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Chronocidal

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  1. Chronocidal
    "Hikaru, you're getting an early promotion." "Awesome!" "But it comes with one requirement. You have to change your helmet." ".... Deal." If Bandai is going to be throwing spare pilots at me, you better bet I'm going to be doing their work for them.
  2. Chronocidal
    Trying to remember back that far is a trick now, but I think part of why I didn't even try to get the original HM sound booster was because Bandai didn't even try and give it a fighter mode mount. I'm not even that concerned about it now, but if they ever do get around to actually making the whole band, I'll enjoy having them all mounted on that stand together.
  3. Chronocidal
    Probably something along those lines, but I think it's been mentioned in the past that both Bandai and Yamato/Arcadia contracted a third party, TRex, to do their CAD design work. Bandai usually puts more of their own spin on the designs, or makes specific requests for how to design things (excessive plastic inserts, nonsense engineering, etc), but it looks like they just decided to adopt the Yamato and Arcadia CAD designs verbatim for the past few HMR releases. Not going to say it isn't weird, but I'm not going to complain about getting slightly more affordable and compact versions of Yamato's old stuff. Frankly, I wish they'd do more of it, since they're easier to handle and display.
  4. Chronocidal
    Considering how far Yamato knocked it out of the park with the original Fire Valk release, I can't really say I'm disappointed that Bandai copied them. Being smaller will even make the sloppy ankles less of an issue. Bring on the rest of the VF-19s!
  5. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Chronocidal replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    Having a nice concise list is a really good way to start, since it narrows things down considerably. I think if you're going to pick up one VF-1, I'd try and find either a Yamato or Arcadia strike set if you care about the packs, or even a Bandai DX release, if you want a centerpiece, but sounds like you're not after big ones. The HMRs aren't bad at all, but they might actually be harder to find, and the 1/60 is still a manageable size, with less fiddly parts to deal with. If you don't care about the fast packs, the ThreeZero VF-1S is coming out still, and should be pretty easy to pick up from some US sources, if you can't find a Yamato/Arcadia version. VF-4, you're in luck, the HMR re-release is coming up soon, they should be pretty available from many stores, both foreign and domestic. VF-17F and VF-22 you're going to have to hunt down, because only the Yamato versions exist of those so far, and they're 1/60 scale. They'll be pricey, and pretty big. YF-19 has a couple options, but all in 1/60 scale. If you don't care about fast packs and missiles, the budget Bandai DX release can be picked up on Amazon for about $220. The version with all the weapons, or the Arcadia release will both be harder to find and afford, but they definitely are out there. For the VF-19s in general though, while there is an older Hi-Metal release of it, I would be patient. Since Bandai is repurposing the old Yamato VF-19 designs and shrinking them down for HMRs, I expect we'll see more HMR VF-19s coming up fairly soon. The Fire Valkyrie was just released. If we're lucky, maybe we'll get an HMR YF-19 and YF-21/VF-22, and maybe even a VF-17 or VF-11 while they're on their Macross 7 kick. Otherwise, the VF-11 is going to be hard to track down now, unfortunately, especially the C model. The VF-2SS is probably worth picking up if you find a good deal. It's a crazy pile of fiddly joints, but it's probably the best version of that valk that exists. Good luck, and happy hunting!
  6. Chronocidal
    There needs to be some consistency in where "height" is measured from. The strike cannon doesn't count. Doesn't surprise me though, the HMR scales are generally in a "range" between about 1/100 and 1/80. The VF-1s are on the larger end of that margin, and the old VF-19s were on the smaller end, so it wouldn't surprise me if they targeted the same size, rather than being properly in scale. Also have to remember that the VF-19 isn't very tall though. It collapses a whole lot to get that stocky battroid. I'd rather see a fighter mode comparison. Also.. yeah, Bandai. Yeah. Landing gear. Just please, extract your brain from your upper colon already. White, silver, black, I almost don't care anymore, just freaking commit to something.
  7. Chronocidal
    Yeah, the weathering always gets overdone on the TOS version, no matter who produces it, it seems. The color issues on the TMP version are more specific though, and TOMY have made some really baffling choices for the prototype that make you wonder what they were thinking. The bridge especially is horribly off, but the general tint of the details looks too green. Maybe they just have terrible studio lighting for the publicity shots? But that's what makes it so much more baffling. If you're going to all this trouble to produce something at this level, why didn't you invest in a good lighting rig before taking your publicity photos? I know it's not going to look right to many people in their houses, but the least you can do is make it look right in your sales pitch.
  8. Chronocidal
    Available at Anime Export as well now. If I don't order anything else there, I might ship the Fire Valk and stand together when it arrives next year. https://anime-export.com/index.php?product=82820
  9. Chronocidal
    Yeeeesh. For that price, I'd expect it to actually function as a personal health device, digital wallet, and media player. May as well 3D print your own, and build all of that with an arduino.
  10. Chronocidal
    Still kind of sad we never got a PF VT-1 from Arcadia, seemed like the logical thing to do after the VE-1 came out, but it just never happened. Probably not enough demand? I would have thought the VT-1 would be more popular than the Elintseeker, but who knows.
  11. Chronocidal
