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Chronocidal

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  1. Chronocidal
    The hips in particular. The metal swing bars just flap in the breeze. They only lock if you press them inwards, but you can't do that unless you remove the gear doors entirely.
  2. Chronocidal
    I've noticed the same kinds of scratches in various places on all my Bandai valks I think, never very severe, just little scuffs where it looks like someone goofed up and scratched the plastic. Picked mine up today, and have been debating whether to leave it in fighter mode forever. Still goes down in my book as the most needlessly overcomplicated transformation I've ever seen, and the legs still don't lock in any position at all. It's beautiful, but I can't understand why they make things so stupidly complex. Oh, and I STILL don't know how the hips can be so floppy out of the box, but still be nigh impossible to rotate for battroid position. The joint just seizes up entirely, and makes me think I'm going to snap the little swing bar in half trying to get the leg to swing down. On the plus side though, there are a few things definitely better on this one. The lower leg twist now functions easily, instead of freezing up and getting caught so you couldn't rotate the legs flat for fighter mode, and even though the wing hinge design is still idiotic, they at least beefed up the small pins the wings hook over, and the sliding tracks seem to have indents now at certain points to tighten up the rotation. Pilot is leaps and bounds ahead of the VF-25 ones too. Painting is much better.
  3. Chronocidal
    Oh, the leg fins pull out as well, they're only held in by a thin ridge. That'll make the leg a bit easier to mask. I think one time I did take apart one of my VF-1's legs, but they are glued at certain points, so you have to find a careful way to pry them apart.
  4. Chronocidal
    Not all of them did, but they released later kits that included all three types in 1/72. The early kits usually only came with one head, but came with enough markings to make a couple variants, like the J that came with markings for Hikaru, Max, or Miria. The 1/48 kits came in either the TV style A/J, or the DYRL style A/S. And if Arcadia is going to go the route of models, I will be absolutely thrilled. I want kits of all of them really, especially the VF-19s, and especially if we can get them molded in a couple different colors instead of that blinding white most of them are in.
  5. Chronocidal
    Nah, same timeline, it's just like comparing the Hornet to the Superhornet, just in reverse.
  6. Chronocidal
    Getting a physical model to scale up is probably your best bet. With something in hand, you could cut your own cross-sections out of card-stock by hand, and scale them up to whatever size you need.
  7. Chronocidal
    Yeesh, I stopped paying attention to this a while back when I saw that the movie version wouldn't have subtitles, and today I poke my nose in just to find out it does. How likely is it I can still get the box set? I don't remember how the sales of other sets have gone, but would places like AmiAmi still be selling them after the release date? Edit: Scratch that, was expecting them to run out of pre-orders... Bandai has made me paranoid. So this one is only coming in one set, not standard and limited editions?
  8. Chronocidal
    Also, there's no reason to display this paint scheme in any mode other than fighter, because that's the only mode it looks any good in (relatively speaking ). If you showed in in battroid, the entire main logo would be on the back, and covered by the backpack. There are two separate ads showing that paint scheme. One is Hasegawa, the other is Arcadia. The Arcadia one is clearly a v2 VF-1 from every detail visible. It's a flat out copy of the v2 VF-1 lineart that gets included in the instruction manual, to show you where to put the stickers. Hasegawa would also have no reason to use Yamato line-art when they have their own kit diagrams, and doing so would probably be asking for a lawsuit. They're not that stupid.
  9. Chronocidal
    I think the problem is that the entire torso is so difficult to actually put into the position it's supposed to be. Those back hinges just do not like to move at all. Once things line up, it's better, but yeah, there really is nothing supporting the head. The hips just outright suck though. That stupid swingbar mechanism looks like either they never intended for it to lock at all, or they forgot that the landing gear doors are where the bar needs to go. Either you remove the gear doors to lock the bars, or you let them flop in the breeze.
