DX Chogokin VF-17S

[MacrossJunkie]

3 hours ago, Mommar said:

As I recall the locking mechanism was highly particular.  But when it's in place those damn things won't budge, even when you want to transform it.

On the other hand, Yamato's pall jointed ankles are the biggest flaw with both the 17 and 19.  I don't recall what the fix was.

That's the main issue I had with the old Yamato 17 and 19. The ankles had a hard time holding up the weight of the toy in battroid and occasionally I would find they toppled over on their own even in a very neutral stance. I've had to resort to propping them up against a wall so I don't find them collapsed later.

[Chronocidal]

3 hours ago, Mommar said:

As I recall the locking mechanism was highly particular.  But when it's in place those damn things won't budge, even when you want to transform it.

On the other hand, Yamato's pall jointed ankles are the biggest flaw with both the 17 and 19.  I don't recall what the fix was.

Yeah, I had varying levels of leg lock on the couple I got, and it was never consistent.  The tabs were pretty shallow, and it wasn't hard to knock the legs loose on any of mine.  For all its failures, that is one thing I don't think the 171 ever had issues with.

I can't say I ever had the issues with the Yamato 17s' feet that I did with the VF-19s', but I also had even less desire to display a 17 in gerwalk than I did the 19s.  Mine seemed to hold up well-enough in battroid, but I never displayed them that way for more than a few minutes at a time.  I'm probably a bad judge of 17-related stuff in general, I was just happy to get a solid fighter mode to display.

9 hours ago, ArchieNov said:

I was never happy with my Yamato VF-17S. I thought it was a bad toy, especially when compared to their VF-19S. (e.g. weird gap in the back plate in battroid, legs are too heavy to lock in place in fighter, battroid proportions were also kinda bad, etc). Was intially hoping that Bandai's version would be better, but it has its own set of bad issues. Sadly, I haven't seen any good VF-17 yet, or at least owned any.

Now what if by some weird chance, Bandai includes a set of swappable bulkier legs that are only used for battroid mode and make it into an optional partsformer. Would that make people happy? I know there are perfect transformation purists here that would hate that path, but I would be okay with it.

Yeah, fair, I guess I was never a big enough fan of the 17 for the issues with the Yamato one to bother me?  I thought it looked good enough, but it did have the same kind of weird backpack issue that the DX YF-21 has.  It was always one of those designs so firmly planted in the "impossible anime magic" category that it was never going to really look like the animation.

What I guess is kind of funny to consider.. have you looked at the old Bandai 1/65 versions?  They were far more limited in articulation and features, but I'm starting to think they got some things right that neither of the more modern takes have figured out.  

[Graham]

Yeah, the old Bandai 1/65 toys are still my  favorite versions of the VF-17D & VF-17S and in fact one of my all-time favorite Macross toys.

A few relatively simple improvements to the 1/65 would make them so much better.

I'd like to see the 1/65 VF-17 redesigned with the following changes:

• Improved hand sculpt, perhaps with different swapable fixed pose hands.
• Improved gunpod sculpt.
• Modify the knee joints so that the knees bend both forward and back (a modification that many owners do themselves anyway).
• Improved front and rear landing gears and landing gear doors, to make them more lineart accurate.
• Add ratcheted ball joints to the hips to allow the toy to do an A stance.
• Perhaps add an opening canopy and pilot figure.

 

[jenius]

I haven't handled mine in forever but I think they could have done the leg gun with a folding gun on the 1/65... Scale it 1/60 and give us two guns, one that fits and one that looks good.

[treatment]

https://twitter.com/Ippei_Shimada/status/1989278997579252161

web-translated:

Edited November 19, 2025 by treatment

[davidwhangchoi]

that Battroid looks like a malnourished Zentran 

[strikevalk]

On 10/14/2025 at 4:51 PM, Graham said:

Yeah, the old Bandai 1/65 toys are still my  favorite versions of the VF-17D & VF-17S and in fact one of my all-time favorite Macross toys.

A few relatively simple improvements to the 1/65 would make them so much better.

I'd like to see the 1/65 VF-17 redesigned with the following changes:

• Improved hand sculpt, perhaps with different swapable fixed pose hands.
• Improved gunpod sculpt.
• Modify the knee joints so that the knees bend both forward and back (a modification that many owners do themselves anyway).
• Improved front and rear landing gears and landing gear doors, to make them more lineart accurate.
• Add ratcheted ball joints to the hips to allow the toy to do an A stance.
• Perhaps add an opening canopy and pilot figure.

