1/60 Macross 7 VF-19S Blazer Valkyrie Emerald Force Unit Announced

[Mommar]

I think it's sad people are assuming responsibility for ruining the ankles on their toys because they tried to get the ankle into a position it looks like it should be able to achieve. That sounds like yamato should share some blame there.

I agree. If the ankles can easily be broken/damaged because you push them backwards there's a problem with engineering. I didn't man-handle the thing at all. I didn't even want to push the ankle back very far knowing that was an issue but it didn't matter, they would barely hold from the get-go.

[OmegaD3k]

Strange, my VF-19S's ankles bend just fine for Gerwalk mode...

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Strange, my VF-19S's ankles bend just fine for Gerwalk mode...

I don't have the Blazer yet but when I tried to bend the ankles like that on my Fire Valk they went completely loose.

Your pic shows exactly how I want to bend the legs!!

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

I wonder, is there any way ratchets could've been used while retaining the side to side articulation on the ankles?

[Frogze]

Just like Mommar said, I had one loose ankle on my Firevalk out of the box which is why I was wondering if the looseness problem on the Kai that a few other users experienced too had been fixed on the Blazer.

So if no one has had this problem with their Blazers so far, I'll assume it is now fixed and let Santa know about it

[Chronocidal]

Strange, my VF-19S's ankles bend just fine for Gerwalk mode...

Now the question is, after pushing them that far, if you move the ankles back to the centered position, how loose are they?

The short version of the issue with the ankles is that the design of the joint is bad.

Why is it bad? I'm not even sure. There seem to be many variations on how badly the ankles loosen, and it seems like no one has the exact same problem.

Graham mentioned the paint on the ankles on the Fire Valk possibly being a problem, due to uneven distribution. I'll buy that, it seems like a likely problem on this type of joint. Since the Blazer doesn't have this paint anymore, it makes sense that the ankles on it would be better, and my personal experience is that they are.

Are they fixed though? Not really. I still had to stretch mine out to get a good gerwalk bend, and once stretched, they're no longer firm enough to do a static battroid pose. After loosening my Fire Valk's ankles enough to get a good stable gerwalk pose, they have absolutely no tension at all when centered. And by saying they have no tension, I mean I can spin the feet like a propeller.

Let me point out the clearest thing that comes to mind. This is a ball joint. It should be spherical.

You should not need to stretch it. The tension should not change depending on how far you move it.

Ergo, this joint is not spherical.

How this happened, who knows. But it's the only explanation I can think of that explains why the joint acts this way. Either the ball or socket is not the right shape. Personally, I suspect it's a side effect of the way the ball is made of a combination of metal and plastic pieces.

I don't even want to think about what kind of stress stretching the joint to let it move to the extents may actually involve. One of these days, the screws holding the ankle may give way entirely from repeated stretching.

Bottom line is that the joint has a problem. What it comes from, who knows, but for whatever reason, the ball joint isn't a ball.

It's not consistent, because people have the problem to varying extents, but something in the manufacturing or assembly process is making the ball joints uneven.

[Mommar]

Just like Mommar said, I had one loose ankle on my Firevalk out of the box which is why I was wondering if the looseness problem on the Kai that a few other users experienced too had been fixed on the Blazer.

So if no one has had this problem with their Blazers so far, I'll assume it is now fixed and let Santa know about it

Just so you know, I have two loose ankles on my 19S. So, no, it's not totally fixed. But according to most everyone here I'm blowing it out of proportion.

[Archer]

I don't think you're blowing it out of proportion Mommar. I experienced the same issue to the same magnitude that you are. But, I got rid of the thing, although I didn't want to scam the recipient by telling him it was perfect, so I let him know the issues, and sold it at a reasonable price (about 2/3 what I paid for it). At this point, if you can't return it outright, this is the course of action I would follow (just my personal opinion though).

