Chronocidal

Hah, no argument there. I don't want to get overly ranty about it, it really is a nice little midget VF-0. I do have to laugh at the idea that I almost wish all of Bandai's valks just had removable gear. It would make them so much easier to repaint.

Boy.. you know, It's baffling. Just got my VF-0S, and it's kind of incomprehensible how Bandai can't ever seem to manage a solid arm/leg/backpack alignment of a VF-1 style transformation, even after they borrow the entire mold from someone else. And yes, this is absolutely a scaled down Arcadia, which brings its own share of dumb issues with it. Overall.. it's decent, it looks good, and I like the fact that they added in all of the tampo that Arcadia couldn't be arsed to print on their bigger version. But overall it feels kind of like the worst of both worlds. Since they couldn't be bothered to re-engineer the legs to use the replacement gear doors Bandai usually includes, now you get microscopic versions of the functional Arcadia ones, which can't be opened without a needle, and all of that fun, plus Bandai's stupid obsession with silver gear, which is even less valid when it's abundantly clear that everything in Zero had white gear. Plus you get Arcadia's standard patented "death grip" stand mount which wraps around the entire underside of the thing. And no, they didn't buy the CAD with the fixed gunpod mount, so it still blocks the tailhook. I don't regret getting one, just because it's a nice desktop-sized VF-0, but good grief, how do they keep coming up with ways to make things worse than they should be?

If the stupid Fanracer was actually 1/48, I would just say go looking for some kind of flying circus or crop duster pilot... but a real 1/48 pilot won't fit in that thing. I'm pretty sure there are some 3D printed options available though. If you go looking through the project sections, I think someone may have the model ready to print.

Those hip joints really make it look like it's not even meant to be human anymore, more like some kind of mechanical body.

I hadn't touched STO in a very long time, but I did enjoy the story. I might have to pick it up again, and see what they've done with it for old time's sake, it was a fun and quirky plot they had going on. Would have been a lot more enjoyable without the incredibly janky ground missions, but it was pretty passable otherwise.

This was always my biggest dislike of them. I think they would have looked much better if they mounted sideways, and slipped above and below the wings like the VF-25's.

I'll be happy to, but it won't be real.

Yeah, I gave up and grabbed spare sets of packs on the secondary market to mod into theirs. Bandai just does not seem to care at this point.

No notification from AE, but my account listed it as in stock, so I just shipped it, along with my 31AX armor, and HMR VF-0S. Probably going to be expensive, but hopefully I saved a little by waiting to ship them all at once.

Hah, I thought they came out roughly the same. Guess I'll have to model and print myself a proper one someday.

I'm still baffled why Bandai never made a transforming kit of this one. Maybe just too fragile? (that didn't stop them from making the 262s though.. )

I want them to release an actual 1/48 fan racer first. The one they packed in with the VF-1D is the same size as the Yamato 1/60 version.

Really, considering how many thrusters are mounted all over the plane, it would probably be an almost trivial matter to replace one with a smoke generator.

This is actually kind of a reversal for them. Generally it seems like Bandai do not like giving you the option of using something that's not shown specifically on-screen. For all of the VF-31s they've released, there are still no weapons packs released for them to actually use all those hardpoints they were produced with. I've always wondered if it was up to licensing agreements, or some other legal nonsense, but there have been a few specific times where it felt like they just did not want to include things that made perfect sense, just because they weren't shown on screen together. The primary one I'm thinking of is the VF-31 series, and all of the mental calisthenics they went through on which planes came with which accessories and which super packs had what parts. They released Hayate's of course, and then Messer, and Mirage.. then they released the super parts.. Hayate's and Messer's did not get reaction missiles. You only got a set for Hayate if you bought the custom version from the last few episodes, which was the only variant of Hayate's plane that was seen mounting the missiles (and sucks to be you if you missed getting the super packs that were released BEFORE the valk itself). Mirage's missiles came in her super pack. Messer, on the other hand, never got them, because he died before they used them. Then Arad's were included in the plane, and Chuck never got any at all.. and neither of them even got super packs at all. I feel like Bandai just generally does this a lot though, only offering options that are "intended" to go together. No DYRL box missiles for the TV VF-1s, no TV missiles for the DYRL versions, no printed Kite emblems for the DYRL super parts, etc, etc. That generally goes for the HMR releases too, which made the M&M pair an oddball that had no TV missiles, since they specced them with DYRL packs, and packaging. And I'm frankly still irritated that the HMR VF-1D got shafted, and didn't include any hardpointed wings. "It wasn't shown on screen" is a lousy excuse for not including things you put in the other releases, and make perfect sense to include. In the case of this gunpod though.. What I expect happened is that it's just part of the mold for making the VF-1. Can't say for certain obviously, but I'm going to guess the effort and expense of leaving it out (and the associated cost of redesigned packaging) was actually more than the cost of just keeping it in the production run.

... Ok, to be fair, I have no trouble seeing why that failed. Like.. seriously, what even...

I was really tempted to order a couple of spares, and use the extra tails to make some alternate squadron markings for other VF-1s.. But I'd also need the spare backpacks with the different tail mounts, so that idea went up in smoke fast.

I'm only in on Street Sharks if they can get Vin Diesel in it. I would totally go for a SWAT Kats reboot though... and now I'm imagining a really bizarre situation where they just straight-up place it in the Zootopia universe.

Thank you for reminding me I have that kit sitting somewhere, I should really pick up and work on a bunch of the smaller kits I have laying around, they're nice little builds.

Yeah, I would absolutely double dip for a couple of VT-1s, and probably grab an M&M combo (or two..). Maybe they're taking their time using the Delta releases to fund the R&D for the rest of the molds they need? If that's the case, please, bring on the re-releases, because I'd love to get those niche designs.

Yeah, I'm just continually baffled by their release priority. They stopped making sense when they released Kakizaki before either Hikaru's or Max's 1A. I can't even say the Angel Bird release was out of left field. That's a wild extra point kick from half-court.

I'm not sure they're exactly the same mounts.. but what if those ghosts mount on the same extensions they gave to the Messer 31 for mounting the drakens? 🤔 They probably wouldn't fit just from the different angles though. On the other hand.. I wonder how hard it would be to make a custom adapter for the mission pod that would hold both the gunpod, and a drone on top. Lots of possibilities there, I think.

I know they size them to fit the sprues, which I realize they can't really change, but Bandai is probably the most obnoxious manufacturer in terms of ratio of sprue-to-kit. They have the art of complex injection molding mastered, but it comes at the cost of an insane amount of wasted plastic. I have a single Bandai Armored VF-25 box that contains at least a dozen of the kits. Minus the sprue, they each fit into a sandwich bag. The same can almost be said for Hasegawa. I bought two of the super/strike 1/48 VF-1s.. those two boxes contain about six of the actual fighters, and the other is full of super packs and weapons packs. Far as the decals are concerned though.. yeah, no. I'm painting the markings. Bandai's Macross decals have consistently been the worst decals I have ever seen in my life.

I mean, I'm not gonna lie. My bank account appreciates their decision.

Still showing in stock for me, I think AE just marks things out of stock for you if you've already reached your purchase limit. I've really come to appreciate their approach now, since their pre-pay only system seems to have really helped stave off the scalpers. I've been able to get a lot of items there after other sites get entirely hammered on pre-order night.

Boy.. that's some chonky box for such a tiny kit.