Graham

I'll definitely be telling them about the problem and I've got one of my YF-19s with stress marks in my bag ready to show them tonight. I'll be urging them to change that part to POM and also perhaps change the geometry on the tabs on future releases. But even with the cracks or stress marks, it doesn't seem to affect the ability to transform or play with the toy, which is why I don't personally consider it a major problem, like the VF-0A shoulder and arm swivel cracks. Graham

Because it's a bland, boring color scheme, that probably wouldn't sell very well. Also, Yamato have never sculpted and thus do not have the tooling for a TV type 1A head. Graham

Guys, I'm meeting with Yamato again this evening (in about 8 hours time), so if there are any questions you want me to ask them, please post them in this thread within the next 7 hours. Graham

I'll bring this issue to Yamato's attention when I meet with them tonight. Hopefully, the next release can have those parts changed to POM. While it's a shame to see stress marks or cracks, at least it doesn't seem to affect transformation and is in a non visible area. It shouldn't happen, but thankfully, doesn't seem to be a "Major Problem". Graham

Calling it "minor problem" would probably be more accurate IMO! Graham

Articulation is good and it's toight, toight like a tiger! Graham

Here's a quick comparison pic with a 1/60 & 1/48. Graham

No, no, no! Repeat after me. "The single seat Eurofighter Typhoon is the most beautiful plane in the world". All other planes are hideous by comparison. Graham

First time to see breakages on those areas. Graham

I know one MWer that works for a HK based toy manufacturer, but the toys they make are not the sort of stuff that would interest us. As BoB said, people in the toy biz tend to work very long hours. Back when Yamato still had a HK office, I used to hang out there a lot and it was common for the staff not to leave before 9pm (sometimes later). As much as it would be interesting working for a company that makes Macross toys, I'd hate to work those sort of hours. Graham

Please don't contact HLJ yet anybody, as the parts won't be ready for a while. I'll advise when they are. Graham

I'm definitely still up for buying the recasts though as back up. Graham

Those bot modes look pretty terrible IMO. Graham

Orguss already has that Mastibation, sorry, 'Palm Action' line of toys coming soon from another manufacturer. Graham

If you bought a Garland in the US, then contact Yamato USA about getting it fixed or getting replacement parts. The upcoming Garland repaint releases should be improved, or so I've been told. Regarding the YF-19, I'm meeting again with Yamato on Feb 5th, and will inform them of the problem with the part with two screws under the nose cracking, in case they don't already know. Hopefully this part will get changed to POM as well. Graham

Mentioned in the VF-0 thread, but I'll mention here as well. Yamato just told me they will be changing the breakage prone shoulder and lower swivel pieces on the VF-0 toy to POM plastic, which will be more durable than the present ABS arm parts. This change will start with the upcoming Shin VF-0A. Replacement parts will also be available through HLJ when the parts are available in a month or so hopefully. Graham

Did I say "popular"? Graham

I only transformed it was once last night. Transformation is pretty simple, but does have a few more steps than the old Takatou SDF-1 toys. Good news is the elbow parts are nice and tight, so the ARMD carriers can hold a pose easily. No floppiness at all. The ARMD carriers are also removable Paint application and detail is good for the size, I'd give it 4.5 out of 5. Parts fit is also good, but only gets 4 out of 5 as the main gun halves do not lock together that well in Cruiser mode on mine. The rest of the parts do lock together pretty well though. A pretty nice toy, but very small, and really IMO only worth half the price. However, Macross is a niche market and prooduction runs of Macross toys are always tiny compared to popular lines like Gundam & Transformers, so economies of scale come into play and the manufacturer has to sell higher to recover their costs. Despite the price, I aplude Wave for getting into Macross toys and hope we see more offerings from them. The more the merrier I say. BTW, Noel called me last night to say that his shop 'Action HQ' is selling the Wave SDF-1 for HK$730.00 (US$93.59). Graham

Great news guys. I just got off the phone with Yamato and they told me that for future releases of the VF-0, starting with the upcoming VF-0A Shin type, the shoulder and elbow joint part will be changed to POM. Regarding replacement arm parts, these will be made available, but only in Japan due to licensing issues. However, if you purchased your VF-0 though HLJ, contact them in a month or so when the parts are ready and ask for parts as Yamato can supply parts to HLJ as they are in Japan. If you didn't purchase your toy from HLJ, another possible way is to have one of our members in Japan get in touch with a Japanese toy shop and ask them to arrange a bulk order of replacements for us. Graham

Heh, if the die-cast were any more minimal, there wouldn't be any die-cast! Graham

Just picked up the Wave SDF-1 on the way back to the office after a business meeting. I paid HK$850.00 (approx. US$108.97). The shop I bought it from (Toy Mania), is usually a bit more expensive than other shops, but convenient for me as it's only about a 10 minute walk from my office. The box design looks great. Yamato could learn a thing or two from Wave here. Lovely old-school styrofoam inside as well. I haven't had time to handle the toy yet, but I did open the box to check the contents. When my shop-keeper friend handed me the box, my initial thoughts were he'd given me an empty box as it was extremely light. Apparently the die-cast content is fairly minimal. On opening the box, my next thoughts were "fu@k, that's small"! Yes, I know I've posted previously that 24cm (the reported length of the toy) is fairly large, but when you actually see it, it does look small. Unfortunately, I'm stuck at work until 9.30pm tonight and won't get home until 10.45pm, so I won't really be able to start on the review today. I will try to transform it a few times tonight before I crash and post more comments tomorrow. Some crappy phone camera pics below of the box front and rear and the toy in its styrofoam tray with a ballpoint pen for size comparison. Graham

I would imagine that the '38' refers to the length in cm of the 1/60 scale SV-51 in fighter mode. Graham

Just got a call from my local toy shop. The Wave SDF-1 has arrived, so I'll be picking it up after work today. Graham

Very sexy! Graham

Hoping to get mine this week or next. I've been told they will be in HK pretty soon. Graham