Chronocidal
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Oh, the $50 VF-1s might have been a rarity, but I recall a few shelf warmers getting around that level late in the game. Might have been things like the TV Kakizaki and CF. I might actually be remembering the unassembled kits though, which were always cheaper. The general sale price was probably closer to the $80 mark like was mentioned.
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Given what occurred in TFA, I'd assume we're going to be seeing a lot more in terms of ships and fleets from here on out. What I really do wish they could make up their minds on though is just how much of the EU is going to be accepted into "canon," and how much is going to be completely ignored. For all that I hear about the EU being discarded, I keep seeing random bits of EU material popping back up in odd places, as if the people in charge are just going, "Eh, I don't feel like inventing all new material, so we're just going to pilfer the EU names for things, and pick and choose which plot elements we like." Case in point.. granted, I don't know how "official" anything I've been reading is, but I keep seeing references to the Incom-FreiTek T-70 X-Wing... ok, fair enough, it's a new company... but they didn't feel like coming up with a new name, instead of referencing FreiTek, which only showed up in the EU as the team formed from former Incom employees who developed the E-Wing for the Dark Empire series (and let's just ignore that the E-Wing mysteriously popped up as a LEGO set renamed "Jek-14's Starfighter" or something like that). If they want to cherry pick the bits of the EU they want to keep then fine, but they're going to cause a hectic mess of nonsense when they start over-writing things and confusing the hell out of everyone by keeping the names while changing everything else. Keeping things familiar is one thing; they're treading a fine line between original story and one of those alternate universe fanfics that just changes a few tiny things to explore the differences caused by them. (So Han and Leia's second child died in childbirth, leaving them with just Ben, and they decided not to have another.. etc.) Personally? I still think a good portion of the EU could fit into this "new" canon anyway. The new movies are far enough removed from the old timeline that you could probably wedge everything up through the original Thrawn trilogy directly into the new canon, and nothing would really be amiss. -
The fact that a lot of us didn't even pay that base retail price back in the Yamato days doesn't help matters any. The shoulder issues and rampant mold milking meant that a lot of people were able to get a VF-1 and fast packs for probably something around $80 before shipping ($50 valks, $30 packs, roughly). If this new bundle includes both the stand and the fast packs, that price really doesn't feel that high, but even without the stand, Bandai never includes any extras with their base releases, so this is already more material than 99% of Bandai's releases (the only nearly comparable set is the CF-171EX super pack bundle from a while ago). Does that make me want to buy it? Not really, but only because I already have a ton of DYRL VF-1s with fast packs. If I was just finding out about these toys, I'd probably find the price pretty reasonable compared to all the competing Bandai products.
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I'd also say that your satisfaction with the kit might depend on which fighter you choose to build. They all require a varying amount of painting to wind up in the correct colors, and the VF-25F is probably the simplest in that regard. Frankly though, a 1/72 kit is no replacement for a DX. The transformation mechanism isn't built to be used repeatedly, and certain internal and external parts aren't going to hold up through repeated cycles. The kits are pretty much ideally suited to building in a specific mode, and leaving them that way. I should also point out that the models don't attempt the kind of articulation that the DX does, and it's missing several of the joints that would be required for some more aggressive poses, particularly the thigh twist for a good gerwalk stance. In that regard, the model's only about as good as the v.1 DX for gerwalk posing. One other thing to consider is that the decals on the VF-25 kits are probably some of the worst decals in the history of plastic models. They don't fit, they don't adhere, they look like magazine prints, and the process of applying them will probably leave you with significantly less hair on your head than when you started. For the one VF-25 kit I have "finished," I ditched them entirely and instead painted all the major markings on by hand. The end result was worthwhile I think. In terms of shape alone though, I actually do prefer the 1/72 kits to the DX in fighter. The fuselage of the model kit sits at a bit of a different angle, and the nose doesn't appear to droop quite as much. Which is more accurate to the animation, I can't say, but I think the profile of the model just looks more like a real aircraft than the toys do.
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I've honestly gone back and forth over whether to sell the Arcadia Roy and Hikaru I picked up on the first go around. I really prefer the original off-white of the Yamato versions. I just like the idea of having the display stands around (though the existence of Yetistands is making that harder to justify, bulky monstrosities that they are). Mostly right now, I'm just disappointed they didn't release the packs sooner, and separate from the valk. I know a lot of people have been waiting for them.
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Seeing how the gear are supposed to look is meaningless. Bandai actually has to actually care enough to make them look that way.
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The way it all comes together is fine.. it's the way it all comes apart that's the problem.
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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, in theaters Dec. 16, 2016
Chronocidal replied to Dobber's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
They're not going to be loading the plans into R2 here, Leia did that herself with that disc in Ep. IV. -
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, in theaters Dec. 16, 2016
Chronocidal replied to Dobber's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Weird as the Han Solo Bantam books were, I did like the background they gave him with one of the early rebel leaders. In those books, she did die on Toprawa, holding the comm station that transmitted the plans to the Tantive IV. We know from Ep IV that the plans were transmitted, so there's not going to be any sort of hand delivery. That transmission is very likely the last thing any of these characters will do. -
You don't see any evidence of the gear yet because there's nothing there on that model. All they've been showing is that same half-baked concept prototype that's missing half of the features of the final product. Now, not to get anyone's hopes up, but the only evidence we have of that nonsense gear design is a concept render from the model kit. I'm not expecting anything much better, but it's at least possible that the gear on the DX won't suck that obnoxiously bad.
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I'm really suspicious that all those "painted" prototypes are actually computer renders. The details are just way too crisp for something only a couple inches long.
