Graham

Same here, I really hope the VF-171 is the next VF after they get done with the VF-25. Graham

I'm quite happy with anything between 32A to 34B. Anything else is just too big for my taste. Now what were we supposed to be talking about again? Graham

The acronym OVA (or OAV) has been used for decades, but I've never heard OAD used before. Graham

Here in Hong Kong, I bought mine for HK$950 each. Yesterday, I saw another shop selling the VF-25S Ozma for HK$990. The VF-25F Alto had sold out already. Graham

Here's a shot of the Bandai 1/60 VF-25F DX Alto type battroid next to the Yamato 1/60 YF-19 battroid. Sorry, it's late here and I couldn't be bothered to get the YF-21 out of the display cabinet. Maybe tomorrow. One thing that's starting to annoy me is the hand that holds the gunpod on the DX doesn't do a very good job. Not only does it allow the gunpod to sag, it doesn't hold the gunpod very tightly and I've had a few instances where the gunpod has fallen out of the hand when I've just gently nudged it, or even when just picking up the battroid and not even touching the gunpod......Grrrrrrr! This is not supposed to happen with fixed pose hands. Graham

Here's a photo that shows how the black paint is starting to come off on the right LERX, where it rubs against the rear of the hip in battroid mode. Graham

A custom neck extension will help, but part of the problem is also that the DX VF-25S head is more squashed or squat that it is supposed to be, compared with how it looks in the anime. Graham

Just trying to be fair and impartial. Despite my ties or former ties with Yamato, I don't really care who makes the VF-25, as long as we get a great toy. Bandai so far get a C+ grade from me. Good try, but could be much better. Graham

DFC = Distinguished Flying Cross. An RAF medal. Graham

No, I'm not Asian, I just live in Asia. I've always been into slim girls. Smallish breasts actually turn me on more than whopping big cow udders or watermelons. Graham

While the visor on the VF-25F Alto is translucent green plastic, the visor on the Ozma VF-25S appears to be just painted on. Another strike against the VF-25S IMO. Graham

A few more points to note: - 1) Already noticing some of the black paint scraping off on the LERX on Ozma's VF-25S. This is caused by the pegs on the back the the hips rubbing against the LERX in battroid mode. Haven't noticed this on Alto's VF-25F yet, but then I haven't transformed it as much as Ozma's Valk (will post pics of the paint wear tomorrow). 2) The joints on this toy are generally nice and tight. As Drifand said, the shoulder joint is over tight. I agree with Drifand that holding the 5-hole shoulder block is the way to go when trying to pose the shoulder. I've been doing this from the begining. 3) The toy locks together very well in figher mode, and pretty well in Battroid and Gerwalk mode. As I already noted in an earlier post, I would have liked the batteoid groin locking mechanism to be more secure. Graham

1) It's OK. Not great, but not terrible either. It's a step up from Bandai over their Macross 7 DX toys, so they are improving. 2) I'll buy at least one of each. 3) I'm actually a leg man, but if the choice is just tits or ass, then I choose ass (never been much of a breast man). Graham

A few more comments and observations on the DX toys: - 1) I seem to be one of the few that actually likes the glossy plastic finish of the Bandai DX VF-25 toys. Watching the anime, I always got the impression that the VF-25 had a gloss finish anyway. 2) While they may not be as anime accurate as the could be, Bandai's mandate was obviously to put durability over accuracy. Are they durable? Well, it's honestly too early to say. We need to wait a month or two when more toys are out there with our members to get a better idea. I've only had the toys a day and a half, but so far they certainly seem durable, but it really is too early to give a definitive verdict. 3) Transformation is fairly easy and straight forward. If you already have experience with the 1/72 scale VF-25 model kit, then you will have no problem with the DX toy. The only tricky area, the same as with the model kit, is getting the front of the chest plate over the folded nose section when transforming from battroid to fighter or vice versa, as it can by quite a tight fit. 4) While the arm articulation is pretty good, especially for the shoulder, I'm a bit underwhelmed by the leg articulation. I was expecting a swivel joint either above or below the knee, but there is none. Also, the knee, ankle, foot and hip articulation doesn't have quite as great a range of motion as I'd expected. While it's not bad, it could have been a bit better. 5) Out of the two toys, the Alto is my favorite and gets a pass mark from me, while the Ozma get's a fail for the overly short neck and skinny warped PVC head lasers. That's a pity, as in the anime, I actually prefer Ozma's VF-25S design, but the Bandai DX does not do it justice in my opinion. 6) While I'm normally an accuracy freak, hence my preferce for Yamato, I'm fairly happy with these toys. Yes, they have their inaccuracies which I'm not going to go into again, as they have been discussed endlessly already over the last few months. They are however in my opinion a step in the right direction from Bandai. Remember how Yamato started out and how their designs have improved (in appearance if not always in durability) over the years. Let's hope Bandai also continues to show improvements. While I may not buy multiples of the DX, I will at least continue to buy one of each. 7) Some people have reported that the shoulder hinges and ankles are bare metal. It doesn't look that way to me. They seem to have some sot of metalic brownish anodized finish. Graham

OK, somebody asked for a size comparison of the Bandai 1/60 scale VF-25 with the Yamato 1/60 scale VF-0, so there's a photo of that below. I've also posted a photo of the 1/60 scale Yamato VF-0 pilot sitting close to the Bandai 1/60 scale VF-25 pilot, so you can get a good idea of the size difference. Lastly, somebody also asked for some pics of the VF-25 in fighter mode with wheels up and gunpod off, so there's a couple of pics of that as well. Graham

