much action as those in Frontier, and that Delta's story, characters and music aren't making me want to re-watch the series anytime soon.

Agreed. The SV262Hs head is a bit off in my opinion. Not digging the elongated insectoid look of it.

Pre-ordered! I have the 1st release Yamato version with the gimpy shoulders, so this will be a welcome update.

Woot! NY agreed to cancel my order! Thank you! Pre-ordered the Fairie Squadron custom from Ami-Ami! Not really a fan of Macross II, but the Valkyrie II with the SAP is one of the valks whose design appeal to me, even though its not designed by Kawamori-san himself. Besides, the yellow-striped version is the closest I can get to the Skull Leader/Fokker color scheme. Here's hoping that this will be a solid release by Evolution Toy.

Thanks again! Submitted a ticket...hopefully they'll agree.

Thanks Scyla! I was thinking of cancelling my pre-order, but now that you've mentioned about possible repercussions... I'll think on it a bit more. I was leaning towards getting the Fairie Squadron version with the SAP instead of the naked Sylvie. Oh well.

Guys, just got a payment request notification from NY for the VF2SS Sylvie Gena Custom. Is it confirmed that the release date has been moved to Feb? Not sure if I should pay for this already...

Just finished watching the fan-subbed version! (My Nihongo isn't up to speed to watch it raw). After reading though the past five pages of comments, I have to say that I'm throwing my vote in with those who enjoyed this pre-season episode! I admit that I was actually very skeptical at first, and I wasn't really an instant fan of the VF-31 and Sv-262 designs. But I'm liking Macross Delta so far. That and my 9-year-old daughter, who is an Aikatsu fan, is liking it as well! We're definitely watching out for this in April! :-D

Aww, the DX Macross Quarter ain't that bad! Besides, I would blame the floppiness in the inherent design of the ship. There's really nothing much you can do to keep those arms holding the gunship and carrier locked straight. Anyway, since Bandai is reviving SDF Macross in its Hi-Metal R Series, I really hope they have plans for a transforming SDF-1 in the future.

I'm going to be the odd man out and advocate for Brera's machine because its such a unique and sexy Valk, expecially in super pack configuration. Like what the others have said, its still selling for essentially the same MSRP at release, and it's highly unlikely that Bandai would do a re-issue of it, so I would grab the chance to get it now. With the exception of Rod's custom, the YF-29's have more or less reached their ceiling price in the aftermarket IMHO and so you can probably save for one much later without worrying about any drastic changes in price (I'd get Alto's custom if you are going to get Brera's VF-27y, just to relive the epic finale of Wings of Goodbye ). The VF-19 Advance is a mixed bag for me as far as recommending it is concerned. Isamu's valk is iconic to be sure, but the Advance itself just got a few (albeit awesome) seconds of screen time. It didn't even get a transformation animation. So for a MacF valk, its pretty much just a side note (just like the YF-25 Prophecy). But since you are a fan of the add-on parts, I would recommend it only because it has the super pack bundled in already. But again, so does Brera's VF-27y, which you could get for almost 50 bucks cheaper at the moment. So its still Brera's machine as far as my recommendation in concerned. And just in case you need more convincing for the VF-27y, just take a gander at Saburo's excellent photographs :

This has got me interested since I started collecting capital ships and recently got the Cosmofleet Special Nahel Argama. Judging by the above pic, this seems to be a transformable piece, probably through parts swapping.

Excellent DOF Saburo! I noticed that you also did not extend the ankles fully on the V.1 0S. Are they loose on yours too?

Thanks for this Noel! I'm glad to see that the Yamato Ghost Booster actually fits. Still bummed out that Arcadia didn't go all the way and make even the brown pods fit. Oh well, I think I'll just keep the Ghost Booster on the V.1 VF-0S and make the V.2. wear the Reactive Armor when it comes out.

Wow, I stand humbly corrected. I always thought that Mr. K was Shoji Kawamori himself. Mr. K, if you're reading this, my post above was really meant for you.

