Vifam7

Okay, I just finished looking over the toy and parts-forming it from battroid mode to fighter mode. Here are my comments - As I suspected, this toy has all the feel and build quality of HCM Pro Gundams. As seen in prior photos, it comes out of the box in battroid mode. It is indeed very light and frail feeling. Part of the blame for that lays in the design and form of the VF-25. Plus the fact that it's completely made of plastic. While it is frail "feeling", it is actually quite sturdy. Not sturdy enough for a little kid, but certainly sturdy enough for the adult collector. There are also some joint points that are floppy. The crotch-leg connection points and ankle joints being most obvious on mine. This isn't problematic in battroid mode but floppy ankle joint will be problematic in gerwalk mode. For those who like gerwalk mode, I would recommend applying some CA glue to the location. Just make sure not to glue it solid. Another problem I immediately noticed in battroid mode is the inability of the gun-grip hand to solidly hold the gunpod. Bandai should've simply glued the gunpod to the hand since this hand will be pulled off for fighter mode anyways. I did that to mine. Overall the proportions for battroid mode is decent IMHO. The legs certainly could've been attached at a lower crotch point considering that the whole crotch piece gets swapped for transformation anyways. But I'm not too hot over this point since the lineart can be open to interpretation. That's enough for battroid mode. On to the parts-forming to fighter mode. I'm going to skip gerwalk mode because it's a mode I don't really care for. So how bad is the parts-forming? Well, that depends on how you look at it. There is indeed a ton of parts to swap. It's not a stretch to say you have to break it down to a zillion pieces. Then you gotta swap the necessary parts and put it all together into fighter mode. Some of the things you gotta pull apart is absolutely crazy. Once you parts-form it into one mode, you probably won't want to parts-form it into another mode for awhile. That all said, it wasn't that difficult to pull the parts apart and put it together. At first it seems like you'll break something while pulling the pieces apart. But you'll start to figure out that the pieces snap out quite easily if you pull it in a certain direction (usually to the side). The directions on the manual are a bit confusing but most of us will figure it out looking at the pics. I would advise not to loose the manual though. All in all I didn't find it too stressful to parts-form it. Just a bit tedious with all those pieces. So I got it into fighter mode. It looks fantastic. At least to me. Not sure but I don't think those who want the lower legs sitting higher up in fighter mode will be satisfied. If I had to describe it, the rear engine fairings are about the same as that of a F-15 Eagle. I'll post photos later. Also, the lower legs don't lock up to the arms or anything. It does hold straight though. But if you're going to display it in flight, I'd suggest using a flexidisplay or something that keeps the lower legs from sagging down. Oh yeah, the warping on the fighter mode gunpod was ridiculous. Mine had a banana shape! That was quickly and easily fixed by running it under hot water for a few secs, straightening it out, and cooling it to correct form. As for scale size, from what I can tell, it definitely looks to be in correct scale. I'll later post a few pictures of the VF-25 in fighter mode in comparison to other 1/100 scale airplanes. All in all, I'm okay with the toy. I'll continue to support the line. I hope to see few tweaks (such as better locking) to happen in later releases. I do agree that it's overpriced but that seems to be the story with most Macross toys. That's it for now. Photos tomorrow.

Mine is waiting for me at home! I hope to post some thoughts on it later tonight.

Few have objected to the looks. Most think it's pretty decent if not superb. Some of the more objective reviewers believe that a few minor tweaks to the engineering (such as tighter joints) could make this toy more favorable. I'm sure that improvements will come as the line moves on.

North Korea flies the MiG-29S which if used effectively could be a pain for F-15s. The PAF flies F-16s and has on order Chengdu J-10s (deliveries to start this year IIRC). The J-10s are supposedly superior to F-15s (at least according to the sales pitch).

An excellent article on why the USAF needs to buy more F-22 Raptors : http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200903/air-force

I've been reading the comments & reviews of Japanese fans. The general consensus and main gripe seems to be - it's overpriced. That the price should be 2500yen. Over-priced for a parts-forming HCM-Pro-like toy. *On a positive note there hasn't been any reports of major QC problems or breakages. Yet. Most don't have issues with the proportions. Fighter and gerwalk mode is pretty much perfect to most. For battroid mode, there are some who feel that the DX's chunkier proportions is better. There was one reviewer who felt Bandai perhaps should've started with the more simple VF-1 rather than tackling the complex VF-25 before gaining any experience.

