Aegis! Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 (edited) wish it was but nope...or were you tryna be sarcastic? 50% trying to find out if the VF-0 is out, 50% making light of Aegis! complaining about something that isn't even released yet Vostok 7 sorry I should´ve clarified that IMHO the sculpt of the 1/100 VF-0 was lacking in quality in contrast to past and present Yamato releases as far as my POV. I wasn´t trying to say that it IS a bad product , just that it looks like one. anyway , I plan on getting one of these ( the Koenig toy ) by February , oh and I still dream of a VF-0D and a VF-5000 by yamato Edited December 30, 2004 by Aegis!
mantisfists Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 by pillows you mean.... what I think you mean?Bravo!!! and a Merry Xmas to you man!!! Yes, it does mean what you're thinking it means. My birthday's on the 16th. So, their names are "Happy Birthday" and "Merry Christmas". I'm not sure which toy I'm going to give the most attention to. Monster.....R1.....*mbrmph*.....Monster.....1S.....*blrmpg*.....R1.....*mmmrph*......
Graham Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 Check this out.The label above indicates a "mystery piece", which, according to the article, hides a kind of small missile or something, and is even hinged. However, it does not move much and the author thinks that it may have been a gimmick which was canned afterwards. The lower one points to a tab which on the instructions and the package photos is depicted as facing backwards, yet on the actual product faces forwards, resulting in the legs not locking properly in shuttle mode. Is this why on every pic I see of the shuttle the sides are "hanging" instead of being straight? Good luck getting Yamato to answer anything before the new year. Oh, dear. Wouldn't call it a mystery peice. Although it's not mentioned in the instruction manual, this missile launcher is shown in the VB-6 line art in one of the VF-X2 game books. The legs still can lock in shuttle mode, you just gotta make sure that when they go on the tab you pull them back about 1-2mm. It's still not a very good lock though and they do fall off the tab quite easily. Yes, it probably would have made more sense and been more secure if the tab was facing backwards. Graham
Angel's Fury Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 Whoa!!! I hate it when I'm late to the party!!!
Graham Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 (edited) OK, just got my VB-6 at lunch. Big-ass flap top window box measuring 36cm x 37cm x 14.5cm. Box is made of typical flimsy Yamato card stock with damn awful photochop box art, as has been mentioned already. The inner card tray is not plain as some people have said, but is in fact a very pale picture of the sun covered with clouds. Toy comes packed in the box in shuttle mode and is secured to the plastic tray by 3 twist ties. One instruction manual and one sticker sheet are included. There are no other accessories. The main body of the toy is molded in a sort of greenish-brown plastic, with some of the smaller parts such as the hands, rear thrusters, underside of the feet and knee internals being molded in black plastic (actually sort of very dark grey I would say). The only other color plastic used is a sort of pale orange plastic used for part of the shoulders. This toy has very little paint, most of it being molded in the correct color plastic. The only painted parts are the cockpit windows and small retro thrusters on the nose which are painted in silver. The eye piece is painted green. There are some small panels painted black on the legs. The engine intakes on the feet and the front center of the chest block are painted a pale orange. Paint job is generally OK, except on the feet engine intakes, where there are some areas where the paint was applied too thickly. The toy does not have any Tampo printed markings (cheapskates !). All markings, including the UN Spacy Emblems and the Eyes are on the supplied on sticker sheet. Actually, the sticker sheet includes two sets of eyes, one orange and one white. Strangely, the sticker sheet includes 'SDF-1', 'ARMD-1' & 'PROMETHEUS' stickers. This is odd as VF-X2 takes place some 40 years after the events in original Macross . As others have mentioned, the instruction manual does not include any guide showing where to put any of the smaller stickers. However, to be fair to Yamato there is no official information on this from Big West, so it's simply a case of put them wherever you think looks good. The black and white instruction manual is quite confusing. Maybe it would be better if I could read Japanese, but I doubt it. The photos do not do an adequate job of showing what needs to be done IMO and several small but important steps seem to have been skipped. Still, if you have half a brain and some prior experience with transforming toys, you should be able to figure out the transformation. Honestly, when transforming the toy, half the time I found it more helpful to refer to the color photos of the toy in all three modes on the underside of the box flap, rather than