Official Bandai 1/100 VF HI-METAL VF-19 Kai Fire Valkyrie

[Lobizon]

Anybody know a good online source for preordering the two accessory sets for the Fire Valk (Sound Booster & stand)?

Just looked at HLJ & amiami, but couldn't see them.

Graham

Someone here has those for sale---> http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=33816&pid=871783&st=0&

[ff95gj]

Edited October 10, 2010 by ff95gj

[VFTF1]

Just wanted to share my review of the VF-19Kai on my website. I really love this bird. I need to add a couple of pictures to the review - mainly comparisson shots with some MG 1/100 Gundams. I'm very happy with Valkyrie at this scale - it makes me feel like my whole real robot collection melds together really well. And yeah...the Soundbooster would be a great addition for sure...Bomba!

Here's a pic from my review:

And here's the link to the review itself. You can click on the thumbnails to enlarge!

http://dyrl.pl/detale.html?id=967

Pete

[ae_productions]

WOAH! That is just AWESOME!

[Frogze]

I never thought I'd want this, but after watching some Mac7 episodes I'm definitely a fan of the karaoke valk

Lucky it's also one of Bandai's reissued figures in next February 2011

Edited November 2, 2010 by Frogze

[jenius]

I know I'm forever late to this party but I finally got a post up about the VF-19Kai stand (includes video review):

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Thats a pretty cool stand!!

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

*bump*

very Late to the party here:

just want to ask a quick question about the blazer release of this toy:

If you wanted to get the gunpod attachment (for mounting the gunpod to the fighter mode without modding) do you need to buy the fire valkyrie accesory set? (option set or whatever it is called?)

Or is there supposed to be a seperate accessory set for the blazer that I'm not aware of? (haven't done much research into the blazer despite reading lots of reviews for the fire valk)

It's a bit confusing to me because I don't see much information about thr blazer valk and what accesories it comes with for free? I can see it already comes with a stand, it comes with a landing gear thing, and looking at picutures I see closed fists.. But what about attachment piece for the gunpod?

Do you get one of those when you buy a blazer himetal?

I love the small size as I am running out of space. I just get confused about this particular valk. I wish bandai just put as much effort into this as the VF-1 himetal. That toy already let you mount the gunpod in fighter mode without asking for more money from you. Don't understand how hard it could have been for them to do this with the VF-19 Himtels.

Help out a brother. Please lLet me know what you get with the blazer and how I am supposed to attach a gunpod in fighter mode if the attachment piece that lets you do this, isn't included with the toy. I hope I don't have to buy the fire valk accessory set.

Grrrrrr. So angry that bandai didn't get far enough to do the yf-19.

Jenius You planning on reviewing the blazer Himetal at some point?

I always like your reviews because you do such a thorough job.

Edited October 2, 2011 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[VFTF1]

Dag... I'd love to answer your question, but I'd have to check myself. I haven't fiddled around with my Blazer enough to know...

On that note- is there any info at all about the Hi Metal line being continued? I REALLY like these - and want bandai to do more! :-)

Pete

[kamadoma]

The Blazer and its accessories alone won't let you mount the gun in Fighter. Buying the Fire Valk parts? I'm not sure since the gun molds are different

and I still don't know how the adapter actually works or even looks.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

and I still don't know how the adapter actually works or even looks.

The adaptor just fits into the bottom of the fighter mode and the gunpod fits into the adaptor.

Actar's video review of the vf-19 fire valk accessory set: (skip to 5:44 in the video to get to this part of the review or skip to 7:14 in the video to see the adapter piece and how it attaches) What I was wondering is: "does the blazer include its own version of this in the box for free?" If not, "is there a way to get the fire valkyrie adaptor working on blazer valkyrie gunpods so I don't have to mod?" (since the handles of the gunpods are different aren't they? not much info out there for guys like me regarding blazer release - we can clearly see landing gear and stand comes with it in pictures, but no mention of gunpod adaptor, which imo bandai should have included .....grrr)

Bandai didn't need to do stuff like that for vf-1 himetal but when they did it for the vf-19 it was a deal breaker for me. They just handed yamato free money. ....unless they make it easy in future to get the pieces later on?

I love the himetal line as a whole (I think it is the perfect scale for the enemy mechas like the Qraus, and larger mechas like the VB-6 Monster) just not the way they handled the accessories for the vf-19 valks. You'd think they would want to strive for higher review scores by including the basics but whatever...what is done is done.

Edited October 2, 2011 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[RyuRoots]

I've seen a lot of people complain about this, but did the VF-19 carry the gun on the undercarriage anyway? I could be misremembering since it's been awhile since I watched M7 (and I'm not enough of a masochist to revisit it), but I think it was in the leg or something in fighter mode anyway. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[Graham]

The VF-19S/F/Kai/P carries the gunpod on the underside, same as YF-19.

