regult

Is overdrive really "offering replacement parts for Yamato" or ONLY replacement arms and shoulders for VF-1 and VF-0? has anybody else requested for any part other than that and GOT them in the mail? I am still waiting for payment request for my order for a pair of SV-51 wings for my broken Nora...almost 4 months (?) passed with no email nor anything from them since I filled the online form, twice.

c'mon people, wake up, Yamato building Macross Zero Tomcats? Let's talk about an old topic: the SV-51 Ivanov, was there ever really a reissue with wingfold fixed? I mean, they're selling for a lot less than the original price-tag, and my Nora has these sad sagging defective wings (lucky me) that don't lock tight in fighter and ....you get the point. Thing is, how do I know if the Ivanov is a good or a no good by flipping the top of the box? somebody said if it has clouded canopy it's a high chance you get wings that cannot fold??? I am really tempted at these discount prices...but it's such a risk, damn reissues with no visible markings!

Uh, silly question regarding the Super Ostrich, and probably applicable to the Elint Seeker too, how do they look without the packs and in "fighter" mode? Theoretically it is possible to transform them to fighter (w/o the packs: leg armor, boosters, etc.), it's just I've never seen a toy pictured like that, and the tailfins do look very short, and the whole backpack flips up differently than a normal VF-1 (don't fold onto each other). Maybe those who had the V 1.0 from a few years back have already tried it? EDIT: Answering my own question, few pages back and saw the thing w/o packs and full frontal...plus belly up! but still no side view, which is intriguing since the tail fins do look smallish! Nice-looking in all possible configurations or are we sacrificing the "clean" fighter configuration for the sake of the funky backpack?

yup, I see no pics, none.

From these larger pictures I am 100% sure the cockpits are not translucent let alone transparent plastic at all! the VF-0 (except the "D") looks overall crooked -nose and tail bent down, so these are soft rubbery plastic toys in a very odd scale. Definite pass unless they're accidentally dirt cheap and turn out much more detailed than these promotional pictures show.

I am happy enough with normal decals, these special decals get snatched up by stores in Hong Kong and sold separately so often...or there is sth I didn't get quite right. It was impossible to "steal" the Cathy decal from the superpack "S", but I don't remember seeing the "S" wearing super packs (wait, maybe in episode 3 or 4, but for such a brief moment) I only remember it as a Armored Valk almost all the time, so it's going to be a hard decision, Alto or Ozma? Alto shows up on all three confirgurations so often...but then I'll end up with 3 Alto customs!

well, if we get a VF-100s SMS Monster Canaria custom with the not very politically correct depiction of Ranka's nose art thingy, uh...hope it's not the same Yamato mold (isn't it different?), and neither a crazy partsformer like the current VF-25, since it's humongous-huge, a close to PT is quite possible, but would come at a high price tag. honestly, I think Bandai's going to concentrate on fighters, and leave the Monster unattended for a while, I'd like to be wrong though.

+1 I think I got a VF-0S first or second issue repack, not as sturdy as it was supposed to be ("third" (?) issue had some cushioning for the tailfins, that's it). No other way to tell them from the "first" issue, supposedly a floopy mess. This one I have doesn't feel sturdy, so I am not sure if i got one of those unscrupulous repacks.

Yeah, I know the feeling...I am glad they realized sth needs to be done, thanks Bandai, but also, gosh, you couldn't have thought of this in the first place? I am complaining, yet I am very sure I'll end up drooling over it and add it to the pile.

The 1/100 Yamato Monster is a bit dated and does not mingle well with the partsformer philosophy of the VF-100s line...Instead of speculating about the Monster deal behind the scenes, let's start speculating when we get the VF-100's VF-171 and "Antares1" VF-27! me wants it, and the Grace custom too

Just by the way, and this is off-topic: your Alto superpack has a pair of knee articulations splitting apart from so much stress or maybe you never pressed them together real tight. I mean the section that looks like this "IIIII" under the "knee cap". You may consider reinforcing that too. Excellent pictures of the assembled kits you have there.