puzzling over the crappy instruction manual. Transformation is not terribly difficult once you get the hang of it although it is quite fiddly. This is definitely not a 'transform in 60 seconds' toy, as there are quite a few steps and lots of bits that need twisting, turning, locking together, especially in Battroid mode. However, for myself I found I was able to memorise the transformation sequence to and from each mode after about 3 transformations and no longer need to refer to the instructions. So far the toy seems quite sturdy. The only potential weaknes I've spotted so far are a pair of small cylindrical plastic locking pegs located in the lower middle torso area in Gerwalk mode, which are already showing some stress whitening after only 3 transformations. The toy locks together fairly well in all three modes and stands and balances quite well as long as all the feet and leg parts are correctly positioned. However, it looks like the tabs that secure the Shuttle's wings, may have been assembled backwards as they are shown facing the opposite way in the instruction manual. This does unfortunately mean that the Shuttle's wings (i.e. the Battroid's legs) do not attach that firmly in Shuttle mode. Just remember when transforming to shuttle mode to pull the wings backwards a couple of milimeters so that they lock in place a bit more seurely. There is not a great deal of detail on this toy, but then again Kawamori's line-art doesn't show much detail either. Yamato choose not to go the Hasegawa route and just make up extra panel lines. The toy does have some nice features, such as the black color rifled barrel inserts and the hidden elbow missile launchers though. Dimensions are as follows: - Toy weight = 730 grams. Length in shuttle mode = 31cm. Height in Gerwalk mode = 23cm. Length in Gerwalk mode = 26.5cm. Height in Battroid mode = 44cm. Articulation is nothing to write home about, but I wasn't expecting great articulation form this toy anyway. The arms have pretty decent articulation at the shoulders and elbows. however, the 3-fingered hands have only ony hinge point per finger where they join to the hand. Also, there is no wrist articulation, the hands just being press-fitted onto simple pegs. Leg articulation is pretty poor, but that was obvious from the photos anyway. Although of course the knee can bend forward to go into gerwalk mode via some fairly complicated rearranging of the leg parts, the leg cannot bend backwards like a human leg, so no kneeling poses in battroid mode are possible. Correction, after more experimentation with the complex knee assembly, I can confirm that yes, the knees can bend backwards. Overall a fairly nice toy, but more of a display piece IMO with not a great deal of play value or gimmicks. Graham Edited December 31, 2004 by Graham
zeo-mare Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 i am glad to see the Monster released. By the way i skimmed over your post and did not see it mentioned. in alot of the pictues I saw it looked like the battroid mode tilted a little to far forward, can he stand up straight in this mode?also you have to post some pics i would love to see how big it looks along side the 1/48 valks
Graham Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 No, the toy has to lean forward a bit in Battroid mode. Graham
zeo-mare Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 do you have any pics of it like that? from the pics i saw it looks like it will fall over easily. so i am probably going to keep mine in gerwalk mode on my computer desk or battroid on a low shelf.
Neova Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 Nice writeup Graham... More Q/A report for Yamato..
Radd Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 Check this out.The label above indicates a "mystery piece", which, according to the article, hides a kind of small missile or something, and is even hinged. However, it does not move much and the author thinks that it may have been a gimmick which was canned afterwards. The lower one points to a tab which on the instructions and the package photos is depicted as facing backwards, yet on the actual product faces forwards, resulting in the legs not locking properly in shuttle mode. Is this why on every pic I see of the shuttle the sides are "hanging" instead of being straight? Good luck getting Yamato to answer anything before the new year. Oh, dear. Wouldn't call it a mystery peice. Although it's not mentioned in the instruction manual, this missile launcher is shown in the VB-6 line art in one of the VF-X2 game books. The legs still can lock in shuttle mode, you just gotta make sure that when they go on the tab you pull them back about 1-2mm. It's still not a very good lock though and they do fall off the tab quite easily. Yes, it probably would have made more sense and been more secure if the tab was facing backwards. Graham You mention in the review that the tab may have been assmebled backwards, and in the photo the piece does look seperate from the main body. Is it glued in, if so is there anyway to remove it and maybe stick it in the correct way?
