sidearmsalpha

I thought that's what the G-man could do, but then again, I'm sure he'll just get the typical answer ... Yamato doesn't really care about the market outside of Japan. I would think the Japanese collectors aren't too happy about the exclusives either, but who knows? Can Save or any of you guys in Japan shed some light on this? It's still hard to believe that Yamato would make a TV style VF-1A head for just an exclusive. I hope there's a more feasible way to get the -1A Max. The VF-1S Hikaru looks cool, but just like the Weathered VF-1S Roy, not worth what people are going to eventually pay for it.

I'm surprised that Toynami has managed to stay afloat as long as it has with their shoddy QC and not putting out products regularly, but then again, I guess they rely on the other anime products they put out. Looks like the GBP parts even have side cover bits in the pics showing the armor on the VF-1J.

Yeah, that Yoko looks hot! Wish they'd do Kei and Yuri (Dirty Pair) Revoltech-style!

I'm more impressed with the fighter mode on this, and without the Super/Strike armor. When is the armor-less VF-1S due out?

This is one big flaw I don't understand why Yamato couldn't have done right on the 1/48. It's as if it didn't occur to them that by making the intake covers removeable, they have to go somewhere when they're in the open position. The stickers are a lousy idea. You mean to tell me that they couldn't have just sculpted them into the intake when designing the 1/48?! I wish someone would come out with custom parts that can be glued into the intakes.

I might pick these up without the armor to display in fighter mode since I like how they incorporated the retracted intake covers, which is one of the things that bugged me about the 1/48 -- using stickers for that instead. That's one feature I think Yamato could have easily done on the 1/48, especially when they thought about the removeable intake covers. It looks like they don't plan on making a cover for the gap behind the head unless this will be another part that will be released with a GBP armor set. I was hoping they would incorporate some of the detail seen in the tv series for the underside in Gerwalk mode, but then again, I don't think it would be possible when that area has the swing bar and the rotating shoulder parts already.

Another thing that bugs me about the fuselage gimmick is that you need that large clip to attach it to the arm. I know in the episode where Roy attaches the VF-1D fuselage, there was some kind of hidden attachment that allowed him to stow it under the arm and not some oversized clip that Yamato came up with. I don't see how Yamato couldn't have made some hidden peg in the fuselage that clips to the back side of the arm through a hole or vice versa.

So how do you all feel about the removeable fuselage gimmick? Personally, if they don't include an extra, I don't plan on buying an extra VF-1 just to attach it's fuselage to another one. Would rather have side covers over this unnecessary gimmick.

My thoughts exactly! Leaving out the side covers is like leaving out the intake covers. My favorite mode is Battroid, so not including them really sucks. I think Battroid looks incomplete without them. I was fortunate to pick up extra recast sets for my 1/48's. I wouldn't display them in Battroid mode without them. I think it's a big insult to collectors that Yamato can include them with the 1/48 GBP armor (if it wasn't such a big deal to them, why even bother including them with the GBP armor when they really aren't needed for the armor), but not with the Super/Strike armor parts. I'm really holding off on getting the new 1/60 because of the lack of side covers. It bothers me that much. That's great that alot of you don't mind, but for me, it's a major issue. If I do cave in and buy one, it'll most likely stay in fighter/gerwalk mode. The side covers are seen everytime you get a side view of a Battroid in the tv series or DYRL, so why doesn't Yamato make them standard parts?!

Who had one there?

What's in the magazine? Just stuff about Macross F?

I hear ya. I would rather have side covers than the extra hands these are coming with.

I think that's great that SILVERDRAGON is offering the recast parts. How durable are the recast parts though? Are they made out of better plastic than the Yamato ones? Come to think of it, if they are, that's pretty bad on Yamato's part. If a recaster can put out better parts than the company that makes the toy, that sucks.

Ugh, that YF-21 Revoltech is looking pretty hideous next to the GN-U. The joints for the arm flaps are too big. Same goes for the underbelly covers on the sides of the legs.

These look alot like the Microman Acroyer badguys.

Has anyone been shopping around for these to see who has the best prices on them?

I didn't notice it on pics of the VF-1S before, but I like how the close-up cockpit of the VF-1A Hikaru shows that the canopy has two tabs to secure it to the fuselage better. Hopefully, the canopy will have better bottom edges than the 1/48's. Anyone ever notice how the 1/48 canopies are rough at the bottom edges so you can clearly see into the cockpit in parts when it's closed because it doesn't meet the fuselage smoothly? Never liked that. I hope these new 1/60's don't have that problem.

Yeah, these look disappointing for the reasons BOB pointed out. If they are soft like gashapon figures, they are gonna have parts that are misshapen, and the painting looks pretty sloppy in parts. It's too bad because the early pics looked promising.

Man, I didn't think the feet showing in fighter mode would bother me, but now that I've seen a pic of it, I'm underwhelmed. I can't believe they couldn't design a folding flap or something to hide the feet. It just looks out of place on an otherwise killer looking fighter mode. Oh well. A friend of mine is getting one from Kevin. I'll have to see it first-hand to see how bad I want this now.

I also found this disappointing. Even the Bandai Macross Mission 2 Gashapon Set came with two Regults with one having the light missile accessory, and the other having the heavy missile accessory as optional parts. They probably figured that you're getting a larger figure for the same price as a Revoltech VF-1, so only one optional accessory was included. That, and I'm sure they will put out another one with the other missile accessory to force people to buy that one too. I just hope it's not a hard-to-get exclusive.

So, they are just stickers and not tampo printed markings?! Lame. For what they want for this, you would think they would tampo print everything.

The YF-19 is looking better in this new pic. The legs look somewhat slimmer. I guess it could have been tweaked since the last pics that were posted.

I guess that backpack hinge isn't used in Gerwalk mode? I hope that's just something they forgot to use for the pics. I mean on the 1/48, the backpack hinge was used in all modes, except for fighter mode without armor. I'm really not digging that hinge sticking out like that in Gerwalk mode. I hope it's not just for the Battroid mode. And no side covers really, really sucks (again!). I wonder if this version has a big gap behind the head, too. Doesn't look like they'll be using that neckpiece for this version. I guess there was no need for it this time, but that will suck if there's a large gap behind the head. The neckpiece on the 1/48 served a functional purpose, AND it covered the gap behind the head.

Hey, thanks for doing that. Tempted to pick up that VF-1J. Looks really good with the heatshield. I guess I'll have to get rid of the last reissue then or leave that one in Fighter/Gerwalk mode.

I agree. I just don't have the time to go around looking for these only to come up empty-handed, and I don't want to buy these from an online retailer and pay more, especially when I like to take a look at them first to see if the packages are in decent condition and free of bad paint jobs or messed up joints. I usually rely on a cousin of mine who has been collecting them also and knows what to look for, but even he has been having a hard time finding certain ones for me. I'm not about to start getting these on eBay either. If things keeps going this way, I may just give up collecting these. Hey, more Macross toy money anyway.