brouken

Thanks for the info Neoexcalibur! I'm keeping tabs on NY just in case they put the preorder up as well. I really feel for the guys who are stateside. I'm in Jakarta right now so we're only two hours behind Japan. I pray that everyone will get at least one valk for their efforts today. :-)

So Amiami is usually the first on pre-orders? I know someone mentioned a while back that HLJ doesn't follow the preorder timeline. But how about the other shops like NY? Do they also follow the preorder time? Or do they come in late as well? Sorry, this is my first time to get in on the apparent preorder madness. I'm really just hoping to get one since this will be my first renewal valk. :-)

Anyone think its worth taking a risk with that Hong Kong seller in ebay who's selling armored parts? The pic is that for the renewal version but the description doesn't say "renewal" anywhere.

Man, I REALLY hope they re-issue the armor parts. It really doesn't make any sense to re-release Ozma without the armor parts. If they're capitalizing on the movies, Ozma doesn't even fly his messiah without armor! And...just like that, the super parts are gone from Mandarake. :-(

Thanks Treehill! Let's just pray that Bandai prepared enough stock to meet demand this time round. :-) For those interested, the VF25F is again back on stock in ami-ami: http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=TOY-RBT-1598&page=top%2Fsearch%2Flist%3Fs_keywords%3Dvf-25%24pagemax%3D20%24getcnt%3D0%24pagecnt%3D1

@Treehill Thanks for the pic! Could you please also provide the link to the Tamashii webpage where this is found? I'm searching the Tamashii Nations website and I can't seem to find that announcement. Thanks!

Tornado Parts for VF-25F back up on NY too: https://www.nippon-yasan.com/macross/6703-macross-f-tornado-parts-set-for-dx-chogokin-vf-25f-messiah-valkyrie-saotome-alto-custom-renewal-ver-limited-edition.html I really hope they re-issue the armor parts for Ozma.

Wow, and at a pretty good price too! Hopefully, the 25s will sell at the same price point and will have at lot of stock!

Anyone consider that Bandai just might re-issue the armored parts? I mean, I think they re-issued the vf-25f to coincide with the release of the tornado parts, which in turn was released to capitalize on the MF movies. Ozma wore the armor in the movies so it would make sense that they re-issue both the vf-25s and the armor parts right? But then again...after re-reading all of the posts on this thread, its seems that there is a consensus that Bandai doesn't seem to make sense in their releases. :-) I'd like to get just one renewal 25s with the armored parts. I'm going to make sure I'm lined up to get one this time round. :-D

Yes, VF-25S renewal reissue please. Preferably bundled with the armor packs. :-)

Uh, just out of curiosity TCracker, which direction did you pull the wing to snap it back into alignment?

Thanks for the tip TCracker! Though I must admit, I'm too scared to try out your solution! If I break the wing, then my chances of having the valk replaced by HLJ goes with it. I guess I'm better off just waiting for a replacement. Sigh, its a sad thing, seeing that big shiny box right in front of me, and knowing that I can't play with the toy inside.

Okay, I got my DX Armored Valkyrie from HLJ last friday. Because of a busy weekend, I was only able to open it monday morning. As in wee hours of the morning. That was a mistake, as it took away a lot of my sleeping time. Since this is my first DX valk, I spent a lot of time inspecting it. Like what the others reported, the valk is coated with some oily residue, and has some fingerprints on it. But that really was the least of my concerns. I was checking the sweeping action of the wings when I noticed a problem with the right wing. Unlike the left wing, which rachets and locks perfectly into place when fully opened and folded, the right wing does NOT rachet and does NOT lock into place in either modes. Trying to do so results in resistance that causes the wing to spring back a little. Furthermore, folding the right wing back from being opened causes a loud clicking noise, which the left wing does NOT do. I have tried checking if the wing is improperly set, or if something is dislodged inside the wing assembly. However, it is impossible for me to open the wing assembly, as it does not have any screws. I have already emailed HLJ about it. Their customer service has requested photos of the damage. I think it would be better to send them a short video, since a photo really won't show whats wrong with the wing. Anyway, I just wanted to ask if any of the MWers have had this problem with their DXes. If there is a way for me to fix it without having to send it back to HLJ, then I'd be happy to know about it. Right now my DX is sitting here in my office, still in its box. This is the first valk that I have that came with a defect right out of the box. I guess that makes me a true MWer now does it? Ironic that its a Bandai and not a Yamato.

Woohoo! Just received my shipping notice from HLJ today! Come to daddy Armored Messiah!

I just had an orgasm looking at ff95gj and gamu-toy's pics! So I take it that HLJ will NOT be shipping anything until after the 16th? I wish I were in Hong Kong or Japan right about now...

PSN ID = shinbrouken I'm currently finishing Prince of Persia right now (it was overshadowed by my other games for a while), but I'm jiggy with racing some MW members on Wipeout HD Fury! Add me up please! Oh, and if anyone here is still into Warhawk, let me know! I wonder if that PS3 Macross Frontier game is still in the works...