  10. Chronocidal
    YF-19 by far, I think.. Fix the material problems with the VF-0, and it really doesn't have any issues compared with the 19. Even if it's an older design, they nailed it the first time around because the entire thing was computer generated to begin with. The YF-19 really looks pitiful next to the newer VF-19 mold, and doesn't hold up nearly as well.
  11. Chronocidal
    Well then, guess I can deal with having an old and a new one of these. I've gotten enough VF-25s, I need something to balance them out. Probably stuck with NY's day-after markup rates, but with the Yamato releases tapering off, I've got less to save up for.
  12. Chronocidal
    Sadly, I'm pretty sure a shapeways replacement is your only hope there, unless you want to ship the whole thing back to Japan for a replacement. For whatever reason, Bandai doesn't do replacement parts, or at least has refused to up to this point. Transformation-wise though, I'm not sure that part is necessary. Despite the fact that it's there to hold up the cockpit, it never actually does that anyway, so you may as well just wedge a piece of black plastic in there to fill the gap.
  13. Chronocidal
    Guess we'll find out how good they've gotten, since mine hit the LA sorting facility last night. The USPS tracking site has such terrible updates, you never know when you're going to get your package.
  14. Chronocidal
    I might have to pick up one just to get the armor pack. Don't know how that'll ever work with the existing figure, but I have to admit I liked the way the backpack looks in Macross 30.
  15. Chronocidal
    The problem with wanting them in 1/72 is that if people want them in scale with their models, they've already got a slew of 1/72 models available, both from Hasegawa and Bandai. Not saying people wouldn't want transforming toys in 1/72 too sometimes, but if you plan to display them, and you've got models already that you want them in scale with, a $20-$30 model kit is going to look a lot better than a $100+ toy. Bandai's kind of going that route now with their VF-1 kit, so we'll see how it goes, but I wonder how many different fighters they'll produce. Give me transformable YF/VF-19s and such, and I'll happily grab some. Coming from building models for years though, I personally really do appreciate the 1/60 scale. It's not huge like 1/48 kits tend to get, and kits that would be pretty tiny in 1/72 become fairly manageable sizes. It's an oddball scale no doubt, but it's a nice middle ground. I kind of wish I could get more models in 1/60 to go with my valks.
  16. Chronocidal
    Actually, I'm hoping NY will have stock on hand to sell once they come in. I might get a second set to customize. Considering how their 30th YF-29 sales have been going, they might have over-ordered them too.
  17. Chronocidal
    I can honestly say that all I really want at this point is a YF-19 that matches the quality and fit of the VF-19s. Re-releases of some of the rare ones would be nice, and I'd still grab a Virgin Road or VF-X, but I think the YF-19 is the single valk in the 1/60 line most in need of a complete redesign. A redesigned VF-0 would be nice I guess, but I don't think it needs it nearly as badly as the YF-19.
  18. Chronocidal
    BBTS kinda just completely stopped paying any attention to any Macross releases. I had a YF-29 Alto re-release on preorder with them from day one, and it went literally 6 months with no update. They kept pushing the "release" date back a month every month until I just gave up and cancelled. Never heard a word from them.
  19. Chronocidal
    Have to agree there, though it's never been that difficult to kitbash a gerwalk out of the combined parts of from Hasegawa fighter and battroid kits, so they never had much reason to make one. A resin conversion kit would probably do decently well, but I doubt Hasegawa would ever recoup the production expenses if they produced it themselves. The one thing I really don't quite understand about this kit though... They're making it capable of transforming, but they're doing it in such a way as to make it look like it uses the same systems as the actual VF-1 would use. That's great and all, but it seems like the only real use for such a mechanism if is you want to display the valk mid-transformation. You'll know it's there, so maybe that's the entire idea, but this isn't like a PG gundam kit, where you can remove the armor and look at the skeleton underneath to see how detailed it is. I guess they're trying to cover all the bases, and please everyone by letting the model do everything, but so far, even if it does accomplish that entire leg transformation, I don't personally think it's doing anything else better than any other existing VF-1 kit or toy. And.. yeah. I know I'm picky about shapes, but that entire nose section is just ugly to me. Looks nothing like the animation, line-art, or any other existing VF-1 that I can remember.
