Chronocidal

Yeah, no. As much as I want a Gnerl, I'm fairly certain I could design and print my own before they would even start shipping them out.

Why do I assume a fantasy space jet fighter has to be rooted in real world aircraft engineering? Because a significant chunk of the media involving the VF-1 shows it flying in the atmosphere, operating as a standard aircraft, completely independently of any of the advanced technology it depends on for transforming. That's baked into the definition of what the VF-1 is, as defined in the universe it exists in. The prototype couldn't even transform, so it had to be capable of flying as a normal aircraft. Does that mean it has to? No. But it does. Could I cover it in thrusters, remove the wings, and make it fly on pure fantasy rocket power? Sure. But it doesn't do that in any of the animation. Maybe I'm narrow minded, but when I think of re-imagining a design, I don't believe that also involves re-imagining the universe it exists in, or the rules it operates by. It starts to get into a ship of Theseus situation. How different can I make something before it can no longer be considered a re-interpretation of the thing it's derived from? Once you start redefining the rules it operates under, you're probably better off just making an original design, or even writing your own universe with its own lore to operate within. And honestly, I'm not even saying this goes that far. With enough thrust, I'm sure even this thing could fly (hey, it worked for the F-4 ), I get the aesthetic idea. I don't even mind the look of the battroid. But what I'm more concerned with are aspects that are completely separate from design aesthetics, and more focused on the actual engineering of the toy. The mechanical execution of this toy just looks sloppy as hell. The design just looks like they wanted to make a re-interpreted robot design, and the transformation is a contractual obligation. How did they manage to come up with tail hinges that look clunkier than just about every other VF-1? Why are there so many weird joints and panels that look like the toy is actively trying to fall apart at the seams? It really begs the question of why they would make it transform at all. The battroid looks like an interesting redesign, especially with the armor added. But I think they would have been better off selling it as a non-transforming figure, because the other two modes feel like they actually detract from the presentation. Maybe it's just a sloppy prototype issue, combined with display preppers who don't know how to clean it up?

In short? Freaking awesome. There was a reason I really wanted Yamato to make some more versions of their VF-19 molds after they finished the canon M7 paints, but alas, it was not to be. I would love to see Hasegawa just make any style of the production variant, maybe with optional wings and canards.

Late reply, but for the record, the F-15's FAST packs don't make it any faster either. It's an acronym: Fuel And Sensor Tactical Packs. In the case of valkyries, that S might stand for "stores" (meaning weapons) or "systems" since they obviously carried both of those as well. Anyhow, I'm still just frustrated that Hasegawa seems completely uninterested in making a 1/48 YF-21 to go with all of the YF-19 variants they have. Beyond that, I want to see them actually make VF-19s (aside from Isamu's). I'd seriously love some actual production versions. The Master File was full of them, and it's a beautiful plane, no matter what arrangement of wings and canards it uses.

I can understand people liking the aesthetics (of the battroid, anyway), but I think this is one of those cases where it is an incredibly bold decision to think that it will appeal to a large enough audience to sell well. Aesthetics entirely aside, this is a product designed for a niche within a niche within a niche, and should fall under that same reasoning for why obscure variants and paint schemes are generally never brought to mass market: there simply is not enough interest to make the production pay for itself. This one.. I just don't understand it. My brain is just kind of screaming at me that it doesn't make any sense. It feels like they're trying to design a VF-1 for... people who don't like the aircraft mode of the VF-1? It's just confusing. Their presentation isn't helping matters either, because holy cow that display is a disaster. The battroid mode at least stands up, but the gerwalk looks like a looks collection of bot parts slapped together, and the fighter is falling apart.

