Chronocidal

Ugh.. Ideas review came through... kinda.. incredibly disappointed. https://ideas.lego.com/blogs/a4ae09b6-0d4c-4307-9da8-3ee9f3d368d6/post/f93d358e-bd2e-4295-8ad9-d308db7e3b0b

They just cling to mistakes for 30 years hoping no one will actually notice. Too bad for them, our pickiness has only increased over that time. I do have to say though, having decent orthographic renders of their YF-19 model is nice. I can take those and build a completely functional CAD model out of them. On the other hand, looking at that diagram, I never realized how incredibly bulbous and oversized they made the neck cover... it looks kinda ridiculous.

So while I'm not sure the tab is actually necessary, I do know that it keeps things nicely aligned in fighter mode, and I'd be hesitant to remove that point of connection. The fact that it's one of the tightest fitting tabs on the entire thing makes me think there's stress on it from somewhere, and it needs that point to secure the wings. It might be interesting to see how one holds up without that tab. Has anyone here wound up either breaking off or cutting that tab on purpose? As far as the tab preventing the wings from connecting though, I can pretty much guarantee it's not the case. The tabs are floating in open air left by the leg dropping. What's happening is that the sloped side panel of the leg is lowering from the leg dropping down to accommodate the packs, and in order to get the wing gloves to connect with the leg again, they would need to rotate inwards impossibly far. The cross-section of the legs on the Bandai is also a bit more rounded than the Arcadia version, making the gap even more pronounced. There is a functional trade off though as well here, and it's something Bandai's does that Arcadia can't, and the old Yamato never attempted. Because the leg packs aren't connected to the wings, they can swing open to deploy the missiles in the legs like the animation shows. So, it's pretty much a trade off no matter how you slice it. Either the packs are locked into the wing gloves, and keep things extra sturdy, or the wing gloves hang free, and you get functioning leg bays. This kind of thing is why I have multiples of both the Bandai and the Arcadia versions. Edit: Also to note.. they're still using the big honking shield with the attached neck cover and head shroud.. which, funny enough, isn't accurate to either the YF-19 or the VF-19 Advance. The big streamlining cover over the head just flat out doesn't exist in any animation of either plane. Also, while I think it's nice they tried to find a way to stash the neck cover in battroid mode, they should have just made the cover attach/detach instead of sticking permanently to the shield on that collapsing rail. All they really accomplished is forcing you to carry an extra neck cover around in gerwalk mode. The whole messy assembly has had me tempted to rip the sliding rail out of the shield and just use the gerwalk cover all the time.

Heh, yep looks like a second seat... also, I don't see Isamu's big shiny white noggin.. looks like they went helmet-less.

So, the fast packs are flat out impossible as animated. They phase clean through the wings when they open to launch the leg-mounted missiles. However, a clean shot of the attachment point shows the wings are flush with the leg, and there's no gap. The wings sit right against the tails. Obviously that doesn't work in real life, because the wing roots can't magically get wider to fill the gap when the legs drop. Yamato and Arcadia filled that space by having the wing roots snap into the upper edge of the packs, while Bandai didn't bother, and just left the wingroot hanging in open air with the pack below it. Which one's more accurate? I don't think it matters nearly as much as which one looks the least ugly, and Bandai kinda failed there. Removing that tab won't do anything, because no matter if it's there or not, the wing is not going to fill the gap left by the pack being too low. Unless you can magically grow the wing roots to fill that gap, the pack is the only way it's getting filled, and if you do that, you may as well plug the wing into it to keep things sturdy. Know what I'd love to see? Literally ANY company getting the black stripe down the spine the correct size. Arcadia's was a bit too wide, and dipped below the canards, but was still not too bad, and looked right from the top.. Bandai's is just stupidly wide, too low on the fuselage, and flares out from the way they shaped the fuselage.

Unless there are some huge improvements, it might take Arcadia making one in that scheme for me to bite, hehe.

There's also a second crack behind the wing mount.. Bandai really kinda muffed up the tolerancing and material properties work on here. Arcadia made that section out of metal.

