Chronocidal

This... makes no sense to me. Why would they specifically design the two linkages using exact opposite setups? It's not like it's hard to modify them at all... Otherwise though, I'm really getting tired of these clip systems. They might hold well enough, but why is it so hard to just pin things together with technic pins like we've been doing for roughly forty years? Did they discontinue the bricks with permanent pegs attached? Whatever the situation though, I do hope I can pick up a pair of these. I just want to extend the design and scale it up more faithfully like the Explorer set.

I'll probably pick one up regardless (provided the orders aren't another stupid limited release disaster), but I've got more than enough parts to rebuild it into something that feels more substantial and functional, like an actual vehicle loading bay instead of an open-air trailer.

Yeah, I think if they really wanted to bring back the classic shape, there were plenty of ways to do so. Clearly that just wasn't the goal. Doesn't mean I won't try and pick one up to rebuild into something more classic-looking. I did the same with Benny's ship when it came out, and there are plenty of modern elements that better evoke the look of the old designs (as they proved pretty handily with the Galaxy Explorer).

Their prices for most imported Macross items are just sky high for no discernable reason. I keep wondering if they're using an out-of-date exchange rate calculator.

After seeing just how many markings were completely left off of the non-PF version (which were all printed on the HMR version, I might add), I can't really say I care about this release. They've cut the effort on this version down so much compared with the original Yamato releases, it's really hard to justify paying more for what looks like a downgrade. Even if they do release a PF version, I still hate them replacing the clear wing lenses with those stupid black patches. That just screams "cheap" to me.

To be fair, the way the missiles mount to the wings is janky as hell. You're better off making your own pylons to mount them, and using the wings with no mounts. But yeah, I don't think the armored parts replace any of the default parts for the VF-171/EX, they should just snap on top. Since nothing is mounted to the nose, they should work just as well on either version.

These kits always have a pile of leftover parts, because the figure sprues come with a bunch of extras meant for other variations. They share a lot of base pieces, and then customize the details like clothing and armor bits, plus they always include a few spares of the more fragile parts like the ankle joint pins. As for the VB-6 though, definitely a fun build. I think there might be an alternate canopy/head assembly for destroid mode, so that might still be on the sprues as well, but a lot of the parts wind up duplicated. In terms of transformation, the valk itself is entirely transformable without the figure, and might be the closest to perfect transformation of any of the VFG kits, since it doesn't actually incorporate the figure in any mode as an essential part; the figure just rides it. Removing the orange saddle parts will let you transform it completely while keeping the main guns together as a solid unit. Agreed about the painting situation though. I have too much fun transforming it, and it would wear off really easily.

Anywhere specific to find that X-Wing pack, and the new E-Wings? I missed out on the original Action Fleet E-Wing, and would love to grab a couple of these. And as much as I hate how they screwed up the X-Wing molds, having a set of five unique schemes is a pretty nice deal (provided it's on sale for about $40 or less, because the X-Wings feel like some of the cheapest plastic and manufacturing I've ever seen).

The VB-6 is a great kit, probably the best one they've done. Tons of good posability, and a nearly perfect transformation, even if you completely ignore the figure (I don't think I even built it ) There should be a few pics of my build earlier in the thread. I was really impressed that they even managed to give it partially retracting landing gear in shuttle mode.

So, Isamu was just an unapologetic YF-19 fanboy. The VF-19EF wasn't just another YF-19 copy, it was actually a much more developed variant that was significantly different from the VF-19s we got in Macross 7. The Nothung is a custom racing variant using that base design. https://gbmshop.blogspot.com/2015/08/reference-vf-19active-nothung-fighter.html As far as the VF-19P goes though, it's a short hop skip and a jump away from a Skull paint scheme. I never customized one of my Yamato versions, but if they get to the HMR edition, I might strip and customize several of those. I still want to get around with using this scheme as well. Maybe not that fancy, but even just painting the tails and covering up the red stripes with black gives a pretty good Skull scheme.

The original Roger Roger.

Yeah, not selling them from the other shops is bizarre. There weren't any limits on the Legioss like this. Maybe they weren't expecting something this expensive to sell, and decided to keep the production numbers much lower? The exchange rate is probably hurting this one though. The Yen price is much higher than the Legioss was, but on our end it doesn't feel that much more.. what about $50 more for something that much bigger?

There's also a certain amount of creativity involved in designing a product within an achievable budget that you can actually bring to the market, and sell for a profit. I'd take that over unfulfilled dreams any day. And frankly, I don't call the Battlepod a "success" yet. They delivered a product, but it was missing features it was originally sold with, and now they're running a kickstarter to try and make up for what they apparently couldn't afford to produce from the original plan, which means they didn't have a viable plan from the start. It's a really bad look, and brings into serious question their finances, and their ability to plan and execute a successful production line of marketable products. Maybe they should have cut some of those fancy extras, and just delivered on the original product they advertised. I think a lot of people would appreciate that far more than glowy lights and sparkly paint.

That feels like it's backwards, since the super packs are generally additional parts added to the original non-super kit. The price difference might be due to relative availability, since the plain kit might be harder to find now. I would check places like Hobby Search that will show the instructions and sprues in the kit to compare. I would think that the super-packed version should be capable of making both versions. Depending on how the parts are assembled, you might even be able to make them swappable, but I would bet the leg packs are molded to the outer leg halves. You might be able to rig the boosters to be removable though.

In canon? I don't think so. Lots of them exist in the Master File, and there are several more customized variants that came up in Macross; The Ride, many of which I would love to see, but they've never been shown in any animation. I think the Macross 30 game might have had a few other variants? But I only specifically remember a couple of YF-19 skins, and a couple for the VF-19F. I don't remember if there were alternates for the Fire Valk that they could market, even if they wanted to. Though on a hilariously annoying side note.. I hope they don't rely on the game too much, because look what else is in that game.