PointBlankSniper

Slightly new packaging look must mean they are locked in to w/e stategy or quality standards this release stands for. The 17's arm is peeking out from the side. Since it's ready for show, that one's designs are definitely locked in too lol.

I always had the impression that 24s were deployed from the convos around here, but its nice to know where it comes from is lol Super packs at this point might indeed be getting way ahead of yourself, but I've been wondering what the hypothetical 26 that got canned could have come out like, eversince you started working on the 24 😁

The ECM or data collection thing for the YF-25's head is what I was thinking of. Guess that rules it out from looking too much like a 24. In the same vein, I've been thinking the 24 was intended to be more of a direct drop in replacement to the VF-11 (and 171), more so than the way the 17 was shoehorned into the role through modding it into 171. So I was thinking maybe going a little backwards helps with head design ideas. Then thinking back to Isamu's valks for single laser designs, it suddenly dawned on me, his custom 29 might literally have the closest head possible to the 24... If you want a more cyclops take to Isamu's jewel + visor design, I think the VF-0D is good place for inspiration. For a cyclops with brow look, I'm not sure how you are picturing it, but I think the 25A/G has a bit of that going on too. Maybe you can figure out how to roll all those ideas into one. Don't have much thoughts on the shoulders atm, but I'm wondering if that shield is long enough to fit a knife lol.

I was under the impression that it was kind of just a 25A or G head too, but upon closer inspection, it doesn't seem like it. The A and G don't have those vulcan(?) humps flanking the laser's mount, and the helmet contours are totalle different, not to mention the laser is different shaped. It's actually the 25F that looks closest to it. I think there's something wrong with the 25F line art you used for comparison. The red sensor box where the laser would normally be is totally missing. Inside those black stripes, similar to where the 24 has the vulcan humps, the 25F also has them. I can't tell if they are still there in the 25F's line art. The next closest thing is actually the 31A, having a single laser, and the vulcan humps, but the designs and proportions are off. One thing that's for sure is that the 24 definitely stows its head facing backwards. I'd say hacking (or clipping?) together a laser from 25A or 31A and copying 31A's lack of ears to the 25F's helmet would probably be the simplest approximation for the visible parts of the head. For the hidden parts, I guess you could take inspiration even from the YF-25, since it's the closest link to the 24 that we have. But I think there might have been lore that the YF's head looks intentionally primitive with a giant camera for testing reasons, so it may not truly represent any sort of lineage to the 24's designs.

I just noticed this shot wasn't floating around before, I think... maybe it was added later? bandai's not even trying to hide that they are stowing the gunpod wrong lol

Nice work with the wings. I think the nose are supposed to be very different, considering some parts like the feet and intakes look identical between the two. If you think about how the 25, 27, 29, and even 30 are supposed to be direct descendants of the 24, but all of them look nothing alike beyond general mechanisms, I think it's safe to assume any differences noticed are intended. So my read is that the cockpit is that little bit larger. Other things like the nose being that little bit stockier might be intentional as well. The line down the center of the nose might be a chine, or could be a two tone nose design along with micro fins at the front of the gear doors that survived into the 29's design. Maybe looking at the 29's line art might help you a little. The 27 might have little features in common with the 24 too. Admittedly, the 30 being related in any way, more than just vague wing profile, is kinda bs lol. Maybe the engine humps with the little slit sensor thing up front counts for lineage... Following that train of thought, those hexagons on top of the engine near the ankles might be missile hatches, something that evolved into the 30's missile container with topside hatches, and then the 31 reverting back to calf missiles but with a large door. The real thing up for guessing to me is whether the intakes are actually that faint bit taller on the 25, since they do look identical by design, or maybe the scaling of the two images just wasn't perfect so there's nothing to that, idk lol

Most of the stock problems are just the effects of bandai's strategy to feed scalpers rather than customers. Even japanese people take swings at bandai for eternal stock shortage and scalper problems every chance they get. Yet bandai still focuses on jumping between small batch reprints, spam new series and new designs nobody asked for without fulfulling demand, spam pbandai limited runs, etc. They do everything in their power to create stock shortage and raise the value of scalping. Then they blockade cross region retail at the expense of regions with bad distro and local pricing, in the name of combating scalping. But there is no legitimate logic to it, because in reality, they are just giving more power to scalpers by giving them exclusive rights to peddle merchandize between regions. They singlehandedly built the scalper empire, and they will do everything they can to continue to fatten it. So it's not really an HLJ issue IMO, other than the fact that they are the last one allowed to do cross region retail, so all the symptoms are showing through them. It's just bandai totally not secretly having back channel arrangements or managing the scalper network themselves 😉, and totally putting in all their efforts to stop the scalper industry😉, that they totally didn't have a hand in birthing 😉, and cutting out all the distro and retailers for retail equivalent pricing through p-bandai isn't just another step in their strategy 😉. I totally don't think every individual scalper and scalping retailer is just an undercover bandai staff 😁 Its not going to improve because bandai's priorities are as suspicious as the consistent quality and QC issues of their DX/Metal Build/tamashii lines. Just another thing that even japanese people are openly dunking on them for, and they don't care. Their games also have some of the most heinous DLC schemes, despite people forgetting that is a thing between every release. Bandai is run by corporate vampires, so things can only get worse.

