Duymon

plane grey would be the ultimate.

I'm about 99.9% sure this is the case. Anything that says 魂ウエブ商店 has always been an online-only exclusive. None of the other items that were on regular release ever had the 魂ウエブ商店, only the web exclusive super parts, etc, as well as all of Bandai's other web exclusives for other anime series. Also, several Japanese blog commenters are so relieved it's a web exclusive so they don't have to camp out (even in Japan! lol)

Not as far as I know I always used Rakuten to buy from them and have had no problems up to this point using their Tenso Service, which is cheaper than most proxies.

My Poor floppy Battroid

I have Built 8 VF-25's. I have 5 more in my closet and I just got a second YF-25 (for only 1900 yen from surugaya lol). The VF-25 Kit is way better than this kit, no joke. I HATE THIS THING. The way the legs attach is awful and is not going to last more than a few transformations. The whole leg attaches to this one tiny T-shaped piece of plastic. I don't even understand WHY it's a plastic to plastic connection considering you PUT this separate piece on Anywho, that Panel that holds the leg is held on to the body by this TINY plastic peg These "secure connections" give you, at best, this..... Here's where it gets funnier. IN the age of freaking CAD-designed models, Bandai's Lock point for the back of the leg is a full 2 millimeters to the INSIDE! This is what is causing all the inward angled legs on everyone's fighter modes. This is how it's supposed to look Unfortunately, now I have to somehow make a new lock point onto freaking piece of plastic that is only 1 millimeter thick. That gives us no space for magnets or just about anything else to correct this issue, meaning if you want a correct, flush look on the back legs by removing the incorrectly placed tab you are gonna have Imai-style leg lock on the back (ie, NO FREAKING LOCK) OH wait, I also forgot, the backpack is not locked into place at all on fighter mode. It's TOynami 1/100 Floppy baby!!

I would say this build is sorta fun until the legs. OMFG THE LEGS.

A lot of blogs are so-so on it. From building mine I can say one thing for sure. Bandai really tried hard on this valkyrie, but to the point that the valkyrie is too complex and too over-engineered for its own good. The amount of extra gaps, the fragile, tiny parts and the lack of secure fitting on those tiny parts means out of the box this thing will be an absolute mess to work with. I've been using tamiya super thin, putting a piece in the vise, letting it sit, and repeating ad nauseum and the kit has gone from interestingly fun to mind-numbingly boring as Bandai has made everything a billion parts. however, I gotta say if you're up for customizing Bandai has made separating the colors super super super super easy. THey could easily pop out a max / milia / cannon fodder, etc out of these molds imho.

I'm going to buy at least two since I already have two each of the other 29's + supers.

Unless I suddenly forgot to read Japanese, it definitely looks to be a web exclusive :0

So I started building this and I'm def seeing that this sucker is going to look pretty blagh if just built straight out of the box, but at the same time I don't want to fill all the seam lines with putty because then I'd have to paint it only to have it get scratched to hell. Next best option? Tamiya super-thin + tiny shavings of plastic off the parts trees for gap fillings. After the softened plastic cures inside the gaps some sanding and you can barely tell there was a gap at all... TOo bad I have to do it like crazy on the nose.....gaaaah....

Guys, it's a web exclusive!!! THe tag says "魂ウエブ商店" Translated: Tamashii web shop!!! All the other web exclusives share the same golden tag (it's right below the isamu 29 in that pic) WOO HOO the first easy to obtain DX chogokin Ever (outside of alto Renewal back at release)

Oh God... thought I was done with pre-ordering mania after the VF-25A...... 7/25 1600 JST. That's Wednesday night / thursday morning US time. G/L

The metal feet are nice, but make sure you get some clearcoat from some cosmetic store to put on that tiny ball joint front toe. After doing that it was much more fun to work with.

yeah, so happy I did what I did. somebody I know lost his VF-27 and VF-25 Preorders at HLJ due to getting a little too crazy on the Vf-25A's... he tried to get 4 lol. NOw he has no account

I think they're pretty serious about enforcing the 1 per customer limit. Been hearing about a lot of account locks due to pre-order abuse lately on the other boards. Even though HLJ said I could keep the second order I got rid of that one and the zombie one anyways just in case lol. absolute worst case scenario if somebody gets locked and loses all their preorders they'll need to contact hlj's trouble dept to get it resolved.

