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Decided to take some pics for the heck of it. Haven't done anything with it yet (weathering, clearcoats, etc.) since I'm waiting to see what NY can do to help me get a replacement part, but Bandai is out for Golden week and they won't hear from them til next Friday at the earliest. :( Didn't even take the gunpod out yet.

I'm getting a 2nd one from HLJ next week so I can at least start on that one, assuming that one isn't defective too. *fingers crossed*

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Got mine Friday afternoon, but didn't have a chance to play with it until a couple hours ago. Maybe I just got lucky, but it feels like Bandai improved on this release over the Alto. Everything seems tighter, and I never felt like I was fighting the transformation. Things fit together with a more satisfying "Click," that I'm accustomed to with my Yammies. I also never had a problem with the wing pegs or any other pieces falling off. Gotta give them credit if they did indeed improve on their manufacturing process between the releases.

Love the color scheme as much as I thought I would. For some reason, the white of Alto's made it seem naked without the armor, and I really didn't like it in Gerwalk. This thing looks fantastic in all three modes, but I'll probably be displaying it in primarily in Fighter.

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My 171 arrived yesterday as well. The firs thing I noticed was that the entire body of it seemed scuffed. There's little scratches all over it. The surface isn't rough, so it's not like it's gouged, but it doesn't seem like any of it was in very good condition either. I'd have almost assumed it was a used toy by the way the surface appeared. The shoulders were obviously not transformed properly at the factory as they were not sitting flush in fighter node and were bent upward. I had to fix that myself.

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Did you order from NY Mommar? All this reports about missing parts and tiny scratches makes me really nervous about my copy (which is stuck in customs which means that I probably have to pay sales taxes and custom fees <_<).

So the nerve wracking continues *nibbling on my finger nails*

MacrossJunkie you really bring out the best sides of the Valkyries. The VF-171 looks almost like the promotion pictures.

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My 171 arrived yesterday as well. The firs thing I noticed was that the entire body of it seemed scuffed. There's little scratches all over it. The surface isn't rough, so it's not like it's gouged, but it doesn't seem like any of it was in very good condition either. I'd have almost assumed it was a used toy by the way the surface appeared. The shoulders were obviously not transformed properly at the factory as they were not sitting flush in fighter node and were bent upward. I had to fix that myself.

I've noticed the same kinds of scratches in various places on all my Bandai valks I think, never very severe, just little scuffs where it looks like someone goofed up and scratched the plastic.

Picked mine up today, and have been debating whether to leave it in fighter mode forever. Still goes down in my book as the most needlessly overcomplicated transformation I've ever seen, and the legs still don't lock in any position at all. It's beautiful, but I can't understand why they make things so stupidly complex.

Oh, and I STILL don't know how the hips can be so floppy out of the box, but still be nigh impossible to rotate for battroid position. The joint just seizes up entirely, and makes me think I'm going to snap the little swing bar in half trying to get the leg to swing down. <_<

On the plus side though, there are a few things definitely better on this one. The lower leg twist now functions easily, instead of freezing up and getting caught so you couldn't rotate the legs flat for fighter mode, and even though the wing hinge design is still idiotic, they at least beefed up the small pins the wings hook over, and the sliding tracks seem to have indents now at certain points to tighten up the rotation.

Pilot is leaps and bounds ahead of the VF-25 ones too. Painting is much better.

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LOL, makes sense :D

What did you get? Did NY short you?

I don't understand why people are trying to do direct comparisons on these 2 different valks from 2 different shows that are set in different timelines.....

yeah shortened me 1 item and sent something else instead...ergghh...no response from them yet either.

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... the legs still don't lock in any position at all? What are you talking about exactly?

The hips in particular. The metal swing bars just flap in the breeze. They only lock if you press them inwards, but you can't do that unless you remove the gear doors entirely.

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The hips in particular. The metal swing bars just flap in the breeze. They only lock if you press them inwards, but you can't do that unless you remove the gear doors entirely.

The hips on both of my Alto's lock just fine with the gear doors attached. Are you sure you've transformed it correctly?

