eriku

I disagree. From the moment I first pulled the DX out of the box I got a heavy and distinct Chunky Monkey vibe. In my eyes it's the new Chunky. In many ways it's better.

He'd look better with a full beard. Or a donegal at the very least.

Any news on the GBP that Toynami showed pics of back in the late sixties? I actually like this line. I only have one of them so far but it's a fun little cheapy toy. Much better than the old Banprestos. I'd love to see Toynami do an Alpha/Beta in this scale as well. Or this size I should say, since a 1/100 Alpha would almost be too small to play with.

It's pretty much all speculation so far as nobody has actually held one in their hands yet.

That's the one. With that little hyperactive Shia, Miss Man-Face and junk-drawer robots pissing all over things it was like a big nightmarish German porn. Apparently the second chapter is coming this summer. To keep this thread on topic, I hear Megan Fox is getting some plastic surgery done so maybe she'll fit this role better. Apparently the procedure is called an adadicktomy. Anyone know what that is?

Isn't she that dame from the GoBot movie that turned out to be a dude?

Heh, the things one doesn't notice when they watch an anime! I guess that's why it looks like the EX-gear in there then. Has anyone tried removing the canopy on this thing yet? I tried a little gentle prying with an Xacto but it didn't move. I don't think it's supposed to come off.

No pilot, but it kind of looks like Alto's EX-Gear suit is sitting in there, although that may just be how they sculpted the seat. I'll take a shot of the cockpit tonight if nobody else does first.

Yamato should make available on their site a sort of papercraft download of the Macross so fans can print it out, assemble it and have a kind of 'place-holder' in their collection until the real deal arrives. I suppose the danger there would be some fans might find the paper model to be sufficient to their collection needs and not buy the toy. On that note, are there any papercraft SDF-1 templates out there?

Really any comparisons of the 1/100 to a model kit are rather silly. Parts swapping does not equal model kit for reasons obvious enough that nobody should have to point them out.

One more micro-mini note...for those who don't like how far the head cannons are angled out, you can swap the cannons with the ones that are on the fighter mode 'head', which are more straight. It's not a perfect fit as the straight ones are a bit too loose, but it's something to work with at least.

Dang, Vifam, we must be on the same schedule.

Quick Review: Fiddly but not too frustrating and very nicely constructed. It's a quality piece and although I'm still not a fan of partsformers, I like it and I'm glad I bought it. Random Thoughts: I honestly don't understand the uproar I've read about this being fragile. Yes, it feels 'fragile'. It's a very tiny piece consisting of many, many small parts. There's no way for something like this to not feel fragile. It might feel more solid and substantial in your hands if it were made out of pure PVC, but then you would lose many of the small parts and most of the fine detail. I really feel Bandai did the best they could with this small scale making a piece that is meant to be extremely detailed and appeal to the adult collectors eye and yet not take up much shelf space. It rests on a plane between the DX and the 1/72 kit. If the DX is too toyish and clunky for you and you don't have the time or ability to put the kit together, the 1/100 is a good option. The transformation was a bit of a chore, but the saving grace is that every single part made sense to me where it was supposed to go and how it was supposed to work. Nothing was difficult to remove or attach, nothing was frustrating, it was all pretty self-explanatory. There are very detailed instructions included, but I didn't need them. Most importantly is that not once did I get the feeling that I was going to break something. Although there are many small and light feeling pieces, they are very high quality. Even the ball joints on the microscopic hands didn't cause any worry and popped right off and on with just the right amount of tension. Battroid mode is very nicely articulated and holds poses pretty well. Some of the joints have small metal pins holding them together, which was nice to see. Mostly though it's a ball joint and friction joint affair. I like the chest/upper torso area better on this than the DX as it is easier to get into the right place. Fighter mode looks beautiful and Bandai did an excellent job getting all of the pieces to line up and join together to avoid a gappy mess - a feat that almost seems more impressive on a partsformer what with all of the separate pieces that need to come together just right. One thing that will be a bummer for some people is that the legs don't peg into anything so if you hold the toy by the nose the legs will droop down a couple of millimeters. But keep in mind this is a very small toy so when you handle it you're probably always going to be holding the whole thing in one hand anyway. Overall I really like it and I think Bandai did an excellent job. It's interesting to hold this in one hand and the Toynami 1/100 in the other because the difference in quality is quite striking. That's not a dig on Toynami, I happen to like their 1/100 VF-1, but they had to cut corners to make a cheap $20 toy. Holding them both makes it obvious why Bandai's 1/100 isn't in that price range. For me the 1/100 doesn't even come close to offering the same kind of joy that the DX does, but it's also a fun little piece of hand candy to just grab and pose. I'm very much looking forward to the future releases in this line and I expect a lot of the upcoming valks which have simpler designs to have less parts swapping. Pics:

That's what I'd like to know. Meanwhile there's me, who originally didn't want this because it was a partsformer, but decided to look past my dislike and get one anyway. Mine just arrived from HLJ and I'll be able to crack it open tonight. Can't wait! My first thought upon looking at it in the box: "Wow, it looks exactly the same size that I expected a 1/100 VF-25 to look!"

From everything I've read I'm not the least bit convinced that this toy is as 'terrible' as some people are assuming. Luckily I'll have mine tomorrow or the next day so I can decide for myself.

Totally can't wait to lift this big boy out of his styrofoam cradle. Plastic trays are just new-school utilitarianism.

I don't enjoy building models, but I also know this will be absolutely nothing like assembling a model kit where you have before you a tray full of hundreds of unpainted pieces that need to be carefully cut off sprues, glued together, sanded, painted, clear-coated, etc.

I've been a lifelong opponent of parts-swapping. Even when I was a kid I had a couple of toys that required part swapping to transform and I vividly remember my dislike and frustration with them. I'd like to get over that though. One of the main reasons I'm giving the 1/100 a chance is to broaden my horizens. I'm sure I'll really dislike swapping all those parts, but I've got my fingers crossed that it wont be so bad.

There actually hasn't really been that much feedback yet.

I ended up putting a layer of clear nail polish on the peg that flips out. So far so good!

I'll accept that when he tells me I did. The sentence can be interpreted a number of ways, so your interpretation is no more 'correct' than mine.

And yet others find 'turtle head' to be little more than hyperbole.

Transforming it is impossible? I found it remarkably simple.

OH Noes! Bandai farmed out the production of the 1/100 to a Lebanese team!?!? WHY BANDAI!!?? WTF Bandai is teh SUXORZ!!!

I think Macross 7 and the fire valk are a lot more popular in Japan (which is the base market for these toys) than we tend to give them credit for. I thought the Kai came out of left field, too, until I realized it's a good idea to start the line out with valks that are loved in Japan.