Chronocidal Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 50 minutes ago, Lolicon said: Remember, kids: as far as high end collectables go, Bandai doesn't strive for "best." They strive for "good enough." Funny that in the 171's case they didn't even come close to scratching that goal. It should be a posterchild for how not to design a transforming toy, collectible or otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasazi37 Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 6 hours ago, Lolicon said: Remember, kids: as far as high end collectables go, Bandai doesn't strive for "best." They strive for "good enough." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasazi37 Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 I decided to open up my 171 last night, just to see how bad it might look in Fighter mode. Both head lasers are laughably, ridiculously warped. Thank goodness for the second set of hard plastic ones. Paint seems fine so far. I plan to carefully transform it to Battroid mode this weekend. I'm prepared for more disappointment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twich Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 So I have a question on this release, the leg armor of the VF-171ex has these little flaps, and on these flaps it looks like it has little guns on it, like the hip guns of the VF-25/27 and YF-29. This is not listed in the stats, as far as I can tell, so what are these? Twich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasazi37 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 On 3/20/2024 at 8:34 PM, Anasazi37 said: I decided to open up my 171 last night, just to see how bad it might look in Fighter mode. Both head lasers are laughably, ridiculously warped. Thank goodness for the second set of hard plastic ones. Paint seems fine so far. I plan to carefully transform it to Battroid mode this weekend. I'm prepared for more disappointment. I managed to transform my 171 to Battroid mode this weekend. It was a very stressful experience, made worse by unclear printed instructions and a lack of decent quality videos online. I found several that detailed the transformation from Battroid to Fighter, but not the other way. There was one from about ten years ago that was...okay, but the lighting was terrible, the person didn't know how to adequately describe what they were doing, and the resolution was bad. Had to replay sections of it multiple times. Getting the torso, chest, and head properly aligned and locked in was the worst part. The tolerances on this toy are very tight and pretty much all of the joints and hinges are very stiff, so I constantly felt like something was going to break while I was trying to move things around. I had to apply a bit more force than usual. I am never transforming this toy again. Much like my 171 CF is permanently in Fighter mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chronocidal Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 Sounds about right, that was always my experience. The worst steps for me, in either direction, were always the way the legs "lock" in place for battroid, the insanely tight metal hinge that collapses the backplate, the alignment of the arms going back to fighter, and.. well, just everything about the legs. The problem I always had going into battroid was that there never seemed enough room for the legs to rotate into place without removing the front landing gear doors. They don't fit well alongside the swingbar if you squeezed it shut, and for me, no 171 I ever transformed had a swingbar that actually locked in place, so the hip joints always flopped around on that metal bar. The legs are a very special thing though. I've mentioned it a few times in previous 171 threads, so apologies for the broken record, but I don't think it can be overstated, because this is part of why the legs tend to explode (the other part being that the design is just structurally incompetent). In short, Bandai screwed up the instructions. They didn't give us reverse instructions for going from battroid to fighter, and the process of dropping the legs does not work in reverse. The interlocks that keep the lower legs from twisting do not work with the knees bent. It's interesting seeing the instructions with the new WWM release, because they actually translate all the little warning callouts now. Unfortunately, they're still wrong. The callouts in the leg transformation section say to move the leg to a specific angle before rotating the lower legs. This ONLY works when going from fighter to battroid. For the reverse transformation, the knee joints must be fully straightened before the lower legs will rotate the other direction. They didn't give instructions on the reverse transformation, and that little omission is the smoking gun for anyone whose legs disintegrated while trying to un-rotate them going back to fighter mode. The only reason the legs will rotate as shown in the instructions is because of slippage in the knee interlock. To minimize stress in the joint, never rotate the lower legs with the knees bent. The steps to transform the legs should be the following: 1. Detach the lower leg from the backplate, and drop it one click at the knee 2. Immediately follow the step to release the upper leg, and drop the leg at the gerwalk joint 3. Re-straighten the knee 4. NOW you can rotate the lower leg 5. Extend the knee, and bend it as needed The reverse needs to be done going back to fighter. 1. Collapse the knee, and straighten it 2. Rotate the lower leg back to fighter position 3. Press the leg back into the belly, keeping the leg as straight as possible to minimize the stress on the knee The really bad part is that there doesn't seem any way to actually lessen the stress that the knee joints take when dropping the legs in the first place. Once the lower leg is free, you're really just yanking the upper leg free by applying sideways and twisting pressure on the knee joint, whether the knee is bent or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKT Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 3 hours ago, Anasazi37 said: I managed to transform my 171 to Battroid mode this weekend. It was a very stressful experience, made worse by unclear printed instructions and a lack of decent quality videos online. I found several that detailed the transformation from Battroid to Fighter, but not the other way. There was one from about ten years ago