eriku Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 Check this out.The label above indicates a "mystery piece", which, according to the article, hides a kind of small missile or something, and is even hinged. However, it does not move much and the author thinks that it may have been a gimmick which was canned afterwards. The lower one points to a tab which on the instructions and the package photos is depicted as facing backwards, yet on the actual product faces forwards, resulting in the legs not locking properly in shuttle mode. Is this why on every pic I see of the shuttle the sides are "hanging" instead of being straight? Good luck getting Yamato to answer anything before the new year. Oh, dear. Wouldn't call it a mystery peice. Although it's not mentioned in the instruction manual, this missile launcher is shown in the VB-6 line art in one of the VF-X2 game books. The legs still can lock in shuttle mode, you just gotta make sure that when they go on the tab you pull them back about 1-2mm. It's still not a very good lock though and they do fall off the tab quite easily. Yes, it probably would have made more sense and been more secure if the tab was facing backwards. Graham You mention in the review that the tab may have been assmebled backwards, and in the photo the piece does look seperate from the main body. Is it glued in, if so is there anyway to remove it and maybe stick it in the correct way? That's what I want to know. If it's not easily fixable I'll probably cancel my preorder and wait for a 'fixed' version to come out, if ever.
Aegis! Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 (edited) Check this out.The label above indicates a "mystery piece", which, according to the article, hides a kind of small missile or something, and is even hinged. However, it does not move much and the author thinks that it may have been a gimmick which was canned afterwards. The lower one points to a tab which on the instructions and the package photos is depicted as facing backwards, yet on the actual product faces forwards, resulting in the legs not locking properly in shuttle mode. Is this why on every pic I see of the shuttle the sides are "hanging" instead of being straight? Good luck getting Yamato to answer anything before the new year. Oh, dear. Wouldn't call it a mystery peice. Although it's not mentioned in the instruction manual, this missile launcher is shown in the VB-6 line art in one of the VF-X2 game books. The legs still can lock in shuttle mode, you just gotta make sure that when they go on the tab you pull them back about 1-2mm. It's still not a very good lock though and they do fall off the tab quite easily. Yes, it probably would have made more sense and been more secure if the tab was facing backwards. Graham You mention in the review that the tab may have been assmebled backwards, and in the photo the piece does look seperate from the main body. Is it glued in, if so is there anyway to remove it and maybe stick it in the correct way? That's what I want to know. If it's not easily fixable I'll probably cancel my preorder and wait for a 'fixed' version to come out, if ever. hahaha you actually expect a revised version of the Koenig ? Mate , this is Yamato we´re talking about , this is probably going to be a one-release product given the rather small popularity of the post VF-1 valks. Just look at the 1/48 series , which valks did get (re)re-released at the end ? only the popular ones ( with the exception of the LV) , that being the 1S and 1A. If this toy doesn´t show some signs of popularity forget it. So far if those are the only flaws I´ll be willing to buy one or two without regret , really , those aren´t such much big flaws for a Yamato toy , actually it´s got to be one of the few toys they´ve released without significant flaws together with the 1/48s. A bit Ot but , is anyone thinking of customising their Koenigs ? I´m guessing this toys has a hella lot of pieces but it can´t be that difficult compared to the 1/48 , considering is so freaking big...me thinks of a Millia custom or a camo paint scheme. Edited December 30, 2004 by Aegis!
eriku Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 hahaha you actually expect a revised version of the Koenig ? Mate , this is Yamato we´re talking about , this is probably going to be a one-release product given the rather small popularity of the post VF-1 valks. Just look at the 1/48 series , which valks did get (re)re-released at the end ? only the popular ones ( with the exception of the LV) , that being the 1S and 1A. If this toy doesn´t show some signs of popularity forget it. So far if those are the only flaws I´ll be willing to buy one or two without regret , really , those aren´t such much big flaws for a Yamato toy , actually it´s got to be one of the few toys they´ve released without significant flaws together with the 1/48s. A bit Ot but , is anyone thinking of customising their Koenigs ? I´m guessing this toys has a hella lot of pieces but it can´t be that difficult compared to the 1/48 , considering is so freaking big...me thinks of a Millia custom or a camo paint scheme. Please note the 'if ever' that I ended my post with. i don't 'expect' anything. Glad I could be the object of your sarcastic post, though.
takatoys Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 So, it is confirmed that there is a sticker sheet included. How are the size of the U.N SPACY and kite symbols? Same size as the 1/48 emblems?
