Mommar

I can't wait to see more pictures of this thing.

Other then sharing the same transformation the 17 and 171 are pretty much different machines. I like how blunt and thick the 17 is. It's very contrasting because it's a stealth and you would expect it to be very small and lithe but instead it's an ugly bruiser.

Hey Graham, are you aware of the color choices Yamato are going to make for this thing? I realize it's probably the most accurate to have a dark grey with blue undertones but we've seen three different shades in all of these various prototype pics. One, the same dark grey/blue I mentioned, one that's more of a lighter grey with no blue and the last being a much darker charcoal grey/black (which is my personal favorite of what we've seen.)

Likely the 17 won't sell as well simply because it was never a hero Valk (which still makes no sense to me, if it looks cool buy the damn thing.) However, did the 19S really pre-order that well prior to Yamato finally releasing all of the extra images of it? Maybe pre-orders will increase once there are some final production images coming out like for the 19S. Plenty of people here were sold on the 19S once the trickle of images picked up.

Same thing happened to me. I thought I only needed one VF-1 as well. Now I have twelve.

I agree. The profile of the fighter with that scheme is amazing and the fast packs completely obfuscate it.

My feeling is that a "feature" like the hatch on the 19 is completely worthless to me. It was extra time/money/etc... (likely not helping the cost) that is completely wasted because I'm not going to use it. To me it's $300 plus a useless aside. I'd rather it came with a "marketing/accessory" like a stand instead.

I guess I don't understand why you would be sold on Gimmicks. I'll admit, the stand in the VF-25 is a nice plus and I wish Yamato did that with all of their releases however I usually buy a Valk based on how much I like the look of the thing, not by what other extra stuff it may or may not have.

Why would there be any need for a Group Buy? You can order it from plenty of online shops.

It would probably be more prudent to ask who DOESN'T have one around these parts.

No it's not cheaper for the VF-25's there... however, if anybody has noticed the VF-19S and VF-17S are both cheaper there.

Yamato 1/60 YF-19 Bandai 1/100 Hi-Metal VF-19S

Hmm, I just realized getting this 17 on time is going to be rough. Yamato usually ships the last Friday of the month, correct? That will be the 30th... but Japan is nutty for being off on the New Year. That means we probably won't see anything moving until the end of that first week of January.

The color is a tough call. Looking at those three pics posted earlier displaying the purple canopy in two of them it looks like it's a flat gray, in the last it looks like there's blue in it. Also the lineart example with the fold booster has a blue tint too. Personally, I don't want the blue. I'd be happy if this gray went darker and closer to black.

That Valk's feet aren't red like Ronalds! I'm passing on this Valk.

I'll bet that's exactly the same dark gray and yellow color as Gamlin's 22.

There goes my speculation about the super parts being included... I wonder how much that bundle is going to cost us now?

Maybe that's why it costs more? Wishful thinking I'm sure, but would be a nice surprise. You beat me to it. I noticed that very same thing.

Really? What about glue and sanding and all of that? And why aren't there more pictures of these things!?!

I'm more interested in what Yamato's reaction to a 1/60 Fz-109 was.

How likely are those hints to pan out now? If the 17 sells well there will likely be a 17T and the 11Kai to completely Sound Force. I would imagine those would be made first before any theoretical 4 is done.

I've been waiting for one of those too.

The last time I had something shipped was via EMS and it was 3200 yen which is $42. I added that to the total cost of the Valks based on pre-order prices at Amiami and HLJ for shipment to the US. That's 22,550 or $297 for shipping for the VF-19.

Based on what I usually pay for shipping from HLJ, this is to the US so you're mileage may vary, I estimate the VF-17 will be $325. Depending on who you are that $25 up or down may or may not matter. The change in the value of yen and the US dollar really is murder right now.

You asked. I replied. It's not cheap. The way I look at it, there aren't too many more of these things to buy anyway. Instead of three (or six) VF-1's I'll have one VF-19.