Thank you Renato for posting this. And a big arigatou-gozaimasu too to Kawamori-san for taking the time out to address this issue openly. It really puts things in perspective in terms of how complicated running a niche toy company is, and striking a good balance between quality and cost of a product. I'm currently my office's administrative officer, so I have some idea of how complicated managing resources (both human and material) can be. Sometimes, I forget that there are real people who worked very hard to make the toys and/or hobbies that I have. I guess it has something to do with the fact that my toys and hobbies are my form of escape from the oftentimes harsh realities of living in our modern world: a world that is increasingly becoming more fast-paced, highly-competitive, and stressful. I read somewhere that because of the pressures of modern living, we modern humans tend to take our R&R very seriously. When we go on a break, we want it to be as big of a break as possible right? So why would I want to be reminded of logistical problems when all I want to do is to just play with a well-designed toy that I can afford with the salary I work my a$$ off to earn? But hey, that's life. And life is hard. All we can do is to learn to be loving and compassionate to each other so that we can make life more bearable for one another. We need to remember that we are all riding on the backs of other people who worked hard to bring to us the things we oftentimes take for granted in our lives today: the food that we eat, the clothes we're wearing, the houses that we're living in...and yes, even the toys we play with. Let us not forget that there's a story of human struggle and triumph behind every product. Kawamori-san, if you are reading this, allow me to just express my appreciation for your passion in bringing your Valkyrie designs to life in toy-form, so that people like me can enjoy them in our free time. I may not always be able to afford them, but I'm grateful for the fact that I've been blessed to have the income to do so now, considering that many of the factory workers in your company probably could not even afford to buy one. I know that because I live in a part of the world where the minimum (official) monthly wage is about two-thirds the price of an Arcadia Valk (and I know that a lot of my own countrymen works for even lower than that, just so that they can earn a living). Sometimes, a reality-check is all I need in order to tell myself: "Be still my greedy heart, and know that you are blessed."

Thanks for the review VF5SS! It's a bummer that the old Yamato Ghost Boosters don't fit onto the V.2's. I know a lot of MWers actually went out of their way to buy the old Ghosts for this purpose. I know that Kawamori-San even actually tweeted that they would be compatible. So aside from paying for an almost USD300 Valk, we now have to fork out more dollars for BOTH the V.2. Ghost Booster and the Armor Pack. Yup. Not winning many fans at all Arcadia.

Are these indicative of the final production version? I noticed that the UN Spacy shields, and the Jolly-Rogers are already on the plane, as well as other detail markings. Are these going to be tampoed out of the box? Or did the guy in the blog just applied the decals? In Fighter mode, the Valk looks just like the V.1 version. I'm hard pressed to see any difference apart from lighter shade of Off-white plastic they used for the body, the missing red stripes on the head monitor beam cannons, and that tab slot for the fast packs. Even the out-of-the-box load-out is the same. Eriku's impressions about the tight tolerances are very heartening though, and I guess this is where the V.2 will stand out. I don't own the 0D so I have no idea of how tight the tolerances are for these V.2 Zeroes. I guess anything is better than the floppy mess that is the V.1. That price though....almost USD 300 without the Armor pack. If it weren't for the fact that the VF-0S is my second favorite Valkyrie design, I would have easily passed on this one, considering I already have the V.1 (floppiness and all) dressed all pretty with the Ghost Pack. If this is the direction Arcadia is going with their pricing, they're not going to win a lot of fans any time soon. BTW, any news on when the Armor parts will be released? That's an immaculate shot Saburo!

Great shots Saburo! Especially this one! Very sharp details on Gojira's head! :-)

Good call on the VF-25S Kyp! At least you missed out on the pre-order madness in getting it. To think that it was selling for up to USD500 before! If its staying in fighter mode, then the 25S will be a beautiful piece with its large Skull Leader insignia and color scheme. The Armor and Super parts will only cover these up, so don't be in a hurry to get them, especially in the prices they're selling for now. You can always wait for a kind-hearted MWer to sell their extra ones for a more reasonable price later on.

How about some more capital ship love? A Battle 7 and Battle Galaxy would be nice. Also, like what was mentioned in other threads, I would like to see a Bandai SDF-1.

Thanks Saburo! Don't you have any Alternity figures in your Transformers collection?

Thanks for the info Noel! So I take it that these are made to order like the previous Arcadia releases? As for your question on the Ghost pack, both Roy and Shin used this configuration only in the fifth and final episode of the Zero OVA. If I remember the timeline correctly, Shin's 0A got shot down first (head blown off), while Roy gets to keep his 0S until the end, albeit heavily damaged, as he holds a dying Aries in his arms. :-) Although Shin still flies his 0A against the awakened AFOS, Ghost pack and all, in the final battle.

Just to add to the MP-10 re-issue madness : I ordered the Red Alternity Prime/Convoy from Mandarake a while back, but had waited for the release of the MP-10 re-issue to open it so that I could put them side by side. It's no Knight Rider scene, but man, I've always wanted to have a trailer truck with a car inside! Now I have transforming ones too! Woot! The Alternity Prime/Convoy is scaled perfectly with the MP-10. Once I get over my laziness, I'll transform the Alternity Prime/Convoy to have it man the combat deck on the MP-10's trailer. Even the Spike Witwicky figure of the MP-10 fits snugly into the cockpit of the Alternity Prime/Convoy! Which is why I bought it in favor over the Masterpiece Sideswipe, which I understand, cannot accommodate a figure inside. These Prime/Convoy figures are just BOSS.