Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0

Do you have access to a 1/48 VF-1? If so, can you inspect the shoulder hinges on the 1/48, and on the 1J, and tell me if the shoulder hinges are a very similar shade of white, and feel roughly the same? I am interested in determining whether or not the shoulder hinges on the 1J have truly been fixed. In some online galleries, I have seen that the shoulder hinge is slightly, but significantly brighter than most of the other plastic pieces, such as the wings, which are ABS(I have a suspicion that the 1J has POM shoulder hinges).

Just got Animated Shockwave, and this is one of the best animated voyager Decepticon toys. The transformation from Longarm to Shockwave is impressive and the result looks quite different from Longarm. I just wish this figure had hip ratchets for Shockwave, and better leg articulation for Longarm(his hips move at an angle due to the waist plate blocking the hips depending on which angle it is put in).

They are angled inwards too much, they are supposed to angle outwards a bit.

I heard the new Luke vs Clone Emperor comic pack is out, both figures are fully articulated, and look great, I hope I find one soon. So far the best comic pack seems to be the Legacy set with the Imperial Knights. I heard those turned out great except for their hoods. Damn I love the attention that the EU is getting. I hope we are not far from getting a fully articulated Revan with cloth robe, fully articulated Bastila figure, Candarous Ordo as Mandalore, KOTOR Mandolorians, and many other game characters. I LOVE KOTOR! Even the Sith troopers from Kotor, I want to see those guys too! I'd even go for a battle pack of Mandolorians in different colored armors and a ton of accessories, mainly melee weapons. Need a Mission Vao and Zalbar too, even if they may not be in the comics yet(haven't read the KOTOR book too much), those two should come together, since they are best friends and aren't seen separetely much. Hell even a redone Malak and Revan in a comic pack would do well for me too. So long as both are fully articulated, both have more accurate head sculpts(the current Malak figure has eyes wide open, while in game it is much different, and Revan figure has an inaccurate mask), and possibly more accessories, maybe a transparent mini Star Forge replica(or the hologram that shows up in the middle).

The latest wave I have found is wave 11 and remnants at that. I hope I find the Ghost HAWK and Sting Raider before xmas, I love what Hasbro has done with the Ghost HAWK, and always wanted a Skyhawk with a glass canopy, now I finally get my wish! This will also be my first time ever owning a Sky HAWK mold too. What made me want it? The first story lines in the Marvel books. For wave 11 I bought Zartan and Matt Trakker. Trakker has a great face sculpt, one of the best in the line, the gear is great, but the elbow movement is hindered. That took me by surprise, and is the only disappointment I have with him. Zartan, if you wanted a classic one all along, and the wave 3 version didn't do it for you, look no further, this one rules! The only bad thing is the fact that he uses Gung Ho's torso so his ab movement is inadequate, and the swamp skier is severly out of scale. Maybe the Combat Heroes figures will look..........., actually no they would look too big for it. The figure himself was worth the wait, the face sculpt is great. I like this figure much more than the wave 3 Zartan. The backpack stays closed much easier too, on my wave 3 version the backpack does not want to stay closed at all!

Back when Valk Factory was still online, either the owner or a friend of his posted a way to make bigger tailfins for the VF-11 merely using cardboard sheet handouts for color samples found at Home Depot or something. That was the cheapest DIY method that I have ever seen with great results. All you did was fold the paper, and put it over the existing tailfins.

I actually like the clunkiness of the VF-0 and the sleekness of the VF-1. I love the VF-0 design in the anime, it bridges the gap between a conventional engine regular fighter to a nuclear powered variable fighter. I look at it as the step in between the F-14 Tomcat and VF-1 Valkyrie. It just reaks of a fighter that was never meant for prolonged combat, but adapted to it anyways, and that is what happened in Macross Zero. EXACTLY Seriously the shoulder hinge should not be hard for them to make durable, they managed to outdo their 1/48 with the all new 1/60, and make the 1/60 YF-21 sleek, like I said before, those are ambitious efforts on their part and they succeeded, a measley shoulder hinge should not be difficult at all for them to make durable, especially when everything else on the 1/60 is basically worry free(even the intake tabs, just make sure to bend the hips/intakes inwards before pulling the hip bar out to go to battroid mode, this makes sure the tabs will not snap off). The tabs on the backplate that go into the legs? Twist the lower legs inwards before pulling down.