Although I was fresh out of around 90 bucks, I am happy with what I got, and so was he. It was a good trade, and taught me a lesson to look before I leap. I'm waiting on that YF-19, which I hope will have ratchets....

Edited December 12, 2011 by Archer

[ALEXD]

I recommend it, it is very good store

AN extremely stupid question, but that smiley, does that mean you are bein sarcastic and dont recommend it? because alot of stores have been ripping macross fans off.

[jenius]

Strange, my VF-19S's ankles bend just fine for Gerwalk mode...

I suspect ur ankles will never be the same... That pose seems to be what everyone says makes the ankles weak.

[Frogze]

Just so you know, I have two loose ankles on my 19S. So, no, it's not totally fixed. But according to most everyone here I'm blowing it out of proportion.

My bad, I thought your problem was with the Kai. 2 loose ankles for 300$? I think you're downplaying it really

[Tking22]

It kind of sucks, I'm on both sides of the fence when it comes to the ankles. Yes, I do feel pretty pissed that my new $300+ figure has crappy ankles that can't pull off the iconic dynamic poses I want, but on the other hand, I am not a big fan of gerwalk anyway, especially the gerwalk on the VF-19. I honestly think people have the right to be mad, everyone is complaining "oh why do you want to do that pose anyway?" Well to each his own, if someone wants to do the craziest, lowest, nose on the groundest gerwalk, for $300 they should be able to, Yamato has been pulling out the stops on their newest toys but once again people are getting Yamato'ed. I personally love this valk and I have been watiing for one to come out for literally YEARS, I am pretty happy with what I got, disappointments aside since my personal preference is to love this thing to death since it is one of my all times favorites.

[ALEXD]

Hey guys at least its not the original bandai version or hi metal, stop so much whining and negativity, enjoy the toy, play with it until its arms, legs, and ankles fall off

[Tking22]

Hey guys at least its not the original bandai version or hi metal, stop so much whining and negativity, enjoy the toy, play with it until its arms, legs, and ankles fall off

Youre kidding right? $300 is a lot for a LOT of people.

[VF-18S Hornet]

I had no problem with mine as I finally got around to transforming it into Gerwalk mode with some effort I might add but i never flopped down and I got the A stance. as you see here my only problem with it is thatthe right arm is somewhat loose.

[ALEXD]

Youre kidding right? $300 is a lot for a LOT of people.

I know it is. I was just sayin, if there was a problem, which obviously there is, you dont have to exagerrate. I, like all of you, wish they didnt have all these problems i mean no one wants to pay 300 for a toy with loose joints

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I'll try to explain it with my limited english

We, gerwalk fans are not complaining about the A-stance of the VF-19, it's the LIMITED "back" and "forward" ankle movement which prevents the lower leg to be posed at a much more lower angle. All the other yamato VF's with ratcheted ankles have a lot more forward and back posing.

I've done a quick drawing showing what mommar, chronocidal and me, are trying to express. The A-stance and lower nose are great, but we can't bend the legs at a lower angle -at the ankles- pushing the center of gravity to the back. We pushed the ankles farther to achieve the stance of the first drawing and stressed the ankles.

If it makes any sense, we'd like the legs to be more oblique, having the axis not so perpendicular to the base. And no, we don't want to go back to stiff legs in parallel gerwalk.

Don't get me wrong, the VF-19 is an awesome toy but it lacks a little when posed in gerwalk mode (it's another story if you use a stand showing it flying in gerwalk mode).

I totally agree with this post. I like to have GERWALK in a low crouching stance without the backend pointing up to the sky and nose pointing at the ground. You can't achieve this low crouching look (with nose pointed forward instead of to the floor bowing down) on a flat surface without good forward/back range of motion on the ankles. When the YF-19 version 3 is being planned please mention this to the yamato guy graham. Show the pic too so he gets it. Design it so that if someone does the low crouching gerwalk pose that the ankles remain the original tightness.