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Fairly certain, because I had the same trouble with the Alto. Once I put the hips in position, there is absolutely nothing to keep them from swinging back and forth around the metal pivot inside the nose. That entire section will only lock if you press the two hip mounts back inwards, but the gear doors are in the exact position to keep them from doing it.

I don't know. Maybe there's a step missing from the instructions, but I've never been able to get the legs to stop flapping around by that metal swingbar. The one time I did do it, the landing gear doors snapped off and flew across the room. Fortunately they didn't break, but there physically was not enough room to lock the hip bars unless I removed those doors.

Edit: Ok, technically, you can press them in some.. but what that does is make the doors bend all over the place. Basically, I've got two options. Don't press the bars in, and the legs swing freely by the hip bar pivot. Press the hips inward, and the gear doors start to get seriously stressed, because they've got pressure squeezing them inward behind the door hinge. They get pinned against the nosecone by the hip bars.

Maybe I've just gotten two bum sets of hip bars, but mine absolutely refuse to lock unless I press them in. There's a slight detent I can feel, so I can tell when they get into position, but there's no friction to keep them there.

Edited by Chronocidal
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Yeah, but will it STAY in position? I can get mine to the "obvious detent" but with the entire weight of the arms+torso on that joint, any bit of movement will make the metal bars move back to fighter mode position. It's basically fighting gravity, and there's almost nothing holding it in place.

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Yeah, but will it STAY in position? I can get mine to the "obvious detent" but with the entire weight of the arms+torso on that joint, any bit of movement will make the metal bars move back to fighter mode position. It's basically fighting gravity, and there's almost nothing holding it in place.

No, it won't stay in position. But hey, don't kill the messenger. That's the position the hips are supposed to be in when in Battroid. Bandai's build quality just plain sucks, that's why I haven't bought anything from them since.

Edited by Renato
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Congrats! Make you feel better? haha

Hahaha a lot better thanks! I love those planes but I will admit they literally a nightmare to transform. Frustrating beyond belief. That's why I love them in fighter mode. I will transform this one day when I feel over confident lol and I can take on the world :)

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Hahaha a lot better thanks! I love those planes but I will admit they literally a nightmare to transform. Frustrating beyond belief. That's why I love them in fighter mode. I will transform this one day when I feel over confident lol and I can take on the world :)

Personally, it gives the toy staying power as a puzzle to me. It's something I can pick back up and spend a few hours enjoying from time to time.

Glad you like yours

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Sorry to hear that chronicidal. Yeah I feel everyone's frustration when transforming. First time I tried to transform my alto, I was sweating like a boar...took forever in case I applied too much pressure, especially on the part which clips onto the underside of the top plate. When I hear the plastic creak I am filled with dread.

New 171 seems a bit less scary but still the joints are super tight.

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I did forget just how much of a colossal bitch it is going from Battroid back to Gerwalk on this thing. It holds together better/more flush than Yammie's 17, but dammit, that Yammie can be transformed in a minute compared to this damn 171 too.

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It isn't hard at all imho. The only part that needs love is turning the neck and head around and getting the plate between the chest and neck kept up so it inserts into the back of the head correctly

Edited by Duymon
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Solution for the transformation issue is to just buy 3 of them and leave each in a different mode. Set it and forget it. Well....I didn't say the solution was going to be cheap. :p

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It isn't hard at all imho. The only part that needs love is turning the neck and head around and getting the plate between the chest and neck kept up so it inserts into the back of the head correctly

Actually, that's the part that is the hardest and most frustrating.

Solution for the transformation issue is to just buy 3 of them and leave each in a different mode. Set it and forget it. Well....I didn't say the solution was going to be cheap. :p

I have three now. Still, I have to make sure each one is without flaws first. We've seen some missing pieces on these new one's. If I do ever decide to rotate which 171 is in which mode I would like to be sure they're all complete.

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Actually, that's the part that is the hardest and most frustrating.

I have three now. Still, I have to make sure each one is without flaws first. We've seen some missing pieces on these new one's. If I do ever decide to rotate which 171 is in which mode I would like to be sure they're all complete.

My 3 will hopefully be here tomorrow, I will transform them for QC checks, but plan to leave all 3 and Alto in fighter mode for a flight formation display.

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