1/60 YF19 rant

[Jawjaw]

I've been pretty happy with all my Yamato's so far, even the early fragile M+ valks. However (here it comes ), I'm pretty disappointed with the new YF19. Yeah, it looks great but I relived the transforming fustrations of the first yf19. Parts are falling off, I can't get the fuselage to separate (not the tip but the part with the cockpit). Tab B nightmares all over again. It's so tight that I had to triple check to make sure I was doing it right. I ended up stressing the plastic which is a lot of fun on an expensive toy. You really have to manhandle it to get it to lock or unlock.

The rest of the transformation was not too bad but I was suprised that nothing locked together which makes it hard to handle. The vent covers do not stay on well and neither do the legs (slide out of the hips too easily). Another big frustration is trying to get the hand to hold the gun. I noticed a peg on the hand for the gun which is something Yamato should of done long ago. Problem is, it doesn't fit the holes in the gun so it just makes things more difficult. I tried putting it in a cool pose but gave up since parts are falling off or flopping around.

It's not as bad as earlier Yamato's but things like the wobbly canard wings and cockpit that can't open without the whole thing coming gives it a cheap feel. For close to $200, I expected a little more. IMO, the cheaper 1/48's and Mac0's are much more solid. I still like it though and wouldn't give it back for a refund. If anything, I wish these things didn't cost so much.

[jenius]

Do you own a 0S? 'Cause, I like my 0S and all, but if you're saying a 19 feels more sloppy that gives me more than a little reservation.

[Beware of Blast]

cheap feel.

You know what else are missing? Build Quality and Finishing.

Other than that, it seems to me that POM, ABS and PVCs are the only materials they know and use all the time. There are SO many toy-making materials out there and they only use POM, ABS and PVCs as though they are the only thing available on the planet.

After more than 6 years on the damn job!

Bandai have been known to make good transforming SOCs out of so much more better materials than that and still manage to stay affordable, if not competitive. What's more, they are able to make new and different transforming toys for their collectors to pull off insane transformations without risking breakage or plastic stress.

And then there is this backward-thinking that is synonymous with Yamato. They could stray a little from the original VF1 linearts to make collar-pegs to hold the chestplate securely for the 1/48 VF1s in battroid mode, but they omitted this initiative for the 1/60 VF0s and the YF19.

On top of that, there is this list of other complaints that I'm sure you can read from the other threads...

Yamato loves making squatting toilets when they know damn well the Macross collecting public can afford one with seat. Then they charge us as though it does come with a seat.

I can't wait for another company to take up the Macross franchise. I hope Wave will be successful in making their SDF-Macross, then progress to make other transforming VFs.

Yamato badly needs a stiff kick in the arse.

Edit:-

And oh, I do understand it is difficult to make transforming toys and the job become even more insurmountible for smaller companies like Yamato. But how difficult can it get? They have the license, tomes of official lineart and animation prints, Kawamori's guidance and his already world-famous toy designs with highly-covetable form factors, 6 years of experience and monetary resources and good third-party help... and all they need to do is just make damn sure the toys come out right.

Edited January 19, 2007 by Beware of Blast

[eugimon]

meh. Mine holds its gun just fine and from most of the posed pics in the other threads, looks like other people can make it hold the gun fine as well.

haven't had any problems stressing the plastic or the legs falling out, or the covers popping off. I will say that I'm nervous of the black on the fuselage chipping but it's hardly "Tab B all over again".

And I don't get the comment about the canards either, they lock down for me quite nicely and make a little clicking sound.

I WILL say that I don't think they made the wing glove quite right.. it just doesn't want to lock into the legs. If you take the upper body and arms off, it's still impossible to get the rear wing locks to sit flush with lower legs. which is boo.

As for the comment about the chest plate not locking in place in battroid on the VF-0... sorry man, the VF-0 has it's share of problems, but the chest piece locks down just fine.

And scream man, you think I'm angry at yamato? I think BoB is WAY more angry than me.

Edited January 19, 2007 by eugimon

[wolfx]

It's not as bad as earlier Yamato's but things like the wobbly canard wings and cockpit that can't open without the whole thing coming gives it a cheap feel. For close to $200, I expected a little more. IMO, the cheaper 1/48's and Mac0's are much more solid. I still like it though and wouldn't give it back for a refund. If anything, I wish these things didn't cost so much.

