Chronocidal

I'm okay with subtle tampo, but I also really don't want them splattering the logos all over any of them. The hard part is going to be balancing the details with the cartoony aesthetic Macross 7 ran with. The VF-19s never looked like real aircraft in the show, so I'm not sure realistic aircraft markings will look that great on them. I have seen good looking squadron markings and other sorts of insignias done well on the Emerald Force valks. I also have very little faith that Bandai would ever use something so sensible as just putting the modex numbers in logical places. Maybe they'll go with the Master File as a pattern? That wouldn't be too bad, but I still find the Emerald Force logo an eyesore just from how much it clashes with the colors of the actual planes. I'd really rather they just used a realistic tail code.

I love these short scenes so much. They don't even need words, and still say so much.

Ugh... the metallic is the worst part though.

Well crap, looks like I'll have to figure out how to make the shops I bought mine from hold them to ship until next year.. Going to be out of contact while I help some family move.

This is feeling like one of those cases where it feels like they should just leave it unpainted to keep the costs down, but maybe the costs are already high enough that they're just painting it to make it feel more worth the money? I don't know. The colors are really just obnoxious, and I have no idea why they would make them glitter. And frankly, isn't the entire point of this figure so you can put it inside the Regult? Why paint it at all, when one of the primary functions is just going to scrape it all off?

Wow, Bandai. That's not even "New Hat" level. That's an alternate glossy feather for the hat.

What are those, anyway? They.. kind of look like foil-wrapped chocolates like the bunnies you see around Easter.

Oh good freaking grief.. yeah, I would absolutely believe they'll base popularity of transforming toys on those.. whatever they are.

The folding/collapsing inner leg mechanism on the YF-19 is as overly complex as it is ingenious, but it comes with a couple of annoying detriments. Primarily.. I miss being able to extend the feet in fighter mode. I like displaying fighters standing on the feet vertically, it's just a nice way to save space. Otherwise though, I think that mechanism also contributes a little to how.. sloppy the arm alignment feels. It doesn't seem to line up well, and the arms don't feel solidly attached to anything in fighter mode. They just kind of float with the shield, and it means the gunpod is also sloppy.

I just don't even want them to try it, I'm sick of having to screw with the crappy mechanisms they come up with to make the wings stay in place. I would crack up if they included VF-1 fast pack mounts for it though.

Yeah, it definitely looks like they just blasted it with spotlights for that picture. Really not helping sell it.

Except this "variant" is a reboxing of their very first release, but now including things that should have been included from day 1 in the box. "Oops, guess maybe we could have included the missiles before. As an apology, we'll let you buy it again."

The YF-21/VF-22 get passes because there is nothing physically impossible about just angling the wings and tails. Real life aircraft can do that just fine, even without the fancy bendy materials the YF-21 used. I don't think the VF-22 was actually supposed to be able to do that either, but I don't know off the top of my head whether that was directly stated. There was never any evidence that the VF-19 Advance could do it though, at least not in the few seconds of footage it was shown in. Bandai just did it because that release was a sneaky way to get an alternate license to make a YF-19 to compete with Arcadia. The high speed mode as seen in the animation is physically impossible, just like the way Basara folded back the wings on the Fire Valk in that pic above. The wings only ever rotated on their main pivots, and would have to pass directly through the legs and arms. The only toys that ever did this were the Doyusha 1/144 die cast ones, because they didn't have to transform. Was the YF-19 supposed to have the same flexible morphing materials the YF-21 did? Who knows. But the way the wings are shown folding back cannot work with solid objects. I do give Arcadia and Bandai credit for trying, and appreciate that they managed to come up with a physical hinge that can relocate the wing to achieve something almost like what the animation showed. I wouldn't even mind the high speed mode being an option if anyone could mechanically execute it in a way that doesn't suck. So far, we're 0 for 2 in achieving a functional mechanism.

Ugh.. thanks for the reminder of how much of a janky mess the v.1 Bandai Frontier valks were. The extra armor packs just don't fit well at all.

I mean.. actually it's kind of worse. Remember Episode 11? This is even less physically possible than the wings folding back like the YF-19's.