You are thinking of the VF-17S/D, which carries the gun internally in the leg, or the VF-22S, which carries two gunpods in the leg bay panels.

Graham

[RyuRoots]

Ah, so that's it. Thanks for the clarification.

As far as the gunpod attachment, I have the VF-19S Hi-Metal, and it doesn't include anything like that, and AFAIK the only accessory sets that were released for the VF Hi-Metal line are the Fire Valk parts and the VF-1A Super Packs. I've never missed it in all the time I've had it displayed mid-flight, but I guess it's all about preference. If you're really determined, I suppose you could always hunt down the Fire Valk part and mod the grip of the VF-19S gunpod.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

yeah. I will do that. What I'm hoping is for news on whether bandai will continue the himetal line. (ie yf-19 himetal complete with gunpod attachment) Then use that on blazer haha.

The vb-6 monster looks pretty good next to these guys.

Edited October 9, 2011 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Renato]

The attachment piece that comes with the 19kai is pointless anyway because you can't display the valk on the stand and have that piece attached at the same time anyway. And that landing gear BS is just a breakage or two waiting to happen.

[kamadoma]

^ agree with the landing gear. The front one on my Blazer was already broken. I wanted to transform it back to Fighter mode and when I came to get the landing gears from the plastic tray, it was already broken. It could have been broken when I closed the clamshell trays before I stored it. I had it fixed with glue, but still it's such a lame idea to have the landing gears depend on a whole base just to stand. They could have at least thought of having a connection port when they designed this for the first time.

Anyway, I'm still happy to keep my Hi-Metal ones since I can fiddle them more while my Yamato 1/60 can just sit in the cab and look awesome.

[ae_productions]

I cannot get over how nice the VF-1 is at that small of a scale. I hope BanDai has future releases in store for this line.

[kamadoma]

This line is actually pretty impressive. I wish they would undergo some sort of redesign at least for the landing gears and gun attachment for flight display and release the 19F, P, and YF-19.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

^ agree with the landing gear. The front one on my Blazer was already broken. I wanted to transform it back to Fighter mode and when I came to get the landing gears from the plastic tray, it was already broken. It could have been broken when I closed the clamshell trays before I stored it. I had it fixed with glue, but still it's such a lame idea to have the landing gears depend on a whole base just to stand. They could have at least thought of having a connection port when they designed this for the first time.

Anyway, I'm still happy to keep my Hi-Metal ones since I can fiddle them more while my Yamato 1/60 can just sit in the cab and look awesome.

this is the main reason why I buy them. Smaller bot modes means less hassle posing them so I like to own small versions of the valks. Yes they sacrifice gimmicks and not as perfect transformable as the larger scale stuff (because you have more little pieces lying around to swap) but the advantage of being small is how they make fun little desk toys. If only they were cheaper though.

[RyuRoots]

Unfortunately, VF Hi-Metal seems to be dead in the water for now. There haven't been any announcements of any kind for a long while, and the latest releases were the Max, Hikaru and Kakizaki DYRL VF-1A lot and then the super packs for them which were all Tamashii Web exclusives. I've been eagerly hoping for more TV series VF-1 units or more -19 releases among others, but Bandai's been pretty quiet and there hasn't been a normal release in a long time.

[Reïvaj]

I'd say wait to see what happens next year...

[kamadoma]

It's too bad that Bandai has been silent about Hi-Metal. That line was really favorable to most mecha collectors who doesn't want to spend big bucks on Yamato stuff.

Hi-Metal would have been my choice if I had been a big fan of other mecha franchises and collecting other mecha toys. Good thing I'm just into Macross and Evangelion

for my most fave mecha franchises so I can just focus on buying Yamato Valks.

Bandai really aimed high with their VF100's (at the box of VF100's, they even hinted of making all kinds of Valks through all the different shows ), it failed,

now they got the chance to redeem their name in Valkyrie toy making with Hi-Metal and they should do so.

[VF5SS]

Given how much the VF100 line botched everything and how even the Fire and Blazer Valkyrie managed to screw stuff up, I'm not surprised people were turned away from the line. The one they got right from the beginning had already been covered dozens of times by Yamato by that point. And in my opinion, it seems like most collectors (in Japan at least. judging by the toy sites I frequent) would rather just go for a bigger deluxe Valkyrie toy than a smaller one. Even back in the day there was more buzz for the 1/55 VF-1 than the smaller 1/100.