Though i agree u with all other points, i never had wobbly canard wings or a problem with the cockpit. The only problem with the cockpit is that you'll have to push the front part of the canopy down to open the canopy. And with the canard wings, did you push it in to lock it into place?

[eugimon]

Do you own a 0S? 'Cause, I like my 0S and all, but if you're saying a 19 feels more sloppy that gives me more than a little reservation.

The yf-19 locks together just fine in fighter mode.. well, except for the wings, which have problems locking in the rear into the calves.

GERWALK mode, is not secure. the torso/shoulders just sit up there but with the arms swung down in position, it's stable enough. You can't do barrel rolls or anything, but you won't have to worry about it flopping out of position or somthing after you pose it.

Battroid mode is the same deal but not as bad. For the most part, the torso is held in place fairly well, though if you lift it up by the torso it WILL pop out of place. It's not like the VF-1 or VF-0 where it has a definite lock.

However, it's not a sloppy mess. The elbows and feet have nice ratcheting joints and all the swiveling bits (arms and thighs) are nice and tight.

The big difference, for me, is that with the 1/48 and the VF-0, the legs lock in easily the arms and backpack lock into the legs afterwards. In the YF-19, the legs and arms and torso all lock together at the same time and if you don't get it right, it can be frustrating. However, I don't feel this is yamato's fault but rather a necessity inherent to the design of the YF-19 in general.

[myk]

For close to $200, I expected a little more.

Which is why the upcoming '51 concerns me. This is going to be the largest and probably most complex variable fighter-toy, and given Yamato's apparent lack or care for quality control, testing, and (according to BoB) refusal to explore better plastics, I don't know if I'll be able to accept the higher cost which will probably be close to $300 or something...

[Scream Man]

And scream man, you think I'm angry at yamato? I think BoB is WAY more angry than me.

no kidding! Yoiks dude...

As Ive said elsewhere, i have never had a problem with any Yamato stuff up till the recent 0's. And then, yeah i had problems. but its still overall good, and the problems arent universal.

the 1/48 vf-1 i havent had a single problenm with, and Ive had 6. All are fine. heck i have 2 more on the way and another 3 in my backlog at Neova!

As for the 19, i think in some ways its Yamatos best. Its much more easy to play with than the otehrs. ive transformed it many time, and never had issues with the canards, legs, or intake covers coming off. its had minor issues with the wheel and gun. nothing huge. mot people wouldnt notice them. we're herdier than most, so we did.

Ra Yamato I say!

[Jawjaw]

Do you own a 0S? 'Cause, I like my 0S and all, but if you're saying a 19 feels more sloppy that gives me more than a little reservation.

Yeah, I got the 0S and 0A. Both are easily poseable and everything works as it should. A child could transform one if you would dare try. It would be impossible for a child to transform my YF19 because it takes a lot of delicate strength to separate the fuselage without breaking something. It's also tricky to handle because if you hold it by a leg while working with it, the leg can easily fall come out of the hip and your expensive valk goes straight to the floor. Yes, this happened to me.

Perhaps I am not doing something right with my canards. Should they lock into place in fighter mode like they do in battroid? Mine don't and easily spin out of place any time you touch them. I tried pushing them in but it doesn't feel like they are supposed to go in any further.

I know how to open the canopy but my point was that it comes out more easily than it moves on its hinge. There is no resistance whatsoever. When you pull up on the canopy to open it, it just comes off. The canopy also doesn't fit well and there is a huge gap but that's just a nitpick. Speaking of nitpicks, I would also like to point out that even the fat azz pilot was hard to get in. Never had that problem before - lol.

I still like the YF19 since it's a huge step up from the previous version. Like I said, I was just disappointed with it since I am extremely pleased with the 1/48's and M0 valks. I am super pumped about the SV-51 and will gladly put up with any flaws just to have one.

[Fly4victory]

I am just scared. I looked at my 19 at christmas, briefly out of the box and then packed it up to move. Listening to all the problems I am scared to transform it and wish I had it in hand.

Looks like will need three. One for each mode and they are only transformed after disassembly.

Like the mods from the other 19 tread: Stealth Hands, Spray Can Cover/Filler, and the glue knife warning about the screw covers.

Thanks to all that are leading the way.

