Graham reviews the new Yamato 1/60 VF-1

[Arthurius]

dont like the look of skinny legs.... on the breackage some are having, well, wasnt planning on buying first release anyways, comon guys, dont you remember that Yamato oftenly messes up the first run?? Once was enough for me, the vf-0s!!!!

[danth]

dont like the look of skinny legs

I love them, and now I think the 1/48 legs are fugly.

[David Hingtgen]

Yeah, I think the #1 way this is better than others is battroid mode legs.

[VF5SS]

They're not really skinnier, just shaped differently. Less flat in the front and more curved but with the same amount of mass to it.

[Arthurius]

you guys like these skinny legs?? Even with the fast packs they turn me off. I feel there is something missing. Anyways, like the hand and the fact fastpacks stays on, and dont find anything wrong with neck, but the skinny legs bother me.

[Toonz]

why is the visor black?

[eugimon]

you guys like these skinny legs?? Even with the fast packs they turn me off. I feel there is something missing. Anyways, like the hand and the fact fastpacks stays on, and dont find anything wrong with neck, but the skinny legs bother me.

we're just used to the legs being presented as flat and rectangular in front, but the line art has them tappering the way the new 1/60s are.

well, to be fair, gerwalk mode is drawn with 1/48 style legs and battroid is drawn with 1/60 ver 2.0 style legs. *shrug*

Edited July 24, 2008 by eugimon

[UN Spacy]

I like the skinny legs.

It goes well with the smaller chest and the proportions almost seem Hasegawa-ish.

[wolfx]

I'm guessing the leg fins can fold for a future sleeek GBP release?

Or maybe the manual says somethig but i didn't even bother opening it.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

dont you remember that Yamato oftenly messes up the first run?? Once was enough for me, the vf-0s!!!!

They redeemed themselves with nora sv51, and yf-21. Maybe that's why it was delayed?

I like the idea of a much slower release from yamato if it means better QC.

See my thing is to just let all the japanese buyers eat up the early releases, then after they iron out all the early problems, wait for second run and then purchase. Even if there was nothing wrong with the early releases, they might do something like make a joint tighter here or there, or become more knowledgeable about HOW to check for these problems and prevent too many making it out. (like the thing involving the melting of plastics for the early VF-0s can't be helped since they were unaware of it in the first place so I can forgive them for that if they actually do something about fixing the damn thing for later releases)

Actually if toynami had done that with masterpiece alphas I would have bought one: fix all the old problems so that you can be guaranteed a good one provided the company has ways of eliminating them later and learning from the mistake.

But now with these pin problems, well yamato are back to being the "first release is scary" reputation again. I'm crossing my fingers the upcoming VF-11 is like YF-21 and SV-51 nora.. Delay it if you must. No more broken bits.

And the comment about the skinny legs is what makes it so cool to me. The valk is girl! When you put armor on top of it, it gets bulky and heavy and gets a sex change. So it needs to look almost skeletal to give it better GBP look imo

I hated how on the 1/48 the armor was so chunky that the hands were out of proportion with the sumo armor. Hopefully yamato have planned this line better with regard to how the default naked valk form looks.

I want a better GBP which is allowed to maintain thickness without affecting its overall form on the outside. If it means making a skinny naked valk, I'm all for it. (I'm used to it from the banpresto valks which look so anorexic but still cool )

It is an unwritten rule that skinny robots have superior articulation from bulky ones. Look at classics mirage and TF LA movie Landmine. I want valks that look like they are moving away from the 80s chunky munky toys and closer to what we see in anime where more natural-looking poses are possible. They've got the fighter mode down, now see if they can improve battroid mode. The Qrau toy for example couldn't do the leg curl you see in the anime, and didn't come with a stand to have it in a flying pose, so I think yamato's next goal is to try to let their robots look cooler in a display in robot mode for us robot fans.

If yamato can give us good looking skinny valks (with good beefy armored hands) and bandai the chunky ones then there will be balance in the universe. Just make sure the joints can hold the weight of the limbs! When you put armor on something it adds extra weight so I wish yamato would work on clicky joints like what you get on leader class transformers.

Edited July 24, 2008 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

I'm guessing the leg fins can fold for a future sleeek GBP release? biggrin.gif

Or maybe the manual says somethig but i didn't even bother opening it. laugh.gif

Graham said that you have to pull out the leg fins a bit before folding, otherwise they can break.