that was...okay, but the lighting was terrible, the person didn't know how to adequately describe what they were doing, and the resolution was bad. Had to replay sections of it multiple times. Getting the torso, chest, and head properly aligned and locked in was the worst part. The tolerances on this toy are very tight and pretty much all of the joints and hinges are very stiff, so I constantly felt like something was going to break while I was trying to move things around. I had to apply a bit more force than usual. I am never transforming this toy again. Much like my 171 CF is permanently in Fighter mode. The only 171 that I’ve transformed to Battroid is the RVF-171. I recall the hip swing bars were crazy stiff & I took almost as much time to wrangle it to its final proper position as getting up to that point from Fighter. It was early days of collecting then & I wasn’t that aware how fragile the mold is. Luckily nothing broke, but I don’t think I would have attempted it today, just as much as I won’t bring it out of Battroid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
505thAirborne Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 @jenius delivers another awesome review!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenius Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Thanks, I completely redid the written review on anymoon also which I think makes it a lot more useful and comprehensive... That's what made the review take so long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
505thAirborne Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) 25 minutes ago, jenius said: Thanks, I completely redid the written review on anymoon also which I think makes it a lot more useful and comprehensive... That's what made the review take so long. The reviews & information provided are always worth the wait. Unless I missed it, how are the triangles on this revival version? I do like how Bandai fixed the wing/hard point issue, having to swap out the wings was always a strange option. Edited March 27 by 505thAirborne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenius Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 I didn't mention it because I have only seen that be an issue on the Nightmare Plus. I don't remember seeing it as a problem for the original Alto, Luca, or Maruyama. Everything is fine so far on both my original and Revival. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chronocidal Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 I did notice that the quality of the plastic on the re-release is very different, even from the original EX version. The shoulder triangles (both the upper shoulder joint, and lower folding panel) seem to be a dark gray instead of solid black. It might be partially due to the change from gloss to dull, but they don't look like the same color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
505thAirborne Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 1 hour ago, jenius said: I didn't mention it because I have only seen that be an issue on the Nightmare Plus. I don't remember seeing it as a problem for the original Alto, Luca, or Maruyama. Everything is fine so far on both my original and Revival. Thank you for clarifying that, I wasn't sure if it was all 171's or just the Nightmare. I might have to get one of these revivals, if anything else it includes the Armor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenius Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 3 hours ago, Chronocidal said: I did notice that the quality of the plastic on the re-release is very different, even from the original EX version. The shoulder triangles (both the upper shoulder joint, and lower folding panel) seem to be a dark gray instead of solid black. It might be partially due to the change from gloss to dull, but they don't look like the same color. I think it's just a color and finish change. I'll poke 'em a bit more as I handle it with the armor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacrossJunkie Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 Good comparison. Thanks for the video. Would you say that your original one had yellowed a bit or more that the reissue came just super bright white (like whiter than the original release)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenius Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 13 hours ago, MacrossJunkie said: Good comparison. Thanks for the video. Would you say that your original one had yellowed a bit or more that the reissue came just super bright white (like whiter than the original release)? It's possible my Alto is not the same level of whiteness as it was when new but my Luca and Maruyama are a similar hue. I think the revival version might be a little more pure white and the matte finish may also catch the light better making it look even brighter when being photographed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacrossJunkie Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 12 hours ago, jenius said: It's possible my Alto is not the same level of whiteness as it was when new but my Luca and Maruyama are a similar hue. I think the revival version might be a little more pure white and the matte finish may also catch the light better making it look even brighter when being photographed. That's good to know. Thanks! I was debating whether if I should get one of these reissues or not, but was worried about the color not matching Luca or Maruyama's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Interesting, as I feel the latest Alto -25 is not as pure white as the original renewals. (At least, certainly not the "alternate" type of plastic used in some spots, like near the waist/hinges----it's not POM I think, but it's also not the "standard" ABS used for the main parts of the wings and legs etc----the previous releases seemed to have a more perfect match as-new, but those parts yellowed at different rates----the latest -25 doesn't match as well to start with, and almost looks very slightly pre-yellowed on those parts) Having the latest Alto -171 be even brighter than the original is surprising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
505thAirborne Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 (edited) @jenius delivers the goods again!! Edited April 16 by 505thAirborne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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