[valhary]

I agree with jawjaw the yf19 1/60 is very disappointment and quality is lower in comparison with the vf0 and vf1 1/48 and the most anger is the attitude of yamato that sell by separate the fast pack (that is only the legs equal to vf0)

[do not disturb]

while i know bashing this toy(or any toy for that matter)is easy to do for an MW'er, you guys fail to mention all the cool things about it. with all the legitmate rants and complaints in mind, is there any of you who plans on selling their YF-19? i mean if it sucks so bad, why keep it? you could always just sell it and hope some other company comes along and makes another YF-19 to your liking, but even then you'd find fault.....me included.

[Valkyrie addict]

something that costs close to 200 dollars should NOT come with factory defects (crooked gunpod, landing gear), and start to wear out in less than 2 month (woobly canards)

shelling out triple figure payments is not easy for anyone, and then what are we forced to do, just deal with it and fix it ourself, those things should not happen

[Kicker773]

It is always normal to find something or try to meticulously find something wrong with a good toy and in this case a few have mentioned the problems of the YF19. But can you honestly say to yourself that there is such a thing as a perfect toy? (In all aspects)NO, and if there were, you'd be back in the phase of criticizing its faults and what it needs and what the manufacturers could have done, etc. etc. If you want total control in the toy's outlook and needs, you might as well build a model toy and take it from there where your free to do your customizations and quirks. I know everyone is upset of the problems the YF19 has and wants yamato to correct it and have a 2nd run at producing it, but i'm not sure if that is likely to happen even according to Graham. So in all aspects, if you really are unsatisfied with the toy, like *haterist* said, you can just sell it and hope to find someone else who will make one in the future. Unlike me, my biological clock in waiting for such a company to do so is not possible, hence my mass purchase of the first run regardless of the faults, which by far is fixable.

Oh expect to have a 2nd seater in that cockpit soon =) I just need to find referrence on how the *hacker* looks like behind Isamu

[do not disturb]

something that costs close to 200 dollars should NOT come with factory defects (crooked gunpod, landing gear), and start to wear out in less than 2 month (woobly canards)

shelling out triple figure payments is not easy for anyone, and then what are we forced to do, just deal with it and fix it ourself, those things should not happen

hey man i totally agree with you, no doubt these problems shouldn't exist when you have to pay out the butt for something. its unfortunate that they do exist but i'm certainly not going to sell my yf-19, i mean with all its faults, its still think its an awesome toy.

i don't know about wobbly canards? i think you're doing something wrong cause mine are nice and tight. i know they are designed to turn in one specific direction. depending on which canard, if you turn it one way it doesn't sit flush but if you turn it the other way, its locks down nice and tight....perhaps thats the issue?

the LG is not a big deal, it took 20 minutes to fix and thats only cause i took it apart, but theres is no excuse for the crooked GP, nuff said there.

[Godzilla]

I am just wondering how perfect do you want it to be. I am not picking at everyone, just being a devil's advocate. Part of me agrees with you for spending $200 on a toy that is should be perfect but hell, it is a transformable toy so it will be complicated so I have no doubt it will be ever "perfect". And isnt "perfect" subjectible per person based their opinion?

I am quite happy they tampo printing a lot of stuff on the YF-19. This thing is better than the previous. Anyways...

[Roy's Blues]

True enough, but this has been Yamato's SOP since the original 1/72 YF-19.

Stuff gets by QC. They may fix for the next release, if there is one. (VF-OS for example)

They are the only game in town.

Plus, it's not like everything Yamato makes is complete crap. I will still pre-order 1/48 release valks.

As far as there new releases go, I may start waiting for the second edition.

The only way to get them to change thier SOP to affect the bottom line. If enough of us buy second releases with fixes, some exce. may notice the trend a change something.

/*looks up

/guess this is a rant thread

edit sp

Edited January 19, 2007 by Roy's Blues

[doodler7]

Work sucks and freelance work is stressing me out these two months, and I've been too busy to open the box. My YF-19 is till in its USPS box for a week sitting on my drafting table. I'm gonna read more of this thread tonight...then I'll take a video of my opening the box and take some photos.

I've never had any problems with any of the 1/48s and 1/60s...so I'm crossing my fingers.

[Kicker773]

WooT WooT!! Documentary of a YF19 birth coming out of the box

[takatoys]

For me the toy looks great. It is just the excesive price that Yamato takes advantage of. With no other toy manufaturer producing macross toys in 1/60 scale, Yamato can inflate the price the way they want.

