Arcadia: 1/60 VF 1S Roy Focker Special Movie Ver

[DarrinG]

I REALLY hope its the M&M valks - enough waiting already.

Phalanx too would be a sweet surprise ( not happening I know ) . . .

[Valkyrie addict]

Great in depth review jenius, always wondered why your VF-1 review was not as complete as your other reviews.

Thanks for taking the time for this and sharing.

BTW, HUD is not the same as instrument panel.

Edited January 16, 2014 by Valkyrie addict

[jenius]

Glad you enjoyed it and I appreciate the info. I'm sure I butcher some other terms as well.

[Reïvaj]

Great review, jenius. Thank you.

[Gakken85]

Good stuff Jenius.

[plastik]

Great vid Jenius. Watching it makes me appreciate my off white Yamatos even more.

[Scyla]

After the whole customs shenanigans (they are gonna charge me storage costs). I finally had the chance to handle a Yamcadia V2 VF-1. I have to say I'm very pleased with the toy. I also like the stand a lot. I can't tell what it is exactly but something about the weight, the hue of the plastic and the feel when touching it that is just right. They look really like a pristine piece of toy goodness. I think I'm impressed by the VF-1 more that I am with any other toy in my collection. Yes, this include my VF-19S.

As a nitpick some of the missile clusters are loose and the stand needs another pivot point in the main strut so the Valkyrie can roll properly. Oh and out of the box many joints are so stiff that it was scary to transform it for the first time.

I have a few questions regarding transformation and stuff I noticed.

How do I transform the backpack so that the hinge doesn't break? The way I figured out to go from Fighter- to Gerwalk-Mode is to push the whole backpack assembly down so it goes below the backplate and then folding it 180 degree so it rests against the backplate. Is this the correct way to do it?

Then for the fix posed hands. The gun holding hand grips the handle of the gun-pod so firm that I fear I tear the gun apart when I want to remove it. Any thoughts about that? The problem seems to be that there is a peg molded into the hand that goes into the slot in the handle. That way it creates a death grip.

Transforming the VF-1 back to fighter mode is there a trick to rotate the shoulder hinges into position? The way I understand it they should be perpendicular to the shoulder blocks in their final position. I tried to do that through pushing the arms forward but that way it seems to create a lot of pressure onto the shoulder hinges so I'm not sure if this is the best way to do it.

[close313]

This is how i do mine

1. Fold the hinge attached to the back first then fold the hinge attached to the tail section.

2. I dont usually use the optional hand and i dont know if the same tightness as yamato ones.Usually i can wiggle it and out by gripping the handle part.

3. I would put one arm first. For The following arm i loosen the shoulder pad so i can tilt the arm upwards. I swing it into position and then adjust the arm and the shoulder into the correct position. This is the method i use from being careful with my vf-1 with cracked shoulders.

My methods might confuse you so if t doesnt help, maybe you could turn to youtube.

[Falcon18]

Great review jenius. Will have to watch out for that painted hip bar part now. That tape trick for the doors of the stand compartments is nifty too. I did it myself but in a different way. I taped the inside of the door leaving some excess exposed so as to create a flap. If need be, just pull it up and it opens. If you don't need it, just tape the excess to the top of the stand. Very unnoticeable and keeps the tape in place so you don't lose it.

As a nitpick some of the missile clusters are loose and the stand needs another pivot point in the main strut so the Valkyrie can roll properly. Oh and out of the box many joints are so stiff that it was scary to transform it for the first time.

I have a few questions regarding transformation and stuff I noticed.

How do I transform the backpack so that the hinge doesn't break? The way I figured out to go from Fighter- to Gerwalk-Mode is to push the whole backpack assembly down so it goes below the backplate and then folding it 180 degree so it rests against the backplate. Is this the correct way to do it?

One of my box missiles have the same problem too. It's very loose. The joints are like that but once you transform it once or twice it gets much easier to pull and twist etc.

I push the backpack near the backplate down then pull the back part of the backpack up. As for the shoulders, I can't comment much as I've only transformed it from Fighter > Battroid > Fighter once. Maybe the transformation video will help you. Just youtube it.

[Scyla]

Thanks for the input. With all this helpful comments I think I can transform it safely now.

Another thing. Is there any trick to align the doors of the landing gear so that they don't look out of whack?

[Mechapilot77]

btw good observation about the sticker sheet genius! M&M cant be far off. DAmmit i should have sold my set at the height of the craziness! lol. I'm definitely getting another set if they are released.

[Falcon18]

Thanks for the input. With all this helpful comments I think I can transform it safely now.

Another thing. Is there any trick to align the doors of the landing gear so that they don't look out of whack?

