Chronocidal

If the preorder has a discount included, I wouldn't call it pointless by any stretch of the word. Ok, the deal with the v.1 packs on the v.2 valk... it's mostly possible, but not without some decent modifications. I'd think anyone seriously into customizing would be able to pull it off decently. The boosters fit essentially as-is, but are not secure. They will stay on if you don't bump them, but the tabs that they lock on with are slightly different. You'll need to enlarge several of the attachment pegs on the other pieces so they stay in, since the holes are bigger, even though they line up. The packs on the legs will need a significant amount of work. The outer packs will basically attach with the legs dropped correctly, but they're loose at best. The packs on the backs of the calves won't fit unless you trim off the front tabs, because those will not latch into the smaller holes below the knee. The chest piece might fit with some tweaking. It doesn't interfere with anything, it just doesn't snap on well. Same with the intake armor, which will sort of settle into a place where it stays, but won't securely attach. The shoulder rocket packs have no place to go, so you'd have to drill holes through the shoulder plates to attach them. All in all, I'd say it's possible, though it'll take work. The real trick though is that I think they specifically manufactured the new VF-25 to make use of the old super packs as much as possible. The new packs should be almost identical to the old ones, with the changes mainly made to the tabs to attach them. I do hope they add more tabs to the legs to hold them in place though.. even if it does fit, that vertical tab on the wings is really not a very sturdy way to hold the legs up.

While I wasn't necessarily planning on this version, I'm definitely in for a red S and a D... but this doesn't bode very well. I'd rather get Millia's than this one, but I wonder if they've just priced themselves out of the market at this point? I'd be interested to see how well the VF-19S is selling as well, just due to the high price and the competition from the VF-25. I think it looks beautiful, but I do think they need to show more (and better) pictures of it before they get anywhere near the interest they want. It's already overshadowed by the VF-25S, because there are pictures for it all over the web. I might have to put up a preorder soon, just to make sure I get one before the price jumps into 1990's Takatoku levels.

I really hope they do it to milk the mold more, but given how expensive this one is getting, I wonder if it will sell well enough to justify some non-canon ones. They never did that with the YF-21/VF-22, and I think the only reason we got custom YF-19's was to balance out the fact that there was nothing else they can really make with that mold. I still wish they could've just done the Supernova schemes, but I bet copyrights got in the way.

Heh.. wonder what my old Crusader shuttle would go for actually.. but nah. I need to restore that sucker. I want more pics to drool over though.

Nice to see the series picking up again, there really hasn't been anything new since FSX: Acceleration came out. I hope they've developed the system mechanics further though... see, the one thing MSFS has always lacked is any sense of contact between solid objects. When you go and define an aircraft, you have to define "contact points" which are the major points where the plane might come into contact with anything (wingtips, nose, ventral fins, tails, landing gear, etc). These points are stationary, which really fails miserably for any aircraft with a major moving part (such as a swing wing). With FSX, they started to seem to be allowing you to attach effects and certain contact points to aircraft from within the model itself, allowing you to make them move... if they continue with this, there'll be nothing stopping me from making a full fledged 3-mode Valk . Walking might not be likely.. but I can at least build a gerwalk mode, since I spent a long time working with VSTOL systems for the sims. They basically use a sim bypass, and allow you to manually insert your own flight model. It's how a good number of VSTOL aircraft have been built in the past. Programming those is a pain though, since it's a crazy mish-mash of XML coding embedded in the aircraft visual model, and patched into the language written into the various cockpit instruments.

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, that just looks like someone either nicked the red, or maybe got careless with the silver when adding details. I've heard that the red is pretty much standard bandai red paint though, so it might not be hard to touch up.

You know, I think that might be on purpose. Mine has a similar marking, but I think mine looks more like metallic red paint. It could be transparent red over silver. I do remember the model kit having a diamond shaped marking there, and I think it was a light or sensor window of some sort. I'll have to dig for a picture from the anime to confirm it. I don't recall the actual color, but it might have been red. Edit: Yep, it's there, and it's supposed to be a red sensor window or something.

I don't think they ever designed a separate VF-25A actually. Since we never saw any of the base model in action though, it made sense to use Michael's as a base for a recolor, since it's the only one with a single head laser. All the other VF-25s had heads with more lasers. Is there an overall breakdown of what the different VF-25 models are though? I'd think the master file would have something about that, but I've always wondered what the significance of the F model would be. It's akin to the VF-1J I'd assume, but since it seems like all the VF-25 variants can mount a variety of mission packs anyway, so why specialize?

I'm eagerly waiting Michael's valk, his is definitely my favorite scheme. Though, I honestly wouldn't mind if Bandai changes his paint scheme again like they did with the v.1. I much prefer the way they painted it (solid blue/white/black paint, and the entire underside of the nose white) to being accurate to the show (blue/white/dark purpleish blue colors, and just the landing gear doors white? I never understood why they did that with the nose.. ) As far as Klan goes though.. anyone else remember the red VF-25S kit that someone customized for her? I'd gladly shell out for one of those if they made them, even if it was a web exclusive.

