Bandai 1/72 fully transform able VF-1 plastic kit for Macross 30th Ann

[raptormesh]

Looks semi-chibi to be honest. Waiting for them to tackle something other than VF-1s or 25s.

[Chronocidal]

Funny, even in their production renders, it looks mistransformed.

I wonder about why they changed the leg packs so much though. Probably something to do with the way they did the knee joint, but they really aren't dropped much at all, and the packs are much smaller because of it. Makes me wonder if the legs are even capable of bending that way without the kneecaps popping up.

[Hoptimus]

So is this only DYRL Valkyries? I want a TV Series VF-1A Max. Guess we will have to wait and see.

[Hikaru1234567890]

Is it going to have waterslide only or take off stickers?

[mechaninac]

Is it going to have waterslide only or take off stickers?

It's a Bandai model kit; if the VF-25s are any indication, self-adhesive pre-cut vinyl stickers are pretty much a given in addition to standard decals. Just keep your fingers crossed that they won't decide to substitute the stickers with the foil variety they often include with their GUNDAM fare.

Edited June 21, 2013 by mechaninac

[Shaorin]

Roy & Super Parts pre-order up at Amiami. Still not liking the details / proportion. I'm gonna get 1 set and see what else they do with the rest..

They also updated the box art image for hikaru

that cover art/styling is what really sold me here. it actually looks like a direct successor to the grand old model kit boxart of the 1980's.

and while the kit itself sure has it's fair share of flaws and then some, i don't real feel it's any worse than the old IMAI/BANDAI 1/72 parts former,

it is, in fact far better (save for the probable lack of white metal for the landing gear and other major stress/weight bearing parts)

and i think the Focker -1S edition will do very well indeed as a spiritual successor

to that old ROBOTECH CHANGERS VEXAR (IMAI 1/72 VF-1S Focker) that i had as a pre-teen child so many moons ago...

Edited June 21, 2013 by Shaorin

[Vifam7]

that cover art/styling is what really sold me here. it actually looks like a direct successor to the grand old model kit boxart of the 1980's.

and while the kit itself sure has it's fair share of flaws and then some, i don't real feel it's any worse than the old IMAI/BANDAI 1/72 parts former,

it is, in fact far better (save for the probable lack of white metal for the landing gear and other major stress/weight bearing parts)

and i think the Focker -1S edition will do very well indeed as a spiritual successor

to that old ROBOTECH CHANGERS VEXAR (IMAI 1/72 VF-1S Focker) that i had as a pre-teen child so many moons ago...

You might be pleased to know that there is going to be some metal shafts included in the kit. Latest description said 12 pieces, so I'm kinda wondering where they're going to go.

[ron5864]

I think we are all spoiled by Yamato's 1/60 v.2 VF-1s. Like others said, the boxart is very good.

Maybe Bandai should have consulted with Hasegawa on VF model kits.

[Shaorin]

You might be pleased to know that there is going to be some metal shafts included in the kit. Latest description said 12 pieces, so I'm kinda wondering where they're going to go.

knurled pins for key areas such as the backpack hinge? thought i saw something of that sort in one of those proto photos back there...

[JET7]

any leak shots of the sprues?

is it safe to say that the fast/strike parts are already body coloured?

[sketchley]

You might be pleased to know that there is going to be some metal shafts included in the kit. Latest description said 12 pieces, so I'm kinda wondering where they're going to go.

If they're anything like those in the VF-25/27 kits from a few years back, then they literally are shafts (as in 2~3 cm long, 1~2 mm thick), and they're probably going to be limited to the places deemed to experience the most stress when transforming (as there will be 12 in this kit, hopefully things like the shoulder hinges, shoulders and hips will have them).

[GU-11]

Maybe Bandai should have consulted with Hasegawa on VF model kits.

Honestly, I really don't see that happening. Bandai, as a large established company, prides itself with the long success of its Gundam line, and probably believes itself to be vastly superior in terms of model kit designing. But whatever their beliefs, company pride is at stake when you go asking another company for designing tips, which they might or might not even share.

Just my two cents' worth, though.

[Duymon]

Well, We'l see what happens when the kits come in from HLJ in 2 weeks or so (have them on preorders EMS)

Hopefully they are better in person than in all those photos, but we'll see.

What I am worried about is the gerwalk, because gerwalk is hands down my favorite mode of just about any valk save the 19 series.

