KOG Water Dragon

My understanding is that it's not only not well regarded but also no longer considered canon? Along with the rest of Macross II. In any case it doesn't get much merchandising love. I was surprised when that expensive toy version came out recently.

The other 3 are very similar but not identical below the waist. Upper leg details differ between the 3. Obviously the Spartan would be a bigger investment than the last 2, but that shouldn't stop them. Unless the other 3 sold poorly. Still, it's a shame to not have the full group in modern form. I may be reduced to buying one of the old 1/72 Spartans. But they are ooooold.

Does anyone else find the 35th Anniversary scheme a bit... boring, compared to the 30th Anniversary scheme? They are both more interesting than the 25th Anniversary scheme though...

These photos.... make me realize just how thick the trailing edges are on the wings of these Bandai kits.

I got a payment request for my VF-31A Kairos from HLJ. I only ordered one though. Since it's a version that required some significant new tooling, I would hope that they'll release a limited edition decal variant of the VF-31A later on. To get more profit from the toolings.

Modern Wave kits seem good. I have their 1/72 Destroids. They look good in the box but I can't comment about fit since I haven't built them yet. Wave kits are a lot closer to a Hasegawa style kit than a Bandai style kit, for sure. Side note: WHY did Wave not finish the Destroid set with a Spartan?

Yeah I'm not bothered that it doesn't match this or that lineart perfectly. The wave version looks quite nice and it'll look awesome next to other VFs. Too bad we'll never see a Hasegawa VF-2SS

Yeah, the 1/48 is nice.... but at the same time I wouldn't consider the 1/72 'inaccurate'. The 1/48 was released much later and is a larger scale so it's bound to feature some improvements. Reminds me I've been planning to grab a 2nd 1/48 Super/Strike. So I can do one as a super and one as a strike. Naturally.

Unless I'm mistaken, aren't the Hasegawa vernier thrusters accurate to the movie? They aren't bell-shaped in DYRL. Unless I'm missing something.

That's great. I've been meaning to pick up a spare VE-1 and VT-1 (to use with custom Hasegawa decal sets I got a while back) but I've never been able to find them at a nice price online since they went OOP.

It's a safe bet they'll keep going and do a VF-31F and VF-31S. But I gotta wonder... will they do the VF-31E that Bandai seems to be skipping? I sure hope so. And other than that, will they do a full line of super versions like they did with the VF-25 supers?

Perfect proportions or no, it'll add nice depth and variety to a display filled with VF-0s, VF-1s, VF-11s, YF-19/VF-19s, YF-21/VF-22s, VF-25s, VF-27s,and VF-31s. (and of course SV-51s and SV-262s) Now if we could just get some YF-29s, YF-30s, and VF-171s I'd be real happy. Pre-ordered!

The VF-31C is expected. And I guess I SHOULD have expected the VF-1 35th Anniversary... if I'd known the 35th anniversary was upon us. But holy geez... I still remember when the 25th anniversary and 30th anniversary kits came out. Time goes by too fast...

A 1/48 YF-21 to go with 1/48 YF-19...

How about a proper vf-1d battroid since they already did the fighter and gerwalk...

While I'm dreaming.... gerwalks for all the VFs they've done so far. More realistically, when are they going to do real world inspired unit variants for the vf-25, like they've done before with vf-0, vf-1, vf-11, vf-19, and vf-22?

This is just for fun: What would you like to see Hasegawa release in terms of Macross kits in the future? It's a safe bet they'll release more in the VF-31 series, so I'll pass over those for now... My top 4 picks for right now: YF-29 Durandal YF-30 Chronos VF-25A Messiah VF-171 Nightmare (or even a whole series of variants of this) Since it's Hasegawa, I'd expect them all to be fighter-only. And I'm fine with that. If Hasegawa surprised me by doing more battroids... YF-19 YF-21 VF-11 Thunderbolt VF-171 Nightmare No need for Hasegawa VF-25 or VF-31 battroids since Bandai has kits that can be built as battroids. And finally, this is a bit out of left field... would anyone buy a variable VF-0 from Bandai if they made one? It'll never happen, but it's interesting to think about.

It's simply not necessary for model kit companies who expect that most of their customers will paint their kits. For painters, these fancy moulding techniques just drive up the price on models. I appreciate a nice parts breakdown that lets me paint difference colors separately and avoid a lot of complex masking, but when it comes to moulding multiple colors into a single part, I just don't need it. And so I'm glad more companies aren't doing it.

Where is the VF-31E and the remaining supers though?

I might have to get more than one VF-31A. I have a feeling it would take more colorful schemes quite nicely.

Oh, didn't notice the VF-31 in the background until now. Nice boxart. Looking forward to seeing the boxart for the other VF-31 variant releases.

I just picked up a copy at my local Kinokuniya. $67 + tax. I probably could have waited and found it cheaper online but I was there and it was calling to me... I don't have any of the older Model Graphix from which these builds were pulled, so I'm OK with it. There's a few in there I'd never seen before.

Multiple colors on the same sprue aren't really a new thing... I have 20+ year old Gundam kits using the same technique (also Bandai). I have a feeling it's more complex/expensive than it's worth in the eyes of most model making companies. I just picked up a Bandai X-wing (classic), T-70 X-wing (Force Awakens), Tie Advanced X1, and Tie Fighter (vanilla) myself. I saw that the (solar?) panels for the vanilla Tie were moulded in 2 colors (grey and black) on the same parts. I..... actually don't like this. It means I have to go ahead and mask the different areas on the panels when I paint. It would be a lot easier from a painter's perspective to have the dark parts of the panels and the grey framework provided as separate parts. Then I could paint each individually and assemble later - no masking required. And the sad thing is... the 2 parts more or less ARE moulded separately... except that Bandai decided to be 'helpful' by pre-joining these parts in the box, rather than letting me paint and assemble them later. Definitely more 'assembler friendly' than 'painter friendly'. They are still nice looking kits though. Great detail, and I expect them to build well. And I'm glad Bandai included waterslide decals for these kits. Just waiting for them to do a B-wing and Tie Bomber now, to round out the classic original trilogy ship collection. Oh and a Lambda Shuttle would be cool, in 1//144 like the Falcon and Slave 1. Last thought: I'd like to see Bandai branch out and do prequel era ships after the OT lineup is complete. A Jedi Starfighter and N-1 from Naboo at least. ARC-170, Eta-2, and V-wing would also be nice.

Now that you mention it.... it's odd that Hasegawa didn't do a YF-25. Because they really like doing variants. Look at the number of VF-1s and VF-0s they did (a bunch of the VF-0s weren't even in Macross Zero). And further, I wish Bandai would do a VF-31A. Again, for the battroid mode possibilities. Now that Bandai is on to Deculture decal versions, I wonder if they have any plans left for more super variants or anything else, or if they are just 'done' with basic VF-31 kits...

Geez.... that looks great. Now where's my VF-25A, Hasegawa? Also kinda sad Bandai doesn't do a VF-25A so I can have one posed in battroid mode to match... But yes I will get one of these VF-31As for sure.