I was on the fence a long time, and originally only planned to get the F.. but the dark blue won me over. I'm planning on saving up and getting at least one of each of the VF-19 releases, possibly more if I can afford it. If I buy any multiples, it'll probably be the P, for customization purposes. I might have to experiment with methods to make spare wings though, so I can make the black striped F model from the Master File.

Actually, I thought it was the reverse? I remember someone saying a while back that the reason the VF-25/27 were developed (by individual companies based on different fleets) was because the YF-24 didn't perform well enough to warrant replacing the VF-171, which was cheaper to operate (for some reason they don't explain). Besides, if anything, I'm surprised Isamu wasn't in another YF-29. He'd probably drool all over having that many engines. As for the VF-19 with SMS packs.. yes, it looks cool, but I wonder if anyone actually considered what would happen if he tried to transform the plane. I don't think attaching those boosters to the wings would work well in battroid..

I still give Yamato the edge in joint design, just because I've never had a Yamato go floppy on me from sitting in the box. Bandai seems to like using hinges without any actual screws in them for whatever reason, and it means that once the joints loosen up, you won't be able to tighten them. They also obviously haven't yet figured out that despite the added strength of metal, plastic ball joints don't seem to wear out as fast. The Yamato VF-11's shoulder fold design is fairly similar in how you have to rotate the shoulder plates out, and both of mine were so tight that I had to loosen the screws holding them. My v.2 VF-25's though are already fairly loose out of the box, and all they use is a tiny hollow friction pin to hold the joint, so I don't see that joint lasting long at all. It's already a challenge to keep the arms in place in battroid, because they like to swing back on that joint. Bandai's really improved their stuff in terms of shape/accuracy, but they haven't yet figured out how to make joints that stand up to the test of time. Don't get me wrong, the thing is beautiful, but I bought it for the fighter mode without any illusion of a sturdy battroid.

One of these days, people will figure out again that people enjoy having options. They're pretty much shooting themselves in the foot not including all the various types as optional parts, because they'd sell more that way, and be able to charge a bit more for the package because of the extra parts. It's the same mistake Netflix just made, thinking people would prefer having the dvd rental service entirely separate from the streaming service. Even if customers don't ever use the physical dvd service, the option is there, and you feel you're getting more value for your money. Fortunately for Netflix, they were able to get a lesson first-hand about why that was a bad idea. I don't know if Toynami has that luxury, because I don't know that they've ever done so much business with these that such a change would bring a noticeable profit.

I'm guessing gravity is playing a decent part in holding the wing parts on, since they do sort of hang off the forward prongs on the wing gloves. I'm fairly surprised the rest of the pieces worked in an upright position though, especially the leg packs. I've fiddled with two separate sets of super pack parts to see how they interact with my v.2 Alto (Michael's set, and the blue Alto bundle set), and they all seem to line up extraordinarily well, despite the VF-25 itself being so different this time around. All in all, about half the pieces to the super packs still work, or would work with very minor modifications. It's probably going to save Bandai a lot of money in developing the new packs, since they can reuse so much of the old ones. The wing boosters, side leg packs, hip gun plates, back plate, and shield armor all should be workable with some tweaks to the attachment pegs to make them fit tightly. The hip guns should work fine if they just make a new version of the hip guns with holes for the armor to attach like the v.1 had. The leg packs even work the same way as VF-1 FAST packs do too, requiring you to drop the leg a notch at the hip, and raise it a notch at the knee. The chest plate, intake armor, shoulder launchers, crotch plate, and calve packs will need some work. The chest armor might work with some tweaking, since the overall shape seems fine. Same for the intake armor, which I don't think will attach to the new intake shape. I'm betting the shoulder launchers will either be attached permanently to a new set of replacement shoulder plates (since the new ones can be popped off), or we'll get a replacement set of shoulder plates with holes in them to attach the original launchers. Likewise, the crotch plate will probably be a replacement (probably with the moving panel included to work better in fighter mode), since we've seen it's fairly easy to remove that piece. The calve packs will probably need the most redesigning, since the existing ones don't fit the new legs well, and interfere with the new way the ventral fins fold. Honestly.. the pieces mostly fit well enough that I wouldn't be at all surprised to see custom jobs done to make the old packs work on the new VF-25. Would be a nice alternative to having to pay out the nose for a web exclusive version. I'm curious if any of the old armor pack will work though. I'd hope they'd redesign it to fit better, but I wonder if they'll be able to recycle any of the old parts for the new version. Anyone feel like trying it?

We should also point out to them that Yamato has been selling some of their web exclusives through HLJ for international customers, and I don't think it's hurt them any.