 

I love GBM Shop's custom....

 

[rsvictor1976]

41 minutes ago, strikevalk said:

I love GBM Shop's custom....

 

Are they out of business?

[Chronocidal]

That just makes me wish Bandai had done a revival of the old 1/65 instead, that looks so much better in pretty much every way.

I actually wonder if this will drive up prices for the old version.  Wouldn't that be a kick in the head for Bandai's financial analysis department.  

[Graham]

7 hours ago, strikevalk said:

I love GBM Shop's custom....

 

Absolutely gorgeous.

[PointBlankSniper]

Would be funny if bandai kneejerked to the backlash and sales numbers and decided to make changes, but only on the 17D, because its too late to mess with the 17S. So the two look vastly different lol 🤡

[mechaninac]

8 hours ago, PointBlankSniper said:

Would be funny if bandai kneejerked to the backlash and sales numbers and decided to make changes, but only on the 17D, because its too late to mess with the 17S. So the two look vastly different lol 🤡

Bandai's goal is to amortize as much of the VF-171 tooling as possible, which is why their VF-17 looks lanky instead of beefy as it should, so I absolutely doubt they will make any changes at all to address any of the criticisms levied on their rendition, be it for the upcoming S variant or a future D version; although, it would be funny if they did.

Just consider Bandai's contemporary interpretation as a design reimagining/retcon instead of an honest attempt -- like their original chunky or Yamato's -- at a faithful representation.

[Bolt]

On 10/14/2025 at 7:51 PM, Graham said:

Yeah, the old Bandai 1/65 toys are still my  favorite versions of the VF-17D & VF-17S and in fact one of my all-time favorite Macross toys.

Funny, now that you mention it, i still really like my 1/65 versions too. They're so simple and nice. And infinitely swoosh able. There's some nostalgia there too.

[Axelay]

Wrong gunpod stowage is just so very, very wrong.

[Graham]

On 11/22/2025 at 10:20 AM, Axelay said:

Wrong gunpod stowage is just so very, very wrong.

It's not just the gunpod stowage that is so very, very  wrong. 

The shape and panel lines/detailing of the legs and backplate are totally, completely wrong according to the VF-17 full detail lineart. The head cowl an is also incorrect as are shoulders with their lack of twin Micro-missile launchers.

Being a huge Macross 7 fan since 1994 and given that the VF-17D/S is one of my all-time favorite VFs, it really annoys me that Bandai has cheaped out so much on the DX VF-17S.  Frankly, it also sets a bad precedent for future DX releases.

[MKT]

This sort of reminds me of the time when toy companies will reuse character molds for other franchises, with bizarre results. Probably the most egregious for us is how Matchbox took the He-Man head and repurpose it into Minmei - really as wrong as it can get lol.

  

[raptormesh]

Saw this in person and yeah it’s way off. Not interested anymore

[Lolicon]

At the TN store in Akihabara. Hard to tell from the pic but the 17S is tiny next to the 19. Bandai truly did just recycle the 171. 

Battroid 

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, Lolicon said:

At the TN store in Akihabara. Hard to tell from the pic but the 17S is tiny next to the 19. Bandai truly did just recycle the 171. 

 

I will give Bandai backhanded credit for one thing.. their pilots are always so tiny, the 17 almost looks the right size.  

[MacrossJunkie]

1 hour ago, Lolicon said:

At the TN store in Akihabara. Hard to tell from the pic but the 17S is tiny next to the 19. Bandai truly did just recycle the 171. 

Actually, isn't that about right as far as the size of the fighters go?

The VF-19 is 18.47 meters in length while the VF-17 is 15.63. The 171 is just barely a little longer at 15.65. That's almost a difference of 3 meters which should be pretty noticeable. The Yamato VF-17's are about the same length as the Bandai VF-171's when I set them side by side. The main difference is that the VF-17 is quite a bit wider and chonkier.

Regardless, this thing is still too skinny for the VF-17S and various details are still wrong...

[Graham]

What worries me is that this is a further sign that moving forward, Bandai's DX design team is just going to half-ass things more and more with the DX line.

We already saw this to a certain extent with some of the design choices on the YF-21 and with the VF-17S, they have gone into full on lazy and cost saving mode.

[JIS]

On 12/23/2025 at 5:25 AM, Graham said:

What worries me is that this is a further sign that moving forward, Bandai's DX design team is just going to half-ass things more and more with the DX line.

