MKT

Arcadia has re-issued the YF-19 for the umpteenth time, so the mold should have paid for itself quite few times over by now. Yet they are not announcing the VF-19A from the game, which looks like an easy repaint. VF-19A is of course more obscure and perhaps the scheme isn't for everyone, but I wouldn't mind if they do it as a smaller run web exclusive.

Haha ok little nostalgia time for old pics I guess.. After being very impressed with the Evasion Prime, I went on to get the next repaint, a 'Battle Damaged' version. But re-looking at it now, the weathering is really a bit too heavy handed, and perhaps should have been called 'I just rolled in the dirt version'.

Well, a welcome goal of toys is to have model kit sculpt & tolerances whilst having to retain robust engineering to withstand repeated handling. I think the HMR VF-0 is doing fantastic from this angle. Although it is light with very small parts, the materials used are sufficiently strong with ABS on the small & thin bits. Things pop off but no one seem to have reported any breakage yet, unlike what I'm hearing with say.. the Toynami 1/100s lol. The VF-0D have disproportionately big hinges on the wing flaps, but I can well accept the tradeoff for sake of durability. Still, as been mentioned over at the VF-0S tread, the plastic-centric lightness really works against it for first impressions out of the box. Bandai should have packaged the VF-0 in Fighter mode like the HMR VF-4, and the impressions should then be much more favorable seeing how snug everything is in Fighter. First transformation experience would not be as frustrating since it is getting out of Fighter rather than into it.

In the early days when HMR VF-0S was out, I couldn’t really relate to others’ experiences about it being finicky & fiddly. With my initial copy, I had a pretty smooth experience transforming it from default Battroid to Fighter (first time transforming something without Jenius’s videos - not out yet at that time) & everything fit snugly plus aligned just about perfectly well. Perhaps the only tricky bits were the small flaps on underside of nosecone, the ones that partly wrap around the head which I remember could also be bit of a pain to align even on the larger Arcadia 1/60s. It was only much later on when I handled my other copy that I experienced the frustration of other folks. The chest plate would pop off, a shoulder would detach, & although everything fit just as snugly in the end, somehow much of the Fighter’s underside bits would juuuuust be little slightly tiny off alignment. In that mode, no amount of massaging of those bits would fix it like other typical VF-1 type molds; it had to be brought out of Fighter & transformed back again. I haven’t handled them much since, much like most of my toys beyond initial handling for display, but I don’t think it’s the problem of the mold or QC variances between copies. Rather its the design & tolerances have been made very exacting such that stuff have to be seated quite precisely in their places along the way to a good fitting Fighter, & small misalignments cumulatively adds to the frustration towards the end. In this regard, I must have been pretty lucky moving the bits correctly on my first copy, but not the second. Bandai appeared to have really prioritised the sculpt to be as accurate as possible for this HMR VF-0, so the plastics are as thin & parts are as small as needed on some areas, but unfortunately it can make the experience fiddly. We don’t really see this fiddly-ness on the HMR VF-1 because it appears the design is a bit more forgiving - there aren’t as many parts that come together as tightly on the Fighter’s underside, & plastics doesn’t look to be as thin but the sculpt consequently suffers a little.

I think the best standalone Macross that can be enjoyed today without spending a lot of time is still DYRL.

Was trawling back my archive pics, and this was the 2nd toy I acquired in this collecting hobby - a 3rd party OS Evasion Prime. Together with the Renewal 25F that I acquired probably a week prior to this, I was just blown away by how far toy technology & engineering have come over the years. The complexity, paint, sculpt, precision, materials & perfect transformation aspects of them really reeled me in.

+4 on VF-0A reissue, and PF a must! On other hand, Arcadia seems to be exclusively working with a new factory, so perhaps they are taking things cautiously.

It’s too bad it’s now yellowed as heck, due to improper sunlight exposure during the early days of collecting. Hence the 25F Revival came at a good time. Great pic! Waiting Bandai release the Revival Alto Armor. Love this more than the Delta ones.

That is actually not too bad a price, if considering it is just a small increase from back then. But is it worth double the HMR’s price?