Did they actually show any 25 or 31 missiles used on screen though? I thought all the underwing stores were only in the Master File, and maybe the video games. The only missiles the 171 hasn't gotten were the big orange mind-control probes from the second movie. I wouldn't mind a cheaper YF-19 with no missiles as long as they released them separately, but honestly, I'm just glad we're getting any weaponry that I can mount on all my Bandai valks with hardpoints. Every new release with hardpoints and nothing to mount on them has been another middle finger from Bandai.

Looks... interesting, I'll say that much. Chest definitely looks too wide, which isn't going to do it any favors in any mode. Aside from that, I'm seeing folding leg fins and a possibly removable nosecone for the armor.. hip joints look like a clip that wraps around the back of the nose, similar to the HMR. Where I get concerned is things like the legs, and that new sideways joint at the thigh. It looks like it'd be useful, but it also brings to mind how badly Bandai muffed up the leg design in their 1/72 transforming kit, deciding to completely redesign how the knees and thighs worked, and basically making the legs worse in every way. Still I'll be interested to see what they come up with. I'm not going to re-buy every VF-1 by a long shot, but I do enjoy seeing the ways different designers interpret the original.

Whoa, well that was fast.. maybe not compared with a lot of other pre-order madness, but they're listed as not available now. Did NY limit them to where you can't order again if you bought one?

Yuuup, there we go, got one. I was wondering if that would actually happen, but I'm actually fairly surprised. Now I can let one of my Hayate's go, and use the super packs on the final episode version.

Not going to knock it, I will get at least two for the weapons to mount on all my naked Bandai valks. But I have to say.. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're literally just displaying Arcadia weapons with it for now. Also, looks like the canopy hasn't changed any.. no idea whether that'll change later, but at least for now they're still using an Advanced model repainted for display. Edit: Looks like they also missed flipping the paint on the lower strakes, so I'm not expecting them to catch that detail with the final version either.

Actually.. I don't see them producing that many in 1/48 at all. I'd think part of what has made the HMRs successful is the smaller size, and the easier storage and display. Sure, there are 1/48 scale models it can be displayed with, and that's great, but I don't think larger scales are all that popular in Japan in general.

I imagine Nippon Yasan will have them up shortly. I'm grabbing at least two sets.

Design-wise, probably not (the hanging shoulders especially), but I still prefer the Yamato/Arcadia style and proportions over every Bandai VF-1 produced thus far.

Really, there'd still be a few things to change about the VF-19 Advance to get a YF-19 out of it, so unless they decide to cut of corners, it really can't be just a repaint. Things like the cockpit arrangement especially, aside from all the changes they made to the spine details, and other assorted bits. That's not to say they wouldn't do it anyway to save time and effort though. It's still nearly identical, but I'll grab multiples just to have actual missiles to mount on everything. I just hope they use the Arcadia as a model, and don't cheap out on the missile designs like they did with the 171 (ie, paint them please.. )

Heh.. 1/48 would be about that size, but I would laugh if they call it 1/55.

I can only justify getting one of these, so I'm waiting for the premium finish version, but I definitely wish I could get some quality time with one of these to look it over.

Eh, more valks might be nice, but can I just say OMG FINALLY SOME FREAKIN' MISSILES. I'll probably try and get at least one YF-19, maybe two, but I've already got two VF-19 Advanced, one Yamato, and three Arcadias. The 1/48 VF-1J... ehhhh.... maybe. My single Yamato 1/48 is also the Hikaru VF-1J, so it might be fun to place them side by side, but I'm hopeful it really will be a one-off sort of deal.

Holy cow, the VT-1 has Hikaru and Misa in it!! Bought. So bought.

Don't feel like it's the worst, but what I'm admittedly after is just getting more super pack releases at this point. If they would just release separate packs, I'd probably just pick up the VF-1D, VT-1, and be done.

Got one in at HLJ and one at CD Japan.. had an order in place at AmiAmi, and their site died, so gave up there.

So, what's the hour they're hitting now that daylight savings is over? Can we expect them at Midnight PST, or does it flop back or forward an hour?

Oh, I'm not worried about making more 1S's, I'm just interested in a dual strike cannon loadout.

Holy cow.. that's insanely huge and amazing, but I have no room for things that big yet, heheh. Still, would have loved one of those when TAS was going!