Have you noticed any stress marks on the shoulder pin area?

[Arthurius]

well consider the GBP if it looks good (and after the fixes), hope the legs will look better than when naked. Also, hoping they make valk with same color FP as the legs, just so legs looks a bit ticker: the 2 seater comes to mind, as well as the stealth (or better yet, a low vis with similar fps). After selling my 1/60 vf-1j with GBP version 1, i am left without any GBP, and just cant give myself the boost to pay same amount as the price of a 1/48 vf-1 valk for the Low Camo (or even original) GBP, its just too expensive... however, when they make a 1/60, then it might be affordable, for one anyways.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

After staring at the picture of the broken pin, it seems to me the main problem is that the bottom part of the pin looks deformed compared to the other side...which is smooth. It could be that this is an isolated situation and its all a matter of using smooth pins as opposed to a deformed one.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Clicky joints on hips, shoulders etc should be in future 1/48 version 2 releases By this time beefy hands will be the norm, and the gunpods back to normal size. I hope.

The handle of the gunpod detaches from the gunpod, and you can clip the then "enhanced" gunpod handle onto the enhanced palm (let's just assume the dominant right arm is the only gunpod holding arm) which has a hole in it for the thick peg of the enhanced handle to slot into it, ...which than allows you to attach the remainder of the gunpod onto the handle.

You could have two gunpods: one where the gunpod is short and small. Another where the gunpod is long. Just like how we got short and long "crotch pieces" on the 1/48 GBP.

But you would have two palms: the palm with a huge hole in it is obviously for the big gunpod. (ie like the exaggerated gunpod the yamato vf-11 GNU got) You don't want it to waggle around too much.

They gave us big hands, so now they might be able to give us large gunpod. If only to match the larger GBP-equiped valk. A long gunpod would look better imo. I hope an arm curl is still possible with armor on but that's doubtful. What I want is a skinny GBP, with decent articulation, but big hands (like the ham hands you see in illustrations) and longer gunpod.

-Skinny gbp (for articulation)

-ham hands (aesthetics)

-longer gunpod in proportion with ham hands. (meaning we get two versions of gunpod for aesthetic reasons: short and long)

Overall it's more playable.

For the vf-11, if you wanted a GNU "oversized gunpod": you could have a seperate set of hands, those hands have a large hole in the palm, and the other big gunpod handle has a bigger peg in it for the bigger hole. Personally I think a short gunpod looks better for the GERWALK mode. But a long one is cool for fighter mode. See it all depends on the size of the hands: if the hands look beefy I don't mind a if it is a bit longer. But if the hands are tiny (like with the default 1/48 ones) I think a shorter one might help it from wobbling out of the hand easily. (less playable)

Under this system you would still need two different handles because the peg on the forearms is one size. (they aren't going to give two different forearms, but different gunpod handles maybe more easy)

Edited July 24, 2008 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[wolfx]

Graham said that you have to pull out the leg fins a bit before folding, otherwise they can break.

Have you noticed any stress marks on the shoulder pin area?

No stress marks as it is using a flexible plastic. But flexible doesn't mean its not breakable.

why is the visor black?

Cuz they overcoated the transparent green as well as the reflective coat. Its too thick hence too dark.

[David Hingtgen]

Shin---you should have enough TF's to know---that's how hinge pins always are. One end is smooth, one is knurled/grooved. Pop open a 1984 Prime and that's how the pins will be. Take a real close look at the ends of some pins in figures you own--at least a few you should be able to tell which end is "different".

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Shin---you should have enough TF's to know---that's how hinge pins always are. One end is smooth, one is knurled/grooved. Pop open a 1984 Prime and that's how the pins will be. Take a real close look at the ends of some pins in figures you own--at least a few you should be able to tell which end is "different".

I actually never knew that, thanks for the heads up.

No stress marks as it is using a flexible plastic. But flexible doesn't mean its not breakable.

Flexible as in PVC? I don't know why of all materials, Yamato would use a flexible plastic for that area. I wish they would have used something with more durability and given the pin enough room to move without being prone to snapping the hinge.

[valhary]

the missile of other 1/60 are compatible?

[wolfx]

Flexible as in PVC? I don't know why of all materials, Yamato would use a flexible plastic for that area. I wish they would have used something with more durability and given the pin enough room to move without being prone to snapping the hinge.