The YF-19 is not a limited edition toy, it is mass produced. Sure, there are not many macross enthusiastics as Gundam, but the YF-19 can not cost the same as a Gundam perfect grade kit or a Soul of Chogokin toy.

I don't know the pre-production costs, but I imagine that it costs no more than US$30 to produce one YF-19 box included.

[Chowser]

any chance of a sticker sheet??

[Dante74]

Oh expect to have a 2nd seater in that cockpit soon =) I just need to find referrence on how the *hacker* looks like behind Isamu

Are you planning to mod the 19 to make it a two-seater?

Don't bother, Yamato will release a second seat with the FAST pack Booster set. They'll even put in a Yang newman figure in there for ya.

[Fly4victory]

How many people dumped the 1/72 YF-19 for the tab b problems, chipped paint, or the super gap shield?

Thankfully I did not break the tap on my YF-19 but was put off by the paint chipping on the VF-19A. Still own two (A's) just one is really loose.

The new YF-19 is an improvement but I have to agree with those that feel short changed by the high price and the resulting material failures.

[Kyp Durron]

My gunpod isn't that far off at all and as far as the rear landing gear, I just forced mine further open and now they open perfectly with NO DRILLING or any other mods at all.

I haven't transformed it, but I guess I will see for myself how hard it is to do when I finally get the urge to do so. For now, I am perfectly happy with keeping it in fighter mode and can't wait to buy the other paint schemes.

BTW, anyone who isn't happy with their YF-19, I will gladly give them $50 +shipping for it.

-Kyp

[Roy's Blues]

sure.

shipping is 150.00

Edited January 20, 2007 by Roy's Blues

[promethuem5]

Personally, I love my 19.... just got it, spent about an hour and a half of minor tweaks that I was annoyed I had to do (especially the landing gear,) but once those were done, the toy is simply stunning... I really am blown away with the engineering and impressive look of this toy... It's probably going to end up being my favorite Yamato toy, but then again, I loved the 1/72 19 as much as I love 1/48s, so what do I know?

[Kyp Durron]

sure.

shipping is 150.00

Lol...ok, I need to set the parameters better then:

$75 shipped is what I am willing to pay.

-Kyp

[Taisa]

New member here, decided to join when I got my 1/60 YF-19...

I must say I'm very happy with the toy overall, but I've had two problems so far that are somewhat annoying (but not so bad that I wouldn't recommend buying one).

My first problem was that my forward fuselage absolutely REFUSED to move into position for battroid mode. I had no problem separating by pulling forward and then down (I admit I watched the transformation vids quite a few times while waiting for mine to ship) but then the step where you have to pull back and down I tried for roughly 5 minutes with different degrees of pulling back/down but it wouldn't budge. Eventually, after applying more force than should have been needed, it finally decided to relent and move. Unfortunately, this left me with about a faint stress mark roughly a millimeter in diameter right at the spot where the locking pieces for the fuselage are (I'm going to be taking pictures so I can show it later). The good news is this was only a problem on my initial transformation and now I just go slow and gentle to prevent further stress but it quite willingly moves.

The second problem I encountered was when I put it back in to fighter mode my right leg doesn't want to stay connected to the shoulder. I can get it to stay connected by squeezing but then of course the wing guard comes out of its slot on the leg. Still, this is a minor problem and I've found that when placing it on the display stand for "cool flying poses" I can oh so gently push them together and they'll stay connected so long as I don't breathe hard on it .

All in all, I'd say this is definitely a great product that only suffers from the usual problems associated with mass production.

PS: to those who think Bandai would have done a better job, take a look at the Star Trek series of models they made recently. All come prepainted (which provides a BEAUTIFUL hull texture that would be hard to replicate even for the most experienced of painters without spending hours upon hours working on it) and come with lighting systems so that the windows and other bits that glow light up. One of the models (I believe it was the Enterprise-E model but I'm not sure as I only bought one) had a documented problem with gaps between the pieces when assembled. This wouldn't matter too much except that even the smallest gap lets light out and therefore completely ruins the gimmick that made paying $80 USD for a model worth it.

Edited January 20, 2007 by Taisa

[emajnthis]

The yf-19 locks together just fine in fighter mode.. well, except for the wings, which have problems locking in the rear into the calves.

