HardlyNever

Got my Ozma just before Christmas, but didn't have a chance to get him out until now. I also have ridiculously tight hips and the left ankle lock being a bit soft that others have reported. He joins some other armored boys.

Got a shipping notice from Kappa Hobby for Ozma.

Anyone have any info regarding release date for this beyond "November?" Just wondering if there is any chance of getting this in hand next month for those that preorderd.

Still kinda torn on this. Macross Plus is probably my second favorite entry in the franchise and I'm a fan of the yf-21. I'm fine with it not being super line-art accurate, but higher-than-average risk of having a toy damaged right from the factory, plus the shoddy (seemingly half-finished) fast packs and overall compromised nature of this release have me holding off on this one. There's still things I like about it, but I might just wait and hope it comes down below MSRP. I think the asking price is too high for what they ended up delivering.

Looks like they're adding more Macross to Disney+ in August, but only in Japan. I wonder if we'll get those outside of Japan. https://www.siliconera.com/macross-joins-disney-august-anime-lineup/

That one's near and dear to my heart. That's actually one of the Playmates "reissues" they did of that mold in the 90s. However the fast pack it has is from my original Matchbox from the 80s (sadly the rest of it is long gone). I've also got a Matchbox Zentradi warrior down in the corner of the little Zentradi section.

Finally got my display set up at the new house. Some of this stuff has been sitting in boxes for over a year, so it was nice to get it out.

Well, it sucks this looks to be coming out worse than anticipated, especially with the damage straight out of the box. Seems like my theory that this will be a shelf warmer available on discount might come true. Now it's a question of whether I even want to buy one at a discount.

Personally, I'm banking on this being somewhat of a shelf warmer, for a variety of reasons. Hoping to catch it on a discount in the next 4-5 months.

Does anyone have any contacts with the state-side vendors (BBTS, Entertainment Earth) that they could check with? Beyond just the standard customer service reps. Maybe they could clear up what kind of release this is. It seems weird that all the other Frontier releases would be standard "worldwide" releases, and this wouldn't, but with Bandai, anything could happen.

Yup, this is the one I was holding out for. I'm down.

Yeah, Macross Tau makes sense, probably looks cool. Someone where I play made a "Riptide" out of left over Gunpla parts. I put little UN spacy kits on some of my Grey Knights stuff, but it's really small and no one really notices it (or knows what it is).

Ah cool. Yeah, it's really just one army (Grey Knights) and a little unpainted Drukhari. Game is in a great spot now, best it's been since I've been playing (about 5 years) and I've talked to a lot of people that quit in 5th or 6th ed come back to the game and are enjoying it a lot more. Might be worth giving 10th a try, I've had fun with it. T'au just got a bunch of new Kroot models.

Just noticed this thread. Does anyone here play, or it just about the Joytoy figures?

I guess I'd be part of the target audience for this. I only have 1 VF-31 (Arad) and he's usually suited up in his sumo suit armored parts. I like the VF-31, and the super parts but... I don't know if I care to get this. Maybe will get it if/when it goes on discount from a stateside retailer (like Amazon). Is anyone else concerned on the number of reissues/"revivals" we're getting at this point? I know Macross is niche, and we haven't gotten a truly new IP in... like 8 years, but is this like... the beginning of the end? Macross collecting just seems flooded with reissues, where as 5-6 years ago we were getting actually new stuff pretty regularly.

Yeah, I basically don't even bother with the "before times" ways anymore. If its WWM, I'll get it through Amazon or another stateside vendor. Otherwise, I either skip it, or if I really want it, just buy it second hand via Mandarake (and only Mandarake) like 6 months after release. After getting burned by NipponYasan (like many others), I stopped using the import vendors, even though I know they aren't all bad. The last pre-order madness I did was the 1/48 Hikaru DYRL VF-1S. I don't miss that, and don't plan on going back. And with sales like this, we're almost back to pre-COVID pricing. Makes the hobby enjoyable again.

Amazon has these on sale, if anyone is still looking for one. Just grabbed one for myself.

Macross 7 is my least favorite Macross by... quite a margin, but I'd still be down for the VF-19. I think HMR is perfect for stuff you're only kinda sorta in to.

Largely depends on the specific valk, but the TV Hikaru VF-1J is my "beater" HMR that I don't care too much about what condition it is in. I've transformed it probably over two dozen times, and while it is notably looser than the others that I've only transformed a couple times, it still holds together well and can hold poses just fine in Gerwalk/Battroid.

I'm sure most people around here are aware of this fact, but the "Hi Metal" branding started way back when they were making the 1/55 "chunky monkeys." I'm not exactly sure why they ever put "Hi-Metal" on the box (maybe someone knows the story behind that), but it's been a part of their branding for Macross since the 80s. They brought back that branding around 2010 when they did the first reboot of the Hi-Metal line, which strangely, was just called Hi-Metal again (shouldn't that one have been Hi-Metal R?). And now we're on the 3rd iteration of that branding with Hi-Metal R (R?). There's never been a lot of metal in any of them; it's a branding thing. Is it misleading? Maybe, but it's been around forever, and it's pretty clear this is meant to be, at least in part, a nostalgia bait line, so they're going to lean into that. The chogokin line (超合金) isn't made out of... super alloys... whatever that would be, and people don't seem to complain about that. I'm not saying I love the name, but it is what it is, and it's been around for decades, and I get why they want to keep that branding around.

I'd be surprised/disappointed if you couldn't attach the guns in fighter. I'm also worried as to why we haven't seen the fast packs yet. This has to be a full set pack, right? Right... 😅

Yeah, for me it's that the negativity gets overwhelming, at times. I get why it happens, to some degree. Images come out, and there isn't really much to discuss other than comparisons with previous versions, what you like and dislike about the mold, speculation on how certain things work, etc. There isn't much else to do until the thing comes out (and even then, the primary thing to discuss is what ended up working and not working). There are certain things I don't like about this particular design myself. Overall, though, I'm excited about it, and have been since 2019. It's fine to not like it. It's fine to even say why you don't like it, imo. I'm not here to carry water for Bandai. But it seems like it's the same people coming here again and again to go on and on about how much it sucks, like Bandai is going to read this and change it to suit their tastes or something insane. If you don't like it, don't buy it (and I bet most of the complainers still will). The thing has barely changed (if at all) since 2019. We know what we're getting at this point. It's the constant harping on about it that seems excessive, to me. And lastly, we live in a time when you have access to technology to make your own version of these things. If you think you can do better, then go do it. Make your perfect line-art accurate version and sell it as a KO or something. As someone who has only dabbled in 3D sculpting and 3D printing, I can say, it is very difficult to make anything of high quality, and that is without the manufacturing constraints (price) that Bandai has to operate under.

Cost has been one of the biggest things that put me off Arcadia products in the past few years. I don't see this coming in at less than $300 (before shipping) unless the JPY to USD is really favorable for USD. I like the look of it, and it's a pretty unique valk, but I just can't see paying what I think Arcadia will be asking for it. I'd love to be wrong, though.

Still excited about this release and still in for one. Also still wondering where the fast packs are. Hopefully we'll get a glimpse of them before release (and they'll be included with the valk, not sold separately...)

The shorter pylons also allow some of the missiles to fit when you fold the wings up in battroid mode. Whether that was an intended design feature I have no idea, but there it is. I also think at this point in the VF-1s life, companies are trying different things, for better or worse. Bandai is currently producing VF-1s in two different scales. I can see why they might be trying a different approach to tampo, paint and accessories, regardless of real life or anime accuracy.