    I really want to like this, but after hearing how the complaints about the TOS version really weren't addressed, I don't know if I would even trust them to fix the obvious issues the prototype has, which is really irritating for something this expensive and exclusive.
  12. Chronocidal
    See, I want to say I had the same sort of experience, but it wasn't just AE, and it wasn't just DHL. I had two separate shipments by two separate methods just held up with no explanation and no update for several days shipping recently, one by DHL, and one by EMS. They just stalled out after the tracking number was sent to me, and then I received no updates until the day they were out for delivery.
  13. Chronocidal
    I guess maybe it's too early to hope, but the extra mounting points would be nice if we get a MAXL and VT-17. I'll probably try and pick up one when they pop at AE, hopefully they don't sell out too quickly. Would be nice to have the whole band in booster mode.
  14. Chronocidal
    I think I did once, and regretted it. As I recall, it was far slower than advertised, and the tracking didn't work correctly for much of the trip. That might have been their other ECMS Express option, but I don't know if I would recommend either of them. If you want reliable tracking information, I'd go with one of the major US carriers. I think my best experiences lately with HLJ have been EMS or FedEx (which I find funny since their faster shipping is cheaper ). EMS tends to be the cheapest option for me when shipping larger Warehouse shipments, probably due to some difference in weight vs volume charges. DHL is alright, though I have issues with them specific to my location, since they don't have a delivery hub nearby. They tend to contract out deliveries to third party couriers who don't use the normal DHL tracking, and have no idea how to consistently communicate delivery and tracking information. And whoever I use, it seems like no one rings the doorbell anymore. If I'm not watching the tracking updates, a lot of times I'll just open my door to find a package sitting on my patio for some undetermined amount of time.
  15. Chronocidal
    Interesting, he's definitely got a fairly well-known catalog (AKIRA, Nausicaä, etc), but I wonder if this is just a one off, or Bandai has him on contract to do a few different sets of packaging art. I'm really hoping this line gets expanded to include the rest of the Yamarcadia Macross 7 molds (and maybe a YF-19).
  16. Chronocidal
    One of these days, I'll learn my lesson and never attempt to fix Bandai's screw-ups. Third VT-1 looks like it's just missing the ratchet for the left gerwalk joint, or at least missing a few teeth. After the first notch, the leg just flops down. I started trying to pry out the screw cover to disassemble the thigh, and see if it's just loose.. only to realize the entire leg is locked together by multiple layers of screwed and glued panels, and to take the hip joint apart I would need to disassemble the entire leg. So, after chipping away a slice of the screw cover, I gave up, leaving it with a minor scar on the inner thigh. This one will just be staying in fighter mode (with or without the boosters) so I don't have to rely on that joint any. Kind of amusing, this one leg feels sloppy the exact same way as my first VF-1J, which took a five-foot swan dive into a pile of boxes during the 2019 earthquake. Wonder if those upper thigh ratchets are just a hidden weak point in the design.
  17. Chronocidal
    Same for me, got one at HLJ and one at AE, but going to wait for further releases before shipping either.
  18. Chronocidal
    Third copy just arrived from Yoyakunow, looks like everything's in good shape on a quick inspection, but will do a quick transform later when I get time. Took them a little while to get it shipped out, but once they did, FedEx got it here in really good time, and for a really surprisingly low price as well. Think I paid about $35 to get it here. Wonder if they have a bulk deal with FedEx that's giving them better rates, since I haven't seen shipping that cheap for a while. Now it's time to repaint one of the spare helmeted Hikarus into a Roy.
  19. Chronocidal
    Not sure which screwcaps you might be thinking of, since I don't think the original Yamato ever even had any. All they did for the PF releases was put little paper stickers over them.
  20. Chronocidal
    I think my question would be whether they would accept a photo of a product with that sticker, even if the receipt was from a webshop based in Japan. I have half a mind to swap the sticker off of my YF-29 I got locally, and see if they'll let me request a replacement antenna for the one I got from HLJ.
  21. Chronocidal
    Hmnn. I've got a copy of that sticker on one of my YF-29s, since I got it through Amazon. It's -almost- identical, but the age label is slightly different. I wonder if they'd accept that with a request for a replacement head laser.
  22. Chronocidal

    BANDAI DX YF-19!!

    Chronocidal replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    I'm honestly still baffled no one has ever bothered to include a replacement for the rear canopy. The rear canopy just slots in with a tab on both the Arcadia and Bandai versions. Would be really easy to make a Shapeways version though, so maybe something I should look into to add to my replacement neck cover.
  23. Chronocidal
    Ok, interesting, I was considering getting a second for some extra customizing, and that's handy. Also nice that I had enough points with ShowZ to drop the price to the same as the standard. Convenient!
  24. Chronocidal
    I assuming this whole QC mess (including the YF-21 issues) is going to get pinned on whatever factory they contracted with. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm hoping they make spare parts available for both releases. Because of how the backpack is assembled, it would likely involve the entire backpack assembly. If they do that, I will absolutely try and get ahold of one to customize with bigger tails as an option. Also waiting on a third from Yoyakunow, so if I lose the QC roulette, I may be customizing one anyhow.
  25. Chronocidal
    I would totally buy just a couple of boxes. Looks like ShowZ is sold out on these now!
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