Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0 Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 how does the vf-25f look standing next to bandai's old 1/65 vf-17s or d and fire valkyrie? A ton better and far more accurate to the design it is based on than the VF-17 and Fire Valkyrie were to the designs they are based on. Now that I have seen the gamu toys review/gallery, the leg/knee joints bend farther back than I have seen in the initial pics. That's a relief. If I get my hands on a DX soon I will try to find a way to store the gunclip in battroid mode, and a way to get the gunhands into the shield somehow. If more plastic from within the shield needs to be carved out, it might be a very easy modification.
anime52k8 Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 Bandai has not fulfilled the expectations placed, Yamato in the head and shoulders above dude you avatar is like, seriously creepy.
mitch Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 When I get back from my Christmas vacation I am going to be working on a customised 1/55, and one of the areas of my attention will be trying to fabricate or kit-bash a collapsible neck so that the head would be subtler in Fighter and Gerwalk mode. I'm hoping I may be able to apply what I learn to the 25S, or failing that, a veteran from the chunky monkey modifiers may be able to create a solution. The 25 has a smaller head to work with, but looking at the customs gallery here gives me confidence that we have the talent here to rectify Bandai's shortcomings.
Graham Posted December 29, 2008 Author Posted December 29, 2008 A custom neck extension will help, but part of the problem is also that the DX VF-25S head is more squashed or squat that it is supposed to be, compared with how it looks in the anime. Graham
drifand Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 LOL, Bandai has always screwed up the 'S' variant heads. Personally, I think it's the way the chin sticks out... it hides the neck too well.
mitch Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 (edited) A custom neck extension will help, but part of the problem is also that the DX VF-25S head is more squashed or squat that it is supposed to be, compared with how it looks in the anime. Graham True, true. Without looking at it in person it is kinda hard to tell how much space there is to work with inside the head. Hopefully my preorder won't take too long to get to the US shores so I can have a look myself... Edited December 29, 2008 by mitch
Dobber Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 (edited) Regarding modifications, wouldn't the lack of an accurate back plate also be an issue with how the head would be stored in fighter/gerwalk modes. They just took the alto back plate and repainted it instead of making a correct backplate. Chris Edited December 29, 2008 by Dobber
mitch Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 I'm honestly not sure, It's hard to tell without it in my hands. Anyone want to send me one so I can check?
honkhet Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 A few more comments and observations on the DX toys: - ... 4) While the arm articulation is pretty good, especially for the shoulder, I'm a bit underwhelmed by the leg articulation. I was expecting a swivel joint either above or below the knee, but there is none. Also, the knee, ankle, foot and hip articulation doesn't have quite as great a range of motion as I'd expected. While it's not bad, it could have been a bit better. ... Graham no swivel joint on the legs of the chogokin... none at all below or above the knee??? this really kills it for me... so dissappointing that bandai could make a mistake like this with the chogokin. this joint is essential for a good GERWALK A-stance as well as battroid mode posability. i how the legs are partially dislocated from the fighters main body in GERWALK just to achieve a meh A-stance. bandai really screwed up here. i din even mind about the vf-25s that doesnt have a neck. or that the vf-25s visor is a paint and not translucent plastic. or the wimpy bendy head lasers of the vf-25s. or the cockpit exposed as the butt of the battroid. (seems bandai really screwed up with the vf-25s, i hope not for the vf-25f and vf-25g) seems the model kit beat the chogokin in every way except for size and playability initially i was going to buy a good few of those vf-25 chogokins, but now i might only be buying mikhail
Chicago_Collector Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 The vf-25 appears to be a lot shorter than I was expecting in battloid. Can those who have it in hand please post some more pics of it posed next to the yf-21 and yf-19 battloids?
Javabean Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 (edited) You can check the comparision here http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...8513&st=420 Edited December 29, 2008 by Javabean
drifand Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 I'm glad to hear you can actually have the ankles semi retracted and still have a very stable battloid mode. However no ratchet joints? This is bandai who made this thing right? And no damn ratchet joints? What the hell. I hope those joints don't become loose and floppy some day. Now I'm not too sure how the stability of the toy will be when the add all those fast packs on it. Yo drifand could you take some pictures of the DX Alto with the ankles slightly retracted? Thanks. Mea culpa. There are indeed ratcheted, or rather, detented joints on the upper thighs and knee-block. They're just so effin' tight I could hear them 'click' when I was playing with the toy.