[RyuRoots]

I disagree that they "screwed up" with the 19 releases, aside from the gun mount thing, but I do agree that they should've done something more distinct after the 19 releases. Like...I dunno, a VF-4, VF-5000, something that isn't as common. As it stands, it IS kind of an issue that nothing in the line isn't also available somewhere else. I love my Hi-Metal VF-1s, all of them, but while it's iconic, it isn't iconic for Bandai. This isn't the RX-78-2; people have plenty of other options for a VF-1, ones that involve significantly less hoop-jumping in the case of their web exclusive versions.

It's a real shame. This is my favorite Macross line, or at least it was shaping up to be. These are what I bought when I could've gone Yamato instead since they're smaller, cheaper, and (IMO) prettier. Even if they have to stick to web exclusives, I want to see it continue. I hope it doesn't come to that, but I'd deal. They really stepped in the right direction after the disaster that was VF100s, and I hope it isn't gone for good.

Edited October 10, 2011 by RyuRoots

[VF5SS]

I think they screwed up with VF-19s. Especially in relation to what the VF100's line had established certain features as a baseline.

No landing gear? Why? The VF100's had them. Their (weak) excuse was the Fire Valkyrie usually hung out in Battroid mode but then they slap the buyer in the face with the included stand part that requires a Tamashii stage. They tried to fix it with the Blazer Valkyrie but it was awful and seemed very halfhearted.

Leg missiles? The Fire Valkyrie didn't have them but the Blazer Valkyrie did. They're an actual plot point for the Fire Valkyrie in Macross 7 and I don't need to remind you how Bandai loves to include items no matter how little screen time they had. The newest RX-78 toys come with squidding SUPER NAPALM. It's like a VF-25 toy without the jack knife.

Fists? We can't even get a full set of optional hands with the Fire Valkyrie without option sets? Bandai is FIST KING! Look at any SH Figuarts. My Kamen Riders are hand-tastic.

Yeah we agree on the gun pod mounting issue. That was just inexcusable. Even the old 1/65 Bandai toy could mount the gun.

And let's not forget that the Fire Valkyire was originally advertised as a VF100's before they decided to distance themselves from the stench of failure. So really the Fire Valkyrie would have been less feature laden than the previous entries in the line.

And trying to do less common machines before a line is firmly established pretty much never works.

Edited October 10, 2011 by VF5SS

[kamadoma]

The Kai and Blazers were actually okay for me except the landing gear and gun mounting part.

I think the bad move that Bandai made aside from those two was opting for the VF-1 which Yamato had been making beauties of since the 1/48 days.

Furthermore, Bandai thought they could make more money by making lots of web exclusives for the Skull team. Special box thingy for purchasing Kakizaki? Yeah, right.

This, combined with the fact that exclusives will make you spend more due to your item going through the profiteering secondary market, jacked the price up so much that you would rather just wait to earn another 40 bucks or so and turn your supposed Hi-Metal purchase in a better, bigger Yamato 1/60 one.

Buying the Kai with all of its exclusive accessories would still be around half the price of a Yamato Kai and Sound Boosters, so I still find that a good deal.

But an exclusive Skull Team with three exclusive Fast Packs? I think I would rather take a peek on HLJ's clearance sale for Max's and Kakizaki's

and wait for Yamato to reissue 1A Hikaru and 1S Roy.

[Vifam7]

If Bandai is truly done with the VF Hi-Metal line, then perhaps it's time for Yamato to fill in the void. I'd like to believe that there's still a market for smaller sized (and less expensive) Macross toys.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I think they screwed up with VF-19s. Especially in relation to what the VF100's line had established certain features as a baseline.

No landing gear? Why? The VF100's had them. Their (weak) excuse was the Fire Valkyrie usually hung out in Battroid mode but then they slap the buyer in the face with the included stand part that requires a Tamashii stage. They tried to fix it with the Blazer Valkyrie but it was awful and seemed very halfhearted.

Leg missiles? The Fire Valkyrie didn't have them but the Blazer Valkyrie did. They're an actual plot point for the Fire Valkyrie in Macross 7 and I don't need to remind you how Bandai loves to include items no matter how little screen time they had. The newest RX-78 toys come with squidding SUPER NAPALM. It's like a VF-25 toy without the jack knife.

Fists? We can't even get a full set of optional hands with the Fire Valkyrie without option sets? Bandai is FIST KING! Look at any SH Figuarts. My Kamen Riders are hand-tastic.

Yeah we agree on the gun pod mounting issue. That was just inexcusable. Even the old 1/65 Bandai toy could mount the gun.

And let's not forget that the Fire Valkyire was originally advertised as a VF100's before they decided to distance themselves from the stench of failure. So really the Fire Valkyrie would have been less feature laden than the previous entries in the line.

And trying to do less common machines before a line is firmly established pretty much never works.