No its not PVC...its just a plastic that allows some bending. If they used normal (ABS?) it would probably form a stress mark and snap eventually so Yamato did no wrong with the material choice here, but rather the design of the connector itself. I guess its a toss up. By allowing the hinge to move that way, the arms get greater articulation but because of that, reckless movement of the arm itself might cause the hinge to snap. On the 1/48, the hinge is locked tight against the torso's back so this was never an issue.

[ruskiiVFaussie]

...

5.) Articulation doesn't seem like its as improved as they would like you to believe....but i guess its good. I'm still trying to make a Hikaru vs Bodolza pose but can't seem to be able to since the gunpod is small.

...

Suck!!!!!! That's one of the reasons i want to buy the 1/60's for the possibility of this pose! SUCK!

[ruskiiVFaussie]

I hope that the fixes are all in place for the VF-1D!

and that it includes VF-1D colored side parts, Hikaru pilot in civilian flightsuit, minmei in red dress, elevator cockpit, and a flying through the air minmey that can hold on to the fueselage.

What you said x 5000! Minmay seated and flying is a must! :-D

[UN_MARINE]

No its not PVC...its just a plastic that allows some bending.

is it like the bendable antenna on the YF 21 ?

if it's the same plastic, then it should be pretty durable & shouldn't be prone to breaking.

[Slammer]

for those who have the new 1/60 VF-1, can it hold the old 1/60 VF-1`s gunpod if the current one is too small?

[Impreszive]

I paid for my order earlier in the week. I am waiting for it to ship. I have to admit that I am concerned about this, but I am more of a fan of the fighter modes than any of the others. I figure that if I am not really transforming it, then I can avoid a lot of the breakage issues from use/errors out of the box. Overall, I do like the way this toy looks. I'm going to compare it to the 1/48 that I received recently and find out wihich one to put on the office desk.

[Shaggydog]

Wait.. this toy uses fragile pin-in-plastic joints similar to what Takara used in the early 80's? To support the entire arm and shoulder, no less? I thought yamato was at the pinnacle of transforming toy design, far beyond what all others blah blah blah

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I want to see hasegawa and bandai team up to make a redo of vf-1. That'd be great. Isn't that what is happening with the vf-25?

[s001]

This is what makes this toy a no-buy for me: it is designed for 2 seater vErsions, but on 1 seater Valks the neck/body part is just plain ugly.

You wanted shorter nosecone? that's the price you have to pay.

[LadyLuck®]

hmm... does it mean he want the batroid to look like this:

Try to imagine transforming THAT without using anime magic

Com'on at least Yamato made an effort to make it look more humanoid in proportion. And the balance between three modes are simply justifiable

Edited July 24, 2008 by LadyLuck®

[Guest sh002]

anyone in the US get this yet?

[eugimon]

not yet, but I got my payment request from Kevin, so soon enough I imagine.

[danth]

not yet, but I got my payment request from Kevin, so soon enough I imagine.

Really? I hope to get mine soon.

[Anomaly]

Can anyone show the true color of those fast packs, I hope they are more anime accurate this time.......

[Hikuro]

Can anyone show the true color of those fast packs, I hope they are more anime accurate this time.......

Which anime?

I think, since it's based on a DYRL scheme, the packs will match more to a DYRL color scheme versus the dark sea grey finish off the TV color schemes.

Then again, doesn't really matter to me as long as the toy doesn't fall apart on me.

I got a notice in the mail saying it's arrived, sad thing is though, I'm working 7:30-9PM tomorrow with no lunch break, so I can't pick it up until......uh, ever. So I'm gonna have my folks sign for it.

[Scream Man]

They're a greeny colour

I know because i GOT MINE TODAY! :D

In perfect condition; no problems at all after 2 transforms. Tight as hell, looks great in all modes, just a GORGEOUS piece. Havent tried the FP's yet.

Interestingly: The head dot above the visor on mine is red. Didnt some people say they had a yellow dot there?

[Alex]

Damn. Went to get an exchange today and they are sold out EVERYWHERE.

Got a refund and went to look for another in Nakano, Akiba, Shinjuku, Shibuya.........nadda.

So now I have no valk and a burning pocketful of En with nothing to do.

Wonder what Big Bertha is doing tonight.