Actar

Now that I have it in hand, I am so, so, so impressed with the panels and the stow-away neck cover. The matte finish is gorgeous and the poseablility is great. Hope it doesn't turn into a floppy mess. It actually says "NO LIFT" on the underside.

Mine arrived today~ Okay, I admit, it's pretty damn badass. Will need to fiddle around with it to make everything fit as it came rather misaligned out of the box.

Mixed? For a macross toy, they're overwhelmingly positive. (^.^

Gah! I so want to replace the SMS logos with the UNS ones...

Paid for my secured link order! YF-30's pretty tempting now that I've splurged on this one.

Ah, that's a brilliant question. Honestly, it was because of how poorly the original Yamato YF-19 aged and the ton of nitpicks and imperfections that it had. The Arcadia one improved on it by leaps and bounds and brought in a ton of new mechanics, transformation features and gimmicks to the table that was indicative of what modern toy engineering was all about. Not to mention, Arcadia/Yamato had a phenomenal track record with Macross products (being one of the few players in town) and with their VF-19s being a huge success, everyone was waiting for the new YF-19. There are a number of problems that I have with Bandai's 19. I don't mind panels and fiddly transformations as I am a huge fan of 3D puzzles. The more complex a toy is, the more I revel in appreciating and analyzing the engineering (ROTF Optimus being one of my all-time favorites). However, I was kind of disappointed to see that many of their design features were pulled directly from the Arcadia one with only minor improvements with regard to the panels and articulation. Also, while I am a huge fan of the YF-19 and Isamu, I am a fan of the original Plus before all else. Therefore, the additional SMS markings and FAST Pack doesn't really do it for me. So in conclusion, I suppose that while I love the YF-19, buying Bandai's version will yield me little returns given all that I can see at this point in time. Perhaps I'll spring for one when other reviews and opinions come in.

Let me ask a question that many will have on their minds. I have both the previous 2 Arcadia/Yamato renditions of the YF-19. Should I put the cash down for this one?

Not sure if I was clear enough, but I meant that there's no point to have the cover tuck away into the shield in a bid to eliminate spare parts when a separate one is required for Gerwalk.

Okay, some design choices are really cool, but others make me go huh? - Panels in the legs, nice. - Neck cover built into the shield is a brilliant idea, but what's the point if the Gerwalk mode needs another? - Panels in the chest, okay. - High-speed wing mechanism and thigh transformation copied from Arcadia, check. - Does this have a waist joint? Or is that just a panel seam? Not sure if I'm going to get this one. Love the 19, but it's a plane that only had a 2-second on-screen appearance.

I completely screwed up with the pre-orders this time round. Camped on AmiAmi and waited for an re-open, which they did. Once. Managed to get it into my cart, but like many others, got cart-jacked. By the time I realized that the other stores had opened their pre-orders as well, they were already all gone... Oh well. Mandarake, here I come!

How old would he be though?

Well... If the return of older fighter designs is going to be a thing, I really, really, really hope we see a VF-22 esque valk in the next series.

How do I say it... The recent image of Bandai = Frontier and Yamato/Arcadia = Pre-Frontier is so strong that it's supremely bizarre to see Bandai going back to an older series design... Not to mention take on Arcadia head on. (Yes, I'm aware that they have released VF-19s multiple times before.)

This is the first time I actually screamed "WHAT?" out loud whilst browsing through the figure news sites. Honestly, I really don't know how to feel about this... Bandai really has been issuing a ton of "challenges" recently... First it was S.H.Figuarts Sakura to counter Figma Sakura and now this? I'm conflicted inside... Do you guys think this can actually surpass Arcadia's?

Thanks a ton for the advice! Really appreciate it. For the time being, I have used a pair of pliers and bent the two front clips inward and it seems to be holding up fine for now. As a temporary solution, it works okay, but I'll definitely consider getting one of those stands. (^.^)

I was planning to display my YF-19 in fighter mode on the stand for the first time. However, is it just me or is the stand adapter for fighter mode absolutely incompetent at holding the plane? For me, the front two clips will not hold on to the Valk at all... Is this a common issue and has anyone found a way to resolve it?

What? It's out already? HLJ has mine as September Restock and I haven't received my payment request... I really, really, really want my copy ASAP!

Whoops, guess I should have been clearer. (^.^') I meant so say the first Master File that I'll be getting, as I'm a huge fan of the 21/22. I do have a number of Animation related books already, the Gold Book and a ton of the This is Animation specials.

This will be the first book I'll be dropping cash on. Gorgeous, gorgeous valk.

Ohhhhhhh shoot! I didn't think I would want to go through the effort of getting one after I missed the pre-order window at amiami all those months back, but boy do I want one now! For those who are in the know, is there any hope of getting this at a decent price?

AmiAmi staggers their pre-orders, so keep refreshing throughout the day or the next few hours.

YF-21 hands down. Literally. The BDI means that I won't even have to lift a finger to pilot it. In addition, it also happens to be my personal favorite Valk.

Man, gotta be careful when detaching the nosecone. Do it at a wrong angle and the sharp corner where the Kite is will get damaged pretty badly.

A tad late to the party, but here's a proper pic of my gorgeous YF-19. Thank heavens for the additional stand with the VF-1S.

For those who are having trouble with the Fastpack, did you guys put the spacer/additional Fastpack piece on the back of the thigh? It locks the leg to the shoulder pad in fighter mode and makes life so much easier.