Graham Posted December 29, 2008 Author Posted December 29, 2008 Here's a photo that shows how the black paint is starting to come off on the right LERX, where it rubs against the rear of the hip in battroid mode. Graham
GunnerX Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 (edited) Got my VF-25's today, alto is pretty ok... Ozma's VF-25's head looks pretty fine too actually.. not! Shame on u for this oversight! Couldn't stand the short neck, so some part swaps and instant stretch! Edited December 29, 2008 by GunnerX
Graham Posted December 29, 2008 Author Posted December 29, 2008 The vf-25 appears to be a lot shorter than I was expecting in battloid. Can those who have it in hand please post some more pics of it posed next to the yf-21 and yf-19 battloids? Here's a shot of the Bandai 1/60 VF-25F DX Alto type battroid next to the Yamato 1/60 YF-19 battroid. Sorry, it's late here and I couldn't be bothered to get the YF-21 out of the display cabinet. Maybe tomorrow. One thing that's starting to annoy me is the hand that holds the gunpod on the DX doesn't do a very good job. Not only does it allow the gunpod to sag, it doesn't hold the gunpod very tightly and I've had a few instances where the gunpod has fallen out of the hand when I've just gently nudged it, or even when just picking up the battroid and not even touching the gunpod......Grrrrrrr! This is not supposed to happen with fixed pose hands. Graham
Valkyrie addict Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 must not bash this DX no more despite Grahams thorough comments... but I got a question, is the right head laser bent on all the VF-25S? all pictures shown of it from different sources the head laser is bent
Chicago_Collector Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 Here's a shot of the Bandai 1/60 VF-25F DX Alto type battroid next to the Yamato 1/60 YF-19 battroid. Cool. Thank you very much.
Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0 Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 (edited) Got my VF-25's today, alto is pretty ok... Ozma's head looks pretty fine too actually.. That does look a lot better. One thing that's starting to annoy me is the hand that holds the gunpod on the DX doesn't do a very good job. Not only does it allow the gunpod to sag, it doesn't hold the gunpod very tightly and I've had a few instances where the gunpod has fallen out of the hand when I've just gently nudged it, or even when just picking up the battroid and not even touching the gunpod......Grrrrrrr! This is not supposed to happen with fixed pose hands. That is disappointing. It should be easy to fix though, I imagine. no swivel joint on the legs of the chogokin... none at all below or above the knee??? this really kills it for me... so dissappointing that bandai could make a mistake like this with the chogokin. Bandai might have did that as to not "break the sculpt" so to speak, though this mainly happens with action figures such as comic based heroes, not so much on mecha. It is a disappointment to me but I can understand why they might have left the joint out. Edited December 29, 2008 by Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0
mitch Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 Couldn't stand the short neck, so some part swaps and instant stretch! Now that looks a lot better! What did you use for the extension? I assume that having that added interferes with the transformation?
drifand Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 You know what? I'm hoping Hobby Japan (Dengeki is owned by Bandai) would do a special issue and treat the DX just like another 'imperfect mass-produced kit that got so many things wrong'. Nothing can be done for the hips, but Max Watanabe could probably fix everything else for Alto and Ozma: scratch build a new do-it-all shield, better fists, better necks, find a way to shield the cockpit better. The works.
SuperHobo Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 Got my VF-25's today, alto is pretty ok... Ozma's VF-25's head looks pretty fine too actually.. not! Shame on u for this oversight! Couldn't stand the short neck, so some part swaps and instant stretch! Nice mod! What did you use to make the neck look so much better if not a little too long?
do not disturb Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 maybe i'm alone here but i'm just not that impressed. the toy seems so transform-ish(poseabilitywise) that its like a step back in time. so far nothing i've read/seen really makes me want to own this toy. *shrug*
Chowser Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 just to be sure, these come packed in fighter mode, correct? here's hoping so, cuz I don't plan on ever transforming mine. My YF-21 and YF-19 have been in fighter mode out of the box and I hardly transform my 1/48s anymore.