We already saw this to a certain extent with some of the design choices on the YF-21 and with the VF-17S, they have gone into full on lazy and cost saving mode.

The problem is that the last show we had was Delta 10 years ago and it wasn't a huge success either. But in the end I agree.

I would add the VF-25 Revival was also a disappointment given it lacked the Max's YF-29 tampo and improvements.

[pengbuzz]

On 12/23/2025 at 12:25 AM, Graham said:

What worries me is that this is a further sign that moving forward, Bandai's DX design team is just going to half-ass things more and more with the DX line.

We already saw this to a certain extent with some of the design choices on the YF-21 and with the VF-17S, they have gone into full on lazy and cost saving mode.

Yeah; compared to the line art, they didn't even come close with the 17S in some places. The legs look like toothpicks and don't even look like they could have engines in them.

They ought to listen to the M7 song Try Again....

Edited January 17 by pengbuzz

[jenius]

9 hours ago, JIS said:

 

I would add the VF-25 Revival was also a disappointment given it lacked the Max's YF-29 tampo and improvements.

Can you elaborate on this? I haven't handled my VF-25 revivals but did they drop an improvement we saw on Max's YF-29?

[Captain Global]

https://hjweb.jp/article/2520977/

Article on Hobby japan discussing the design proces behind the DX VF-17

It's a conversation between bandai and Motoki Hiroyuki from the design studio T-rex. 

[davidwhangchoi]

nice read:

quote

Kimura: In the midst of all this, I came up with a rather spontaneous idea: if we shortened the nose of the DX Chogokin VF-171EX, we could create something similar to the VF-17.

Edited January 21 by davidwhangchoi

[PointBlankSniper]

That article sounds like they put a lot of though into arriving at the most brain dead obvious corner cutting solution that I've been explaining for them. At this point, they are just seeding the idea of the whole "missing link" valkyrie so they can soften the blow for being inaccurate, and maybe leave the door open to come back around to doing a true "anime accurate" version later.

I don't think anyone would have blamed them too much for going for the lazy solution if they had at least made the head cover slide away, did new shoulders, and sloppily glued a blank cover over the foot details lol.

I've mentioned it before, but they could have done the same with the legs and just glued armor part style panels, over the existing legs to at least approach the original proportions and hide the wrong missile ports, while adding the correct super part connections. I'm fairly certain a moderate layer of armor could fit under the backpack without even dropping a click on the gerwalk joint.

I still think the most bizarre thing they did was make new elbows that could otherwise have been passed off as artistic difference if untouched, yet somehow make the new ones longer when they should have become shorter, when there was always a few mm left on the 171's to do that.

Really curious to see what kneejerk conclusion bandai gets when they are met with the likely disappointing sales, espacially when the price tag is basically the same as the remaining stock of Armored 171EX revivals...

[Graham]

The amount of copium in that article is pretty intense. 🤣

 

 

[MacrossJunkie]

On 1/21/2026 at 9:34 PM, Graham said:

The amount of copium in that article is pretty intense. 🤣

 

 

Agreed. They also said the quiet part out loud here:

Quote

Motoki: At first, we were thinking of making a variation with fewer new parts. If we changed the coloring and head, the silhouette might look like a VF-17.

At first? It is what they did. This thing reeks of minimum effort to get by with something that resembles a VF-17.

Edited January 23 by MacrossJunkie

[davidwhangchoi]

knowing the lazy effort, why would I spend  29,000 yen plus shipping and tariffs on this? 

I must hate money

[Arhur_skull001]

Since it’s a direct copy of the VF-171, I prefer my old Yamato 1/60 VF-17s

[jenius]

We need someone to 3d print enhancement parts for the 1/65 DX.

[rsvictor1976]

28 minutes ago, jenius said:

We need someone to 3d print enhancement parts for the 1/65 DX.

I wish DNA Design would make upgrade kits for DX Valkyries. I've tried 3D printed parts before and while its nice to have the option, the quality of the plastic isn't the same as the injection molding like the ones DNA Design uses. 

[aaajin]

oh boy this reminds me of the exploding triangles on 171 … a hard pass for me …

[Chronocidal]

At this point I'm just waiting for Bandai's separate lines to duke it out, and watch with popcorn as they put out a typical Mini-Yamato release for an HMR VF-17 that completely obliterates the sales of this abomination.

Edited January 24 by Chronocidal