I found this same problem but after further investigation discovered that it was the shoulders that cause the wing roots from locking in fighter mode. If you try to pull the shoulders down to hide the nasty gap the wing roots won't lock, but if you pull the shoulders up providing the nasty gap, then the wing roots lock with no problem.

I think someone like NB4M needs to re-engineer the shoulders to be .1mm smaller to help put more locking tension on the shoulder tabs and having the shoulders sit flush in fighter mode while simultaneously allowing the wing root to lock in place.

[do not disturb]

I found this same problem but after further investigation discovered that it was the shoulders that cause the wing roots from locking in fighter mode. If you try to pull the shoulders down to hide the nasty gap the wing roots won't lock, but if you pull the shoulders up providing the nasty gap, then the wing roots lock with no problem.

even if someone recasted the shoulder piece, it still wouldn't sit flush.

the reason why the shoulders won't sit flush is because of the sliding tan piece housed in the shoulder, not the shoulder itself.

i think if you simply remove the silly needless feature, the wings should lock down nice and tight and the gap in the shoulders should disappear.

i haven't tested this theory yet cause i was busy watching NFC/AFC football last night.

i'm gonna try to remove the piece(if it doesn't require me to break something) and see if it works tonight, i'll keep you guys posted.

[kung flu]

I've notice many of the problems stated in this post on my YF 19 is well and it really bugs me a lot, since i paid $140 for it. I've transformed mine into batroid mode, then when i transform back into fighter, it doesn't lock together properly, so now i just leave it in batroid mode.

This would be my last ever yamato product, I can't be bothered with them anymore, especially their prices and quality issues.

[do not disturb]

I've notice many of the problems stated in this post on my YF 19 is well and it really bugs me a lot, since i paid $140 for it. I've transformed mine into batroid mode, then when i transform back into fighter, it doesn't lock together properly, so now i just leave it in batroid mode.

This would be my last ever yamato product, I can't be bothered with them anymore, especially their prices and quality issues.

i'd say try it again cause you're doing it wrong. no one on this board had a single issue with getting it back to fighter mode. did you look at graham transformation video? did you look at the instructions?

and seriously, are you really complaining about paying $140 for yours, when most of the people here paid $200? i bought 4 of them just to get them a little cheaper and still didn't get anything near the price you paid...

[Kyp Durron]

i'd say try it again cause you're doing it wrong. no one on this board had a single issue with getting it back to fighter mode. did you look at graham transformation video? did you look at the instructions?

and seriously, are you really complaining about paying $140 for yours, when most of the people here paid $200? i bought 4 of them just to get them a little cheaper and still didn't get anything near the price you paid...

Getting them to go back into fighter mode is the one issue these don't seem to have. I would also suggest you try it again and make sure that you have everything in place that is supposed to be, every tab in the slot, and so forth.

It can be a little hard to get everything together, but once you do, it's pretty solid unlike the VF-0's.

$140? Man, I thought I did good getting mine for $162 shipped.

-Kyp

[emajnthis]

It can be a little hard to get everything together, but once you do, it's pretty solid unlike the VF-0's.

Even with all of the tabs and bits in place it's not as solid as my VF-0, but that's only due to its inherent design. The YF-19's hip points in Fighter mode don't always like to stay locked when handling it a bit and i still think it's because the shoulders themselves are just ever so slightly too fat/wide.

Haterist, The little shoulder tabs inside the shoulders don't force them outwards from what i can tell, if anything they're not putting enough tension against the shoulder which is why they fall out in battroid mode but since i'm at home with nothing to do i'll try out and edit this post in the next 5 minutes.

*edit*

didn't make a difference in allowing the shoulder to sit flush... i'm working through my own solution at the moment though.

Edited January 22, 2007 by emajnthis

[kung flu]

i'd say try it again cause you're doing it wrong. no one on this board had a single issue with getting it back to fighter mode. did you look at graham transformation video? did you look at the instructions?

and seriously, are you really complaining about paying $140 for yours, when most of the people here paid $200? i bought 4 of them just to get them a little cheaper and still didn't get anything near the price you paid...

Well I looked at the instructions several times, moved the parts into position several times, but the hip/legs don't seem to want to stay in position, and also the wings, I compare it to the video, the pictures, its all the same, Its just doesn't want to stay locked together.

Last time i checked $140 is still a lot of money, but i'm from the UK so shipping would work out different to some of you guys in the USA and other countries.

Edited January 22, 2007 by kung flu