Montarvillois Posted December 30, 2004 Author Posted December 30, 2004 So, it is confirmed that there is a sticker sheet included. How are the size of the U.N SPACY and kite symbols? Same size as the 1/48 emblems? Yeah !!! Just the guy I wanted to see in this thread. Takatoys, what would you need to make a custom sheet. No way in hell I'm putting Yamato cheap ass sticker on my monster. I guess a high res scan of the original sticker sheet would do ?
Aegis! Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 hahaha you actually expect a revised version of the Koenig ? Mate , this is Yamato we´re talking about , this is probably going to be a one-release product given the rather small popularity of the post VF-1 valks. Just look at the 1/48 series , which valks did get (re)re-released at the end ? only the popular ones ( with the exception of the LV) , that being the 1S and 1A. If this toy doesn´t show some signs of popularity forget it. So far if those are the only flaws I´ll be willing to buy one or two without regret , really , those aren´t such much big flaws for a Yamato toy , actually it´s got to be one of the few toys they´ve released without significant flaws together with the 1/48s. A bit Ot but , is anyone thinking of customising their Koenigs ? I´m guessing this toys has a hella lot of pieces but it can´t be that difficult compared to the 1/48 , considering is so freaking big...me thinks of a Millia custom or a camo paint scheme. Please note the 'if ever' that I ended my post with. i don't 'expect' anything. Glad I could be the object of your sarcastic post, though. pardon me if I made myself appear as rude or sarcastic , it sincerely wasn´t my intention , It´s my fault for not reading your post carefully , it just appeared unusual to me someone would want a re-release so early. back to topic , I really hope takatoys can come up with some nice stickers.
do not disturb Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 thanks for the review graham, now i'm fiending even more for this toy! QQ, is the plastic piece that holds the legs in shuttle mode, 2 individual pieces or is it one molded piece? its hard to tell from the pic, but it looks like its a panel with the clip/catchy/doohikkie, glued into it? if its 2 seperate pieces, then it should be fairly simply to switch/flip the clip around to the correct position to the legs lock in better.
promethuem5 Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 Yeah, can anyone with the toy take a look at that piece and tell us how it was mpunted...molded or attached. Even if it is molded, I bet someone skilled with a DREMEL or such could cut it out in away that in can just be flipped around....hmm...suckks about the stickers... pretty lame compared to what we've seen. I wish Yamato would start putting out toys to their fullest potential...instead of half assing everything
do not disturb Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 I wish Yamato would start putting out toys to their fullest potential...instead of half assing everything that actually toynami you're speaking of. yamato is the "almost perfect" toy maker. they know they can make it better, but they enjoy sticking to us fans way too much. as far as the leg connecting part, i'm really hoping it 2 seperate pieces, that way i can put some goo-gone on it to remove the glue and don't have to chop into a brand new toy.
promethuem5 Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 Hahaha..silly me to get them mxed up.. Almsot perfect indeed. They have all teh tampo printing stuff....but hardly use it. Its annoying! Almsot noone uses stickers on theiy toys anymore,at least not stickers as SHITTY as the Yammie ones....if they were high quality stickers it would be alright, but Yammie stickers suck!
eugimon Posted December 30, 2004 Posted December 30, 2004 Yes, Thanks for the review.. I have to say, the lack of tampo and the flipped tab thing is very annoying and now I'm seriously considering cancelling my order. I really don't want to support a company that produces shoddy work and then feels justified in charging premium prices.
Graham Posted December 31, 2004 Posted December 31, 2004 I wish Yamato would start putting out toys to their fullest potential...instead of half assing everything that actually toynami you're speaking of. yamato is the "almost perfect" toy maker. they know they can make it better, but they enjoy sticking to us fans way too much. as far as the leg connecting part, i'm really hoping it 2 seperate pieces, that way i can put some goo-gone on it to remove the glue and don't have to chop into a brand new toy. The leg connecting part is 2 seperated pieces, the 'L' shape connector itself and a glued-on rectangular clip over the end that stops you from removing the connector. Last night I tried using some super glue debonder to remove the clip, but it didn't work. Graham.
eriku Posted December 31, 2004 Posted December 31, 2004 The leg connecting part is 2 seperated pieces, the 'L' shape connector itself and a glued-on rectangular clip over the end that stops you from removing the connector. Last night I tried using some super glue debonder to remove the clip, but it didn't work. Graham. Well, call me a picky son of a bitch but my pre-order is cancelled. I can't justify spending so much money on something with such a crucial flaw. F-you Yamato.