I get the feeling all the extra stock at hlj is from them cancelling multiples.

I think 3 is enough. I cancelled everything except for hobby-search, CD-J and one I have with Hlj

Last time I checked nobody with a major manufacturing base and distribution channels has tried to market a snap-together transforming Valkyrie kit to the mass-market. Yammies and hi-metals are toys right out of the box aimed at collectors. The Yammie kits came in drab cardboard boxes aimed at established fans. The Hasegawa kits are aimed towards traditional aircraft modelers. They are on the opposite side of the playmodel spectrum from the Bandai kit. Truth be told Macross is close to non-existent in most hobby shops or the hobby toy sections of retail stores in Japan so who wouldn't be happy that somebody is pushing Macross into all those main-stream outlets? The thought of stopping by "Ito Yokado" and seeing Macross at all, even if it's an iffy kit like this one, is better than none at all. Think of it as a gateway to better Macross products. Which was my point exactly.......you can build a bandai kit with a pair of snippers and nothing else. Who's gushing? Are we even reading the same thread because I sure as hell don't see any Bandai Fanboyism in this thread. Apparently saying something not negative about the bandai kit now equates to Bandai Gushing? Have you not read my multiple criticisms of this kit throughout this thread? I think people are just happy that at least somebody is trying to make an effort to push Macross into the mainstream at all. As Yamato's past financial troubles indicate sometimes it's difficult to survive catering to a hardcore audience alone

Hlj is stil up gogogo

WOw guess there's no need to worry about this thing going out of style. Thank god Bandai is making lots of these, just hope to god it's not plagued with the CF-171 QC. THen again the RVF-25 has been very good QC wise (3 out of 3 are perfect) so I'm confident

BACK UP on CD-Japan atm. FOr Retail http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/goods/goods_detail.html?KEY=NEOGDS-87205&utm_source=MAIL&utm_medium=html&utm_content=NEOGDS-87205&utm_campaign=GOODS

Honestly it doesn't look that bad to me, but perhaps my standards are too low. The majority of Bandai Models were never meant to be hard-core, but if you gave Bandai-Models hard-core treatment you can make them look amazing. For around 35 bucks new Macross fans or people with no prior knowledge of Macross can get a decent transforming kit of the Iconic VF-1 that is leaps and bounds ahead of the Imai / Arii kits of the 1980's that came out in an Era before snap-together Gunpla arrived on the scene. That in itself is something to be happy for, as more Japanese Macross fans is NEVER a bad thing. This kit should really be compared to the Imai 1/72 variables that it is meant to replace. In that respect, it is a million times better which it should be as it's been 30 years. You really can't compare this kit to the Hase VF-1's. The Hase VF-1's, like Noy said, are traditional kits. That means lots of love to fill the seamlines / etc to make the kit look good. Hell, I'm sure only a small fraction of people here know how much "fun" it is to smooth out the intakes on some traditional aircraft kits, something that you will never have to deal with on the Bandai VF-1. As for Yamato fanboys who keep bashing this kit... why do you care? You have your Yammies......

after getting tinged by overpaying for 6 vf-171's it's MSRP or below or none at all for me now. The Preorder madness really was not madness at all since It seems like I'm on night-shift and totally free to participate whenever the windows open up.

More Relatively cheap Yammy 1/48's. Crazy how they're selling for less than Retail these days.. (except for the chronicles exclusives and weathered versions that I have no interest in) Low Viz 2 with Armored parts - 192.5 shipped http://www.ebay.com/itm/Macross-1-48th-Scale-Low-Visibility-Woodland-VF-1A-Valkyrie-and-Armor-/221248790267?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&nma=true&si=CsXPVNnMygHiOPSC1PJ3HidwtP4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc 1J stealth gift pack - 212.5 shipped http://www.ebay.com/itm/Macross-VF-1J-Stealth-with-Super-and-Strike-Parts-/221248816198?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&nma=true&si=CsXPVNnMygHiOPSC1PJ3HidwtP4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Poor Luca is stuck looking into the Corner. No Love for Metro wussy kid pilots