I can see how. Try moving the shoulders without bracing the hinge, look at the hinge closely while moving the shoulders, you can see how the hinge will be put under the strain of shoulder movement, it is simple a thin piece that should have been made out of POM or even diecast. The 1/48 has a thicker shoulder hinge of similar design, except that it is made out of POM(you can tell by feeling it, it is definitely more sturdy than ABS pieces like the wings, and it is bright white), and does not move sideways in or out in battroid mode, it remains in place. If the added articulation to enable sideways movement on the shoulder hinge is the true cause of the shoulders breaking, it simply was not worth adding. The added articulation really doesn't add much since the shoulders are on ball joints to begin with, and already have excellent range of motion. On future releases, the added articulation is truly the culprit I'd like to see a retooled design where the hinge just remains in place in battroid mode like the 1/48. The way the hands swivel in is very impressive. It is also funny that the hands are the exact same size as the ones one the 1/48! The new 1/60 is a better toy all around except for the shoulder hinge. Why? It is because the shoulder hinge on the 1/48 does not break(I have NEVER heard of a breakage on the 1/48's shoulder hinges). In a way, they are even; the bp8 is a part to be watched on the 1/48 while the shoulder hinges should be monitored on the new 1/60. However, under casual or even extensive handling, the Bp8 is far less worrying than the 1/60 shoulder hinge. With the Bp8, just make sure to never move it beyond the stopper. With the 1/60 shoulder hinge, always lift the shoulder hinge above the stopper during transformation to and from gerwalk/battroid mode, and either brace the shoulder hinges, or loosen the screws on the shoulders on backplate, then pray that yours either doesn't break, or develop a hairline crack like on mine. Honestly when I first opened mine, I did see a small line on the hinge, I thought it was just a mold line, then months later I could feel it, and realized it was a damn hairline crack. Still hasn't broken yet, I do pose it, but I am disappointed so much; why? It is because ironically, this is my favorite modern day VF-1 toy, I love it, it is so much better than the 1/48 in almost every category(except for the shorter nose and the hinge situation), but the fact that I already have a hairline crack on mine, and that mine may eventually break, well that hightens my discontent. Again, on the 1/48, you did not have to worry about the shoulder hinge at all, hell you could even it push it past the stopper and not worry about it breaking! I wish the same could have happened on the new 1/60. I hope Yamato decides to do whatever they did with the 1/48 shoulder hinge, apply it to the new 1/60, and hell I could care less about the shorter nose, the new 1/60 will be better than it already is in my eyes! Oh and for those who think it is fragile, it's just that damn hinge you have to worry about. Other than that it is very, very solid, and addicting to pose in gerwalk/battroid mode. It is just a shame that a cheap pin or idiot at the factory is the cause of this toy breaking. It really is sad. I have studied this toy extensively and compared it to my 1/48 extensively, the way the armor is attached and removed on this new 1/60 is very satisfying, it is obvious that Yamato knew that their demographic, the older mecha heads like us, would be playing with this thing. The main reason people are disappointed with Yamato is because it is obvious that Yamato can make durable toys, hell that is just obvious by handling the new 1/60. Making a indestructbile shoulder hinge for it ought to be relatively easy for them. I have faith in them to pull them off, the only question is why didn't they catch it in time before the release of the 1S? Just fix the hinges Yamato, and I will buy more! I honestly think they already started with the 1J, those shoulder hinges, if you look closely, look like a brighter white than the rest of the pieces on the toy, other than the diecast pieces that connect the chest with the backplate.

Agreed! The tailfins are my main complaint, they are part of what makes the VF-11's appearance so unique. The VF-11 has one of the best fighter modes in Macross, in my opinion, I wish that the tailfins were at least bigger, 8 years ago it was tricky for Yamato to implement retractable landing gear and sliding the tailfins, yes these new ones are substantially bigger but I think they could make even bigger ones. Just widen up the lower legs make it like the battroid line art, that should not only make it even more accurate in battroid mode, but provide the room necessary for fitting the tailfins in without any edges sticking out.

Can anyone with the new 1/60 VF-1J and a 1/48(any VF-1) check the shoulders on both and tell me if they are made from the same material? I am fairly certain that the 1/48's shoulders are made out of POM, you can definitely feel the difference compared to ABS plastic areas such as the wing. There is a faint difference in color, typically POM tends to be brighter, for example ABS will yellow much, much faster. Even on a new toy, POM is brighter.