Graham Posted December 31, 2004 Posted December 31, 2004 After several more transformations last night, I have noticed another potential problem. The missile launching end of the forearms (i.e. the end that doesn't have the hands) has a small hole, into which a peg located behind the head attaches to lock the arms in place in Shuttle (Bomber) mode. However, to get the peg into and out of the hole requires some force and twisting of the forearms. I noticed this morning that the hole in both forearms has already elongated slightly. This would not be such a big problem, except for the fact that part of the hole is very close to the edge of the arm, so has a very thin rim, which I could see breaking after not too many more transformations. It's possible that I might be transforming the toy wrongly and causing the problem, but I don't think so. I'll try to post some pics over the weekend to show you what I mean. Graham
promethuem5 Posted December 31, 2004 Posted December 31, 2004 grrr....that doesnt sound good. Wonder what it would/could take to reinforce that
eugimon Posted December 31, 2004 Posted December 31, 2004 yup. cancelling my order. Thanks Graham. I hope the boys at yamato still read this forum.
promethuem5 Posted December 31, 2004 Posted December 31, 2004 Now that's just cynical....lats of new toy launches have a few issues...
GRAND CANNON Posted December 31, 2004 Posted December 31, 2004 I like this picture best! Thems dar holes!!!
Graham Posted December 31, 2004 Posted December 31, 2004 So, it is confirmed that there is a sticker sheet included. How are the size of the U.N SPACY and kite symbols? Same size as the 1/48 emblems? Yes, it's confirmed that the VB-6 comes with a sticker sheet (didn't read my review did ya? ). The kite symbols are the same size as the 1/48 stickers. The VB-6 comes with 2 sizes of 'U.N SPACY' stickers. One size is the same as the 1/48, the other slightly smaller. For some reason the VB-6 sticker sheet even includes two skull squadron symbols (same size as the 1/48 chest skull). There are a lot of other stickers on the VB-6 sticker sheet that are just copied dierectly from the 1/48. Graham
eugimon Posted December 31, 2004 Posted December 31, 2004 Now that's just cynical....lats of new toy launches have a few issues... well, that's partially true, lots of new yamato toys have launch issues. It was easier to overlook when they were a smaller company with little experience in the tranforming toy market. Plus, those early macross plus toys didn't cost as much. But now.. now they've been making toys for a few years and have had tons of problems with little stuff like this and now I'm just no willing to pay money in order to be their beta run testers. So I'll just wait until there's a revision, and if there is none, oh well. there are plenty of toys out there that are just fine upon first release.
promethuem5 Posted December 31, 2004 Posted December 31, 2004 (edited) For some reason the VB-6 sticker sheet even includes two skull squadron symbols (same size as the 1/48 chest skull). hmmmm...skull sqaudron's siter VB-6 support wing? Edited December 31, 2004 by promethuem5
Vostok 7 Posted December 31, 2004 Posted December 31, 2004 yup. cancelling my order. Thanks Graham. I hope the boys at yamato still read this forum. I always try to expect better from MW, but always get disappointed. Vostok 7
Graham Posted December 31, 2004 Posted December 31, 2004 After several more transformations last night, I have noticed another potential problem. The missile launching end of the forearms (i.e. the end that doesn't have the hands) has a small hole, into which a peg located behind the head attaches to lock the arms in place in Shuttle (Bomber) mode. However, to get the peg into and out of the hole requires some force and twisting of the forearms. I noticed this morning that the hole in both forearms has already elongated slightly. This would not be such a big problem, except for the fact that part of the hole is very close to the edge of the arm, so has a very thin rim, which I could see breaking after not too many more transformations. It's possible that I might be transforming the toy wrongly and causing the problem, but I don't think so.I'll try to post some pics over the weekend to show you what I mean. Graham OK, hope this shows what I am talking about. Graham
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