jenius

Okay, let's not forget that lots and lots of these have been sold and so far we have only a few complaints about the stands. Remember, people complain much more readily than praise so you will ALWAYS hear more negative than good about any new product. That said, there's a legitimate complaint here, I'm just saying we should not rush out and say "Crap, the stands for every one of these Toynami Valks is useless." They might just have a casting process for these little ball-type joint-thingies that left some too thin. Yes, that sucks, but it doesn't mean everyone's will fall apart. Too bad Toynami's track record doesn't indicate they'll provide reinforced ones in the future.

Are you sure it wasn't a Takatoku or Bandai 1/100 toy? The other option would be one of the Henkei Convertors or Takatoku toys? Those were pretty small and ugly though.

I wonder what exactly is causing these pieces to break? Do you think it's just the material used? Do you think it was possibly broken in the package and you didn't notice or do you think it broke from the weight of supporting the valk?

To be fair, the superposeables were sold at below half price for quite some time before seeing their prices start to increase again. Then again, Toynami seems to be on the outs with retailers these days so there's a chance that will keep the numbers in circulation limited. Limited circulations would probably keep the prices pretty static.

Double post

I'm no professional photographer so if anybody feels my pics are missing a key element let me know and I'll see if I don't have pics from a better angle that illustrate your point. In the meantime, I can see the thin arms complaint, which frustrates me more when you consider the slack the arms have in fighter mode which still leaves them hanging down as if they were thicker (albeit minimally). Even with the thin arms I think the 1/48 easily trounces the others in battloid mode. The hips and legs are huge turn-offs for me on the 1/60. Yeah, the chicken hands are lame but they're swappable so that sort of alleviates that complaint from my angle at least. I think the 1/48 is a pretty clear winner in all modes really. When we're considering the "best mode" are we going solely by looks or functionality also?

Oh man, who's gonna be the unfortunate sap who has to let this guy know that's just a box....

I don't know, I really don't like the disconnected leg look in GERWALK but yeah, it does look better from the thigh down. The panel lining helps a lot also. Fighter mode's tail fins and the entire mechanism by which they fold is hideous, as is the cockpit area. I'd favor the Toynami of the two tiny toys.

In defense of my Banpresto pic, that toy was falling over and falling apart so frequently I had to give up and just try to get through the shoot I was doing. There's a better pic of a super Banpresto... I didn't want to use it since none of the other valks have super armor on.

I'm on a bit of a vacation right now without access to my toys so I can't snap off a few pics of the chunkies at the moment and post them. I would love to some day be able to do this comparison using all the same model (all hikaru's 1J, or Focker's 1S, something like that) but that's going to involve me retaking a lot of pics and such so for now this is the best I can do. EDIT - The HCM is missing it's gun and heatshield because I don't have the heart to remove them from their sprues, please ignore the omission.

GERWALK?

Carnies!!!! I'm about to slam this thread with a bazillion pics... you've been warned. FIGHTER MODE.... FIGHT!

Toy mark-ups are huge, there can be no doubt. Complaining that this thing isn't worth $20 is a fair enough opinion and I'm sure if people wait you'll be able to get them for $15 each easily enough and some will grab a few at $10 no doubt. Of course, shipping/tax are entirely other matters. Still, I think $20 is a pretty solid deal on these things. They're far sturdier than the banprestos and they certainly seem "playable" to me. You can fling them between modes like you can a Bandai/Takatoku completely naturally without fear of breaking anything. You get the nice little accessory package. The head sculpt on the VF-1S seems bad but the VF-1As don't look too bad nor do the 1Js. I did a quick check of all my VF-1S toys and honestly, the Yamato 1/48 stands out as being pretty much the only good head sculpt we've seen yet. The shoulders are too large but not to such an extent (in my opinion) that you find yourself staring at the valk wondering why the proportions are so funky. So it's a good enough toy that it can be displayed and a sturdy enough toy that you can play with it and it's $20? Why get all uppity? Oh no, it was made by Toynami... someone grab the torches and pitchforks! I honestly don't care who makes my toys as long as the toys themselves are cool... I don't even care if it says RT or Macross on the packaging.

