Chronocidal

I hope someone tells them they have the wings collapsed.

Yeah, this. If you can't write a coherent stand-alone story without requiring the viewer to go digest all of your DLC, that's not the fault of the viewer.

I did notice that the quality of the plastic on the re-release is very different, even from the original EX version. The shoulder triangles (both the upper shoulder joint, and lower folding panel) seem to be a dark gray instead of solid black. It might be partially due to the change from gloss to dull, but they don't look like the same color.

Sounds about right, that was always my experience. The worst steps for me, in either direction, were always the way the legs "lock" in place for battroid, the insanely tight metal hinge that collapses the backplate, the alignment of the arms going back to fighter, and.. well, just everything about the legs. The problem I always had going into battroid was that there never seemed enough room for the legs to rotate into place without removing the front landing gear doors. They don't fit well alongside the swingbar if you squeezed it shut, and for me, no 171 I ever transformed had a swingbar that actually locked in place, so the hip joints always flopped around on that metal bar. The legs are a very special thing though. I've mentioned it a few times in previous 171 threads, so apologies for the broken record, but I don't think it can be overstated, because this is part of why the legs tend to explode (the other part being that the design is just structurally incompetent). In short, Bandai screwed up the instructions. They didn't give us reverse instructions for going from battroid to fighter, and the process of dropping the legs does not work in reverse. The interlocks that keep the lower legs from twisting do not work with the knees bent. It's interesting seeing the instructions with the new WWM release, because they actually translate all the little warning callouts now. Unfortunately, they're still wrong. The callouts in the leg transformation section say to move the leg to a specific angle before rotating the lower legs. This ONLY works when going from fighter to battroid. For the reverse transformation, the knee joints must be fully straightened before the lower legs will rotate the other direction. They didn't give instructions on the reverse transformation, and that little omission is the smoking gun for anyone whose legs disintegrated while trying to un-rotate them going back to fighter mode. The only reason the legs will rotate as shown in the instructions is because of slippage in the knee interlock. To minimize stress in the joint, never rotate the lower legs with the knees bent. The steps to transform the legs should be the following: 1. Detach the lower leg from the backplate, and drop it one click at the knee 2. Immediately follow the step to release the upper leg, and drop the leg at the gerwalk joint 3. Re-straighten the knee 4. NOW you can rotate the lower leg 5. Extend the knee, and bend it as needed The reverse needs to be done going back to fighter. 1. Collapse the knee, and straighten it 2. Rotate the lower leg back to fighter position 3. Press the leg back into the belly, keeping the leg as straight as possible to minimize the stress on the knee The really bad part is that there doesn't seem any way to actually lessen the stress that the knee joints take when dropping the legs in the first place. Once the lower leg is free, you're really just yanking the upper leg free by applying sideways and twisting pressure on the knee joint, whether the knee is bent or not.

Off the subject a little, but this OP is.. probably one of the most bizarre pieces of music I've ever heard, and I'm wondering if it's just me? It sounds like two or three separate songs, all in different key signatures and styles, playing over each other. I honestly cannot pick out a melody. Edit: Oh, I'm reading it's by Yoko Kanno.. that explains it a bit.

That's really what I mean, in the sense of there really being no defined start or end. They could put it before or after everything that already exists, as well as anywhere in the middle. I kind of hesitate to even float the idea (pun absolutely intended), but Windwaker already set the precedent for discovering ancient ruins in a completely post-Hyrule world. They could use that same setup in pretty much any environment. I could even see them throwing out a Hyrulean spin on the mythology of something like Camelot, and the return of Arthur, set in a modern or future fantasy world. All that being said though, I really would rather they not jump too far out of the established games and their events. Some mix of Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and the earlier entries sounds much more reasonable if they don't want to drive off the fans before they even get started.

If they don't squeeze in a healthy dose of "Well, exCUUUUUUUUUUSE ME, PRINCESS", I refuse to watch it. Otherwise.. eh, just will wait and see. I'm mostly curious where they'll throw the story in on the timeline.

I've been curious how this works, since both Bandai and Yamato had contracted with T-REX for design work in the past, on multiple designs. The one that sticks in my mind was always the VF-17 and VF-171, which clearly had other influences in their designs, since they are so profoundly different. It doesn't exactly surprise me that Bandai is hunting down easy solutions for those designs though, but it is hilarious to me that they're just reproducing Yamato and Arcadia molds in miniature, and in some cases nearly simultaneously with the other larger releases. Given the price and space differential though, I'm happy to have a cheaper option that's easier to find display space for. What are we up to, mold-wise now? Is this the fourth Yamarcadia they've shrunken down? VF-4, VF-0A/S, VF-0D, and now the VF-19? I really want to see them pull out the stops and do the entire 7 and Plus lineups.