Thanks for explaining & recapping (intentional pun ) @Chronocidal. I really forgot which peg is which, as I’ve never touched that area after a peg on my Alto sheared off from the first wing I tried to remove years ago when I thought to install the armor. I didn’t proceed with the other wing so the whole armor never made onto the toy.

Those mushroom pegs? They do look different, somewhat thicker..

What we know so far: 1. Matte finishing as per all Chogokin revivals. 2. Extra new tampo on the armored parts. 3. Contents list: ・VF-171EX body • 3 pairs of interchangeable hands (L/R) • Gunpod • Pilot figure ・Replacement antenna (hard) ・Wrist cover left and right ・ A set of armored parts ・ Anti-Vajra MDE particle anti-gravity cannon / 30mm MDE cannon matrix AVPAGC / MEDC30-EX-A ・Large anti-ship missile for anti-aircraft carrier Sentinel AVM-11R quadruple ・Medium-range anti-aircraft missile Befores AAMM-05D × 2 ・Sentinel FXA-60A high-speed armor-piercing rocket 6-tube pod x 2 ・ Short-range high-mobility anti-aircraft missile LAI / AAMS-02A triple × 2 • Dedicated stand It doesn't mention an extra pair of wings, so naturally the ones with hardpoint will be the default. Hopefully the mushroom pegs have been re-engineered in some way so the wings are permanent, or if removable, make it durable enough so the pegs don't break. Hopefully the wings fit flush to the wing root like the Fighter promo pics.

Pics:

Well, I suppose all Revivals get their own treads: https://tamashiiweb.com/item/14559/?wovn=en Price: Yen 30,800, inc. 10% JP domestic tax Release: Jan 2024 PO date: 01 September 2023.

Usually when these reviewers get their hands on something, the actual release will be within following month. Must have fell off or something. Pre-production copies after all.

Another one.. This reviewer mentioned the paint is a bit rough & not very cleanly applied, but it could be due to it being a pre-production version.

Early reviews:

Revival CF from Frontier should be the version best received by collectors: 1. Unique teal colour. Also yellow 'resistant', providing the yellowing is even all around. My copy has yellowed but I didn't even notice until I took it out from display, even then it was a pretty nice shade. 2. The angular cockpit canopy design. Small difference but somehow visually makes a world of difference to the rounded ones on the hero schemes. 3. The triangles! Bandai should never underestimate how many fans want an updated copy to replace the old broken ones or those who never transformed theirs (like me) for fear of breaking them. But this being Bandai, they are remarkably hesitant to release non-hero schemes now, even secondary hero ones get the short shrift. We still waiting for Chuck's 31E super parts? But yes, those awful swappable wings should go. They were not toleranced well, such that at least one wing if not both will always have a sculpt-breaking gap against its wing root in Fighter.

This is a huge annoying aspect of Bandai plastics. Even cheap HG Gundam kits stay pristine white over the years, but the pricey toys yellow easily. I sometimes think Bandai purposely build-in this obsolescence into their toys.

Based on google translate of that image, this will be Revival version with matte plastics, no surprises here. The armor parts will have new tampo markings. Hopefully there will be other, yet to be announced improvements.

I miss old-school shooters.. So this is perfectly fine for me. Perhaps they might include old-school cheat codes as well. Preferably a secret code to unlock VF-1 for international markets. Up, Down, Up, Down, Left, Right then Select+Start at the logo screen.

Sometime ago I was trawling decades old posts on these boards and remember coming across how folks were buying up Yamato 1/48 VF-1s in cases quantity, for the reasons you mentioned haha.. I guess they were relatively cheap then, even accounting for lower average incomes on basis of lower average age of collectors. Sounds like really fun times then..

The very first pic I took of my very first modern valk toy I acquired years ago. I was so impressed by it especially as compared to the KO toys I had as a kid, and the collection quickly ballooned, and grew even more into all sorts of other titles. It's been quite a journey since..

I've been a fan of your work on social media for quite some time @Rodrigoprofiles. These are truly great art!