That's looking MIGHTY fine. I wish I could see what it looks like from the side and back though. I like how the leg armor covers the extended ankles. I do hope that they've done something about the attachment method for the hip armors. The fact that the early super packs keep popping off in that area is making me worried. That and the lack of articulation in the knee joints once the leg armor is on.

Thanks for the reassurance Graham! I'm really looking forward to getting a DX Messiah soon! The Armored Ozma will be my first. I really hope it won't disappoint!

Maitta naaa! I was really hoping to get my first DX Messiah this June! Oh well, as long as Bandai addresses as many of the first release issues as they can, I think I can wait for my pre-order until August. BTW, the laser turret on the booster pack in this pic looks shorter. There doesn't seem to be any opening hatches or other gimmicks on it either. I hope that's just in the mock-up. I really like how they improved the neck joint and the head lasers. I hope the head lasers won't be made out of brittle plastic though. So far, I'm glad I held off on buying the first release Ozma's. Its the wait that's killing me though!

Hi! Can anyone translate that portion which shows the head being raised up? Is that a custom job? Or does the longer neck ball joint come with the super pack? Thanks!

Looking at the Ozma custom pics from GA Graphic, I'm pretty impressed with how it looks. Add to that the reports of it being sturdy and non-floppy and I'm about 70% sure that I'm getting one of these. The 30% hesitation comes from three things: 1) Where's the neck?, 2) Where's the landing gear?, and 3) Where's the armored pack? I'm okay with the proportions. And the Skull Leader color scheme is just too damn sexy!

The Alto custom is looking better and better in my opinion. It may not be anime accurate, but it looks pleasing enough for me. For me, the high hip placement doensn't make it less aesthetically pleasing. Like I said before, it makes it look like a VF-1/0 series battroid, which is a good thing. What does worry me about the hip placement is articulation. Granted, even the Yamato VF-0 is difficult to pose in this area, what with the wings and diecast section of the fuselage sliding mechanism getting in the way of the hips. I can see the same problems with the DX. If Bandai had followed the lineart accurately, then there would have been more space for the hips to move around. That's my only nitpick so far based on the pics alone. I REALLY hope that that Ozma battroid was mistransformed. If that is how the head will look like in the final product, then I'll have to get the Armored Ozma instead.

Wow, that Michel valk looks so....I don't know. Toy-like? Good pose though.

I don't have the Yamato YF-19 so I can't make a comparison based on that toy. But I do have the VF-1S version 2 and am pretty familiar with how the Super pack attaches to the legs in that valk. While I don't know exactly how the Super/Armored packs attach to the VF-25, I have a reasonable idea how the legs are positioned in "naked" valkyrie mode. Based on the anime, I don't think the legs are positioned lower when the super packs are attached just like on the VF-1. The legs of the super and armored VF-25 are still straight and tucked into the space where the legs lock into the backpack during valkyrie mode. You can clearly see this in some of the rear shots of the super and armored VF-25s in the series. Not that I'm defending Bandai or anything. Clearly, the spaces between the legs and the backpack in the DX are not line art accurate. Its just that when you consider the bulk added by the super and armored packs, it makes sense that they would leave some space to accomodate for that. I believe this is one instance where anime magic was used in the series so that the legs lock all the way through regardless of whether they're naked or not. If you can show me the pics where it clearly shows the legs bent in super/armored valk mode though, I would appreciate it very much. And thanks to Graham and the others for giving their examples of Bandai's A game toys. I only have one Bandai SOC so far (Voltes V), and while I'm pretty happy with it, it does have its own flaws and quirks too. I don't have any of the Saint Seiya toys since I'm not really a fan of that anime. To those who have the DX Aquarion: how's the QC and durability of that toy? I've heard many good things about it, and am partly interested in investing in one. I think the DX Aquarion would also be a good yardstick for measuring what the potential durability of the DX VF-25 would be as well. As far as I know, Bandai's DX line is clearly meant to be toys. They're loaded with tough materials and are purposefully chunky compared to their anime counterparts. Just look at the Sentai Rangers series DX toys and the DX Gundam toys. They won't win any awards for aesthetics that's for sure. But they're built like bricks and are meant to take the abuse of rough play and continued manipulation and transformation. They're different from the SOC line in that they're not exactly collector's grade display items. Compared to the other DX toys however, I'm impressed with the detail Bandai has managed to put into the DX VF-25. While obviously not in the level of the Yamato valks, its clear that Bandai is considering that market segment with this toy as well. Its not as "kiddie" as the other DX toys. This is all I have to say regarding its looks though. Aesthetics after all, is a highly subjective matter, and no amount of argument would change a person's opinion of what is fugly and uber sexy.

Also, I just want to ask Graham and the others: what toy would exemplify Bandai's "A" Game for you?