It was, and is, just criticism on how you laid your opinion out there. It came off as if you were saying that these shouldn't be considered because there are better toys out there, something no one has disputed, without regard to the people who want to own a toy but are strapped on funds or space or have a wife that thinks blowing $150 on a 1/48 is grounds for a yelling at but wouldn't care about $20. For the member who asked what's wrong with elitism, in this context it I mean elitism to be the kind of person who laughs at others for not being able to blow as much money on toys as others... which is entirely silly if you ask me. Enjoy the toys, make fun of the toys, hate the toys, but stick to the toys. My vested interest is more in defending people who can more easily accept spending $20 on toys than $150... 'cause, while it's not an issue for me, I can easily see where it could be for others. Eh, whatever, I should have just taken Exo's and Godzilla's comments to say "If you can afford just one Yamato 1/48, you should buy that over 6 of these 1/100s." I think that's a nicer way of putting it and not something I'd disagree with.

I was told that HG was looking for distributors with greater reach than ADV. I'm pretty sure this was also covered earlier in this very thread.

Well, I stated an opinion steeped in experience and asked another user why they felt that way. They responded with a logical and perfectly acceptable answer. You said "I've never touched one but they suck so no one should buy them." Don't think of it as taking an issue, just offering constructive criticism. No one is butt hurt here but it definitely seems like a mod is trying to egg me into a flame war by refering to it as "your little toy" as if I have a vested interest.

I thought HG was using ADV as a last resort? Where'd you hear that ADV shot them down?

Ugh, a Bandai reissue? Why? It's less poseable, even uglier in battloid, and GERWALK modes, and not much better in fighter mode. I think the Takatoku was great back in 1984-1990 but it's painfully out-dated today unless you have some sort of sentimental attachment. if someone is going to use $40 to buy a toy, I would say go MPC or 1/60... unless you plan on occasionally using your toy as a hammer... then the Bandai reissue will be the definite choice.

Did the guy who buys six crates of every new Yamato release just make a speech about self-control? I'm just teasing you but it does seem kind of funny. The only problem I have with any of these posts is the "we" you're using. Unless you're speaking in the royal "we" then you're speaking too broadly or preaching. That's not to say I don't do the same occasionally but for whatever reason yours and Exo's original posts struck me as pretentious. Also, with all these people saying "Hey, they're not a POS" you jump in the thread and say "Don't buy a POS, spend 6x that amount on a 1/48.' I fully support people stating their opinion so long as it's guided at the toys and not the collectors. Comments that belittle the people who would buy the toys are far less effective than comments that belittle the toys. I love the whole "I was talking to another guy who hasn't handled one of these and we agree that no one should collect these horrible things" just seems generally a really silly position to take up.

So then the only Valks you'll collect from now on will have to be at least as good as the 1/48s? We're talking a 1/100 scale toy that you can throw away if it breaks... why would anyone ever bother to equate, relate, or compare the two? I don't mind the people who say it's their preference to only collect the very best example of the valk to date (the 1/48 at the moment) but don't start implying other people are stupid for not being elitists. Why would you buy a Saturn if you own a Ferrari? Maybe because you just love racing and you don't always feel like competing in the same race every day... or maybe you like owning a car that can get door dings at the grocery store without costing you an arm and a leg... or maybe you want a car with better gas mileage... or maybe you want a car that you don't have to worry about being stolen... or maybe.... The rubber connection on the stand does appear to be weak. I'm not using the stand myself but it does seem to be pretty flimsy. Maybe someone can come up with an easy household variety fix.

Right, because if you spend $120 on a friggin' accessory to a toy it makes sense you'd have to handle it extremely carefully. I love the GBP but there's no way you should blame the poor folks who had a craptastically engineered piece break on them while they were loading the missiles.

I love the fact that pic with all the VF-X equipment shows the 17D in a natural looking GERWALK mode instead of that wierd GERWALK with the shoulder lasers and stiff legs.

The handle is snap fit with no glue so you can remove the handle for fighter mode.

Yep, fighter mode in your pics has all that nastiness around the intakes too (little gaps and such). Still, overall, I think they're a pretty good buy.

Eugimon is still full of anger??? I thought he was just going through a phase in like Feb-March. Remember the "WHat?? Yamato's 1/48s aren't good enough?? Quit asking for more! You won't get a YF-19 or an Angel Birds so shut up and like it!" I think that was how it all went... j/k