m0n5t3r

hmmmmmmmmmm indeed... what's really stopping me from getting this is what the G-man let slip from his recent talks w/ the Yamato chiefs... if a 1/60 VF-17 is indeed in the works (and i like the VF-17D better than the Kai), size-wise this just doesn't cut it...

looks reeeaaaal niiiice!... but yeah, the price is a little high... a little below the price point for a standalone v.2 VF-1 (i'm thinking HK street prices here...) it really doesn't have any kind of landing gear??? as for someone mentioning the "gullet" issue w/ this vs. the Yamato, it most probably is b'coz of the absence of the front landing gear on the VF-100 Kai. really, really tempting... but i'm thinking, if they can do this for the 1/100 scale, they can definitely make one in 1/60 or 1/55, whichever they have the license for... hhhhmmmm.

probably inflation for the slight increase for the re-issue... definitely opportunism for the way the first issues' prices went crazy. i'm just glad i got one for a good price ~$150... locally it costs ~$200. ... can't wait to get my hands on it!

thanks for the pic and the info mr. c... just got wind that my buddy was able to get me that Max Mazinkaiser for HK1,160... yay! i am soooo glad i didn't bite on the 1st issue i saw last year selling for HK2,500... whew! BTW, aside from the shoulder hilt covers you mentioned, i remember someone mentioning that the swords get scratched when you mount them on the stand??? TIA. and that Daitarn is looking mighty fine... might get tempted to get one if it's released by the time i go to HK this april...

i used to file it when i first did this preemptive mod for the pins, but i realized that after some time the filed part of the pin becomes prone to corrosion... so what i do now is just to flatten the knurled part w/ some jawless pliers since the metal is pretty soft. just flatten it enough until it doesn't turn w/ the outer part of the hinge anymore. on topic... still waiting to hear news about a regular release standalone GBP armor...

VF-4, VF-0D or VF-17 ... any of the three will be awesome! good thing Graham got that VF-1J w/ GBP... now we can all go back to buying our Yamatos w/ some peace of mind...

nice, ff95gj... you really have a thing for "bullet" Sheryl, don'tcha...

did you get even just a reply for your tail fin request? i put in an order for those twice and never even got a reply both times...

very keen observation/s... i guess they figured a new head constituted a new valk and that people would just snap on the GBP armor on the 1J and wouldn't notice the discoloration. i wonder where they stored these overstocks for the past year since you said that the 1J w/ the GBP has more yellowing happening to it than the one you previously bought... EDIT - looking on the bright side... it'll eventually even out, since the whiter parts are now the only ones exposed...

or at least make it as thick and sturdy as the shoulder hinges of the 1/48 VF-1s or 1/60 VF-0s. They should realize this (if they haven't yet) and do the same thing they did when they redesigned the crotch lock system for the v.2 VF-1s to match the 1/48's. but i don't think they will, seeing as using the smooth pins essentially solves the problem... it's a half-a$$ed solution but they'll definitely say that it a solution that works. EDIT - correct me if i am wrong, but IIRC, the reason why Yamato decided to redesign the crotch system was because a lot of Japanese buyers were complaining about it??? maybe the G-man can impress upon Yamato that we have valid complaints and we're not just a bunch of whiners and complainers... hahahaha

fixed it for ya!

oh, i also remember another member mentioned that his 1S Roy Low-Vis had knurled pins and that the stress marks were more obvious w/ the darker plastic. I don't have one of those so i can't make sure myself.

well, then those definitely still have knurled ends. my VF-1S Max and VE-1 shoulder pins DO NOT rotate w/ the outer shoulder part, so i'm pretty sure that they have the new completely smooth pins.

nope, they don't. there's enough tension between the pin and the inner part of the hinge assembly(the one attached to the backplate). an easy way to find out if the pin has knurling or not is just to swing the arms/shoulders... if the pin DOES NOT rotate w/ the outer part of the hinge(the one connected to the arm/shoulder assembly) then they should be perfectly smooth... and vise versa.

for those thinking that their VF-1Ds have the smooth pins... better check again... they may look like this (no visible knurling on either side) - but there's some little extra metal on top of the knurling that hides it when it's slotted in the hole. <----- paranoid

yikes! that's way worse than VT-1 patient zero. and here i thought i was the only one that got a VT-1 w/ them bad pins.

not just extra pins... make it a couple of extra

checked my valks... apparently i wasn't able to remove enough of the knurling on one of the shoulder hinges on one of my 1S Fockers that has been on display in battroid for the last year... disassembled it already and i just took a pic before i try to fix it... i didn't notice it at first coz it cracked at the back part instead of the usual place. ...and does this count?... there are still some micro-cracks/stress marks that can be seen even after i had removed the knurling way back last year... ...all the others seem to be fine.

don't forget to ask about the reg. release standalone GBP :D

LOL! i sure wouldn't want any of them 3rd kind of gnurl on my pin! but seriously, even if a knurled pin doesn't necessarily mean it will crack/break, i would definitely prefer to have the smooth pins on every v.2 VF-1 that i would be buying from now on.

"gnurl"... i just had to look it up, LOL

hey man, can you double check by swinging the hinge/s inward/outward... there are some, like on my 1D where you can't see the knurling/teeth from just looking at it... if the pin stays put and doesn't rotate when you swing the hinge, then it definitely has the new smooth pins. TIA.

if Yamato plans to sell off their old stocks some more, the least they could do is pack a couple of non-knurled replacement shoulder hinges in a little ziplock bag just like what LAFtoys did w/ the replacement screws for the v.2 flexidisplay stands.

well... using the non-knurled pin/s is the actual fix... somebody just f@cked it up all over again...

IMHO, Yamato will never use metal for the shoulder hinge part coz it's still basically the same (at least similar) design as w/ the ones used for the 1/48 VF-1s and 1/60 VF-0s... and those haven't had any problems... the v.2 1/60 hinges are just smaller and less sturdy esp. when you factor in the fat-ass knurled end of the pin. They're not gonna spend knowing it works as long as they use non-knurled pins. on topic... i really hope Yamato will finally announce that they will be coming out w/ the regular release standalone GBP armor... both canon and non-canon...