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I'm kinda more curious when they're going to stop stealing the wheels from HotWheels cars, and take the 5 freaking minutes it would take to google something like "aircraft landing gear." It's not that hard. If I didn't know any better (and quite honestly, I kind of don't actually know for sure), I'd think Bandai was actually purposefully avoiding making anything that would look remotely realistic.
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I could buy it if the gear looked anything like that, but I think they're doing more harm than good advertising the kit with what amounts to a big sign saying "MECHANICAL LOOKING STUFF GOES HERE LATER." Mostly, I have a hard time Kawamori would ever okay something that looks that nonsensical in one of his designs. I honestly think the MP Starscream gear look worlds better than whatever that monstrous linkage is.
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......Ok, just being honest here, those are ducking fugly as hell. I thought they would have learned something from the first VF-25 DX disaster. Though, I don't know whether to blame Bandai for the nonsense design, or AmiAmi for posting concept renders. Either way, not looking like I'll ever want to display one of these on the gear. Like... seriously, wtf are they smoking??
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STAR WARS Merchandise Episode - 2
Chronocidal replied to Black Valkyrie's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
I might measure out the tower parts to make a CAD copy to send to Shapeways, and scale them up so the top tower segment and turret are the same footprint as the stand base. Should be a pretty simple kit, but I don't know how fine the detail will get that way. Really, I wish they'd just issue a stand-alone turret kit at the correct size. As it is, that turret looks about the size of a dumpster, with a trooper hiding inside with a couple rifles poking out the lid. -
STAR WARS Merchandise Episode - 2
Chronocidal replied to Black Valkyrie's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Mmm, that A-wing is pretty, I need about 3 or 4 of those kits. Turbolaser just looks silly next to it though, maybe it'd look more in scale with the itty bitty kits they're showing in the other ad. Can't wait for the B-wing and the rest of the tie fighters. -
So, this might be an oddball question, but I'm just curious. I've never worked in resin, so I think I'd actually prefer a raw printed plastic version to build up and work on. Would it be possible to buy a complete printed kit from your Shapeways shop, or even just part by part? I've looked through your shop, and it doesn't look like all of the pieces are available currently.
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Bandai Macross Δ Mecha Collection Small Scale Plastic Model Kits
Chronocidal replied to IXTL's topic in Model kits
Seriously, those things are so heavily stickered, they look like papercraft models. I can't really tell if the others are fully painted, or if they're just computer renders though. They look a little too perfect for the size they are. -
I don't remember the VF-25 kits being quite that expensive, but I think I did get them on sale at the time. What I do remember is that prices for the armored pack kits were just obscene, and they never went on sale. I think they solved this issue easily with the armored packs, but the base VF-25 kits and supers were floppy messes in fighter. Fortunately, it's not hard to add a wing glove locking tab almost identical to ones on the 1/60 v.2 DX version (a couple holes drilled and filed, and a locking tab glued in place). I haven't tried the same thing with the super versions, but once the v.2 DX came out, I really lost most of my reason for owning the 1/72 kits.
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Bandai Macross Δ Mecha Collection Small Scale Plastic Model Kits
Chronocidal replied to IXTL's topic in Model kits
Yech... those decal canopies look nasty. Wish they would just stick with 1/100, that line had so much potential, but it's like they stopped caring after releasing the YF-29 and one VF-25 variant. -
Far as I'm aware they're not even to any particular scale, just "whatever fits in this box we're already making." The ones they did show were somewhere around 1/180.
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I'd honestly blame the design more than the plastic since the assembly and tolerances seemed to be a bigger issue. But that's just me. I just think anyone designing something with that many superfluous parts and unnecessary mechanisms is asking for it to fail horribly. I think only time will tell if Bandai's engineers learned from that, but as far as I know the YF-30 was pretty much problem free, so they may be getting better.
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If you take a look at some of the 1/72 kit news, you can at least see 2-3 individual pod designs for them, but the differences are pretty slight. I'm just stumped that they still don't have anything more than what looks like half-baked DX prototypes to show. Those are nowhere near finished products, judging by the lack of parts that look like they should actually move (looking at the fighter mode).
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Bandai Macross Δ Mecha Collection Small Scale Plastic Model Kits
Chronocidal replied to IXTL's topic in Model kits
Late reply about the multi-colored part thing, but Bandai has been using that in at least one of the new Star Wars kits. The Tie Advanced kit molds the solar panels on a double layered sprue that's clearly filled in separately. The end result is that the entire solar panel is molded in color, with no seams between the gray and black plastic. The only downside is that you actually have to cut the parts free from two interwoven sprues of different colors, and you wind up with black bits of plastic showing around the edges of the gray panel. I personally prefer the way the standard Tie's panels are assembled, but I expect they'll do a similar trick with the Interceptor when it comes out. For kits this size though, I doubt they'd even consider something like that technique. The multi-colored sprue marks on such a tiny kit would be huge. -
I don't think the Frontier kits were even bad exactly, they looked just fine if you put enough work into them... the amount of work required was the biggest roadblock though. I still think I like the shape of the model in fighter mode even a little better than the 1/60 toys, since the fighter profile looks a little cleaner. Eh, I may get one or two of these, but the only reason I picked up so many of the 1/72 VF-25 kits was because, at the time they came out, the Bandai DX versions were absolutely hideous by comparison. The big thing they seem to forget in their models though is that the leg needs a sideways thigh swivel for gerwalk. The multi-jointed hips and knees help a little, but that thigh joint is really necessary for any good gerwalk poses.