DX Chogokin VF-17S

[Graham]

49 minutes ago, cheemingwan1234 said:

Well, if they decide to retool the legs of the VF-17S, I don't think it can do the gun pod ejection gimmick properly since Yamato had to split the gunpod in half and store it in the backs of the legs.

 

I don't mind if the DX VF-17S lacks the gunpod internal storage/ejection gimmick.

I just want the toy to:

1. Be slightly beefier in Battroid mode, especially the lower legs.
2. Have all the correct panel lines according to the VF-17 lineart. At the moment, the legs, backplate and shoulders are completely wrong detailwise.
3. Resculpt the head to get of that raised cowling at the top of the head.
4. Get rid of the hardpoints on the wings.
5. Adjust the crotch peice in batroid mode so that it points down instead of being angled forward.

 

[BlueMax]

3 hours ago, Graham said:

Get rid of the hardpoints on the wings.

 

The 171s' wings did not come with hardpoints by default on the original releases, the hardpoint versions came with the FP sets. If the 17 is a non FP release, I believe they will have no hard points.

[jenius]

16 minutes ago, BlueMax said:

The 171s' wings did not come with hardpoints by default on the original releases, the hardpoint versions came with the FP sets. If the 17 is a non FP release, I believe they will have no hard points.

I disagree, the revival added the hard points and dropped the wings without them and made the wings permanently attached (which is a huge improvement). I suspect the 17 will have permanently attached wings and they will have hard points. While it may not have been canon to have weapons on the wings, it's more fun to have the hard points and give us options so I hope they're on there. That particular sin feels like a feature, not a bug, while everything else is bugs. 

[Chronocidal]

If they ever get around to making the super packs, the hardpoints will also work as a ready-made attachment point for them under the wings.

Which.. boy I'll be really curious if Bandai even bothers with those, or whether they function at all.  All of the packs in Macross7 were pretty janky in their implementation (except for the VF-11, which came from Plus).

[BlueMax]

I see. I don't own any of the revivals, just the original versions, so my information is obselete. Personally, hard points to me is just there as an option. we can certainly choose to ignore it, and if we want a "custom" so to speak, the option is there for a non conventional loadout.

[PointBlankSniper]

8 hours ago, cheemingwan1234 said:

Well, if they decide to retool the legs of the VF-17S, I don't think it can do the gun pod ejection gimmick properly since Yamato had to split the gunpod in half and store it in the backs of the legs.

Think the buttstock is supposed to be a skeleton underfolder, so it was always supposed to shorten to the same length, just without spitting... They should have done a new gunpod mold, not just for that, but also the ammo gimmick and add the beam ammo.

3 hours ago, jenius said:

While it may not have been canon to have weapons on the wings, it's more fun to have the hard points and give us options so I hope they're on there. That particular sin feels like a feature, not a bug, while everything else is bugs. 

That is definitely an intentional feature. The wings are different shaped, so definitely new parts. They put them there on purpose like the new wings on the 19Kai. I agree that it's a cool play option and I wish the frontier valks also got, and bandai should release more missiles to actually use the feature. Wanting them removed is kind of being the no fun police...

2 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

If they ever get around to making the super packs, the hardpoints will also work as a ready-made attachment point for them under the wings.

Which.. boy I'll be really curious if Bandai even bothers with those, or whether they function at all.  All of the packs in Macross7 were pretty janky in their implementation (except for the VF-11, which came from Plus).

I don't see how it's possible to mount the back pack guns. The piece it goes on has no ports on the surface, and all of its edges are blocked by something, so they can't even hook anything around. They either have to dremel some tab slots in before packing it in the box, or give you double sided tape with the pack. I feel like the way they announced this is a declaration that they won't do a super pack for it. Not even the 19Kai looks like it has plugs for the sound booster. I feel like bandai killed the idea of add ons as separate purchases, that's why anything that was going to have a pack had their packs included since WWM started. I'm still huffing my hoping for the arm cannon, but I honestly don't think it's ever happening.