Just keep pressing it down and trying to align it and that should work. Can't do much more than that as far as I know.

[David Hingtgen]

I haven't followed this thread too closely (as I already have and am happy with my V2.0 Roy) but was wondering:

Is the visor on this one a lighter green? The first v2 Roys have a very dark visor, that pretty much looks black a lot of the time.

(and IIRC, opening up an early v2 type-S head is difficult to do without gouging/damage, thus why few people have ever been able to alter the visor color)

[technoblue]

I think the visor is a lighter green than the v2.0 Yamato. At least, it seems to do a better job of catching ambient light and showing off the color.

[jenius]

I did not think the visor was a different color when looking at them under my lights.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

i just opened my arcadia dyrl roy.

personally i don't like the white on it, it's not because it bright white, it's bc something's off. for some reason, the white on the elbow joints and parts of the wings has a pinkish hue while the shoulder caps are without the pink hue when held against my lamp. perhaps it's my lamp's bulb, but that doesn't happen with my yamato roy tv (or dyrl). In daytime, the white looks fine.. i guess it doesn't seem to blend well with my living room lamp in the evening.

the feet are a shade much darker than my yamato dyrl valk, it's closer to my roy tv

the yellow paint on the chest was sloppy, i bit of the yellow was splashed on the black stripe. i just put it back in the box. i purchased it to be a completionist. i'm trying to collect every version of roy.

it's still solid toy but i'm not as impressed and don't feel the white looks as good as my yamato tv or dyrl.

Edited January 20, 2014 by davidwhangchoi

[Chronocidal]

Actually, I noticed the color inconsistency too, and I wonder if it's because the parts may have been produced in different factories. Say, if they had had a lot of parts left over when Yamato closed, and mixed the leftovers with the new run?

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

Actually, I noticed the color inconsistency too, and I wonder if it's because the parts may have been produced in different factories. Say, if they had had a lot of parts left over when Yamato closed, and mixed the leftovers with the new run?

thanks for confirming you see the color inconsistency as well. i was thinking the same about the mixed parts and perhaps they used leftover extra parts with this arcadia revision.

Edited January 20, 2014 by davidwhangchoi

[eriku]

I mentioned the color differences a while back.

The backpack hook, shoulder hinges, shoulder sockets (under the shoulderpads), hip sockets and wrist hinges are all the same ultraviolet white as the unpainted kits. Were other releases like this or is that unique to this release?

I have no real guess as to why they are cast in different colored plastic. The parts with a slightly pink/purple hue are all in areas that aren't as noticeable so Arcadia seems to have been deliberate and considerate with its use. Perhaps someone with a better grasp of manufacturing or plastics can chime in.

[Graham]

I'm at work and the toy is at home, so I can't check now. But judging from the description of those areas, I'm betting they are POM not ABS.

Graham

[David Hingtgen]

Yeah, but those parts match perfectly in the not-quite-white DYRL valks. I would bet it's either:

A. Factory/Arcadia didn't notice that they were using old stocks of pure-white hinges that didn't quite match.

B. They intentionally used leftover pure white hinges to save money, figuring people wouldn't notice a slight color change. (oh, how they don't know Macross toy fans...)

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

How do you tell if it's POM or ABS? I remember jenius thinking the swing bar was pom for the new arcadia's 30th rainbow valk instead of metal and i suggested someone lick the swing bar or stick it in the fridge to be sure. (valk addict put it in the fridge) Gakken asked Mr,K directly re: the swing bar and he said it was metal and didn't use POM. (i'm not sure if that was just for the swing bar or if he didn't use POM at all)

edite: Mr. K was just addressing the swing bar as DieCast in his tweet:

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=39282&p=1077759

did the non painted kits have the inconsistent pink hue parts mixed with white parts or was the whole kit pinkish hue under a lamp?

i'm thinking then arcadia's parts are white and the pinkish hue are spare parts from old non painted versions.

or is it vice versa? the new arcadia parts are of pink hue like the non painted kits... and they are using old yamato TV white parts as extras...

i wonder if arcadia hikaru's 1s has the same inconsistent colors.

Edited January 21, 2014 by davidwhangchoi

[eriku]

Every part of the unpainted kits had that same hue.

POM feels more 'waxy' than ABS and doesn't hold paint well. It would make sense for those areas on the Arcadia VF-1 to be POM since they are high-impact areas (or easy to break like the tailfin latch). I don't have the thing on hand at the moment or I'd see if those parts feel like POM.