Definitely take advantage of that warranty card, they should have no trouble getting you either a replacement landing gear, or replacement leg to fix that issue. It took a few weeks to get to me, but I did receive the replacement wing they sent me to fix the scraped up paint issue I had. The shoulder slider issue really is baffling, and your experience makes me wonder if people are just accepting of that? I'm not sure. Maybe we just both lost out on the QC lottery. To be clear though, the fix for it isn't actually what I would call difficult, because the entire thing can be easily disassembled with screws. The whole backplate comes apart easily, and will let you completely remove the arms from those sliding rails, making them much easier to work on. The best option is that specifically sized drill bit I mentioned using, but I'm sure the same effect could be achieved with a narrow enough file to widen the hole in the shoulder slider. At the end of the day? I think this is a solid battroid display model more than anything else. I have my DX and Yamato versions for all the fighter mode display I could ask for, but this one's leg joints give it a much wider range of poses possible, so I have no trouble displaying it that way, and will probably keep my Roy pre-order to display the pair together.

What I've always wanted to see someone try was actually make the lower legs expand and collapse. As far as I recall, the Yamato design did follow the original art for how the legs were supposed to be arranged in the belly, and while they're obviously way too skinny, I never thought they looked bad from the side. I don't know if you would have the required space to get the full sized legs Bandai used, but say you could hinge the side panels of the calves below the knee, and let them expand, while filling the front and back in with panels that recessed when collapsed, you might get something that looked at least a little better than the "fully collapsed" version we have now.

The Sharon poster is a little awkward, so it'd need some matting to frame it nicely. Overall dimensions are 8" and 1/2" by 11" and 11/16"... it's not much better in metric, at 210 mm by 297 mm. The other prints are all very close to 12" and 3/8" on each side, so slightly bigger than 12"x12."

The Bandai one is much easier to come by, provided you don't care about having the extra weapons and fast packs. I'll be curious to see when Bandai gets around to making a separate weapons pack so people with the YF-21 can get the fold booster. You're right about the ankles and wings on the Arcadia though, and I wish they would make an update to fix them. The wings I've fixed myself, but the ankles have always been pretty bad. The neck cover is a tricky one though, since you would have to have it collapse somewhere not already taken up by the nosecone in battroid mode. Bandai's method of attaching it to the arm shield mostly works, but you're still left having to use a separate neck cover for gerwalk... which for as much as people seem to completely ignore the YF-19's gerwalk mode, wasn't a terrible idea.

Really? Shoot, they're really all over the map this time.. They printed mine upside down.

Yeaah, if I hadn't completely disassembled the valk and manually drilled out those shoulder sliders to move, mine would have been entirely incapable of transforming to fighter. They required so much rocking back and forth around the shaft to slide at all that there was no physically possible way to slide them without completely detaching the legs to get them out of the way, meaning pushing them between the intakes to go to fighter mode was just not happening.

I remember the backpack/booster in the updated version had adjustable nozzles that were limp as soggy noodles, so maybe clearcoating the entire thing will fix that.

If you're not specifically after the tornado parts, you can still get the previous super bundle on Amazon right now.

Rest assured, all of your reluctant purchases are greatly appreciated for your perspectives. I'm not sure how many of these I even have, but I'm thinking I have one of the originals, two of the re-release with the packs, and one of the green re-releases with both heads. I doubt I'll grab another, but you never know how low they might drop on Amazon.

Sheesh, yeah, you're right, I forgot that one on the bottom of my pile. For how popular the YF-19 seems, I wish they'd dig out some repaints for it, since they would probably sell pretty well. It's kind of hilarious to me how much weight Frontier still pulls compared with Delta. I admit though, I forget which Delta releases have actually been exported. I know we got the Hayate super bundle, but did they release his 31AX here, or is that just available from Amazon because they're re-distributing the leftovers?

I'm getting the impression that the WWM Delta launch has been a fair flop, so now they're pulling out all of the old stuff from the last series that had international demand. That makes what, seven WWM Frontier releases? The WWM VF-25, Alto's YF-29, his Super VF-25, Michael's, the Armored Ozma coming, now the Tornado and Brera? Compared with Delta, which had another rehashed Hayate, and... what else? I wouldn't even call Max's YF-29 a Delta release, since that one's unfair on two levels, being the most re-painted Frontier mold, AND a favorite character from multiple previous series.