Pretty much if there's no good A-stance these will be the last Bandai 1/72 vf-1's I buy.

Edited June 21, 2013 by Duymon

[Duymon]

Ya know... I just got my hands on the hi-metal 1/100 1S and the 3 exclusive 1A's.

How come Bandai couldn't have their playmodel team consult their Hi-metal toy team... the Hi-metals are pretty cool

[jvmacross]

Ya know... I just got my hands on the hi-metal 1/100 1S and the 3 exclusive 1A's.

How come Bandai couldn't have their playmodel team consult their Hi-metal toy team... the Hi-metals are pretty cool

The concrete silos between those 2 teams are apparently way too thick......

[Duymon]

Moreover they shoulda had the guy that posed those H-metals and the renewals pose the 1/72 kit at the shows lol

[Shaorin]

i'll be getting a HI-METAL 1S Focker from a fellow MWer soon, and i strongly suspect it will be my high watermark for BANDAI produced VF-1's,

and will probably be in no danger of being displaced in any way by the Focker 1S variation of this kit i've on preorder,

barring a redesign of this model's multiple proportional aberrations before that version's September release date...

Edited June 21, 2013 by Shaorin

[Valkyrie addict]

The concrete silos between those 2 teams are apparently way too thick......

LOL!!!!

I still can't imagine what is Bandai's excuse for the 1/72 mess. Hell, some crazy could go and claim false advertising by the very nice box art.

[Chronocidal]

It's the same deal as they had with the VF-25s... but in reverse. It's like the two halves of Bandai aren't even allowed to talk to each other.

[anime52k8]

It's the same deal as they had with the VF-25s... but in reverse. It's like the two halves of Bandai aren't even allowed to talk to each other.

You're just now noticing this? Bandai Hobby and Tamashii Nations are basically two separate companies. they don't share anything.

[jenius]

So now we just have to hope that some at Tamashii Nations buys this kit, fools around with it, compares it to the Hi-Metal, and starts working on a DX toy.

[Reïvaj]

So now we just have to hope that some at Tamashii Nations buys this kit, fools around with it, compares it to the Hi-Metal, and starts working on a DX toy.

You still have high hopes of that happening! What are the latest rumors from your sources regarding this?

[jenius]

The only rumor I've ever heard in regard to this is that Bandai still thinks the right VF-1 could make some money. Who at Bandai? How much would they like to attempt it? These things I haven't heard.

[Duymon]

Bandai can just scrap their R&D dept, buy the molds off of yammy and produce the right VF-1 at a cheaper price-point if they're thinking about a toy, though the Hi-metals rock imho

Edited June 22, 2013 by Duymon

[Chronocidal]

You're just now noticing this? Bandai Hobby and Tamashii Nations are basically two separate companies. they don't share anything.

Oh nah, it's been obvious from the start. I just mean it's the reverse situation from the v.1 VF-25s.. the Hi-Metal was fine, but they didn't seem to take any cues from that for the model.

I know they don't share any design staff, but I'm more amazed that basic ideas and concepts don't even seem to get between them. It's as if they almost purposefully do things completely different from each other just for the sake of not being the same, even if it results in a distinctly inferior product.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Chronocidal

[Reïvaj]

The only rumor I've ever heard in regard to this is that Bandai still thinks the right VF-1 could make some money. Who at Bandai? How much would they like to attempt it? These things I haven't heard.

Mmmm, it doesn't look like this is going to be the right VF-1. Keep trying, Bandai!

[jvmacross]

Mmmm, it doesn't look like this is going to be the right VF-1. Keep trying, Bandai!

Hasn't the "right" VF-1 already been made by the competition?

Edited June 23, 2013 by jvmacross

[jenius]

For 5 years ago? Yes. But at some point we're going to need to freshen things up! My rumors are for the toy industry, I never hear anything about models because my lack of modeling talent is legendary.

[Vifam7]

For 5 years ago? Yes. But at some point we're going to need to freshen things up! My rumors are for the toy industry, I never hear anything about models because my lack of modeling talent is legendary.

I doubt Bandai making any kind of new perfect transformation VF-1 toy. They tried with the Hi-Metal VF-1 and it seems to have failed. I'm surprised some up above liking the Hi-Metal though. When it was first released, it seemed like everyone was trashing on it.

