MKT

I kinda moved on past the yellowing as well. But still having difficulty not picking up every single Macross valk release haha.. which I know I have to be more selective on moving forwards and hope I can reach a stage to have more self-control. The first one I quite struggled with but ultimately skipped was Hayate's 31J Armored parts.

Ah well, personally I do not mind the additional liveries. I like the very white color used, not sure if this is the brightest white on a Chogokin VF-1 so far. The good thing about the Chogokin VF-1, is that it appears to be spared from new QC issues plaquing other Macross chogokin releases over the past couple of years.

Finally got this in.

I recently got in a 2nd copy of the VF100 Armored VF-25F, to have it as a display piece in Fighter. This would be the first time I'm handling a VF-25 Armored in Fighter of any scale, as I've skipped on the 1/60 versions. Up till not long ago, I always thought Fighter form didn't suit the 25 Armored, as it looked too bulky and somehow interrupted too much of the base 25's sleek curvy lines. But once I have its actual form in my hands, it didn't appear as ungainly as I remembered in the images and actually looks pretty good. I think this change in perception is due to the VF-31 Armored that we are seeing more of recently, which look like an absolute flying brick in comparison and somehow I've been conflating both the 25 and 31 Armored forms together. As to the toy itself, I went in thinking Fighter would be more a pleasure to handle than Battroid, but how wrong I was. Battroid had noodle legs, but at least the pieces plugged in accurately and stayed on reasonably tight. In Fighter, the shoulder missile pods pop off with ever the slightest nudge, and the legs always appear to feel that they can be tucked up higher, but they don't stay and hangs down slightly. Still, these issues are not really out of expectations after already going through reviews. Pretty happy with both purely as display pieces in the collection.

It appears both HLJ and Amiami got extra allocation. PO for VF-0D are up again at both sites.

Nice purchase @MisaForever. What do you think of the HMR VF-0 coming straight from the VF-1? Just couple of tips: 1. Heat shield in battroid can be pulled down further to completely cover the cockpit. It is very tight though, so it does take some effort. 2. Shoulders can be flipped down in Guar.. err, Gerwalk, to allow clearance under the wings without having to swing whole arms forward or sweep the wings further back.

Although Macross toys seem relatively expensive, even more so in today's environment, there are couple of things going for them in long term. Firstly, the number of valks aren't really that many compared to other IPs, for example the popular transforming mecha IP Transformers. So there's less hair pulling on what lines to collect, what scales with what, which manufacturer one has the best mode etc. Secondly, the valks tend to have very strict interpretation look & transformation wise, so many of the toys that come out don't get obsolete so quickly. The Yamato v2 VF-1 is coming to 15 years old, but they are still so relevant today. But if you collect say, MP-level Optimus Prime, there will be a new one every couple of years with new engineering, updated interpretation, clever transformation and probably need to clear out 'old' toys more often for space, outdated & the like reasons. On both above factors alone, we can build the collection slowly, have fun with the joy of the hunt, and not stress out so often on the announcement of an updated version of an older valk we just spent some time to hunt down.

Thanks @Lolicon. I wish the GNU line continued to other valks, but sadly they ended after the Plus ones. @no3Ljm always love your recolors. They look as though they are actual releases lol.

At moment, it's the closest I can get to having a VF-11C..

I guess we are used to nice art on HMR boxes, which can double up for some nice background display. The box on this HMR VF-0S Max will be stuffed together with Arcadia boxes - right at the back of a closet.

Do you mean the UN Spacy letterings? Didn't notice it before but now can't unsee it.

Great vid. The Tri-charger looks even better here, especially with the nice range of articulation it has. Greatly appreciate the designer still tweaking, iterating & further improving it based on feedback. JJ having 5 whole alternate heads (not just faces), really shows how Pose+ wants it to be a best figure it can be. They didn’t have to do it, but the extra adapters to cater for other 3.75” figures is nice touch. It maximizes JJ as a very nice figure to be showed off outside the Tri-charger, without leaving the Tri-charger looking incomplete by using others as a stand-in pilot.

Looking really nice @Lolicon! It looks even better than a base Arcadia VF-1S..

It was just a placard that appeared years ago at some exhibition, but it became vaporware when there were no official mentions of it thereafter. If not mistaken, this could be the only Macross item Arcadia have teased but never followed through after. Unlike Bandai..

Often when handling a VF toy, I find something new or re-discover something I like about it that have been glossed over previously. This time it's the half-Gerwalk mode of the VF-1.

The HMR is somehow more resistant to yellowing compared to their DX Chogokins, fortunately or unfortunately.

They should also release the VF-0A CF they've teased before..

It's too bad Amiami didn't give much PO discount this time as they did for the VF-0S.

Always wanted to get some of these, but the orange ones sell out pretty quickly. Size wise, they work quite well with HMR. Here's a video, with comparison to 6" figures of which HMR are close in size to:

Yeah somewhat impossible to get PO's in at AJ; it has joined Hobby Search & CDJ as unicorns. The good thing about AJ though, based on past few releases, there's always quantities available on release day.

Avaliable yet again on Amiami. Edit: 25 minutes later and its still up.

Amiami’s time will most likely be 11am, in keeping with the tradition of their last few POs.

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Live at Hobby Genki: https://hobby-genki.com/en/hi-metal-r/14365-hi-metal-r-vf-0d-phoenix-shin-kudo-use-ver-macross-zero-4573102651266.html