Graham

Now that Lucifer and Tornado DX's have already been released, the Hi-Metal VF-19S Blazer is now my most anticipated toy of 2010. Graham

Here's a pic of the 'SWS' markings on the right leg armour of mine. This doesn't really bother me at all to be honest. Also, another pic of the VF-25F with Tornado packs fitted, just cus' it's such a nice looking bird IMO. Haven't transformed it to Battroid or Gerwalk mode yet, despite having it over a week now. May not even bother, as Fighter mode looks so nice. Really hope we get to see some tech specs on the Tornado packs soon. Love to know how the thrust-to-weight ratio compares with the Super and Armoured versions. Graham

A few quick pics I just took of the current VF toy display on my bedroom TV top. Graham

Actually, I have to take back what I said. I just took a closer look at my Tornado pack and the Tampo printing on the right leg armor is indeed upside down, so it reads 'SWS'......LOL! Graham

Yes and yes. Graham

But stickers and to some extent decals, never look as good as factory applied Tampo printing. Plus stickers will eventually peel. The wing root peg locks into a hole in the top pf the leg armor, so if you want the wing root to lock in place, you can't fit the leg armor the wrong way. Graham

You got Bandai'd. It's not supposed to be upside down. On my Tornado DX, both are the right way up. Bad luck. Graham

In fighter mode, it's a good and relatively unfrustrating toy if you leave the forearm packs off. Getting the foream packs to stay on in Fighter mode is an effort in frustration. In battroid mode, you will either have to use the display stand or use some sort of support under the boosters if you want it to stand by itself. My Armoured Ozma is completely unable to stand by itself now, without the crotch unlocking and/or the whole thing toppling backwards. A coulple of other minor negatives: 1) It is quite lacking in tampo printed markings, this is especially noticable compared to the new Tornado pack which has loads of markings. 2) The missile boxes on the lower legs are missing the molded-in exhaust vent detail, which is strange, as Bandai got it right on the model kit and VF100s versions. Graham

Had mine since last Friday (26th March), but sorry, haven't taken any pics yet. Graham

Ditto for mine. I bought it when it was first released, transformed it twice and then stuck it in the display cabinet in battroid mode and didn't touch it until recently. Unfortunately, the arm and leg joints have some how become really loose. Graham

Shoulder Hinge Update - 29th March 2010 Just caught up on all my PMs. The second batch of off-white hinges is now all allocated and I have PMed everybody who requested a set(s). I am not accepting any new requests for off-white hinges. There is still a small quantity of the bright white and cream hinges remaining. I am extremely busy at work at the moment and will be travelling overseas for most of April. For these reasons, the next lot of hinges will not be posted out until early May. Graham

The Tornado parts for the wings, legs and back all attach easily, stay on very securely, yet are easy and quick to remove if needed. No complaints. The arm armor however is still exactly the same pice of crap design from the Armored Pack. No changes in how they attach. So basicallly, they are as fiddly as all hell to attch in fighter mode and fall off if you look at them the wrong way. I just leave them off in fighter mode. It's just not worth the frustration and high blood pressure of trying to get them to stay on IMO. Graham

Wow, I want that framed Tenjin painting of the VF-25F, that is just pure awesome. Graham

Can confirm the Tornado VF-25F is bright white, with thankfully no blue tint.

Bah! Not everything! It doesn't mention if it's available here in Hong Kong and if it is, what it's called. Anybody know? Graham

Tornado DX is out in Hong Kong. I broke down and picked up one yesterday in the Sino Center branch of Animate for HK$1,380. More expensive than I expected to be honest. I imagine other shops will have it cheaper. It was an impulse buy and I couldn't be bothered to shop around. Haven't had time to take it out of the box yet and won't have time until Sunday Talking of the box, it's exactly the same hight and width as the VF-27 box, but about 2 or 2 1/2 times deeper due to the Tornado packs. Anyway, it looks cool. Lots of printed markings. Graham

Still on the fence about getting the DX VF-25F with Tornado Pack. The appearance of the Tornado Pack has reallly grown on me and I'm liking the look of it more and more, especially as it looks like it features lots more tampo printed markings compared to the relatively spartan Armored Pack. However, 3 things are puttng me off a purchase: - 1) In fighter mode, it is going to be an absolute shelf-hog. I was comparing the size of the 1/250 VF-25F, VF-25F Super, VF-25F Armored & VF-25F Tornado and the Tornado has by far the biggest wing span of the three. I mean it's huge. 2) Worried about whether it will be able to stand by itself in battroid mode with the Tornado Pack fitted. My Armored DX's can no longer stand unaided without a prop holding them up at the back and even the Supers are having trouble, what with the crotch lock loseness. Possibly the Tornado's tail stinger can extend far enough to make a make-shift support in battroid mode? 3) Also some concern about whether the Tornado pack will attach securely. The Supers and Armored can be extremely frustrating with parts popping off. It's gotten to the stage, where I only now actually 'play' with bare VF-25 toys, due to frustration with the packs. Bandai could learn a thing or two from Yamato about pack attachment (OK, not counting the 1/60 YF-19's dodgy leg packs). Glad to see in the new hobby mags that Bandai will be doing the space attachments for the DX Tornado Packs. Just hope they are not webshop exclusives. Graham

A little late and apologies if this has been posted before. I found this very interesting and it means that the real world is getting a little closer to the Macross universe, with multi-purpose missiles that can strike air or ground targets. Graham

I did get some photos of it. Will post at the weekend. Graham

Just picked up all 21pcs of set #3 including the VF-4 for HK$1,180 (approx US$152), from a shop on the 2/F of 188 center in Wanchai. I also picked up a spare VF-4 for HK$40 (approx US$5) Graham

Although I haven't seen the movie yet, I have all the movie guide books (3 or 4 of them) and none of the screen shots in the books show the VF-25 with a blue tint. I strongly suspect that the whole blue tint thing was Bandai's idea, nothing to do with the movie and they just slapped the movie label on it to try and get it to sell. Why on earth they thought people would actually like the blue tint is beyond me. Graham

Just back from my UK business trip. Time to catch up on the PMs and threads, as I haven't been online much in the past 10 days. Some good news. While I was away, another batch of the off-white hinges for the DYRL VF-1A/S were delivered to my office. Not a huge amount, but enough to cover all those who are still waiting, as well as hopefully the recent enquiries I see in my inbox. Please note that even with this new batch, the quantity is still limited and there is not enough to supply "just-in-case" preemptive hinges for toys that are still fine. This means, I will only supply hinges to members whos toys are actually broken or showing serious stress marks. If I get requests for a large number of hinges, I may ask to see photographic proof that you actually have that many broken toys. Anyway, give me a few days to clear through my backlog at work and I will start answering the PMs and getting the next batch ready for shipment. Graham

Nice! Graham

Oh, nice. Can't wait for this one. I've been wanting a nice Blazer toy since 1995. The Bandai will be a nice tide-me-over, until the inevtitable Yamato version arrives. And yes, I'm sure the final production version will have the missing stripes and UNS kite that are missing on these prototype pics. Bandai better not make the VF-19F a webshop excluive! Graham

Visited the RAF Museum at Cosford yesterday. It was amazing the see the TSR-2 up close, not to mention the 3 V-bombers. Will post pics later when I'm back home. Graham