PointBlankSniper

Looks pretty good painted up. The calf though 😭

Would be funny if bandai kneejerked to the backlash and sales numbers and decided to make changes, but only on the 17D, because its too late to mess with the 17S. So the two look vastly different lol 🤡

It might not be to my tastes, but it certainly looks like a plausible in universe head design. A week sounds real fast, although I'm not sure whats left

Was too lazy too look it up earlier, but these Zelda creatures were what the eye was reminding me of lol Anyway. For the top, you've got that crew cut FAST helmet look. Will probably take some additional geometry to move away from that silhouette.

Think it might be that the ears and cap are too detached from each other, both by shape and paint job. It makes the top actually look like a seperate helmet from some angles. The camera looks a like a swollen eye and is kind of uncanny imo. Thats just my taste I guess. Since it's vaguely conceptually similar to what you have, here's the new samus helmet that just dropped a few days ago. Maybe it will be some inspiration for angles and layering of components, idk lol

I don't think Bandai has any interest in correcting wing molds these days. If they did, they'd have changed the 25 and 29's wings to milk this whole hardpoint with no accecories scheme they have going on with these new designs. Then they'd be able to milk those frontier sound boosters, and the 19kai having hardpoints would almost actually make sense. The only thing this feedback has the slightest chance of saving are the 19S and 19F however unlikely that is. They probably already have those molds made and the release is imminent, if they ever had plans to release them. I wouldn't be surprised if they figured out the issue on their own and fixed the F/S after producing the kai, from watching marketing crews play with the toy lol. Or they went full Bandai and just deleted the idea of hardpoints on the F/S out of kneejerk and giggles because no fun is allowed where it makes sense lol

It's not uncommon for Bandai to stick in developmental lore in their instruction booklets. It doesn't really mean they will or will not produce those related units. Y'all are probably reading too much into this one.

Welcome back! NGL, I'm not into cyclops buggo looks, so I'm no judge of these, especially the side profiles. The Kairos head would be what I would lean towards for being the farthest from that style lol. But I think the front profiles with trooper helmet vibes is worth exploring. The idea of it reminds me of the YF-30's head

I thought amiami was already sold out earlier. Were they really just that late to open for PO?

Was just wrestling with my armored AX. Honestly was a lot of suffering that I wouldn't bother going through with on more than just the one unit I own, even if another was given to me for free lol I'd rather they finish up those supers, or released sets of those double missiles that work with or without the super's shields. Or as far as pipe dreams go, replace the wing hinges on this and any future 31 releases with the AX hinges with hard points, so Lil Drakens can be slapped on without funny adapters, even if the position is kind of off.

Quite sure Bandai is going with a low volume run after some slow sales, especially with the last 31 release. They are probably trying to justify rehashing the rest of the 31 line to themselves by stacking the conditions. High demand, formerly limited, low volume production, fodder army builder, and anniversary marketing, all look like the makings of an instant sell out sales report lol

Bandai has no intention of making bank off of these, or it wouldn't be so ultra low stock comepared to the rest of the WWM stuff that we're basically back at PO madness lol

Crazy that a limited item is going into store retail for reprint.

Mine came in last week. Colors are nicer than I expected, and matte is also nice than I expected. Kinda weird the gunpod is still in gloss though. Had to do shoulder swap. Ejecting crotch cover is apparently nothing new. The arm plug hole has absurd spring tension, so the gunpod adapter doesn't stay in, and the shield launches across the room if not pushed in at some perfect distance and left to settle so that static friction overcomes the spring tension lol. Intakes barely hold in gerwalk when on the stand. They just want to drop with the legs, and the backpack strut wants to pry that crotch piece out. I know the gerwalk articulation is supposed to be lackluster, but I can't tell if the intakes are just the 2 clicks. And it looks like there is a thigh swivel, but they only turn like 3 degrees with no friction and no ability to resist gravity while on the stand, and then have a soggy backstop that pushes back, so it just feels like plastic that doesn't bend is just flexing back... I can't tell if it's as far as it goes, or I'm doing something wrong. The sloppy abdomen split where the battroid brace goes was somehow sealed together so tight out of box, that I had to pry at with an uncomfortable amount of pressure with a flathead. Never knew there was a fancy swing bar locking switch mechanism in there, but mine came pre locked. That blocked the swing bar from going in all the way, and I couldn't figure out why, because the lock wasn't supposed to be relevant until the next step... Took me a long time to figure out i was wasting my time trying to force it to latch on the fuselage. While on the stand, the battroid legs jiggle and rattle at the swing bar's axel hole inside the crotch, as well as a bit of slop at the latch, despite properly locked in. It's probably the intended fitment by design, but it sure as heck feels like an extremely aged and worn out metal on plastic joint and doesn't inspire confidence... The stand adapter doesn't even seem to sleeve around it's intended crotch space all the way. It's kind of a loose and off angle mess. Superparts are surprisingly easy fit for once, despite the regular sloppy nubs. Gunpod splits slightly crooked and IDK why lol. It's great that I grabs on the crotch in fighter mode without needing that partsforming adapter that self ejects though. Overall, looks wonderful, and panel fitment seems to be great. Waist and thigh structure doesn't inspire confidence when hanging from the stand, because of everything I nitpicked, but it holds after getting them together properly so far, so it's still a satisfying display piece to have. Heres to hoping those sloppy bits are not a longevity issue.

Booger's Draken though. Also, now I can sleep knowing I'm not crazy for believing the gunpod mechanisms do their job