Axelay

I can't get that part to move at all. I am quite afraid of applying too much force, as I may break the landing gear door or even the cockpit itself. I tried to take a screwdriver and see if I could gently move the "plate" either up or down, but it won't budge. I just feel like it's glued. I do not consider this problem to be any kind of issue which should cause widespread panic, but I do feel like this is some kind of error in factory assembly. It's probably just an isolated incident, and I could totally see this happening if they are being assembled by hand. Still, though, for the price paid, I don't feel like I should have to make this kind of repair. This should have been caught by quality control.

Funny you should say that. I am currently thinking exactly the same thing after receiving mine and inspecting it. I have discovered that right out of the box, there is a VERY visible gap between the upper and lower halves of the cockpit on only the pilot's right side. I was very perplexed by this, and it was enough of a visible problem that my OCD could just not let it go. Let me show you what I mean. (This is obviously after I disassembled the cockpit from the fuselage.) The gap is much more pronounced when it's attached to the metal rail on which this whole cockpit assembly is supposed to slide when transforming to battroid mode. Curiously, there is no gap on the left side of the cockpit. I had to investigate further. Need good jeweler's screwdrivers to get these. The hole in the nose is deceptively small, and both of these use different size screws. Once these are removed, you can take the upper and lower halves of the cockpit completely apart. Upon close inspection, I have discovered that one of the "plates" on the bottom half of the cockpit is sticking up too high. The one on the pilot's left side is completely flush, but the one on the pilot's right side sticks up quite a bit. Wonder what would have caused that? Here's the culprit. That "plate" is actually part of the landing gear door. It's the upper part of the piece which extends into the wheel well and provides the attachment hinge for the gear door. It appears as if, during assembly, this part was not pushed down far enough into the lower half of the cockpit. I don't think I would have ever noticed one of the landing gear doors being just slightly lower than the other, but the incorrect assembly of this piece really hurts the assembly of the halves of the cockpit. For the sake of comparison, this is what the one on the other side looks like. Because this is pressed down far enough, the "plate" on top doesn't press against the metal sliding rail. Now, the ultimate question is how to solve this problem. Well, I am thinking that I'm just going to have to get out my Dremel file and effectively file/plane down the "plate" which sits too high. The only reason I consider this is because I won't see the (repair) damage after I reassemble the cockpit halves. It won't solve the problem of the landing gear door being sightly out of place, but I don't think I'd ever notice that anyway. I have attempted without using excessive force to see if I could just push the "plate" down into its socket, but it won't budge. I am guessing that it is glued, but I can't say for sure. The bottom line for me is that this is a really obvious QC issue which should not have happened with something this expensive. If anybody has any other suggestions for how to solve this problem, I would appreciate your feedback.

What is this, exactly? Because I want it in the most covetous way...

After having seen this three times, I have a question about something which I think I observed in the very last scene: Anyone else pick up on this? It may be absolutely nothing other than my imagination. Also, a few slight nitpicks/curiosities:

Huh. I am assuming that the UN SPACY markings in those photos are stickers, then? And no red stripes on the head lasers is still disappointing...

Looks GORGEOUS to me. I am thrilled to have preordered this.

I just opened mine last night, and am fairly happy with it. The exception, though, is that I did not realize that this particular armor set wasn't going to come with the reaction warheads or the MDE bombs. This is highly annoying to me, as I was going to outfit my YF-30 with 4 reaction warheads. Ah well.

Soon! I am thoroughly excited about this since I haven't purchased a Valkyrie in months. Next stop for me after this is the VF-0S.

I appreciate seeing these scans, as I never have until now.

That makes two of us.

I'm kinda tickled that the new VF-171 EX is coming with more reaction missiles... which I can then pass along to the YF-30. A whopping 4 reaction missiles on one Valkyrie... ooooh, goody. I'm gonna go hunt some capital ships.

I scroll all the way to the bottom of the last page and see mention of Ozma, and almost lose it when it's not what I had hoped. I have wanted really badly for the YF-30 to be repainted in Ozma colors. Alas...

Well, for as much as I am afraid that I will jinx myself by saying this, I can also claim to have no damage to mine. (Knock on wood.) I've transformed mine at least 15-20 times since having purchased it back when it first came out. Mine is wearing the super packs, too, and it's been standing in battroid mode in my display cabinet for a very long time now. I came out of my bedroom the other morning to find that one of my cats had been jumping vigorously on top of my Valkyrie display cabinet to the point that I found my 171 face down on the top shelf. I was certain that it was going to be broken... but nope. Not yet, anyway. I am highly curious if the forthcoming white EX model with the Sheryl decal will have improved/redesigned joints, but I'm not terribly hopeful. I think my green 171 is a prime candidate to go back into its box to be replaced in my cabinet by the new white one as soon as it's in my hands.

I just want some little tease of Cable, and I'll be happy. Even just a glimpse.

I own TFC Hercules, and absolutely love it. I never considered Maketoys Giant, but when I heard that this company was doing the Technobots, I had to get on board. I just got Quantron this past week, and it is amazing. Just from this, I can see why people appreciate Giant so much.

If the notion might strike you to sell it, let me know. I might be in the market for a second one. My first one has become super floppy over time - even after a few coats of nail polish on the hip joints.

I cannot believe that I'm about to say this, but this Valkyrie is AMAZING. I was completely on the fence when I saw the first photos because of the back kibble in battroid mode, but once you have it in hand, the transformation for this thing is nothing short of brilliant. Kawamori-sama has proven his genius once again. I haven't been so enamored with a Valkyrie since I first saw the YF-19 way back in 1994. Although I do wish that the tailfins could telescope up into the main wing body, I am still crazy about this Valkyrie. I can't wait to see if FAST packs are coming for it.

So, having never played the game, I am curious if someone could explain to me the significance (if any) behind the SMS Uroboros and Siegfried markings on this?

Ah, screw it. I just ordered one of these from AmiAmi. I wish I had jumped on the bandwagon sooner, but the tailfins still drive me crazy.

Also got notification that my Super Pack shipped from BigInJapan.

How much longer before the Super Pack comes out for this? I feel like I preordered it 8 months ago... (Just impatient, I think.)

Your two cents is indeed valuable.

Finally got shipping notification from N-Y. Now what the heck is Special Services Mail...?

Finally got a response from N-Y after the second ticket. The response? "Hello Thank you for your message You order should be ship this week We apologize for the delay Kind Regards Nippon-yasan.com" Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm done with them now. I'm displeased that they didn't acknowledge any of my questions, or attempt to assuage my concerns in any way.

Indeed, thank you.