[ArchieNov]

On 9/25/2025 at 10:07 AM, treatment said:

from https://x.com/simsim5479/status/1971020441360937452

 

web-translated:

 

It's kinda weird how the proportions look perfectly fine to me with the 171, but it looks off with the 17. And it's not because I'm comparing it to the line art. Just looking at these 2 images side by side makes the 17 look awkward. Maybe it's because of the head design? Seeing a Frankenstein's monster head makes you expect that the rest of the body should be stocky?

[aurance]

I hate this

[Chronocidal]

7 hours ago, ArchieNov said:

It's kinda weird how the proportions look perfectly fine to me with the 171, but it looks off with the 17. And it's not because I'm comparing it to the line art. Just looking at these 2 images side by side makes the 17 look awkward. Maybe it's because of the head design? Seeing a Frankenstein's monster head makes you expect that the rest of the body should be stocky?

I think a significant portion of the weirdness comes from the fact that the nose of the 171 makes up a significant portion of the torso, which is just completely absent on this "17" version.  There's just nothing there to look like it even connects to itself, and the legs are just left floating around the nosecone.

[Graham]

I wonder if a lot of Japanese Macross fans are complaining about the DX VF-17S design?

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

46 minutes ago, Graham said:

I wonder if a lot of Japanese Macross fans are complaining about the DX VF-17S design?

I'm wondering if Japanese local stores still have it available (PO sales reflecting demand). (I'm aware the following ship internationally*) I checked Hobbysearch and the PO is sold out (while the VF19K is available), hlj still has the VF17S available, so does AmiAmi. 

Edited Wednesday at 01:50 AM by PsYcHoDyNaMiX

[Chronocidal]

The relative lack of demand doesn't surprise me.  Between the 171's terrible history, and the Yamato VF-17 just existing, I can't imagine anyone really attached to that design is scrambling to pick one up.

[PointBlankSniper]

15 hours ago, ArchieNov said:

It's kinda weird how the proportions look perfectly fine to me with the 171, but it looks off with the 17. And it's not because I'm comparing it to the line art. Just looking at these 2 images side by side makes the 17 look awkward. Maybe it's because of the head design? Seeing a Frankenstein's monster head makes you expect that the rest of the body should be stocky?

I think it's the camera angle, and the head design.

171 is taken slightly top down, so it's proportions are squatted, and the chest looks lower than it really is. The head and its colors are blended into the ear lasers, which gives it a photogenic V shaped silhouette that follows how the chest also tapers together towards the front.

17S is taken level with the waist. That makes the chest look as wide and thin as it really is, and looks like it hangs high up on the skinny torso. The legs' full lankiness are exposed by the direct flat angle. The head is cylindrical and silver, which stands out like a soda can, while the lasers are dark with no highlights so they blend in to the back side parts and main body, making them contribute little to the silhouette and proportions of the head. Overall it it makes the head look too narrow for how wide the chest is, and the chest too wide for those legs.

It's basically a "V" shape vs a "t" shaped silhouette. Only one of them looks like an angry robot.

[treatment]

6 hours ago, Graham said:

I wonder if a lot of Japanese Macross fans are complaining about the DX VF-17S design?

 

Some of the translated comments on this Tamashii-Nations' own tweet were at least just a bit salty...

https://twitter.com/t_features/status/1973245276841533522

 

 

[ArchieNov]

1 hour ago, PointBlankSniper said:

I think it's the camera angle, and the head design.

171 is taken slightly top down, so it's proportions are squatted, and the chest looks lower than it really is. The head and its colors are blended into the ear lasers, which gives it a photogenic V shaped silhouette that follows how the chest also tapers together towards the front.

17S is taken level with the waist. That makes the chest look as wide and thin as it really is, and looks like it hangs high up on the skinny torso. The legs' full lankiness are exposed by the direct flat angle. The head is cylindrical and silver, which stands out like a soda can, while the lasers are dark with no highlights so they blend in to the back side parts and main body, making them contribute little to the silhouette and proportions of the head. Overall it it makes the head look too narrow for how wide the chest is, and the chest too wide for those legs.

