Graham's Review of Yamato 1/60 Scale YF-19

[kensei]

HEY GUYS~!

Well i made it to Akihabara after all! and picked me up 2 YF-19s!

I have been moving into the new house, and have been way too busy to even open em up for a play!

Problem is one of them is for me bro, and i can't put mine out for display for fear of blowing the kick ass suprise.

It's for a good cause.

I picked up my 19's for about 17,800 i think it was. I'll post the exact later.

Tokyo, what a cool place to shop. hah! I'll post some pics later promise. Just don't have the time!

Gotta love them kawaii jap chicks selling stuff in anime outfits!

:edit: one crappy pic of me travelling back to Narita Airport Terminal 2 using the Skyliner with a couple of nice packages!

Got it just a couple of hours ago. I was the first one to get it in Australia no?

[Matt Random]

Yesh, the Amenbo shipping quote for the ghost with the VF-0 is 7300 to 9300 yen for anything other than surface. The total ends up being comparable to the BBTS price. I wonder what HLJ is going to charge for the shipping?

[wolfx]

If Yamato don't release the two Super Nova schemes, hopefully one of our intrepid MW customizers will step up to the plate and tackle the challenge!

Erick (Takatoys) or Devin (if he comes out of retirement) would need to scale the Hasegawa decals up to 1/60 scale though.

Graham

I always wondered are the super nova schemes the 1st 2 YF-19s that crashed during the supernova project.

[Dangard Ace]

I can't read Japanese either. But their English site is easy to navigate enough. I was incredibly frustrated until I found out about their English site! English site here : http://www.amenbo.com/toj.html

Just a rough comparison :

Amenbo // HLJ

Below RRP // RRP unless for early bird discounts or sales

Choice of Shipping // No choice

Online Stock Status // You'll never know when they'll tell you opps, no stock!

Immediate Shipping Cost // Wait and see what we bill ya!

5% of cost in points rebate** // No loyalty points.

**OK this is where amenbo needs to leave clear instructions. They don't! Any of you guys with the points and don't know how to use it, here is how. In the text box for shipping or other special remarks during ordering, just put in the text 'USE MY POINTS'. They'll automatically apply all your points balance as an equivalent yen discount. I got 2 orders absolutely free (incl shipping) this way.

No, I don't own stock in Amenbo if you are wondering. I just don't understand HLJ's popularity over amenbo (except for the much wider range HLJ carries).

Amenbo's site's not as pretty as HLJ's and aesthetics sell. The more you window dress it the more likely customers will come back. HLJ - currency conversion is right there on the page. No needing to run off to...say xe.com to figure out how much the yen to dollar is. Amenbo's english is okay but some parts take a little translating to understand what they're trying to say. Clear concise easily understood language sells.

That said, I'm going to order my VF-0A Shin with them. Still not sold on the Wave SDF-1.

[jenius]

Wow, Aemnbo does have some pretty insane shipping charges... I was just fooling around on the site and the prices are very nice... but basically because they're all shifted onto the back end. The GBPIII for example is $95 ($10 cheaper than most places) but SURFACE shipping is $25, EMS is $40. Back up to $135 for the new product which is definitely a pretty standard price.

[Wicked Ace]

I told myself that I was not going to watch any of the transformation videos, yet. Before my morning coffee, I made the mistake of clicking on the Fighter-to-Battroid link. First of all, I didn't know Graham spoke with a British accent, and second, I didn't know the sound "quality" was so good -- other people in my office wondered what the hell I was watching. Anyway, after hearing the creaking of the plastic I am really wanting my pre-orderd -19 to come.

Of course hearing the details of the -19 described with a British accent reminded me of the TV show "Top Gear" where exotic cars sound much more exotic when described with such an accent to people, like me, who live in the U.S. Anyway, Ferrari and things with "al_lu_min_i_um (phoenetic) "shas-ees" be damned -- I want my YF-19.

[anime52k8]

If Yamato don't release the two Super Nova schemes, hopefully one of our intrepid MW customizers will step up to the plate and tackle the challenge!

Erick (Takatoys) or Devin (if he comes out of retirement) would need to scale the Hasegawa decals up to 1/60 scale though.

Graham

I hope yamato just goes ahead and makes them. if they did do you think they'ed remember to include the nose probe and the spin recovery chute on the orange version?

[wolfx]

I didn't watch the transformation video prior to transforming it due to bandwidth issues, but i just watched it and now i'm like

I was being so jittery and careful of my YF-19, but in the vid, Graham's literally manhandling the thing.

So scary how he split open the cockpit area in the fighter->battroid mode. >_<

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Got it just a couple of hours ago. I was the first one to get it in Australia no?

NIET. nooo wayyyyyyyy mate i got mine here on aussie ground Thursday! I Win!

[ruskiiVFaussie]

I always wondered are the super nova schemes the 1st 2 YF-19s that crashed during the supernova project.

That's a GOOD question.

[kensei]

Bah! Ze Germans beat me!

[ruskiiVFaussie]

That's russian! LOL ya knob. hahaa. Mate i envy you atleast coz i haven't had time to marvel at the bird.