In answer to some of the questions that have been asked: - Unfortunately, there is nowhere on the Valk to store the Gunpod connector and knife when not in use. The Valk does not come with any articulated hands. instead, it has 4 different pairs of fixed pose hands, these are: 2 x fighter mode hands, 2 x closed fists, 2 x weapon holding hands, 2 x open hands. The wings do have ratchets, but they are not linked. Also, the wing ratchest only have two positions. Seems quite durable. The only place I have noticed any stress whiteing of the plastic so far in my limited use is on the rim of the plastic sockets on the inside of the wing root/hip guns. There is a really tny stress mark, where the ball joints goes into the hip gun socket. Graham

just picked up my VF-25F Alto DX and VF-25S Ozma DX toys. I've taken a few quick snaps which I've posted below. No time for proper poses yet though. Here's some points of note: - 1) Sadly Ozma's VF really doesn't have much of a neck. I've posted a pic below showing the neck at maximum extension. Maybe some of our intrepid customizers can come up with a neck extension. My Ozma will be remaining in either Fighter or GERWALK modes, as IMO it looks really sucky in battroid mode. if you want a good VF-25S battroid mode, my advice get the model kit, or perhaps wait for the 1/100 scale toy. 2) The pilots are really tiny, compared with the Yamato 1/60 scale pilots. I'm guesing the Bandai pilots are more like 1/72 scale or smaller. Oh and they are non-removable. 3) The headlasers on both the Alto VF-25F and Ozma VF-25S are soft PVC! At least on Alto's VF they don't look so bad as they are thicker. But on Ozma's VF, they are really skinny. On my Ozma, one of the head lasers is already bent and no longer parallel. 4) The legs do lock in place in fighter mode. There is a peg on the underside of the wing glove, that locks into a hole on the side of the knee. This means that when you pick up the toy in fighter mode, the legs will not drop down. Sadly, the legs do not and cannot sit any higher in fighter mode than has already been shown. 5) No sticker sheet is provided. All the main markings are tampo printed on. 6) There is no storage in the shield for the knife. 7) The gunpod can only be attached in fighter mode with the adaptor piec. There is nowher on the VF to store the adaptor piec when not in use. The VF-25 DX is definitely not true 1/60 scale. In fighter mode, it is about 2cm shorter than the Yamato 1/60 YF-19 in fighter mode. Both planes are supposed to be about the same length. 9) The ventral fighter mode folding leg fins are really small and when open sit vertically straight down. They do not angle slightly out like they are supposed to be (unless I am doing something wrong). 10) The connection that holds the two halves of the groin together is not as securre as I expected, despite being quite beefy. I've had a few incidences of it coming unlocked when handling the toy. 11) The gunpod plastic is too light grey in color IMO. 12) Looks like it's not possible to get a GERWALK pose with the nose touching the ground, due to limitations with the knee and ankle articulation. 13) The hands are a 2 peice construction. The fingers and palm being one piece of PVC and the hand guard being ABS. The hand guard falls off really easily on all the hands and needs gluing on. 14) To fit the shield in fighter mode, you do need to fit the special fighter mode hands. It will not fit with the fists, open hands or weapn holding hands. More impressions later. Graham

My 4 1/2 year old is really loving the Voltes V SOC that I got him for Christmas. He's been a big fan of the cartoon since he was 3 1/2 and has been bugging me for a Voltes V toy all year. I will probably have to blunt the tip of the sword though, as that thing is sharp enough to take an eye out. Heh, and I got seriously scolded by my wife for buying him such an expensive toy! Here's a couple of pics of the Voltes V along with some of the Star Wars toys I also bought him for Christmas (he's really into Clone Troopers at the moment) Graham

I will be picking up my VF-25S and VF-25F tomorrow. I'm quite lucky in that there's a good toy shop in the area that I live that always has a good selection of Macross toys. Anyway, I went there today at lunch just to see if they had the DX in already. The shop guy said he would be getting his shipment in by airmail today (26th Dec) at 3pm. Unfortunately, I couldn't hang around until three, so have reserved one of each and will be going back tomorrow to collect them. The only thing the price is quite steep at HK$950 each (approx. US$122.58). This is beacuse as the guy explained, they are being sent by express airmail. Will give a report tomorow. Graham

Absolutely fantastic work Gubaba! You are my new hero! That introduction paragraph is extremely interesting. Can't wait to read more. And happy belated birthday. Hopefully this will lay to rest the debate that the VF-25 is indeed superior to the 19 and 21/22 series. Graham

That's one of the main reasons Yamato abandoned diecast for external body parts as getting an exact color and finish match with the ABS plastic parts is nearly impossible. Howeve, the color difference does tend to show up more in photographs than when seeing the toy in person. I think that's in some part beacuse those two holes will be used as the plug-in attachment points for the Super Pack shield. Graham

Too much CG can definitely be a bad thing. Definitely prefer the old school cell animation of the original movie, to the redone CG. Graham

Well, that's hardly surprising is it, as the toy is not actually released for general retail sale yet! Graham

IIRC I got both the VF-171EX and VF-25S when I completed the final mission, the one where you have to kill the Vajra Queen. Graham

I wonder if they come with sticker sheets, or if all the markings are tampo printed on. Hopefully the latter. Graham