This VF-1 kit may be the last time we'll get a VF-1 perfect transformation design in 1/72 scale. Or any other scale as I don't see Arcadia doing a 1/48v2 or a 1/60v3.

BTW, here's a nice big photo of the VF-1A in battroid mode: http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/newsokusaisoku/imgs/4/3/4324790e.jpg

[ron5864]

Maybe it's the pose, but the upper arms and shoulders seem a bit smaller than they should be.

[Reïvaj]

Maybe it's the pose, but the upper arms and shoulders seem a bit smaller than they should be.

Same about the legs.

[EXO]

Someone tell Bandai's folks that the right VF-1 already has already been making money... with another company.

[tetsujin]

very disproportionate big head, arms and legs tiny looks like early design of the old model kit of bandai and looks ridiculous compared of hasegawa and yamatos

This reaction surprises me, frankly. I thought the big head was one of the things Bandai got right. And, in fact, I think they went to great lengths to achieve this effect.

I mean, in terms of transformation problems, I think the single biggest problem with the VF-1 is the chest-plate: the plane's fuselage has to be large enough to balance out the look of the nose and cover up all the stuff that's stashed away on the ventral side, so once it changes to Battroid mode suddenly the Valk has this huge billboard-chest.

But one of the tricks of proportions in general is that it's mostly determined by immediate context. If the chest is big, it won't necessarily look out of place if the parts around it are similarly large. Or if the parts surrounding the chest are small, that will make the chest look more out of proportion.

Typically the heads on transforming Valkyries are pretty small, because the head has to fit in between the legs in fighter mode - it has to be kept pretty narrow, so to avoid making it look skewed it's shrunk all-around. When I look at the Bandai Valk, there's a lot I don't like, but the head proportion is one thing I think they actually got right - making the head larger does a lot to balance out the size of the chest plate.

But in a transforming model you can't change one thing without affecting other parts. The price paid for the big head is that the upper legs had to be narrower - the extra width for the head had to come from somewhere... Also, I think that hiding the extra bulk of the head in fighter mode is one of the reasons they made the upper legs (the area around the jet intakes) bulge downward more - which I think is one of the reasons I find the Bandai's fighter mode vaguely unsettling.

They solved one problem with Battroid mode, but introduced others: maybe the worst is that the skinny upper legs aren't bulky enough to balance out the look of the unavoidably-large chest. The choices they made in desgning the leg joints (i.e. putting a lateral extension joint just barely above the knee so it could clear those.. whatever they are on the sides of the legs - meaning most of the upper leg winds up almost vertical in most poses we've seen) seems to worsen the problem.

I think Bandai paid a high price for the big head, and comparing the design with the Yamato toys, I don't think it was worth it. But the head itself? I think it's pretty nice. Not a pinhead like most transforming Valks.

[Chronocidal]

I doubt Bandai making any kind of new perfect transformation VF-1 toy. They tried with the Hi-Metal VF-1 and it seems to have failed. I'm surprised some up above liking the Hi-Metal though. When it was first released, it seemed like everyone was trashing on it.

I think a lot of the trashing just came from trying to wedge another VF-1 toy into the market that was significantly smaller, but not significantly cheaper.

Due to the size of the Yamato VF-1 production runs, and Bandai's unwillingness to do the same, the Hi-Metal was never attractive to me when it was so easy to get the Yamato version. Due to frequent sales, and the scarcity of the Hi-Metal, the 1/60ths were generally much easier to get, and usually quite a bit cheaper.

If the new 30th anniversary 1/60 VF-1 from Arcadia is any indication though, that might become a non-issue, and the Hi-Metal might turn out to be much more profitable in the current market. I don't think the Hi-Metal was a bad idea.. it was just a bad idea at the time, because Yamato was basically undercutting them by overproducing the 1/60th version.

If this kit gets enough demand, I wonder if Bandai might actually pursue a 1/72 line of toys. Some people would love those to go along with standard model scales, and it looks like Arcadia still has the license for 1/60, so maybe there's an opening for Bandai to step up with a new scale.

I'm all VF-1'd out personally, but I'd jump on some transforming kits of other VFs.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Chronocidal

[Valkyrie addict]

That neck on the VF-1A is disgusting! looks like it's wrapped with that plumber sealant.

The more and more I see of this kit the more I think Bandai just doesn't give a damn about Macross and is trying to justify the license by doing this crap.