Personally I love the toy and got mine with only 1 little problem. My side headlaser (the left one) seems to have the laser barrels pointing straight, while my right headlaser barrels are more pointed in outwards fashion which is the style people like to have for robot mode.

Why did they make one side straight and the other side pointing outwards? Why not have just one or the other?

Seems a bit strange. Maybe this is just mine?

Edited December 13, 2011 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[David Hingtgen]

I'm a "nose-down" GERWALK fan, too.

[Jasonc]

VF-18S Hornet's first pic of GERWALK is what seems to be the correct pose for them, and what I put mine at, even the other toys that don't have the ankle issue. Does that pose loosen them as well? I still haven't had any issues with mine, so I'm curious.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Hey guys at least its not the original bandai version or hi metal, stop so much whining and negativity, enjoy the toy, play with it until its arms, legs, and ankles fall off

That's a bad comparison as the VF HI METAL has better forward/backward ankle articulation.

Nished

I dig the side to side articulation, but I wonder if ratchets were used in lieu of a ball joint, would the side to side articulation be diminished?

[Chronocidal]

Probably a bit, but again, someone got their head on sideways when they designed the ankles. There is no reason this thing should ever need a full 90 degrees of side to side motion. The hips don't even spread that far.

The design would have made 1000x more sense if the upper pivot had been from front to back instead.

Plus, honestly? The double side-to-side joint is a pain. Since it flexes at two points, the foot can get out of alignment, and it makes it tough to get the foot to even go back into the leg.

Edited December 13, 2011 by Chronocidal

[Reïvaj]

I’ve been testing my Kai’s ankles for a few days. They’re as tight as the first day though I guess I’d like them to be tighter. I’ve posed my valk with its nose almost touching the floor and it’s stayed like that for five days without problem.

I have to say I like the side to side range of motion. Considering the shape of the feet I think a very wide A stance wouldn’t be very stable, which is remedied by incorporating those extra joints.

Would’ve been better if ratchet joints had been used instead of ball joints? IMO the answer is yes. Do the ball joints work? They do for me, and I’m even able to pose the toy in some really exaggerated poses.

Please excuse the low resolution.

[ALEXD]

That's a bad comparison as the VF HI METAL has better forward/backward ankle articulation.

Nished

I dig the side to side articulation, but I wonder if ratchets were used in lieu of a ball joint, would the side to side articulation be diminished?

lol i didnt know that. but we can agree that we prefer yamato version no?

[Mommar]

I’ve been testing my Kai’s ankles for a few days. They’re as tight as the first day though I guess I’d like them to be tighter. I’ve posed my valk with its nose almost touching the floor and it’s stayed like that for five days without problem.

I have to say I like the side to side range of motion. Considering the shape of the feet I think a very wide A stance wouldn’t be very stable, which is remedied by incorporating those extra joints.

Would’ve been better if ratchet joints had been used instead of ball joints? IMO the answer is yes. Do the ball joints work? They do for me, and I’m even able to pose the toy in some really exaggerated poses.

Please excuse the low resolution.

I tried doing some various leg-splaying just like in those pictures with my 19S the very first night I opened the package... no way in hell. It can't do it. Total nose-plant.

Edited December 13, 2011 by Mommar

[eugimon]

I tried doing some various leg-splaying just like in those pictures with my 19S the very first night I opened the package... no way in hell. It can't do it. Total nose-plant.

just loosen the two visible screws on the ankles, carefully pop out the ball joints. clean and re-attach the plastic halves of the ball joints. Apply nail polish to parts.

The tricky part is getting it back together, make sure the ankle joints are fully extended. I used tweezers for this, but whatever works for you, use the tweezers to hold the metal portion of the ball socket in place by holding onto the post of the ball joint, bracing them up against the metal half of the ball. Use the tweezers (or whatever) to make sure the ankle joint doesn't collapse and carefully pop the ankle back into place. Replace the screws to the ankles, making sure not to over tighten.

it's pretty easy to do.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

lol i didnt know that. but we can agree that we prefer yamato version no?