Takes strength an will power to wait till Christmas day. Maybe i will open it up tomorrow, For QC issues.

LOL maybe i'll pick the best of the 2 an giv my bro the other. hah i be ebil.

[kensei]

What? You got it early, but haven't opened it and played an TFed with it? You Bum! That doesn't count then!

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Does so!!!! The FIRST YF-19 in AUSTRALIA, better yet... Q U E E N S L A N D.

trust Isamu to land in the Sunny state. He's in it for the beach babes. Lucy would look good in a 2 piece.

That's an idea! Lucy CM figure in a 2 piece bikini. MMmmmm Gotta love them freckles!!

He should have burnt that brunette with a Gerwalk thrust and picked up Lucy an flew into the sunset hey?

Stupid kooky signer!

:edit: I am editing my messages too much, stupid RUM. I'm going to bed..... next to my 1st Aussie YF-19.

Edited December 19, 2006 by ruskiiVFaussie

[Graham]

Here's 9 pics I just took of the Yamato 1/60 YF-19 with the Bandai 1/65 scale reissue VF-19 Fire Valk & reissue VF-17S Stealth Valk.

Sorry, the lighting is not that good as the pics were taken indoors at night.

I really wish Yamato would give us a decent VF-17D/S.

Graham

[Dante74]

Does so!!!! The FIRST YF-19 in AUSTRALIA, better yet... Q U E E N S L A N D.

trust Isamu to land in the Sunny state. He's in it for the beach babes. Lucy would look good in a 2 piece.

That's an idea! Lucy CM figure in a 2 piece bikini. MMmmmm Gotta love them freckles!!

He should have burnt that brunette with a Gerwalk thrust and picked up Lucy an flew into the sunset hey?

Stupid kooky signer!

:edit: I am editing my messages too much, stupid RUM. I'm going to bed..... next to my 1st Aussie YF-19.

Australians are weird,...

Edited December 19, 2006 by Dante74

[kensei]

I've had to take apart my YF-19 to tighten some of the joints. It's not so bad so far to take apart. Just tightened up one of the wing pivots. Done it's job. I was daydreaming when I did the shoulder, bloody did the bicep twist instead. Bah.

In transforming the tailfins, I didn't find it too bad at all. I just lifted it up by the tailfins directly, then it loosened. Pushing it up is easy. Graham's needs some KY Jelly or something, I can't imagine it being that tight for any reason.

A pity that there is no way to get the bloody shield to get around teh underside of the forearm. I wanted to do some other poses with it.

Also, worth mentioning is that this VF has an "improved version" of the chicken hands. It features a little nub that fits into one of the holes in the handle of the gunpod. makes for a tighter grip, but also makes the gunpod harder to insert.

[Fly4victory]

That will require a very durable paint scheme to cover the plastic tan with white.

I wish I had the money to order two and the time to do it.

Have a feeling one will pop up just after the New Year.

If Yamato don't release the two Super Nova schemes, hopefully one of our intrepid MW customizers will step up to the plate and tackle the challenge!

Erick (Takatoys) or Devin (if he comes out of retirement) would need to scale the Hasegawa decals up to 1/60 scale though.

Graham

[kensei]

Hey Graham, your photography is really good now.

[Fly4victory]

Weird? Yes!

Australia is great... wouldn't mind living there.

Must agree Lucy would look better in a two piece and so many other things.

Isamu likes "higher, faster" and bigger!

[kensei]

Weird? Yes!

Australia is great... wouldn't mind living there.

It's just the Queenslanders. All the out of place things happen there.

Too right it's a great place, foreigners are funny, I've seen a Greek guy at the Sydney Olympics eat a meat pie starting from the top instead of the edge.

That will require a very durable paint scheme to cover the plastic tan with white.

I wish I had the money to order two and the time to do it.

Have a feeling one will pop up just after the New Year.

I don't. I just want a VF-X Ravens scheme with improvements, then a reissue of the YF-19, and a possible development of a F/S and also Kai using lessons learned from this toy.

Hayao's fix for the gunpod is really interesting, if I look at the pegs in the arms when the gunpod is off and the 19 is in fighter mode, I noticed that they are ever so slightly misaligned. I would have gond and tried to fix the alignment issue instead, as that was the true source of the problem, rather than fix the gunpod. But having said that, maybe it was easier.

Edited December 19, 2006 by kensei

[wolfx]

I really wish Yamato would give us a decent VF-17D/S.

Guess hearing that from you, the VF-17 isn't anywhere in Yamato's future projects book yet. But Amen to that.

And btw your voice is sexayy. Who'd knew that watching Valk Kamasutra with brit-accented-commentary could feel so erotic.....

[Apollo Leader]

Here's 9 pics I just took of the Yamato 1/60 YF-19 with the Bandai 1/65 scale reissue VF-19 Fire Valk & reissue VF-17S Stealth Valk.

Sorry, the lighting is not that good as the pics were taken indoors at night.

I really wish Yamato would give us a decent VF-17D/S.