It's basically a "V" shape vs a "t" shaped silhouette. Only one of them looks like an angry robot.

I suspected it had something to do with the patterns and colors as well. Thanks for explaining it better.

But I also agree with Chronocidal's comment about the nosecone hips. Having the additional bulk in that area makes the legs look shorter and thus, not as long and lanky.

[raptormesh]

It's amusing how Bandai is just shitting the bed with the YF-21 and this when it comes to being faithful to line art. I get adjusting to make sure it's a playable toy but it's so far off I held off buying the 21 even at at deep discount despite being my #1 fav valk. I suspect I may pass on this one too. 

[PointBlankSniper]

I just noticed this shot wasn't floating around before, I think... maybe it was added later?

bandai's not even trying to hide that they are stowing the gunpod wrong lol

[jenius]

I think they're making lemonade saying you can stow the gun in fighter unlike the old 1/65 they made.

[M'Kyuun]

I much prefer the original chonky design. I'll stick with my Yamato.

[sjoebarry]

6 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I much prefer the original chonky design. I'll stick with my Yamato.

Same.  This new one is so unappealing 

[twich]

I Love the DX Chogokin VF-171EX renewal that I have, and this looks to be a nice design. I know that isn’t a popular opinion, but I think it would be a good addition to the upcoming VF-19 KaiFireValkyrie.

Twich

[Froy]

At this point a VF-22 would have been a better choise for Bandai.

A different head and modified belly plates would have been easier.

That gunpod mounting is totally wrong, you just can't remove it and no problem but that shows how halfa$$ed Bandai went with the 17.

[jenius]

49 minutes ago, Froy said:

At this point a VF-22 would have been a better choise for Bandai.

A different head and modified belly plates would have been easier.

That gunpod mounting is totally wrong, you just can't remove it and no problem but that shows how halfa$$ed Bandai went with the 17.

MMmmmmmm but the gunpod mounting would almost certainly be totally wrong on a VF-22 also right? That YF-21 toy is not good... hard to imagine how a VF-22 made from it would be any better than a VF-17 made from the VF-171. 

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

2 hours ago, Froy said:

At this point a VF-22 would have been a better choise for Bandai.

A different head and modified belly plates would have been easier.

That gunpod mounting is totally wrong, you just can't remove it and no problem but that shows how halfa$$ed Bandai went with the 17.

Probably, but I'm thinking Bandai was looking for a product for regular retail release not a lottery/premium bandai release. Bandai would also need to figure out what to do or re-design the entire undersection with the belly plates as the VF22's design/line art would've be broken up with the current transforming sections for the YF21. Or do something else/simple like the conversion project I did and just make VF22S belly plates.

1 hour ago, jenius said:

MMmmmmmm but the gunpod mounting would almost certainly be totally wrong on a VF-22 also right? That YF-21 toy is not good... hard to imagine how a VF-22 made from it would be any better than a VF-17 made from the VF-171. 

Yea, not sure how Bandai would even attempt the internal gunpod mounting for the VF22S. But being Bandai, they'll just slap/leave them on the bottom just where the YF21 has it currently and if we're lucky Bandai will make some small adjustments so they don't droop.

Enough off topic talk from me, lol.

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, PsYcHoDyNaMiX said:

Yea, not sure how Bandai would even attempt the internal gunpod mounting for the VF22S. But being Bandai, they'll just slap/leave them on the bottom just where the YF21 has it currently and if we're lucky Bandai will make some small adjustments so they don't droop.

I think the trick to this is that, if you didn't have to stick the gunpods to the outside of the YF-21's belly plates, you could absolutely just make a small bulge like the Yamato VF-22s had, and it would look much better than their actual gunpods.  Yamato didn't attempt that internal mount either, it's just not physically possible.

At least with the VF-17, you can just leave the gunpod off, and pretend it's internal.. but then again, you're still missing the actual gunport on the leg, which I'm fairly certain Bandai couldn't be bothered to even paint on.  

Which.. yeah, that's another ten pounds of $#!7 on this dumpsterfire.  Even ignoring the proportional differences, the 17 and 171 share almost no panel detail whatsoever, and the 171 is covered in micro-missile launchers that the 17 never had.

