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Bandai VF-19 Advance....!!!


Scream Man

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So I'm about 90% of the was through a (harrowing but mostly enjoyable) transformation no. 1; anyone else have like wicked-tight hip joints?

I feel like amount of force I'm putting on the ball joint is roughly twice what is reasonable, and the thing barely budges! I've got half a mind to loosen a screw or something... The guy on the transformation video (@ 5:48) makes this look so easy!

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HLJ order got cancelled. Hope you guys who got 2 or 3 or 4 each sleep well at night.

I don't blame you for this and I do understand your feeling. But just so you know that I also stayed up late just to watch all the online shops on the night of preordering just to nab even one. And the other one I got is when HLJ opened up their preorders again like 2-3 weeks ago. I must say that it's really an effort to watch everything and see that that shops is already sold out in a span of a second.

My HLJ order was cancelled as well. Not the best email to find waiting for me this morning... but I don't resent HLJ over it or anything, at least they were honest and straightforward about it.

Good for you, dear sir. I salute your attitude on this matter.

Sorry to hear that.. but yeah sleeping fine thanks! ;)

Just for fun, me too, even though I'm not that 100% happy with the one HLJ shipped to me. More on that later. ;)

Yeah, that's not very fair. Lots of us who got two or more did our best to help others by posting links on preorder night and trying to alert others. Only so much you can do after you take care of yourself first though. The way these things go for Bandai, they would have sold out anyway if we all stuck to one per household. I think the frustration is misplaced but I don't blame you feeling upset. Most people blame Bandai though (or scalpers)...

Well said. My sentiments exactly.

hahaha too funny :lol:

well we got ours legit at different places not doubling up at hlj.

i actually cancelled my one copy from hlj long time ago bc i had 3 coming in from all different places. but hlj opened it up and it was up for hours so i pre-ordered only one from them... but maybe if this is a floppy mess i may regret it in a few months.

so far it looks cosmetically good. (except the neck of the bird on the arcadia looks much much better... F360's post pointed out how much better arcadia neck is from the side profile

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=41848&p=1204837

Yup, me too. Got one from each store. Good thing I didn't order 2 from HLJ since I'm not satisfied with the one I have right now from them. But still, all is good. :D

So I'm about 90% of the was through a (harrowing but mostly enjoyable) transformation no. 1; anyone else have like wicked-tight hip joints?

I feel like amount of force I'm putting on the ball joint is roughly twice what is reasonable, and the thing barely budges! I've got half a mind to loosen a screw or something... The guy on the transformation video (@ 5:48) makes this look so easy!

Just so you know, that the figure they used in the video were already transformed so many times. ;)
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I can give quick impressions of Fighter mode now, I can't do a full review as I haven't transformed it at all yet.

Positives first:

It's a VF-19. I was wrong about the Broke-back look. Having it in hand there is a rather attractive cant upwards on the neck and it looks decent.

A lot of the tampo looks really good.

The method they used to make the intakes blend with the rest of the craft was a good idea (at least from the perspective of how fighter mode looks, I may not like it when it comes to function in the other two modes.)

The undercarriage looks great.

It looks very, very cool and screen accurate with all of the fancy super bits attached.

The swing bar actually has a bit of a click and is easier to adjust the wings correct.

The thigh joints are the typical Bandai and have a HUGE range of motion forward.

Negatives.:

A lot of the tampo looks oversized, is blotchy or is arranged on the plane at angles and in manners I wouldn't have chosen and can look very tacky and toylike. Also, they got down to where the front landing gear was and just kinda stopped applying tampo to the bottom of the plane. Oddly bare at the back given all of the other gawdy bits they put on.

With all of the super bits on it's a fiddly, gappy mess. Getting said super bits on is one of the most frustrating experiences with a Valk I've ever had.

The right wing root on my VF-19 droops horribly when the Boosters are attached.

Oh, I forgot to mention that with the leg super parts attached the wing root only pegs in on the bottom and not the top, which both makes the entire thin less stable and looks terrible with the gap and tab just sticking out there.

I never want to transform this thing from fighter because getting it all together with the super bits was absolutely not fun.

Bandai over engineering the mechanism to attach the shield and the neck cover, you have this little bit of harness you have to feed the head laser through then you have to finagle the little tab bits at the top of the shield into place while the harness bangs around and gets in the way and won't fit down into the space where the neck gap is. Could have just had a piece that snaps to the back of the shield and unsnaps then snaps over the neck. Who would have thought of something so simple?