Still haven't watched so never realized that was a thing. Googled around to check. Now it makes sense. My googling has revealed an old thread on here with an image that proves the gunpod is wrong though. It's supposed to also have a white version of the Kai's speaker launcher rather than the regular gunpod lol

I think it's the camera angle, and the head design. 171 is taken slightly top down, so it's proportions are squatted, and the chest looks lower than it really is. The head and its colors are blended into the ear lasers, which gives it a photogenic V shaped silhouette that follows how the chest also tapers together towards the front. 17S is taken level with the waist. That makes the chest look as wide and thin as it really is, and looks like it hangs high up on the skinny torso. The legs' full lankiness are exposed by the direct flat angle. The head is cylindrical and silver, which stands out like a soda can, while the lasers are dark with no highlights so they blend in to the back side parts and main body, making them contribute little to the silhouette and proportions of the head. Overall it it makes the head look too narrow for how wide the chest is, and the chest too wide for those legs. It's basically a "V" shape vs a "t" shaped silhouette. Only one of them looks like an angry robot.

I don't have mine yet, but if I'm not mistaken, you just need to flip one wing up at the wing root hinge and drop that leg at the intake/thigh. You've already got it out of the box, so it shouldn't be much more work to take a peek. You just need to see the top of the "101" and the corner that it should/shouldn't align with. This is assuming there really aren't any double same sided shoulders in circulation.

Think the buttstock is supposed to be a skeleton underfolder, so it was always supposed to shorten to the same length, just without spitting... They should have done a new gunpod mold, not just for that, but also the ammo gimmick and add the beam ammo. That is definitely an intentional feature. The wings are different shaped, so definitely new parts. They put them there on purpose like the new wings on the 19Kai. I agree that it's a cool play option and I wish the frontier valks also got, and bandai should release more missiles to actually use the feature. Wanting them removed is kind of being the no fun police... I don't see how it's possible to mount the back pack guns. The piece it goes on has no ports on the surface, and all of its edges are blocked by something, so they can't even hook anything around. They either have to dremel some tab slots in before packing it in the box, or give you double sided tape with the pack. I feel like the way they announced this is a declaration that they won't do a super pack for it. Not even the 19Kai looks like it has plugs for the sound booster. I feel like bandai killed the idea of add ons as separate purchases, that's why anything that was going to have a pack had their packs included since WWM started. I'm still huffing my hoping for the arm cannon, but I honestly don't think it's ever happening.

I think everyone is reading too much into the preorders with an old mindset. Everything from revivals like 25G, Tornado, 31J, 262Hs, 171EX, 25S armored and 27, have all been selling out very slow. Some of them are still in stock. Even the PO for the Fire Valkyrie is still in stock at a few places. PO madness is simply no longer much of a phenomenon for these toys. The only exception to this was probably the YF-19. While the 21's sales were hampered despite being new and having demand... It seems like it's just the current trend with DX Valks. It may just be the result of the overall known issues of recent bandai action figures in general, including metal builds, and the economy, and bandai overproducing as they embrace global releasing valks after the legal issues of the macross IP cleared up Even if they had perfected the sculpt for this release, my guess is that it would just sell out at a similar same pace. There's no way this thing could sell out faster than the 19Kai

Mark H. replied a comment saying the shoulder fins don't come off. And another one saying the leg missile hatch doesn't open even though it seems like it should.

Honestly, the only thing glaringly inaccurate in fighter mode is that the elbow guns are far past the shoulder panel gap that it should have been in line with. And then the shoulder missile port(s) upon closer inspection. Otherwise, line art for fighter mode seems to have always had those leg proportions.

It would be crazy if you mange to put together the mythical Evolution. I think there's a 3d file of the YF-24 on cults3D. Not sure if it helps with what you want to do.