No. He is screwed if he just wanted one. Mineswell buy the upcoming VF-1S and just paint the trim on the vertical stabilizers, ventral fins, shoulder triangles, head arrows, and chestplate blue. Most likely to avoid overlap(as Focker and Hikaru typically have their 1S toys released not too long after each other, Focker could sell on popularity alone and his valk doubles as both a TV series and DYRL valkyrie, Hikaru's sells on account of the last scene in DYRL and because he is the main character), as Max's 1A as well as Kakizaki's serve the purpose of completing the Skull Squadron shown in DYRL. There are brown VF-1A's in the movie, you see them blown up near the end, and being armed with FAST packs in the hangars. The VE-1 is obscure and popular probably because it is obscure, and it is a variant with a ton of stuff on it, the most unique VF-1 variant ever. Nothing past the 1D has been announced yet, so who knows? I think the next releases will be Max/Milia VF-1Js bundled with their FAST packs, brown VF-1A, Angel Birds VF-1A, Low Viz VF-1A, repaint VF-1D, and more. I am itching for a TV VF-1A Max Type. Yamato knows there is demand for this as they are offering an limited edition release of it in their 1/48 line. Maybe they will gauge it's popularity by the amount of pre-orders they get for that, and if it is deemed high in demand, make it in their new 1/60 line.

Is it strong enough to take pressure from the pin without bending?

$80-100+ to pop a shoulder hinge piece off unintentionally as a result of a factory mistake or design flaw is not a bargain. I do see your point, but at that price it is a gamble, you don't know if yours will break.

Kawamori decided to retcon the size and make the VF-11 bigger than previously stated.

I have tried finding ways, and one possible solution would probably be to get the pins out and reinsert them the right way, but it might not work because: A-even fans who had both pins burr side facing downwards still had breakages B-the pin is so thin that hammering it out might break the hinge and clips even further. My suggestion is to mold the entire thing in white POM, and use the suggestion David mentioned above. A cheap pin should not bring down a $100 toy, that is very disappointing considering how well the new 1/60 turned out otherwise(which is why I am so disappointed with the breakages, it gets in the way of enjoying the damn thing, I am still trying to figure out how to fix mine which has a hairline crack).

Like what? There is now a reported case of the 1A's shoulders breaking. With the fixes supposedly done for the 2nd VF-0S release, there shouldn't be any problems, so the 0S is a better toy to buy at this point.

Get the 2nd release of the VF-0S. If it truly is fixed, you have nothing to worry about. The new 1/60 VF-1 on the other hand....

God damn it.

Am I reading this right? 8,800 yen?! For the VF-11B and the FAST packs?. That is not a bad price at all! Wait...wait...damn, I just ran it through the google translator and it shows up as 18,800 yen

After reading all of this, the 1/48 in my experience is easier to avoid breakages on. Just don't bend BP8 all the way and you should be good to go.

The pins inserted into the shoulder hinges. Mine has the pins going in opposite directions, the left shoulder has a pin with the burr side facing up, this shoulder hinge has a crack. Typically, if you have them both facing down apparently you are okay but I did some digging and even fellow members who had the burr side down on both shouders still had breakages. All reports are isolated to the 1S.

YES. The only seemingly worry free ones are 1A and 1J. A shame really, Yamato has the best modern day VF-1 toy on their hands but one thing stops it from reaching greatness.

All of us want something that can be played with without breaking out of nowhere. You can say that these are aimed at adults, but that would be stating the obvious, it is reasonable that people expect something that should not break unintentionally. If you are being reckless and it breaks, that is your fault, but the reason a lot of people are angry is because many breakages happened when we were being careful. Whether or not the DX 1/60 VF-25 turns out to be durable remains to be seen but the people at GA Graphic who handled one of the samples said it was very sturdy with no floppiness at all. The demographic that this toy is aimed at wants a toy that can be handled, if you want something that just looks good with disregard for the durability the model kit market is wide open for you.

Less than most.

Yeah so about the new 1/60..... I hope we get confirmation soon on whether or not the 1A and recent 1J release has fixed shoulder hinges. If not, one cheap pin that does not even cost a dollar can eventually take down your $100+ toy.