The "dick-bend" gun is horrible but necessary because the gun normally angles so far down that even with landing gear extended it still jams into the ground. The issue isn't even that they tried to bend the gun around the belly of the plane... the gun gets NOWHERE CLOSE to the belly of the plane. At least on the arcadia version it's clear that the gun really cannot angle forward anymore without passing through the belly plate. On the Bandai one it's just way, way off.

Personal Opinions:

In terms of the look of the fighter I feel like the length nose/cockpit area seems undersized or unbalanced compared to the back side. I checked out the side profile of the Arcadia and the nose is a bit longer and wider and there seems to be a balanced look between the front and back that I personally prefer.

While I like the more straightforward style of this VF-19 I still prefer the nose turned down a bit more on the Arcadia version.

The belly plate and under carriage of this plane looks better than Arcadias.

I feel like the shield/legs are too long in fighter mode.

I've accidentally bumped the machanism for the canards and can say that I hate everything about it. Just the little way they flip up and down feels really flimsy and loose. I believe they are a candidate for floppiness. Also, the over-engineerd mechanism for flipping them around is ripe for breakage.

The thigh joint moving so far coupled with Bandai's other ankles means that Gerwalk will be better for posing. That I can already tell without transforming it.

That's it for now, I'll have to play with it more... oh yeah, and the rear landing gear look like a slightly tweaked VF-25 landing gear and I do not enjoy unfolding the front lading gear.

Edited by Mommar
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Well, I had an VF with a a fellow member, but I told him I already have gotten one from HLJ and I opted to go with that one

My mistake was to order a second one, since I figured it wouldn't be a problem after a few members have gotten multiples but oh surprise!!!

If I hadn't ordered the second one, chances are I would have gotten the first one since the secure link orders were served on a first come first served and I made my order friday night

Of course I cant blame anyone from here since we all try to put the links as fast as we can, If there its an issue it could be with HLJ they weren't very equal with the amount of items you could order

What bothers me its that in the end I ended up without one

Edited by mog_kupo
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Ok, got this today. Initial reaction as well upon opening the box.

Big box and its contents.

IMG_0114_zpsopuazhie.jpg

IMG_0117_zps9bfqye1s.jpg

IMG_0119_zpsaq2lho3c.jpg

Upon removing the Valk from the plastic, I already noticed all the gaps mentioned in this thread.

IMG_0121_zpstjz4wrsv.jpg

IMG_0122_zpsxzf2usq3.jpg

IMG_0128_zps1dowavvf.jpg

Chronocidal asked about the canards so I took some photos of how it can fold.

th_IMG_0123_zpsajqmohzn.jpg th_IMG_0124_zpsoo5ueqcv.jpg th_IMG_0126_zpsew1of9is.jpg th_IMG_0127_zpsn9cjvya5.jpg th_IMG_0129_zpskbdhmdzb.jpg th_IMG_0130_zpsopc4ovcx.jpg

Lastly, does anyone have a folding pelvic part like this? Anyways, will figure it out later if it's just crooked because of mistransformation. And hope everything is flushed out later on. Just so you know, this is the one that came from HLJ.

IMG_0132_zpsquiv6vhz.jpg

Wow. Cool! This is the first time AmiAmi reopened something hot that it's already been sold out. ;) Edited by no3ljm
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yup, for those that got their cancellation emails from HLJ , this is probably the last place to get yours before those up up and away prices.

Edited by F360
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Wow that link is still up!

Yeah, not to mention that it's cheaper by 4K Yen (around $30ish). You can pretty much get it shipped via EMS for 28K Yen, which brings the valk price to $233ish.

Wonder if Bandai decides to increase manufactury qty due to demand.

Quoting a member's post here: I guess folks are underestimating the power of Isamu.

Edited by rnurmin
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Good 30 minutes now and Amiami still has it up as far as I can tell. One of you guys who complained about the multiple purchase thing better have gotten one! ;)

EDIT: Hell yeah, mog :)

Edited by xrentonx
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My order from the secure link got canned by HLJ this morning. Here goes my second attempt to grab the 19 now from Amiami. Fingers crossed it goes through. Thanks all!

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Man, when I was looking at people photos, I noticed the head laser on mine looked a lot shorter than everyone else's. I thought maybe I mistransformed it. So I kept trying to pull it up and stuff thinking it was like the arcadia VF-19s where the lasers can slide forward and back. Nope, I transformed it to battroid and it's only got the pivot point.