Graham

I thought Yamato couldn't really do the VF-17 because it 's mainly synominous with Macross 7 and they don't have the rights to that. Maybe they could do it as a Macross VF-X2 related release, though that game is now like 7 years old!

Anyway, Yamato's YF-19 makes Bandai's piece o' crap VF-19 like... a piece of crap, even more so. I should have my YF-19 VERY soon.

[ghostryder]

Anyway, Yamato's YF-19 makes Bandai's piece o' crap VF-19 like... a piece of crap, even more so. I should have my YF-19 VERY soon.

Hey, the Fire Valk battroid isn't totally bad, if not for the tiny head. However, all Bandai M7 valks are super-deformed . What do we expect, you can get about 15 VF-19 bootlegs for the price of one YF-19.

Edited December 19, 2006 by ghostryder

[aaajin]

wow, the VF-19 looks better than the YF-19 side by side....

just kiddin'

[recon]

Here's 9 pics I just took of the Yamato 1/60 YF-19 with the Bandai 1/65 scale reissue VF-19 Fire Valk & reissue VF-17S Stealth Valk.

Sorry, the lighting is not that good as the pics were taken indoors at night.

I really wish Yamato would give us a decent VF-17D/S.

Graham

Amen to that!!..Give me a VF-17S/D anytime

[eugimon]

Amen to that!!..Give me a VF-17S/D anytime

me too! add me to the list of people who want yamato to do the Vf-17 right.

[grouchy_smurf]

hey is anyone else having difficulty splitting the nose section from the body on the yf-19?? i had to take out the screws and put them back in while in step 5 cos it simply won't budge (sounds like what graham said)

seriously i don't even understand why those two tabs should even be there...and seeing how common it was to break something and this being my first yamato toy there's always a fear of hearing something snap which isn't sumthing locking or unlocking...and now i've gotta go through removing the screws everytime i wanna transform the thing

[VF-19]

I had a ton of difficulty in getting the part to hinge backwards. And I managed to put a stress mark on the fuselage... Nothing broke though.

I had some success in shaving off the upper corners of the tabs (meaning the corners that face towards the guts of the YF-19). I'm going to shave a bit more off later.

But I got super lucky with customs. I didn't pay a cent. Even better, HLJ shipped my YF-19 in Yamato's official packing box. I nearly freaked when the box stated that it had 2 YF-19s!

[Kicker773]

I had a ton of difficulty in getting the part to hinge backwards. And I managed to put a stress mark on the fuselage... Nothing broke though.

I had some success in shaving off the upper corners of the tabs (meaning the corners that face towards the guts of the YF-19). I'm going to shave a bit more off later.

But I got super lucky with customs. I didn't pay a cent. Even better, HLJ shipped my YF-19 in Yamato's official packing box. I nearly freaked when the box stated that it had 2 YF-19s!

do you live in the U.S.? i thought they dont usually tax on toys, it says right on their webpage

http://www.hlj.com/faq/q42.html

i'm kinda worried if i have to pay taxes for the huge order.

[mister_e]

This review just sold me on this toy. I should be receiving mine in a few days. I'm really excited, this is my first non VF-1 Macross toy.

Thanks for the great review, pics, and videos Graham

[Scream Man]

Whats the red thing sitting on the back of the hield in the yellow Supanova scheme? Looks lieka firecracker or something....

As for transforming....well I guess mine will arrive after christmas.

[jenius]

Wow, in the 1/60 vs 1/65 it sure makes Yamato's effort look SUPER bow-legged. Seriously, it looks like the new toy spent its entire life riding a horse. The cod-piece also looks ginormous. Maybe it's so bow-legged because of the tremendous unit it must be packing

Obviously it trumps the hell out of the Bandai in every other respect.

Edit - I just increased my browser size and the bow-legged effect looks more like it's caused by the A stance and not the toy. I'll leave the post because I found it funny when I wrote it.

Edited December 19, 2006 by jenius

[Fly4victory]

It is a ballistic parachute mounted on a tri-pod on the aft part of the shield.

Guess it is only for first fighter mode flights since spins could be recovered in Gerwalk or Battroid mode after the flight characteristics have been verified in those regime.

Edit: Can fly, not spell!

Whats the red thing sitting on the back of the hield in the yellow Supanova scheme? Looks lieka firecracker or something....

As for transforming....well I guess mine will arrive after christmas.

Edited December 19, 2006 by Fly4victory

[valk1j]

Here's 9 pics I just took of the Yamato 1/60 YF-19 with the Bandai 1/65 scale reissue VF-19 Fire Valk & reissue VF-17S Stealth Valk.

Sorry, the lighting is not that good as the pics were taken indoors at night.

I really wish Yamato would give us a decent VF-17D/S.

Graham

These pics really show how good the Bandai Macross 7 series valks could have been with just a few more tweaks to the toy. The Bandai VF-19 doesn't look half bad in battroid mode compared to the Yamato, the fighter mode is terrible and shouldn't be placed so close to the Yamato for fear that its ugliness might rub off.