See... really, that is what pissed me off the most, and made me want to strangle the devs. I want blood and guts in my flying games just as much as I want to play a game where I wipe out zombies from an orbital gunnery platform. They just don't fit the genres, or cater to anything that people generally like about them. When I say "realistic" about AC, I mean the flight controls alone. I don't care about the other stuff, because those are limits that make a sim harder to get into, and limit what you can do. Crazy amounts of weapons can be fun. Being forced to use built in gimmicks that no one asked for in order to kill boss enemies is taking a very free-form combat game, and turning into "do it this way, or you fail." Throwing people into a rails mode that forces you to use gimmicky controls and lets you pull impossible flight manevuers via the push of a button is just everything I absolutely loathe about modern games all rolled into one system. I dunno about anyone else, but I like the hour long white knuckle dogfights where you have to outgun a boss enemy by your own wits and developing your own tactics. Locking me onto his tail for free and making me suddenly much more maneuverable so I can keep up is just too gimmicky. The blood and guts view was just the crap frosting on the gimmick cake. I get that some people like it, and that's fine, but it feels like a slap in the face to their old fanbase saying, "Screw you, this is what sells now, so we're changing it all." It's their game, and they can do it if they want, but I hope it fails as an experiment, and they go back to what I used to enjoy.

I'd say it depends on the shade used. The colors on the Hi-metal VF-19S were downright fugly, because they put a bright yellow on a light-ish blue. This? The darker blue makes all the difference, and the yellow markings look good now. They're not so big that they're terrible looking, and they remind me of the Blue Angels, so whee. In fact.. if I find myself with the spare money for another, I might customize one into that scheme. But a VF-19P will take priority over that. Funny though, I really can't think of any reason for the intake covers to be yellow. In fact, I wonder if that's just a mistake that managed to make it into the actual animation, as if they redrew the Fire Valk line art to make Emerald Force, and forgot to recolor that part. They were that way on the Fire Valk sure, but the standard VF-19s all had most of the yellow bits turn to either black or gray. In fact, aside from customized paint schemes, I think every valk has had gray intake covers (or perhaps ones that matched the valk's base color, like the YF-21/VF-27). Really.. I might be tempted to repaint mine to a deep gunship gray, even on the VF-19F.. or at least come up with removable copies of them.

point taken. But you have to admit, outside of the weapons mechanics, AC used to be pretty realistic.

The gimmicky counter maneuvering is what makes me want to slap the developers. I mean, besides the fact that aircraft cannot do that, it's exactly like starfox 64. Not to say I didn't enjoy the duels with my brother where we were constantly looping to get behind each other (all the way across the map), but like I said, if I wanted to do that, I'd go hook up the N64 again. Automated maneuvers just go against everything I like(d) about these games. They're not starfox, they're supposed to be more realistic than that. Ace Combat has never been about "press A to culbit," and I think it severely detracts from the idea that you need any kind of skill to play the game well. Oh well. I'll just hope and pray that the developers come to their senses, stop trying to appease the blood and guts CoD fans, and get back to what made AC fun to play.

Honestly.. I can't believe they stuck that splatter cam crap in multiplayer. Is there even an option to disallow that? That, and the counter maneuvers.. if I wanted to be turning backflips at the push of a button, I'd go play Starfox. I mean, I understand why some people enjoy it, but I generally stay far away from any game that caters to that type of player, and I'd rather have to shake people off with something called skill.

I'll probably have to elaborate more later, but off the top of my head, I definitely enjoyed the movie. Some things I really liked: 1. They explicitly stated this time around what the songs were doing to the Vajra: they were jamming their communications. It was a much less mystical/spiritia-ish treatment in the movie than the series. 2. Big Wednesday. Nuff said. 3. Sheryl and Ranka both had much better characters I think, as well as Alto. 4. Acapella Northern Cross. Just wow. That's already probably my favorite song from the entire series...well, either that or Diamond Crevasse, which I also prefer the acapella version of, for the same reason: the impact from the way those songs are used is just massive. I admit I didn't recognize it right off, because it was so slow, but I think that's absolutely the best usage I've ever seen of that song. I need to re-read the lyrics, but I don't think they've ever fit better than in that scene. I have to watch it again on my big screen for the full effect (once I get the encoding issues with the Commie release fixed), but I have to say I liked this one better than the first movie. The ending of the first one just never made sense to me at all (like, ok, you rescued Ranka.. now get to the shel-... WHY ARE YOU STILL SINGING?), and while the constant conspiracy plot twists were a bit disjointed, I think it was a solid story. I would say now we have to wait for a Flashback 2059 to show what happened later, but I think that already happened.. which reminds me, I need to find that and watch it.

Actually, that's fine for me.. maybe I'll preorder one after all then. The blue keeps getting darker, and it keeps pushing closer to "Blue Angels" than the blue on the YF-21.. which is kind of too bad since the YF-21 should've been that color, but it might make me buy this one. I never liked the yellow stripes that much, but they keep looking better as the blue gets darker.

It's a fancy plane no doubt, but I don't care much for the battroid. I got plenty of satisfaction out of the 1/100 kits, since I can paint them up any way I like. I do like the fighter, and while I'd like a bigger one, I don't mind having a few small ones for a few bucks each.

Well, if we do get a group buy going with someone who can get them from the shop, I don't think the prices will be near anything like the eventual prices of them on ebay. I don't know who has run those in the past, but I'd be very grateful for any volunteers.

I thought the announcement posted earlier confirmed that both Alto's super packs and Ozma's armor will be web exclusives? Unless it listed super packs for both, in which case, whoops. I really don't know why they would bother with Ozma super packs though, considering they're shown in the anime for all of a few minutes in one episode.