The reason it's so short is because I think the tip snapped off while it was being assembled or before it got assembled. I probably wouldn't have noticed and thought that's just how they designed it, but seeing everyone else's, it's obvious and bothers me now. Chances are pretty much nil for getting a replacement part also for Bandai stuff... This sucks.

Crappy phone pic:

post-10222-0-86654900-1435121100_thumb.jpg

Because they aren't in the anime, either Frontier or Plus.

Huh, well then. I guess I'll have to give them a pass on that, even though the CG model on the inside cover of the manual has it.

Are you going to weather yours, MacrossJunkie? Looking forward to it. ^_^

I'll get around to it eventually. I still have so much other stuff to do and no time to do it. My VF-0D is still in pieces and covered in masking tape and I haven't even sprayed any paint on it yet.

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Man, when I was looking at people photos, I noticed the head laser on mine looked a lot shorter than everyone else's. I thought maybe I mistransformed it. So I kept trying to pull it up and stuff thinking it was like the arcadia VF-19s where the lasers can slide forward and back. Nope, I transformed it to battroid and it's only got the pivot point.

The reason it's so short is because I think the tip snapped off while it was being assembled or before it got assembled. I probably wouldn't have noticed and thought that's just how they designed it, but seeing everyone else's, it's obvious and bothers me now. Chances are pretty much nil for getting a replacement part also for Bandai stuff... This sucks.

Crappy phone pic:

attachicon.gifIMG_20150624_003437.jpg

Huh, well then. I guess I'll have to give them a pass on that, even though the CG model on the inside cover of the manual has it.

I'll get around to it eventually. I still have so much other stuff to do and no time to do it. My VF-0D is still in pieces and covered in masking tape and I haven't even sprayed any paint on it yet.

Sorry to hear about the antenna, MacrossJunkie. :(
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Been an hour and that Amiami link is still up...

My CDJ shipment is sitting at the post office 10 minutes away from the house. So close I can walk there :(

Edited by xrentonx
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Hahah, I should :ph34r:

My HLJ shipment hasn't gone out yet so I'm expecting it at the end of the week too when I pick up the CDJ package on Saturday. Til then I get to watch this thread and see people's pics ;)

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High speed mode is confirmed the instant you open the box; it comes packed that way

my expalnation was hard to understand lol. I will have to show it via pic in a later post, but if you look at the pic that shows all 3 versions in fighter mode from the side, Yamato, Bandai's and Arcadia's you will notice the gap I speak of. it's the part of the wing section that attaches to lower ankle section of the fighter. It looks like the gap that allows the wings to slide back and forth between both modes is larger.

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Man Oh Man... This one transforms more difficult than the Arcadia's. Hahaha! I'm looking at it right now in Battroid mode. I didn't own a Yamato YF-19. But somehow it felt like it's Yamato's YF-19 due to the legs. It's long. And you can't even adjust the ankles like the Arcadia's. I was trying to push the ankle a notch but it won't. If I push it, it just goes back to Fighter level position.

The locking tabs is somehow a problem. At first, I thought I was going to break the wing body since it won't budge from the legs. Not sure, if I need to shave a little of the locking tabs. But I' afraid if I do that, it might get too loose.

Pelvic diecast joint is super tight. You can loosen it up by the screws as m30 suggested.

The Gerwalk thigh joint is tight. I know I don't like this joint since I saw all those photos online. But it's ok for now. I know that it's going to be loose too in time. I didn't see any complications why they couldn't implement the knee joint instead of the thigh joint.

The backpack is not diecast if you guys are wondering. Kinda fragile looking because of the telescopic method to expand the backpack.

I love the shoulder. The neck cover slide mechanism to the shield is cool. Though we have to be careful on the telescopic rail. Don't force it when you retract. Be gentle.

Lastly, I do have trouble on the tabs on the part at the back of the intakes. It won't lock that much during Fighter mode. I think I remember spanner posted that as well. As for the part under the nosecone in which I posted a photo earlier, just make sure that the nosecone sits properly and that part will not drop again.

I'm going to transform this tomorrow back in Fighter mode hoping that all the tabs will lock properly (and hopefully not too tight), and to see if the pelvic part is still crooked once I transform it properly. As of now, it's the basic Valk figure that touching. The rest are still in their plastic trays. :)

Edited by no3ljm
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