  20. Chronocidal
    I envy you folks who used FedEx, it's so much easier to pick those packages up for me than regular mail. I just can't bring myself to pay NY's insane rates for them when EMS gets here in the same amount of time.
  21. Chronocidal
    I've wanted a 1/48 YF-19 since the first 1/48 VF-1s came out. Problem is, that thing is huge. You'd probably be easily over $300 for a stand-alone release, maybe upwards of $350. What actually does surprise me is that while we've seen transforming Hasegawa kits in 1/72, no one seems to want to try it in 1/48. I'd love to see someone take a stab at it.
  22. Chronocidal
    I suppose this is going to just wind up like the Star Wars tweaks in terms of how it's received. People who don't care about the old movies aren't going to see it as that strange or dumb, while long-time fans will take it as a personal offense, as if JJ crapped in their cornflakes. For what it's worth though.. yeah, the entire plot sounds horribly contrived specifically as a way to reference old material in a new way, and twist it all over the place for no other reason than to be different while being the same. I dunno. I'm not going to say the movie won't be entertaining, but it feels like a massive rush to cram in plot points simply for the sake of using them in new and different ways.
  23. Chronocidal
    Yeah, this topic has swung all over the place (no help from me ). My main issue with the 171 vs the 17 is that I still can't comprehend the train of thought that would lead anyone to think the wing hinge design was a good idea. The 17 just had them screwed on, and everything was fine. I think given the option, I'd still love to find a VF-X and Virgin Road, but that's water under the bridge at this point. The ones everyone will want years from now will be all the single run/last minute releases, and all the limited ones. The VF-19P, VF-17D, and VF-4 all got released shortly before Yamato poofed, so they never had a chance to get a second run. Other single-run and limited releases are probably going to be decently sought-after too, but probably none as much as the VF-4. Actually.. no, I take that back. The ones everyone will want years from now will be the same ones they've always wanted... Hikaru's VF-1J, Roy's VF-1S, etc. They always produce the most of those, because the folks who can restrain themselves to one or two purchases would probably go for the iconic ones. The question is, how long will it be before interest in everything but the favorites disappears? The VF-4 though has a special status. It's a combination of a swan song for the company, a masterpiece of engineering, and the only mass produced transforming VF-4 in any scale ever to exist. In hindsight, I wish they had numbered them so people would know how many were made, but it's not a huge deal. It just feels like the VF-4 is the transforming toy equivalent of a John Lennon album that you got autographed at the last concert before his death.
  24. Chronocidal
    Same here, so should be arriving mid-week some time.
  25. Chronocidal
    I can see that, and I guess I'm not trying to bash anyone, but the flood of auctions that always appear right after the preorders close at all the various shops is always really irritating. The sales on those sites happen fast enough that I don't think there's any way it could happen unless people are using automated processes to log in and purchase them faster than humanly possible. The fact that people are somehow able to buy them while people here complain of the sites crashing out entirely gets old. Personally, I don't have a problem with NY, and I'm okay paying that markup so I can sleep easy, but the problem is they have to do what they do in the first place. They basically become a proxy seller for the other shops. And I'm not really thinking about recent times, I'm thinking about the first couple of Bandai releases after the VF-25S. At that point, no one really knew Nippon Yasan existed I think, and they only became a popular source because so many people were able to grab VF-171EXs from them at retail even after release. Now that that site is more well known, it doesn't happen anymore, and they tend to suffer from the same pre-order shenanigans as every other site. They just have the process in place to go out and find more, and then keep supplying them manually, whereas other shops just expend their allotment from Bandai, and pull them off sale. Anyway.. I dunno. This really isn't about shops, it's just that I really don't like the way Bandai does anything about Macross. They cut corners to save on production costs, they make sales, engineering, and design decisions that make my head hurt with their stupidity and greed, and they can't seem to take the time to actually put the effort into their products that Yamato ever did.
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