Chronocidal

Well let's see how Luna Park's reliability is. I might still try and grab one from another vendor to see what happens, but this release is a good one to test the waters on, since I'm not going to be horribly disappointed if I can't get one.

Curious why they put it at 5pm instead of 4? Didn't the official announcement say 4pm?

That... is not a good look for a high performance fighter. Actually the primary problem I see here is that the wing is now clearly a reverse airfoil. The 31s always have been slightly bowed-out underneath, but that view really shows how chonky that wing suddenly has become. Maybe all of the active airflow control tech they use now has just negated the need for actual aerodynamics? It doesn't exactly look bad.. at least not from most angles. But it certainly is awkward looking.

They're desperately clinging to the hope that the overlap of those two fanbases will be enough to let them keep chugging out repops of molds they already have, and still turn a profit.

Yeah, I looked up the size of the first one, and these are tiny ships. Nice detail, and lots of features, but they're only a few inches long.

The F-5F I'm not sure about, since I'm not overly familiar with the combat capabilities. A lot of two seat aircraft will have backup controls in the rear, but some like the F-14 just have a completely dedicated back seat station with no controls to fly the aircraft. The VT-1 being a dedicated trainer would mean it has at least the majority of the front cockpit duplicated in the back, and the rear seat is elevated so the instructor can see out if he has to take over. It also had very little in the way of provision for carrying weapons.

Believe it is supposed to have a console, and I think there actually is enough room for a small one against the back of the pilots seat, but neither Yamato or Bandai included one. From my understanding, the VF-1D was a two-seat combat ready plane, compared to the VT-1 being a pure trainer, similar to how the F-5F would compare to a T-38.

I really need to make a set of orange super packs.

The initial VF-25 Alto release was actually really easy to get I thought. I remember just casually logging in one day and finding them on HLJ, and I don't remember any of the crazy F5 mashing circus, even for Ozma's release. I think people were skeptical about the quality after they were burned with the v1, and hesitated to pre-order. Ozma's pre-order started before Alto's released, and I think while demand was higher for his, it still had multiple order windows pop up. The first one I remember being a nightmare was Michael's, which came out after the world had seen how much better the renewal was.

.... You are talking about Bandai here, right? I know we're talking about their repeated reissues of certain products.. but they certainly have the exact opposite behavior with a ton of things they have produced. stares at the VF-25 armor and super packs, VF-31A, and literally every other exclusive they have straight-up ignored overwhelming demand for, in some cases for close to a decade now I can't speak to whether there are licensing limits involved in these, but the repeated re-issues of Ozma's VF-25S without offering a bundle or reissue of his armor was probably one of the biggest middle fingers I've ever seen any company give their target demographic. "Here.. please buy more of this cool plane that you never actually see in the show because it's covered in armor. What's that? Sell you the armor he always wore? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA No." People here have been lined up ready to throw copious amounts of cash directly in Bandai's face for years, and I can't really imagine the demand is any lower in Japan. Ozma's armored 25S was THE iconic valk of Frontier. I don't understand any of how they operate, and it's probably not worth trying. I'm sure they're running insane conspiracy theory string and push-pin schemes to determine the best production amounts to maximize their profit ten ways from next tuesday, but none of that makes it any easier to explain why they do things like this. And Macross is only a microcosm of this environment they've created, where there is a very clear demand for a product that they just refuse produce more of, all while selling complimentary items that increase the demand for the thing they refuse to make. It's adding insult to injury, as if they get some sort of buzz from sitting back and watching the auction prices of their exclusive items climb.

I'm pretty sure businesses get a bulk rate from DHL that puts it far under that (insane) price. At that cost, it almost sounds better to just fly to Japan and pick it up yourself. Not that it would actually be cheaper.. just a better investment.

I really really do hope they make this, because I love the design, and I feel like it gets even more screentime in DYRL than the VF-1D did in SDFM.

If you intend to stow her under the seat, that might work, otherwise I think she'll be a pinball.

I tried the Yamato Minmay, but she rattles around something awful... just like in the Yamato VF-1D, only worse. Really need a custom made figure for her... and an actual 1/48 Hikaru. Only problem with the DX-1D is that the back seat has basically no leg space at all. You might get a 1/48 pilot figure in there, but you'd have to cut them off at the knees.

