ArchieNov
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I'm in agreement with you. Also am confused why some people are complaining about the quality of the Millia HMR.
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Might also explain the pinkish HMR Tomahawk prototype lol
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Just opened my Millia. Seems like they made a slight change to the mold of the upper chest cover. There are 2 additional notches on the sides that weren't in prior releases.
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Or look at it this way. Let's say the HMR continues to be successful and 2 years down the line they release that valk that you've always wanted (e.g. Flashback 2012 VF-4). You decide to get it, but it feels so lonely just by itself in your collection. Your compulsiveness then forces you to hunt down 2-3 years worth of HMR releases at possibly higher markups. Compare that to just jumping on the HMR wagon now while it's not yet too late to catch up. If you decide 2 years later that the line isn't worth keeping, you can always resell it and recover part or all of your expenses in purchasing them. And at least you won't feel the regret of never experiencing what it was like to have an HMR.
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Making their own mold for products that are obviously based on Macross merchandise and IP is also considered stealing. Not saying you're one of them, but I find it similar to how weird it is when people think 3rd party transformers are okay while KOs are not. Both are considered forms of stealing.
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You probably need to extend the ankles out some more. I don't think the manual shows it, but yes, the ankles can extend. Once extended, you should be able to fold and align the feet some more to close out the gap. After I learned about the extending ankles, my feet don't show any gaps at all.
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Excellent photos. Battroid looks much better without the gun sticking out of its back.
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Personally, I don't like the look of the gunpod pointing up when stowed at the back of battroid. Looks quite silly. I much prefer the look of it pointing downwards instead.
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If Arcadia only released kit versions of their toys, then I'm out. I'm sure many people would do so as well as not everyone has the skills, tools, and time to build and paint a valk model kit.
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I think it will cost thousands of $ too if you want to buy the bricks individually from places like bricklink, but only because sellers are charging outrageous prices for a single piece of the rare, sometimes out of print, elements. An example is the radar dish on the UCS Falcon which costs over $100 for a single Lego piece. Take into consideration that the average value of a single Lego element is estimated at $0.10. In summary, buying these discontinued sets or buying all the parts individually will have relatively similar costs (including shipping these from different places around the globe that might have them). And that's because people are charging way too much for some of the rarer parts in the set.
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This whole situation reminds me of Lego KOs (e.g. Lepin). Some of the things they KO are Lego models that have long been discontinued and out of production. As some of you are aware, prices on discontinued Lego sets sometimes skyrocket to stupid levels (e.g. UCS Millennium Falcon going for $5k or more). The customer demand has been there for years but Lego refuses to reissue these sets. It's not like the molds are gone either since most of the parts used in these sets are still produced for today's sets, with only a very small percentage of rare parts. Then you have scalpers who treat Lego as investments, reselling them at super inflated prices after they're discontinued so they can make a huge profit. These two factors make KO Lego products suddenly seem like the only way some people will be able to get their hands on a set they've always wanted. Sure, the quality is not completely on par but it's close enough for them. Personally, I detest the idea of stealing IP. But when I see a KO UCS Super Star Destroyer going for less than $100 (compared to the ridiculous $1.2k price it goes for today), I have to admit that it does seem more than a little tempting to me.
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Your most recent Macross or toy purchase! General thread.
ArchieNov replied to Gakken85's topic in Hall Of The Super Topics
Not that new, but I did get the SH Figuarts Akane Tendo and Impact effect parts about a month ago. Just wanted to share this photo I took of them. I love these Ranma figs. I think they fully capute the anime's look and feel. Can't wait for Ryoga to come out and hopefully the other regular characters. -
I took a closer look at the Bogue custom SV-262Ba unit from the model kit shots and I have to admit, the pope head and the fighter canopy look pretty good. I didn't realize at first that the canopy print makes it look like it has 2 evil eyes. Looks especially good in gerwalk because it looks like an evil bird of prey. http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/m/10444073
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Yes
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Here's a photo I took of the Tomahawk while I was in Japan last week. Doesn't it look pinkish?
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Nope
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I caved and ordered a 2nd one. It's just money anyway, right?
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The right arm gun can't be popped up once it's stored in fighter mode. But I guess you can leave them out if you transform them in that way (I haven't tried it). And I think I know why it feels much lighter than the other valks. There's almost no diecast content. It's practically all plastic (which is not necessarily a bad thing with all the folding panels and hinges which may be prone to scratches). But some hinges may have benefited from being diecast to improve sturdiness.
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Yes, it hinges out and can rotate 360 while attached to the bottom.
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There are a few small gaps present but nothing that's too distracting.
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Transformed it back to fighter. It went smoother this time around since I was more familiar with the location of joints and the tolerances, but it was still challenging especially in getting the thighs back in place along with the chest intakes. You'll need to move things around back and forth to provide enough clearance, else risk rubbing off some of the tampo or even worse, snapping something. Another area that was difficult to align were the feet boosters. I still can't get them to stay perfectly flush with one another, but I've got them close enough to the point it doesn't trigger my OCD. My tip is if you're feeling a lot of resistance when transforming it, don't force it. Check first to see if there's something getting in the way. There are a lot of flaps and folding parts so you always need to be aware of how you're handling it. If you think the VF-171 was too complicated (I didn't), you'll most likely not enjoy the transformation process on the Draken. In the end, I still find the transformation quite interesting and will probably transform it back and forth a couple more times in the future.
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Yeah I was really hoping the hip ratchets would be here to stay, but on the bright side, these aren't ball joints at the hips either. They're hinge joints and are very tight/solid. Plus the Draken itself is relatively light so I don't foresee any major issues with the hip joints in the future.
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Yeah I did just in case. But while I did so, there didn't seem to be any indication that the tampo stuck to the plastic at any point. I guess the people with the issues unfortunately got a bad batch. I just finished transforming it to battroid the first time. And yeah, it is quite a change from the usual fare. I don't fully understand all the nitty gritty details yet, but it's not that hard as long as you take it step by step. The parts I found somewhat confusing were transforming the thighs and wing hinges at the back, but I managed. You also need to be careful because there are a LOT of hinge joints and some of them are very delicate like the eye covers. Some nitpicks I have for now are the lack of hip ratchets and a locking tab for the shoulder hinges. Otherwise, everything else feels pretty solid. It's a lot slimmer and lighter than I expected it to be though. I expect that the VF-31 with super pack will really outsize the Draken. Overall, I think it's the most unique and complicated Valk to date in terms of engineering, and is a welcome addition to the Macross toy lineup.
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Just received mine a few minutes ago. No issues with the tampo. It's beautiful.
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Currently in Japan and had a chance to visit the Akiba Showroom. Man, the prototype paint on the HMR Tomahawk is very pink. At first I thought it was due to the lighting, but looking at it closer and in person, I don't think it is. Hopefully they adjust the color some more on the final product.