I think the absolute best case you could ever make for this thing?  It looks like a halfway point between the 17 and 171, as if it was a test model for the upgrade process.  Which.. ok, yeah, I could buy that, planes go through those sorts of mid-lifecycle upgrades all the time.

Still, I absolutely recognize that it's just my coping mechanism to explain away things that don't make any sense in-universe.  I kind of came to appreciate the "Strange New Worlds" Enterprise in the same way, since, if I ignore any actual adherence to any timeline at all, it looks like a mid-point between the TOS and TMP versions.  I can appreciate the design and its theoretical lineage, even if it's completely outside the bounds of the canon.

[Duymon]

You know this isn't a mega popular release when you can still nab one on HLJ XD

I totally forgot about it and then got on HLJ and put down my order for one, out of respect of it being a VF-17 related toy and I love all my VF-17 stuff, even the ugly ones.

[Chronocidal]

Yeah, the general availability of this one speaks volumes.

Though I do suspect it's kind of a perfect storm of disinterest.  Bad representation of a design that already had low international appeal, just due to the weirdness of the show it came from.

Basically, anyone who really wanted one probably got the Yamato when it was new, and was happy with it.  But since that point in time, there's really been nothing to make any new fans of the design.  The Fire Valk at least has overlap with the YF-19, which is just eternally popular, but the VF-17 doesn't have that.

Sadly, Bandai is chasing the international dollar with a design that has no real demand locally or abroad, rather than making stuff for their primary market that everyone wants, and would still jump through the financial hoops to get it.

[HardlyNever]

9 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

Yeah, the general availability of this one speaks volumes.

Though I do suspect it's kind of a perfect storm of disinterest.  Bad representation of a design that already had low international appeal, just due to the weirdness of the show it came from.

Basically, anyone who really wanted one probably got the Yamato when it was new, and was happy with it.  But since that point in time, there's really been nothing to make any new fans of the design.  The Fire Valk at least has overlap with the YF-19, which is just eternally popular, but the VF-17 doesn't have that.

Sadly, Bandai is chasing the international dollar with a design that has no real demand locally or abroad, rather than making stuff for their primary market that everyone wants, and would still jump through the financial hoops to get it.

I should be within the target demographic for this: Just finishing the last 10ish episodes of my first watch-through of Macross 7.  Reasonably invested collector of all things Macross. Missed any yamato releases.

And yeah, I'm waiting for this to hit the bargain bin, if I ever get one at all.  I've never been a huge fan of the vf-17 design (or 171), but it's grown on me a bit throughout the show.  I think they just missed too hard on the design, especially the battroid.  I'm not a huge stickler for anime accuracy, but this just doesn't have the same beefy presence in battroid that the show design has.  It really is just too close to a re-painted vf-171 for me to be interested.  I would have much preferred a vf-11 of some flavor.

The tariffs and shipping don't help, but that's not what's really holding me back.

[David Hingtgen]

4 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Yeah, the general availability of this one speaks volumes. Though I do suspect it's kind of a perfect storm of disinterest.  Bad representation of a design that already had low international appeal, just due to the weirdness of the show it came from. Basically, anyone who really wanted one probably got the Yamato when it was new, and was happy with it.  But since that point in time, there's really been nothing to make any new fans of the design.  

Sadly, Bandai is chasing the international dollar with a design that has no real demand locally or abroad, rather than making stuff for their primary market that everyone wants, and would still jump through the financial hoops to get it.

Mainly that last sentence.  Even though this is just a minor remold, it's not free for them to create the modifications, either money-wise or time/resource-wise.   While "Max and Milia 1/48 VF-1J's" would cost them virtually nothing to create, and would sell out instantly worldwide.   

[Graham]

This is not a VF-17S. It is a VF-171 doing a piss poor cosplay as a VF-17S.

• Legs are completely wrong.
• backplate is completely wrong.
• Shoulders are wrong.
• External gun pod mounting is wrong.
• Overall too skinny.