UN Spacy Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 Does anyone know what these are retailing for in Hong Kong and Tokyo? Are all sold out on store shelves? I have a few friends that are going to Japan the first two weeks of January. They said they're gonna try to hunt me down Alto's DX.
Valkyrie addict Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 so bandai can alter the design and make the valk chunky so it will be playable but will not alter to add swivel joints on the knees?? a bit of an oximoron there.... bad bandai, bad bandai
jenius Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 maybe i'm alone here but i'm just not that impressed. the toy seems so transform-ish(poseabilitywise) that its like a step back in time. so far nothing i've read/seen really makes me want to own this toy. *shrug* I love that you made this seemingly sincere post in a thread that largely reads "ZOMG teh Bandai is teh SUXOR!!!!" I'm just going to go out on a limb and say you're probably not alone.
Graham Posted December 29, 2008 Author Posted December 29, 2008 Does anyone know what these are retailing for in Hong Kong and Tokyo? Are all sold out on store shelves? Here in Hong Kong, I bought mine for HK$950 each. Yesterday, I saw another shop selling the VF-25S Ozma for HK$990. The VF-25F Alto had sold out already. Graham
nugundamII Posted December 30, 2008 Posted December 30, 2008 Here in Hong Kong, I bought mine for HK$950 each. Yesterday, I saw another shop selling the VF-25S Ozma for HK$990. The VF-25F Alto had sold out already. Graham hey Bud Which Store. Is it in Tsim Tsum Choi, or Kowloon toy district? I would like to see if I can have someone pickup the vf 25s. Wait a minute I thought you lived in Japan???
GunnerX Posted December 30, 2008 Posted December 30, 2008 Nice mod! What did you use to make the neck look so much better if not a little too long? Hiya! For those interested, i used parts no. (5) and (9) from the MODE LOCK arbalest kit from WAVE (is it wave?). The ball joints fit perfectly for the Ozma toy. There is a way to make it look even better, but it requires a bit of modification to the joint so it fits closer to the head. It's great for those who want to keep it in battroid mode, and doesn't take much to do.
Graham Posted December 30, 2008 Author Posted December 30, 2008 hey Bud Which Store. Is it in Tsim Tsum Choi, or Kowloon toy district? I would like to see if I can have someone pickup the vf 25s. Wait a minute I thought you lived in Japan??? No, I've never lived in Japan, only visited there a few times. MWers Save, Sketchley and Renato live in Japan. I live in Hong Kong. I bought my VF-25F and VF-25S DX in Tai Po in the New Territories in a toy shop in Tai Po Plaza in New Tai Po (sorry, can't remember the shop's name). I also saw the VF-25S Ozma DX in a toy store located in Cross Lane in Wanchai on HK Island yesterday. Graham
SchizophrenicMC Posted December 30, 2008 Posted December 30, 2008 MWers Save, Sketchley and Renato live in Japan. I live in Hong Kong. And I live in Texas!
UN Spacy Posted December 30, 2008 Posted December 30, 2008 So $120 to $125US is a decent price for the VF-25?
Graham Posted December 30, 2008 Author Posted December 30, 2008 So $120 to $125US is a decent price for the VF-25? From what I've seen so far and admittedly I've only seem them in 2 shops, that seems to be about the going rate here in HK at the moment. Graham
nugundamII Posted December 30, 2008 Posted December 30, 2008 No, I've never lived in Japan, only visited there a few times. MWers Save, Sketchley and Renato live in Japan. I live in Hong Kong. I bought my VF-25F and VF-25S DX in Tai Po in the New Territories in a toy shop in Tai Po Plaza in New Tai Po (sorry, can't remember the shop's name). I also saw the VF-25S Ozma DX in a toy store located in Cross Lane in Wanchai on HK Island yesterday. Graham thanks I will ask someone to go check. Only reason I though you worked in japan was because you were close to yamato I guess they have an office in HK
Graham Posted December 30, 2008 Author Posted December 30, 2008 Hoping Bandai release Ranka and Sheryl "All That VF" versions of the toys and that they are not Tamashi webstore exclusives. Graham
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