Even though I agree with pretty much everything here, I still want to see the line continue. It's expensive for what you get but the only toys in 1/100 I want. I think bandai just needs to listen to its customer complaints a bit more and then in later releases fix all the problems people have. (for instance the gunpod mount thing) They did it for the vf-25, (making new version) now just do it for the vf-1 and the vf-19 1/100. How hard can this be? You want them to just quit like that? .

If the toys are good enough, people will buy it. I can especially see those who don't have much space liking them.

Edited October 14, 2011 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[kanedaestes]

I think they screwed up with VF-19s. Especially in relation to what the VF100's line had established certain features as a baseline.

No landing gear? Why? The VF100's had them. Their (weak) excuse was the Fire Valkyrie usually hung out in Battroid mode but then they slap the buyer in the face with the included stand part that requires a Tamashii stage. They tried to fix it with the Blazer Valkyrie but it was awful and seemed very halfhearted.

Leg missiles? The Fire Valkyrie didn't have them but the Blazer Valkyrie did. They're an actual plot point for the Fire Valkyrie in Macross 7 and I don't need to remind you how Bandai loves to include items no matter how little screen time they had. The newest RX-78 toys come with squidding SUPER NAPALM. It's like a VF-25 toy without the jack knife.

Fists? We can't even get a full set of optional hands with the Fire Valkyrie without option sets? Bandai is FIST KING! Look at any SH Figuarts. My Kamen Riders are hand-tastic.

Yeah we agree on the gun pod mounting issue. That was just inexcusable. Even the old 1/65 Bandai toy could mount the gun.

And let's not forget that the Fire Valkyire was originally advertised as a VF100's before they decided to distance themselves from the stench of failure. So really the Fire Valkyrie would have been less feature laden than the previous entries in the line.

And trying to do less common machines before a line is firmly established pretty much never works.

The Fire Valk did have leg missiles actually. Basara was very pissed when Ray installed them, it happened like in episode 5 or so.

EDIT: Nevermind I read that wrong.

Edited October 14, 2011 by kanedaestes

[VFTF1]

I hope they're not done with the line. The VF-100s were not perfect, but more than perfect for the price.

Pete

[biggooftoybox]

Actually there was a plan from Bandai before the make the YF-21 in the VF-HiMetal line. But as so many people already pointed it out, the line is basically dead. There hasn't been any news and with Gundam AGE out, i think Bandai is more likely to go milk a cash cow than risk on Macross.

1/100 line is a great idea that's for sure. Makes it more affordable, smaller and hence space is less of an issue and you would think with that scale they can produce variations and those lesser known but still very special Valkyries. I really thought Bandai would go full steam for the VF100s and then the VF-HiMetal so i bought ALL their release for VF100s and the 19c and 19s for the VF-HiMetal. Now i'm totally screwed and all the stuff is still MISB taking up value space in my closets.

I've come to the realization that for Macross 1/60 is the scale to go with in order to get as many different Valkyries in scale with each other and secondly Yamato is the most likely company to do it.

But unfortunately Yamato stuff aint cheap and even Bandai stuff isn't cheap either. Anyone see the latest secondary prices for the Bandai VF-29? IT was $300+ when i last checked. Now if only i got find some to take all my VF100s off my hands then i can at least try to recoup my money and get more space in my closets

ANyone? VF100s?

[jenius]

I think 1/72 is currently the perfect scale for Macross toys. At 1/72 a VF-1 toy could be made with everything integral including the heat shield and landing gear... 1/100 is just a bit too small. Also at 1/72 scale we would probably get more reasonable prices and the toys would still be significant enough on our desks to warrant the prices that would be charged. I understand why Yamato went 1/60 scale but that was 10 years ago and manufacturing has improved so much since then.

[Raptor One]

1/72 would be cool in terms of all the accessories we could get too. Ground crew etc.

[Vifam7]

I think 1/72 is currently the perfect scale for Macross toys. At 1/72 a VF-1 toy could be made with everything integral including the heat shield and landing gear... 1/100 is just a bit too small. Also at 1/72 scale we would probably get more reasonable prices and the toys would still be significant enough on our desks to warrant the prices that would be charged. I understand why Yamato went 1/60 scale but that was 10 years ago and manufacturing has improved so much since then.

VF-1 vers 3.0 coming soon?

At this point I think it would make more sense for Yamato or Bandai to go with non-transformable fighter-mode only toys in 1:72 scale. Fighter mode is the most popular mode for Valkyries and sticking to one mode only would result a faster development time and less expensive toy. To give one an example, a MRC Easy Model (a line of pre-built 1/72 plastic display models) F-15 Eagle costs about US$40 MSRP. How about a Yamato 1/72 fighter mode only VF-1 at that price?