As much as I want Bandai to actually release something I want to buy, my wallet is appreciating the long breather. I wouldn't be surprised to see another new VF-1 release announced around Christmas though, or at least some new DX of some kind.

The head really doesn't bug me. What I find funny is that it actually does a better job of streamlining fighter mode than either Yamato or Banadai, since it's big enough to pretty much cover the shoulders from the front. Just funny to me, since fighter is probably this one's "worst" mode. Not that it's even particularly bad, it's just that the innovations ThreeZero made all benefit the other modes more, and the arms are just too big for a streamlined fighter. It's definitely in its own category compared with the other options, and feels much less like a toy, and more like a display piece, mostly due to the overall paint, rather than the bare plastic both Bandai and Yamato/Arcadia use. It's interesting to transform and pose, but all of that paint is definitely telling me to pose it, and leave it alone.

I'm kind of getting the impression that whoever posed the toy for the promos didn't actually know how to transform it properly? The legs look.. I mean, frankly, they look like they're kitbashed from another toy entirely, and it just doesn't look like they're collapsed properly? The thighs look like they're made from panels that can shift and move independently of each other.. or maybe that's just sloppy assembly? My brain is frying itself trying to understand the legs, because it looks like they tried to give the thing quadruple-jointed knees. It looks like each one has at least two ratchets, a twist, and slide, plus whatever that weird pinned joint on the back of the knee does... but in all of that mechanical shenanigans, it looks like they don't actually slide to collapse the knee at all? It looks like the knee is entirely exposed when "collapsed," and then pulls out even further from that point. And I still have no idea what that funky mid-intake joint is supposed to do. On the plus side, it does look like they actually painted the landing gear white.

Definitely needs a reissue, but I don't think the Kairos' canopy was ever frosted in the first place. It's the only VF-31 I have where I can actually see into the cockpit.

I'm happy for the folks who want this kind of thing, but I'm satisfied to sit back and watch... whatever this is. Like.. what the actual flying mc-frak is happening with the legs? Edit: Side note because I just noticed, but I wonder how far off those pics are from the "final" version, since I'm curious what they expect you to do with all those missiles if there aren't any hardpoints for them... and really just weird that they just decided to provide a full set of TV missiles.. then mismatched pairs of the DYRL boxes and reaction missiles.

Yeah, all quibbles about the actual media presentation aside, I'm loving the book itself. I'll definitely put the discs in my older Japanese release box, but the book is probably going to occupy my coffee table for years to come. I admit, I didn't read the description in detail, and wasn't actually prepared for how big the book is, since I was expecting something like an awkwardly sized squared-off standard disc case. I'd never bought any of the previous books of this sort, so I'm happy to have a nice big archive of the art. I will say I was slightly disappointed by the artwork choices for the prints though. As long as they were including the Hasegawa YF-19 box art, I would have preferred a matching copy of the YF-21's box, rather than a reprint of the prior release's box. But eh, it probably wouldn't be that hard to get a frameable copy of that art as well. Otherwise, the selection there has a couple of my favorite production images, so I'm going to be happy to get frames to hang them up.

I love how clean those displays look, will be amazing seeing your layout once it's all done. Hopefully still room for Kairos in there somewhere as well.. though I feel like that one doesn't deserve the bottom shelf treatment. Quick question about the stands though, is it a trick of the light, or are the feet turning bright yellow?

Interesting.. it does look funny without any of the red striping or other markings worn away, but judging by how mine arrived, it might not be hard to damage them yourself if you really want. On that note though, ThreeZero came through on my scratched up wing. Replacement came in a bubble-wrapped ziplock baggie in a cardboard envelope, and in perfect shape. Might be a while before I install it though, I've got the figure in a nice pose, and don't feel like taking it apart to swap it out at the moment.

Just noticed the payment went through yesterday from my bank, so I'm just waiting for them to ship at this point.