I'm just.. confused by this entire "it's not what you expect" sort of tagline. Like.. Ok.. thanks, that's completely unhelpful. Were you actually hoping that would make people want to watch it? Very few people go into a restaurant, stare down the waiter, and go "Surprise me." They usually know what they want, and enjoy giving money to people who are willing to deliver it to them. This is not specific to this instance, but it's starting to feel like the people in charge of these sorts of productions are fully aware that they are making content people will absolutely hate, and refuse to give more details in the hope they can bait people into spending money on it. If you're confident in your product... why not advertise it honestly? Tell us what we're buying. Far as this one goes though, yes, I would not be surprised by review bombing. There have been wild and ugly rumors about this production and producer flying around for years now, and whether there's any truth to any of it, the association isn't going to go away quickly.

I mean, I'll take that over the weird gold one Arcadia used on their re-release any day.

I'm actually curious if the "joint parts" would actually be the fighter-mode clip Yamato made. The sound booster didn't need any extra parts for battroid, it just snapped into the backplate and rested over the shoulders.

Maybe a little weird to say, but glad they stuck with the original yellow, rather than the gold version. Also, bonus points for making this set of shoulders look like they match. Liking the blue canopy as well, and the canards look like they're folded correctly this time, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this one goes.

This, times infinity. ALTHOUGH... I really would love if they milked this to make a few more versions, like they did for the Focker VF-4. There are so many alternates they could do with simple palette swaps, like the dozens of schemes in the Master File, or even the racing versions like the Nothung, or the trimmed-down SMS variant we've seen now and again. Really though, if they make the 19P, I might buy myself a bunch for customization purposes. The tight tolerances and cost of the Yamato version made it prohibitive, but 3D printing has come a very long way since that release, and I could have a lot of fun making customs in this scale.

Definitely possible, but I don't think the booster even really rests in the right place for those to work. Either way...

I was thinking this, and maybe it's a translation issue, but that's backwards. The cover is attached in gerwalk and fighter, not battroid. It wouldn't surprise me if we need to swap some of the head parts around for battroid though, considering how tiny they are. They didn't try to replicate the hinged neck panels to let the head pass through, so those might be a separate part you have to lift to transform the head, assuming it actually transforms at all, and isn't a direct swap. Considering the size, it might make more sense to have two separate neck covers: one for fighter/gerwalk that has the neck and head closed, and one for battroid that replaces the entire panel with the entire head and neck assembly. One thing I just realized though is that the shoulder covers already have the holes for the VF-19P's fins, so hopefully they're planning ahead for that version.

I don't actually see any difference in the LERX pieces, it just looks like the canards fold differently.. and weirdly, because somehow they just look like they're plugged in at the same angle, but backwards. Think there are definitely two shields going on there as well, since the fighter mode and battroid mode look like they are different proportions, as well as being different mounting points. Please Bandai, make all the versions. I want a fleet of tiny VF-19s.

What I really want them to do is give us an HMR YF-19/YF-21 pair based on those molds, so I can have a nice compact set for my desk at work. If they can pull off the old Yamato Fire Valk in that scale, it should be an easy step to make the YF-19 as well. I think the MAXL is going to be better off as one of their part-swapping kits though. I don't think there's any way you're going to get a decent transforming version of Mylene's valk at any scale with those wild proportional changes.

Fun fact, that kit is unironically one of the most sturdy renditions of a VF-25 with super packs you can get. Proportions are a little weird due to the way it's designed to transform and support the figure, but it's not bad at all. It also builds up into a pretty decent figure of Klan herself (and it's great she can just wear the super packs like in the series), but I think the proportions and face wind up making her look more like a mid-point between her older and younger selves.

So.. I have to assume the little stand base is just a standard accessory that they already produced? Because seriously, his feet are almost as big as the platform.

That's interesting. I'm not at all familiar with how they treat mature content (or Chainsaw Man, for that matter), so my curiosity is mostly how they'd treat the central subject matter in Plus.

Funny that in the 171's case they didn't even come close to scratching that goal. It should be a posterchild for how not to design a transforming toy, collectible or otherwise.

I'm actually thinking this might be related to the relationship Disney already has with Bandai for certain things. They've been cross-pollinating properties for a while. I can't really help but crack up about their choice of a poster child for that announcement though. The franchise as a whole isn't something I'd really consider targeted to young kids, but Plus in particular is probably the most mature subject matter in the entire library.

Really glad I have the original releases of classic Battlefront, since it looks like this re-release found all sorts of new and creative ways to downgrade a full release into a beta test-level product.

Yeah, uh.. I feel like my reality checks are all bouncing at this point. Did I wake up in some weird parallel universe? Like.. I'm pretty much done with Disney regardless, but this is just a wild twist.

Wow, so they actually shrunk them quite a bit. I hope that doesn't have any adverse effects on their structural integrity, since while not exactly fragile, the hinge pins are sometimes pretty easy to snap off (especially the ones in the feet). It looks like they're molding them in multiple colors now as well. Impressive all around.