Looks like the gunpod is made of PVC. I heard PVC can be straightened by putting it in hot water, straightening it out, and cooling it in cold water. Not sure if that's the best method.

Back then Macross 7 was not popular for its Valkyries. It's success back then centered around the music. Only recently are some fans taking a look back at Macross 7 Valks. The model kits were quite decent for its time. But they never caught on. It was a time when robot anime toys and model kits were not movers. Heck even Gundam wasn't so hot back then. Remember this was before the advent of MG and HGUC kits from Bandai.

There's 3 on auction at Ebay right now. Just about 5 hours left. Search under 1/100 takatoku macross.

I'll be getting my v2.0 Hikaru 1A this week too. HLJ's 25% off sale was too good to pass up. Hmmm...all of my Yamato Valks are non-super pack Hikaru 1As. I once had a bootleg 1/100 Fokker 1S. Many many years ago. Was one of my favorite toys. It eventually broke and was thrown out. Just recently purchased a 1/100 Takatoku Hikaru 1S off Evilbay for nostalgia.

The guy probably forgot to retract the feet. The pics in the GA Graphic article showed it retracted.

Something like that. Back in the old days, a toy from Japan that came in styrofoam meant a high-priced and high-quality toy. Usually made of diecast metal. Such toys were difficult to acquire and often when you got such a toy, you got something truly special. Hence, you buy a high priced toy today, some of us sort of long for styrofoam packaging because it reinforces the idea that you purchased something special. I don't know if it's better, but it's certainly the norm for today's toys. Perhaps it's better for the environment since the plastic can be recycled? [shrug]

The way how the politicians and media talk, you'd think it was the end of days. I certainly don't see much rational thought from Washington! X(

Sorry, I don't think it's gonna happen. Raising taxes, racking up huge deficits, bailing out idiots, and mega-sizing the government is no way to get out of an economic downturn. VFTF is probably right. Watch America go down the tubes folks. At least for the next several years. Ofcourse I'd like to be wrong.

How about getting him the 1/72 Bandai model kit? You can start him on the joys of kit building. It's snapfit, comes with stickers, and when completed it transforms into all modes.

Ozma's ship looks awesome. With regards to the plastic, I'm guessing it just "feels" fragile. Much like my HCM Pro Gundams. They feel fragile but are actually durable. A result of mainly using ABS plastic I think. If there really is no pilot included, one of these might do the job: http://www.hlj.com/product/WAVOP-431 HLJ hasn't updated my order to shipping status yet.

Try HLJ: http://hlj.com/faq/q41.html

Yeah, looks like from Zone of Enders.

Besides, let's face it, it's better than a VF-1 release right? I mean, I think we're all getting a bit tired of the VF-1 right?. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the VF-1, but after Banpresto, Toynami, Hasegawa, Kaiyodo, Yamato, and others all dabbling on the VF-1, it's nice to get something different from the beginning.

If this were a Gundam I'd agree that both are overpriced. However, this is Macross. I think the overinflated prices of both the GNU and VF100s (and for that matter the 1/60s as well IMHO) is partly a result of Macross not being wholly owned by Yamato or Bandai. The price is a bit high but I've already committed to this line. I like the scale and I don't mind partsforming.

Basically - same model shown on the 22nd at Akihabara will also be shown at Hobby Complex (maybe). Nothing about it being transformed.

Translation mistake or Kawamori getting it backwards. I think it was meant to say that the Israeli airforce bought US airframes and improved them. Like the F-4 Phantoms being renovated by the Israelis to become the Kurnass 2000.

I wrote "if I had to guess". Me too. You never know. Bandai certainly didn't have issues releasing some very esoteric Gundams for their GFF line. So it gives me some hope for stuff like VF-9 or VF-5000.

No idea on exactly when the RVF-25 is coming out but I would assume sometime in the summer since Mikhail's VF-25G is slated for release in May. As for Super and Armor parts, if I had to guess, I think Alto and Ozma will be a whole new release. While Mikhail and Luca will come standard with the armor parts. I doubt anything from this line will be webshop only. It appears that this line is more mass-market than the DX line.

Bandai already has plans for the VF-171, YF-24, VF-27, and VF-1 seen in the Frontier series? A bit ambitious? Maybe just wishful thinking by Bandai? If they make it, I will buy. All of them.