Also I'm not even sure if the plastic has a pinkish/purplish hue or if that shade of white is particularly good at reflecting that color spectrum from lighting. It's definitely more noticable in some lighting than others, and can be more noticable in photos than it is to the naked eye.

Here is my unpainted 1S in sunlight

and here it is under 70-watt incandescent bulbs.

Here is my 1J unpainted kit under a single flourescent bulb.

Edited January 21, 2014 by eriku

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

eriku thanks for sharing the photos take it out of the sunlight! it'll turn from pink/purple to yellow. lol

Edited January 21, 2014 by davidwhangchoi

[SuperSenpai]

Every part of the unpainted kits had that same hue.

POM feels more 'waxy' than ABS and doesn't hold paint well. It would make sense for those areas on the Arcadia VF-1 to be POM since they are high-impact areas (or easy to break like the tailfin latch). I don't have the thing on hand at the moment or I'd see if those parts feel like POM.

Also I'm not even sure if the plastic has a pinkish/purplish hue or if that shade of white is particularly good at reflecting that color spectrum from lighting. It's definitely more noticable in some lighting than others, and can be more noticable in photos than it is to the naked eye.

Here is my unpainted 1S in sunlight

valkblanc005.jpg

[eriku]

hehe...I should know what movie that's from.

[Kanedas Bike]

Good ole Andy, one of my all-time favorite movies.

Took this as an opportunity to finally open my Arcadia Roy and Hikaru VF-1S's. I can see the same color discrepancy (only for lack of a better term).

That said, as others have stated or alluded to, it does not take away from the appearance of either item, at least in Fighter mode. If anything I'm glad to see consistency with how they appear next to one another.

I also looked at my DYRL Max VF-1S, TV Roy 1S, Max 1A and Hikaru IJ (Grey visor) and the parts (upper arm) that have a different hue on the Arcadia releases are NOT the same color or hue on the Yamato releases. And even on the Yamato releases those parts have a slightly different hue from the rest of the arm or other parts. Again, nothing that detracts from the toy, just a slight difference in "white" parts.

-b.

[eriku]

Oh Shawshank! Jesus, I've only seen it seven times. I'm disappointed with myself.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

thanks for confirming that hikaru's is identical as well.

it may be just my opinion,i differ on the whites. i have to say the arcadia choice of mixed parts does detract from the toy. maybe because i just got it and never owned an un-assembled kit. though the yamatos have different shades of white on all my valks, and i have to mention arcadia does match the metal plate under the chest area better, i prefer the yamato tv or dyrl shade bc it does not have the pink hue.

unfortunately, i don't own any un-assembled unpainted kits, but i find it distracting to have parts of pink hues on my arcadia under my lighting.

i think if it was consistently pink all over i still would object but at least it would be uniform.

i think it's not bad and i need to get used to it but i prefer the dyrl and tv white (non mixed with the un-assembled hues)

Edited January 21, 2014 by davidwhangchoi

[technoblue]

I hadn't even realized the pink was intentional until it was mentioned here. I thought it was a QC issue with the way the white was mixed together. I've had bad luck with QC issues on a few imports of late, and I'm happy I'm not the only one affected but I hope that this can be improved down the line at some point. It is distracting.

Edit: Also, I took some photos tonight to illustrate what I see when comparing the green Arcadia visor to the green Yamato v2.0 visor:

Arcadia Roy left, Yamato Roy right

Yamato Roy left, Arcadi Roy right

I used the same ambient room lighting for both photos. The only difference was where I placed the figures. I think the Arcadia visor is more translucent and does more with the light in the room. This makes it seem brighter to me. The bright white of the Arcadia Roy might also be helping with the contrast. I hope this helps those who are wondering about it.

Edited January 22, 2014 by technoblue

[SuperSenpai]

Oh Shawshank! Jesus, I've only seen it seven times. I'm disappointed with myself.

I feel like I've had that movie seared into my mind, what with the constant airings on cable TV, so it was almost a reflex to conjure that image in my mind when I saw your photo of the valk.

[David Hingtgen]

Yup, POM is inherently "waxy" and/or "slippery" to the touch. ABS is "most toys, LEGOs, etc".

[Kanedas Bike]

Wow, Technoblue's pictures make me think of Bandai's Metal Build Trans Am releases with that "hue".

That said when I looked at the different Yamato and Arcadia releases earlier the pink or whatever wasn't nearly as pronounced as the pictures above, but I suppose that all depends on lighting, camera, my monitor, etc.

-b.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

it really depends on the lighting. under my living room lights, that's what the hue looks like to my eyes in person... during the day away from the sun, it's a bit less pronounced.

[eriku]

Ironically the valkyries on the site banner up on top of the page have the same pinkish hue.