Heheh, all the scale debates! I'm only disappointed that it wasn't actually 1/48 because I wanted it to be bigger. Far as the scaling goes though, yes, they have a history of flubbing scales. According to Bandai, all three of these pilots are 1/72 scale. The only real reason it matters to me is that I need to know what scale to make the helmet-less Hikaru so it will fit.

Just heard about this myself. Good retrospective on his career from someone who worked with him here. A true legend of naval aviation.

Careful about putting oils over whatever you have down already, they might eat right through it. Looking gorgeous though! 👍

I had to think about that a second, because I forgot Maverick was the FT Silverbolt, on top of the Top Gun crossover.

I think we've got the same situation on our hands as the Bandai A-Wing kit. They scaled it to "1/72," using a published length that just happened to be nonsense. The 1/48 scale pilot told the actual story. In this case, they just did the reverse, basing the model on a "canon" value that wasn't big enough. So, let's test something. Here's the lineart, compared to a video game body I happen to have handy. I'm going to be practical here, and assume that no one is going to design an aircraft that is too small for a 6-foot pilot to fly. The figure is roughly 5'10". Here's a pair of pics with the Fan Racer scaled to Bandai's value, a 5 meter length. The grid spacing is 10 cm. Not a lot of room there. Going to be pretty noisy to fly with his head sticking through the cockpit glass. Here's a version based the idea that Bandai's Fan Racer is actually 1/60, working out to about 6.1 meters in length. Still very tight (especially if you consider he carried Minmay on his lap), but at this size, the body actually fits within the outer boundaries of the cockpit. Could probably lay back a little further for more clearance, and there's actually room ahead of his feet for the pedals and control console. Definitely not an exact science, since I didn't feel like modeling the whole plane. The Bandai Hikaru has no trouble fitting because he's not actually 1/48 scale. I did try a 1/48 model pilot in the cockpit, with pretty predictable results. I tried to use an F-16 pilot to get a better body position, but the arms wouldn't let him sit down into the seat, so I just went with the best fit I could find. On the one hand, I'm disappointed not to have one that actually works with 1/48 scale planes, but at the same time, I never got a chance to grab the 1/60 Yamato kit, so this will still display nicely with the 1/60 VF-1s. I seriously doubt Bandai will release a DX Angel Bird anyhow.

I wouldn't expect retracting gear, no, but it's still sad that they didn't do the same as they do for the HMR releases, and give you plug-in landing gear. It wouldn't be hard to drill little holes and make your own for that I suppose. But yeah, the scale is a massive failure on Bandai's part. They just utterly flubbed it. It's still a nice 1/60 for display with the Yamatos though, so not a total loss, since the old Yamato kit is so hard to come by now.

So would I, but I'd like it better if they were in the right scale. As it is, I stole the Hikaru from my Yamato 1D for the Fanracer. He's bigger than the Bandai figure.

Not going to lie, this vid both blew my mind, and had me rolling on the floor laughing. That first theme is awesome.. but also incredibly memetic for the easily misheard lyrics. It's one of the final boss themes from Final Fantasy XIII.

Actually the H is in the lineart, just not the animation. The animation can't make up its mind on how to paint the nose or tail though. But anywho, yeah, that basically confirms my suspicions. They sized the Fanracer to the pilot figures.. which are itsy-bitsy. On the positive side, it'll scale just fine with the old 1/60 Yamato Angel Birds. 😜

Got my first one delivered this morning from DHL, looks to be pretty close to perfect. Compared the canopy length with a Roy 1S, and it is slightly longer.. I want to say maybe a quarter inch. It's not much, but it's no less effective than the Yamato. Proportionally, they look almost identical. I do wish they'd added at least a minimal console in the back seat (and a seated Minmay, for that matter), but I'm sure it'd be possible to make those sorts of upgrades. There is one thing I'm really curious about though, and that's the Fanracer's scale. It's four inches long, which would make it roughly 16 feet in real life. That doesn't look terrible.. but with the figure scales being as goofy as they are, I feel like it's very undersized. The 1/60 Hikaru from the Yamato VF-1D fits perfectly in the cockpit. Looking at photos of the old 1/60 Yamato Fanracer.. this one looks roughly the same size. Tried an actual 1/48 pilot figure in the cockpit, and there is no way it would ever fit. Anyone have one of the old models handy to compare? Also, tiny silly nitpick about the Fanracer... the props don't counter-rotate.

They seem to not update the delivery date much until it's almost at your door. Mine's about two hours away, and telling me it'll be delivered on the 27th.