Thanks man, I know what you're talking about, it is the white u-shaped connector AND the gunpod connector, once the latter is plugged in, the left side of the shield goes away from the backplate. Nothing like that happened to the "F" after some sanding of the u-shaped connector, which did not work for the "S"...anyway, I can live with it, and yours look awesome, but still feel for them...glued forever! (that ZakuII is even more visible now, is it a Version 2?)

Yamato thanks all of you!

And you have already pre-ordered it...bwahahaha! Crap happens to everyone: I have 2 Banpresto Klans, 1 bootleg (dark underbelly of toy trafficking in Hong Kong!), and 1 from Japan. Wife hates me for that, my reason: I got the bootleg (minor QC defect and some different hair sculpt) because I thought the Klan, being A prize, would be very expensive once available. Silly me. This Sheryl does look a lot better than the overpriced Banpresto B prize, but I don't want to go down the path of mr ff95gj, definitely will look away these statues, there are too many mecha to collect! I am the only one here who thinks the face is still not quite there yet (EDIT: chin looks to pointy)? The removable uniform is a nice gimmic, and thanks blacklotus for warning everyone about the paint rubbing/transfer and pegs wearing off. (Trying to look away from this page already)

Next week, Shizuoka hobby show, I guess we'll get more info then. Guys over there in Anime land, anyone going to take a look?

Very very little

This is becoming sick guys, c'mon, it was a pair of mouspads with wrist support! I am guilty too for bringing in the statue topic, I know...I'm sorry.Thanks blacklotus for at least talking about the product itself, or sth similar at least!

I personally hate all toy manufacturers for magically sucking money out of my wallet, who is very very concerned as of late since there is a huge explosion of Macross toys as of late. First, I really didn't experience any blown biceps or arms on any Yamato, did have a floppy wing on a SV-51, which is hopeless and still waiting for that magic reply from Overdrive. The Yamato toys are not something you can throw around the room or manhandle though, they're more like expensive display items: they are very lineart or anime accurate,. The VF-1 V2.0 is spot on (reports of many broken shoulder, read the threads on that issue...seems bad, but mines are ok). Let's move on to Frontier mecha: Bandai 1/72 plamo is fun to build, you'll be amazed how the mechanics of the transformation are put together and work, but it's true it isn't something you zoom around the room with, or throw at the wall (but who does that with a 100 bucks and above toy anyway???), but if you cannot afford the time and patience or lack the experience or motivation, it's not your cup of tea. I have the entire SMS Squad but so far only did a test run on the Alto custom, not an experienced modeler at all, just hated the looks/price ratio of the following item: Bandai's 1/60 DX attempt is a failure for all the reasons Pete and ff95gj mentioned, but by erectile dysfunction I thought Pete was going to elaborate on the drooping cockpit+nosecone... compare the 1/72, 1/100 and 1/60, all from Bandai, and the differences are obvious: 100 points, 80 points and 50 points for accuracy. Let's not forget the Urkle (spelling?) ankles on the DX...They look impressive in the display shelf, are big pre-assembled and pre-painted, but there was also a reported color mismatch problem with the Luca RVF-25, which is at very low prices in retail here in Hong Kong, as cheap as the first issue Alto VF-25F. There are some reports of lose hip to torso tab and some broken screws too. The partsforming Bandai 1/100 is a pain in the neck for some, but I like them, they suffer from the same hip misplacement as the 1/60, but looks less beefy thus more pleasant to me. MISPLACEMENT=too high up in Battroid mode, limiting poseability and height of the mecha; further cheated by raising the ankles more than necessary in the case of the 1/60 DX. It really is a matter of personal taste and preference, nothing is perfect, but would not hate to see Yamato or whoever is there in the distant future tackle the VF-25 and VF-27 (warn you Bandai: make Antares 1 a chunky monkey and you can go burn in hell! ).