I can agree that the complaints about the ankles are valid complaints. They won't stop me from buying one but they do hold the Blazer back a bit.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

haha, If bandai were not so stupid as to not let the gunpod be attachable in fighter mode right out of the box, then I would have bought the vf-19 himetal already.

I suppose yamato needs the money more desperately than bandai though since bandai already have the gundam crowd to milk as well as the mac f license.

Personally? I would like to see mac zero toys the scale of himetal at 1/100.

And bandai to continue himetal yf-19. But give us the attachments for gunpod in fighter mode for crying out loud.

VF-1 himetal is great though. Maybe they just rushed it out?

Edited December 13, 2011 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Tking22]

haha, If bandai were not so stupid as to not let the gunpod be attachable in fighter mode right out of the box, then I would have bought the vf-19 himetal already.

I suppose yamato needs the money more desperately than bandai though since bandai already have the gundam crowd to milk as well as the mac f license.

Personally? I would like to see mac zero toys the scale of himetal at 1/100.

And bandai to continue himetal yf-19. But give us the attachments for gunpod in fighter mode for crying out loud.

VF-1 himetal is great though. Maybe they just rushed it out?

I remember seeing a prototype 1/100 VF-0S a few years back but it never happened, I'm personally happy with where they left Mac-0.

[eugimon]

that 1/100 vf-0 was an abomination parts-former like the 1/100 vf-25. But if bandai can make the vf-1 hi-metal as good as it is, then a hi-metal (or 1/100 yammie) vf-0 should be excellent, especially when you consider it would be as big as the 1/60 vf-1. That's plenty of real estate to work with.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Yes and considering that its not as popular as the other shows, going smaller scale might mean more people can afford them and likely to buy them while they are saving for the other mechas in more popular shows.

It's just things like landing gear and stuff that will not be PT which I am ok with. (but as mentioned the vf-0 is larger than vf-1 so maybe yamato can pull off PT gear after all)

The only thing is yamato would compete with itself for sales (the 1/100 vf-0 vs 1/60 vf-0) but loads of people probably want to save space anyway. The SV-5`1 for instance was huge. Maybe they have gotten skilled enough now to make a downsized version in the same way they did vf-1 1/60 ver2 after the 1/48 vf-1 which was once thought of as the king of vf-1 toys?

1/100 is a decent enough size for enemies like the zentradi power armour or things like the glaug which really are too simplistic to demand really huge versions of in toy form in this day and age. I personally would like to see a 1/100 Qrau with superposability like the revoltechs.

Edited December 14, 2011 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Uxi]

1/60 is the perfect scale for valks but really I'm kinda hoping for Yamato to revisit 1/72 to split the difference with 1/100 and as a popular modeling scale with plenty of possibilities for dioramas and the like.

[jenius]

I've been preaching the 1/72 scale for a while... it's a scale with a lot of promise making things like enemy mecha a little cheaper and easier to pull off while still providing enough size for things like integrated heatshields and landing gears.

[VF5SS]

1/60 is the perfect robot scale.

It has been used for almost 30 years.

This is canon.

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

Why switch to 1/72 scale? 1/72 Yamato valks will still go for $200 with the way the market is going, lol.

[jenius]

Hey, I'm playing with my Kai in GERWALK mode at the moment and I have a hint I think might help some others. There are two joints within the ankle, an upper joint which lets you move the whole foot toward the outside of the toy or toward the inside of the toy and then an ball joint lower serving as the ankle in the foot. Move that upper joint so that the foot is as tight against the inside of the toy as possible. You can now use the inside of the bell bottom to give you a little more friction and keep the toy from leaning forward (you can even wedge the point of the bell bottom between the front of the foot and back). I did this with my Kai and GERWALK is now it's stable enough to stand without fear of collapse.. although it's still a far cry from being as stable as some other GERWALK toys out there.