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10 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

It's only recently that NY has had the best prices at initial preorder, they used to be somewhere in the middle of the pack (and their faster shipping rates are still pretty excessive).  Amiami tended to have the lowest prices for the Frontier releases.

NY has a reputation for marking things up significantly later on, gradually increasing prices, but it's not like they don't have a good reason to do it.  If they're buying up things from other shops to sell online, then their prices are going to reflect the cost to buy them.

What I wonder is if NY employees have been blacklisted from other local shops for reselling online.  Would explain why they seem to have so much less stock the past year or so.

Anyway, two comments about the actual VF-31 though.. not significant problems, but minor annoyances that I'm curious if anyone else sees.

First, it seems like my ankle cuffs don't want to stay on.  Maybe it's the angle they're getting pressure from, but they seem to pop off any time I extend or collapse the ankles.

Second, anyone else noticing.. just thin paint, I guess?  I've barely transformed mine one or two times, but the blue paint on the intakes is wearing off just from handling.  Anyone have a good paint match to touch those up with?

I've also noticed some paint chipping on the blue paint around the intakes. I'm not sure if those were there when I opened it or not. I'm not sure how they would be chipping either since these parts are not rubbing up against anything. 

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Yeah, there are definitely areas where the paint looks very thin.  Like single coat with an airbrush thin.  So far, I've got that on the portion just behind the canopy (white is wearing through). Not sure what's happening there but definitely be cautious with handling. I'm not one to wear cotton gloves when handling toys but it has me thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea.

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3 hours ago, Raptor One said:

Isn't it more likely Arad's 31A gets released before the regular version?

 

3 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Or the regular version first then Arad's as a Tamashii exclusive? ^_^

 

 

Arad's 31A can be used to re-ignite waning interest or milk the very last drop of the 31 mold, hence i think a future exclusive would be the way to go. 
There may not b as much demand for the regular 31A either, if arad's 31A were to be released earlier.

But the bottom line, we also wont know if Arad's 31A even is on bandai's release list, or dare i say it the 31A for that matter.

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Got around to opening my 31J and wow what a difference from the Frontier valks! Hopefully they do away with the frosted canopy for Messer's, I really didnt like Hayate so I dont mind it on the 31J. I didnt even place a pilot in my copy :lol:

C1CC8CBE-45B1-483C-BAD6-82F8A6161331.jpg

43660989-7F14-4B68-9915-F7ADA18C3613.jpg

278671D9-CA2A-4931-98BA-12DFB9DAD52A.jpg

0FFE594B-9A12-4EE3-BCFD-2EE10D10F614.jpg

The 29 in this pic is a damn rag doll :( ankle joints are loose, hips are loose, crotch lock disengages with little force. Im sad most of the the Frontier Valks all suffer from this as they were some of my favorite designs.  

3DF56C11-044E-47EE-BADB-8AB38468A0EA.jpg

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Pre-Order available at Nin-Nin-Game

https://www.nin-nin-game.com/en/japanese-import-hobbies-toys-game-character/22119-macross-delta-vf-31f-siegfried-messer-ihlefeld-custom-dx-chogokin--4549660129226.html

comes out to be about $250 with shipping and I believe you have to pay now. 

I have ordered with them previously (but not for pre-order) and I am pretty satisfied with their services. They do tend to make mistakes at times but they have so far provided me with excellent customer support and resolved any issues I had with my orders.

Edited by Eslim109
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3 hours ago, anubis20 said:

Got around to opening my 31J and wow what a difference from the Frontier valks! Hopefully they do away with the frosted canopy for Messer's, I really didnt like Hayate so I dont mind it on the 31J. I didnt even place a pilot in my copy :lol:

278671D9-CA2A-4931-98BA-12DFB9DAD52A.jpg

The 29 in this pic is a damn rag doll :( ankle joints are loose, hips are loose, crotch lock disengages with little force. Im sad most of the the Frontier Valks all suffer from this as they were some of my favorite designs.  

*snip*

Step aside VF-1 and YF-19. This is now my favorite Valk in Gerwalk mode. :wub: 

True about the 29's. I already fixed my Isamu's crotch and shoulder joints and even those crotch lock. And man, that area are hard to open.

2 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Good looking out for people spanner.

Except his 'own brother' here. Hahaha! :lol: 

 

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1 hour ago, no3Ljm said:

Step aside VF-1 and YF-19. This is now my favorite Valk in Gerwalk mode. :wub: 

True about the 29's. I already fixed my Isamu's crotch and shoulder joints and even those crotch lock. And man, that area are hard to open.

 

I have to agree. For me the best Gerwalks now are the VF-0D, VF-1, VF-25, and VF-31

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22 hours ago, Mommar said:

I tried filing down the sprue marks as well.  No dice.  Not sure what you mean by "are the edges clear" however.

Mostly mean if they're clear of untrimmed sprue.  Aside from the defined pegs, the two flat surfaces that meet inside the wing-fold joint should be clear of any lumps, or they're going to keep the wing sections from meshing properly.

Anyway, yeah, the blue paint on this valk just feels really thin and weak, as if they didn't give it enough coats.  I've barely handled mine, and all of the sharp edges around the intake are already wearing off, showing white plastic.  There's literally nothing that comes into contact with those edges but my fingers when I'm posing the hips, and I've spent maybe all of five minutes doing that before going back to fighter mode.

The gray paint on the backplate and wings feels a little thicker, but I'd also be careful handling the weapons pod, since the paint actually looks almost feathered toward the edges of the gray panels.