1/250 is an odd scale, stop creating more scales! 1/200 is fine, but the yamato trading figures are lame in quality (sculpt, paint, detail) compared to any of the military 1/200 diecast models I collect, those are comparable to 1/72 (no kidding) in terms of detail. 1/144 is fine too... These complicated licensing issues :angry:

Vifam7, I beg to disagree here: yes and no, because in my case, the fit is not better in the Ozma, there is always a gap between the shield and the backplate, I tried all sorts of things (nudging, sanding, cutting the gunpod attachment shorter (yes, it was longer than the Alto one, dunno why!). No noticeable difference in the crotch, knee and feet that I could report. You are very right on one thing: there are much more painted surfaces on the Ozma, and looks more like a model than the Alto (mostly off-white bare plastic). I like both, and now I am a silly Bandai sponsor, waiting for the next one...even though I don't even transform these partsformable toys! (EDIT: 1/60 DX??? the Fighter mode looks horrid, total deal breaker for me, Battroid or Gerwalk aren't brilliant either; the 1/100 looks better in Fighter AND Battroid modes IMO, never tried the Gerwalk, but the pictures above aren't half as bad as I thought)

Yeah, thanks to Vifam for the info on the intentions of the development team guys. Now I am anticipating yet another VF product! But the scale, if strictly aeronautic and actually to-size with the Gundams, 1/48 would be probably the natural choice, 1/72 and 1/60 are too close for huge differences to qualify as another "grade". Back to the Armored, which is actually sth that's going to be released, I insist: are the wing armor, missile bays and all that chunk of awesomeness going to be supported on that single backplate wing-folding hinge (EDIT: 1 for each wing of course)?? are you freakin' kidding Bandai? From the pics it seems the backplate is being supported by the stand and not the model, exposing the cockpit...seems a bit like an afterthought, and the model would be very stiff, no cool poses anymore?!

Pete, you've saved yourself around 12000 Yen and got a better looking err...model And if you get bored, you can always redecorate it with the decals, which really do look much better (more saturated colors) than the stickers, but the stickers seem to survive transformation better if you're like me and cannot properly coat a model with clear paint. Meanwhile my 4 boxes are still staring at me from behind, yes, they really are behind my desk as we speak and I don't have the guts to start building them. And by the way, as Pete says, these VF-25s seem pretty MG to me, size and complexity wise, but I will never stop asking for a sturdier build (more metal rods?), maybe 1/48, prepainted (a la Bandai Star Trek ships) VF--25s, but I do know I am one of those rare humans wanting a prepainted snap-fit kit...simple answer: the toys available put me off. And that Armored F looks awesome, but c'mon...8K Yen for a box of plastic sprues weighing about or maybe less than a pound???!!

Just looking at the HGIF gashapon and boxed trading figures measuring 10 cm, the Banpresto Macro Klan Klan and the 1/100 VF-25s, I realized: If the newly canon 5 to 1 Zentradi to Human ratio (restated in the Chronicles), the VF-100s are about right with the Klan Klan boxed trading figure, which is 10 cm height, and the Messiah is 18.5 cm approx. Same goes with the other "Microns" in the HGIF with the Banpresto sculpture of the full-sized Klan, which is a tad taller (by 5 cm), but that should be fine if we pretend she's a little taller than 10 meters. So we can "safely" display the trading figures (except the supposedly Macro Klan which should be 5 times taller...) with the Banpresto sculpture. That's a relief Of course, you have to forget the scenes with the Q-rea and the slap on the VF-25G...and the Q-rea toy would have to be freakin' massive.

Yeah, I think so too, that's the reality of our daily lives, TV or any industry...and I do understand the concern Save is expressing too. I like the Klan character for many reasons, except the excessive boobage...but since I got the Banpresto statue, people seeing it think I am one of those "dedicated perverts" a fellow member quite rightly coined as a phrase. These mousepads with wrist support are IMO mild otakuness compared to the Ranka nose-art statue...or the Micron-Klan Klan in swimsuit...that's really catering for the lolicon child porn you name it market ain't it? Sorry guys, I know some of us are certainly looking forward or pre-ordered those items. This is only my opinion.

Here in Hong Kong the first issue "F" are dropping to around HK$ 890, and the RVF-25 is going for around HK$ 900 (!!) in some places, albeit not many. I think the color mismatch issue keeps it in the limited shelf space of shops here, and they want to get rid of them at any price. Michel's "G" goes for as high as HK$ 1,400, cheapest I saw was 1,100!! The "S" turtle has vanished in the areas I troll around (Monkok, not sure in Wanchai were Master G-man materializes more often). Too bad online shops don't seem to reflect market reactions to the different models so quickly. Of course this effect can also make a hot seller to become instantly unreasonably expensive.