Also have lost a bit of paint on the painted panel right behind the canopy for whatever reason.  Might have scratched it during the one time I transformed it?  May also have happened purely from trying to shove the nose back to close the fuselage gap. <_<

Edited by Chronocidal
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2 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

Mostly mean if they're clear of untrimmed sprue.  Aside from the defined pegs, the two flat surfaces that meet inside the wing-fold joint should be clear of any lumps, or they're going to keep the wing sections from meshing properly.

I see, I have checked all of that and it's clean.  I'm running out of ideas, save for the VF-21/22 fix, but that would require a similar mechanism for holding the folding joint on the wing and some way to open the wing up to reach the screws.  Somehow I doubt it's constructed the same.

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13 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Wait. No YF-19 Gerwalk love from you? :rolleyes:

 

I thought the general consensus was that the YF-19 had the worst gerwalk mode hehe.

Curious though. Why would you count the VF-25 as having a great gerwalk mode, but not the YF-29? I always thought that the YF-29 had a strictly better gerwalk mode compared to the VF-25 because of the back mounted guns and the rotating wing pods.

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They're essentially the same aircraft, but it'll depend on if you're going for combat effectiveness, or pure aesthetics.  Personally, all the extra junk hanging off the YF-29 just feels too busy to me.

I do like the VF-31 gerwalk quite a bit, especially with the extra joints Bandai threw in on this design.  I will say the upper twist joint behind the thighs scares me a little though, it's extremely tight, and I worry about what kind of plastic shard puzzle that could dissolve into if the metallic plastic does what it did on the 171.

Do appreciate that they finally ditched the die-cast intakes though.  It never seemed to serve any purpose, other than making sure that the hips eventually wound up with paint flaking off.  Not that the 31 isn't having paint issues of its own, but it's a lot easier to repaint plastic than to touch up bare metal.

Edited by Chronocidal
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6 hours ago, Eslim109 said:

Pre-Order available at Nin-Nin-Game

https://www.nin-nin-game.com/en/japanese-import-hobbies-toys-game-character/22119-macross-delta-vf-31f-siegfried-messer-ihlefeld-custom-dx-chogokin--4549660129226.html

comes out to be about $250 with shipping and I believe you have to pay now. 

I have ordered with them previously (but not for pre-order) and I am pretty satisfied with their services. They do tend to make mistakes at times but they have so far provided me with excellent customer support and resolved any issues I had with my orders.

If you pay with creditcard they will do a tempt charge now and the actual one when they recieved the item.

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14 hours ago, Scream Man said:

Spanner hooked me up so in April I'll be getting Messer! :D 

11 hours ago, Scream Man said:

Spanner is, indeed, the man :) 

hey no problem at all mate! :) always happy to help a fellow enthusiast when ever I can! B))

7 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Good looking out for people spanner.

just doing what I can with what I got.. Quote: Burt Gummer - Tremors 2 :D

4 hours ago, jvmacross said:

You lost all your "Spanner quotes" bargaining power!  :(

in a strange kinda way I do miss those.. :rolleyes: :p

4 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Except his 'own brother' here. Hahaha! :lol: 

awww dude, you know if I could've I would've! ;) major problem is you don't live 25 minutes drive away like Scream Man does.. :lol::wacko:

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3 hours ago, anubis20 said:

Nope it reminds me of this :lol:

Floating ring.jpg

Boo!!! Hahaha! :lol: 

3 hours ago, ArchieNov said:

I thought the general consensus was that the YF-19 had the worst gerwalk mode hehe.

Hey! To each his own, ok. I love it in Gerwalk mode too. :lol: 

2 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

I do like the VF-31 gerwalk quite a bit, especially with the extra joints Bandai threw in on this design.  I will say the upper twist joint behind the thighs scares me a little though, it's extremely tight, and I worry about what kind of plastic shard puzzle that could dissolve into if the metallic plastic does what it did on the 171.

This is my problem too with the VF-31. Mine is super tight and I don't want to force twist it. And I don't there's a way for it to open too just in case it needs repairs. :( 

1 hour ago, spanner said:

awww dude, you know if I could've I would've! ;) major problem is you don't live 25 minutes drive away like Scream Man does.. :lol::wacko:

Excuses, excuses. :lol: 

 

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6 hours ago, ArchieNov said:

I thought the general consensus was that the YF-19 had the worst gerwalk mode hehe.

 

6 hours ago, Slave IV said:

I can't get past the arms over the wings on the YF-19 gerwalk mode. Maybe I'll like it better in hand once I transform mine and see it more up close...

Lolz, Gerwalk 19s do suck especially the old Bandai 1/65s.

DSC_0468.jpg100_1026.JPG

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13 hours ago, anubis20 said:

Got around to opening my 31J and wow what a difference from the Frontier valks! Hopefully they do away with the frosted canopy for Messer's, I really didnt like Hayate so I dont mind it on the 31J. I didnt even place a pilot in my copy :lol:

The 29 in this pic is a damn rag doll :( ankle joints are loose, hips are loose, crotch lock disengages with little force. Im sad most of the the Frontier Valks all suffer from this as they were some of my favorite designs.  

3DF56C11-044E-47EE-BADB-8AB38468A0EA.jpg

love this photo with the Valks in sequential order! 29, 30 & 31! very cool! B))

yeah its a real shame the Frontier Valks, especially considering they are renewals and they all still suffer from those loose joint issues as yes they are all great designs! I have all of mine on display and I refrain from messing about with them as not to exacerbate the issue. :wacko: Tisk tisk to Bandai for allowing that to occur. <_<  sigh.. -_-

Edited by spanner
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Much like I did with my -27's nosecone (and a few other spots), I think I'll give it a coat or two of flattened Future to some areas before it is transformed even once.   (once I actually buy one, that is).  

So---intakes/hips are the #1 area that needs protection?   Followed by 'aft of canopy'?   Anywhere else notable? 

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