DX VF-171EX from Macross Frontier

[pud333]

Really? Wow I needed to rewatch frontier. I don't remember that at all. Haha

Edited June 23, 2012 by pud333

[raziel03]

Glad to see they're going to do the super parts too. This color scheme seems naked without them. Count me in for any potential group buy. Hopefully the eBay scalper I put a deposit down with will be able to come through for the bird itself.

[skull_leader001]

no new photos?

[tomac66]

Take a look here:

http://www.toysdaily...185615-2-1.html

And at the end of this page:

http://www.toysdaily.com/discuz/thread-178263-11-1.html

Edited June 23, 2012 by tomac66

[mechaninac]

Is that 5040 Yen that I see? Ouch!

I love the overloaded with ordnance look of the 171's super pack, arm missile pallet included... it's just has such a cool overkill vibe to it without it looking overdone like the YF-29's or the 25's Tornado packs.

[anime52k8]

and the wing missiles should really have come with the figure itself and not the fast packs.

[Twoducks]

Wonder if Bandai will look at the orders and say "interesting, there are more orders for this than the actual 171's we felt like making... maybe it means something... naaaaaah"

[eugimon]

hmmm, have 2 171's on order and was going to sell one... now I think I'll have to keep both.

[charger69]

Some new images from TD

[pud333]

hmmm, have 2 171's on order and was going to sell one... now I think I'll have to keep both.

Me too. but I always intended on keeping both. Mwahahaha! The 171 is one of the last must-have valks for me. That, and the Elint. Still need one of those badboys.

[Chronocidal]

(Warning, engineering rant incoming)

You know... I really must ask...

Did the people designing these never even take a basic engineering class??? I don't mean the actual designs.. I mean the dingbats involved in designing the stands.

PUT THE FREAKING MOUNT AT THE CENTER OF GRAVITY YOU DIPWADS.

This honestly goes for ALL valk stands.. I've never seen a single one designed that would actually support the center of gravity.)

(end rant)

Definitely nice to see more details. I'm definitely putting in an order for the parts, even if I don't get the actual plane. I love how they really do look like a patch job to upgrade the plane. Reminds me of some of the stuff from Armored Core, with how industrial the gun and missile packs look.

[Murphy]

cant wait for the 171, got 2 coming and just cleared a place to put then!

[CF18]

Did the people designing these never even take a basic engineering class??? I don't mean the actual designs.. I mean the dingbats involved in designing the stands.

PUT THE FREAKING MOUNT AT THE CENTER OF GRAVITY YOU DIPWADS.

This honestly goes for ALL valk stands.. I've never seen a single one designed that would actually support the center of gravity.)

The problem is in most cases the CG is blocked by the belly mounted gun, surrounded by arm and leg part that you don't want to add plug holes. There are exceptions:

Yamato 1:60 YF-21/VF-22 all has a flat belly fighter mode and the stand adapter is close to CG, and the big stand of YF-21 let you can put it at extreme angles safely.

Bandai 1:100 Hi-metal VF-1 also has a stand adapter near CG. Although it is not very secure the unit is not heavy enough to cause problem, and you can show it at extreme angles too.

For example:

Bandai 1:100 Hi-metal VF-19S - now that is a failure since you can't put the gun in fighter mode.

Edited June 23, 2012 by CF18

[Negotiator]

do the hands HAVE to come off to transform to fighter?

[xrentonx]

That's pretty much my only complaint. Wonder why they couldn't figure out a way to have the hands fully integrated into the transformation...

[kanedaestes]

It looks like it's just showing the optional hands and how they plug in. I could be wrong though. With all the strides they have made it would be sad to see them step backwards by not having integrated hands.

[Mommar]

I'm pretty sure those hands are not "optional." The enclosure for the forearms are a strange size and I very much doubt they could fit hands inside of there.

[Mog]

Is that 5040 Yen that I see? Ouch!

I love the overloaded with ordnance look of the 171's super pack, arm missile pallet included... it's just has such a cool overkill vibe to it without it looking overdone like the YF-29's or the 25's Tornado packs.

If they had gone with this FP version as the initial release or gone with the cobalt blue CF version, I'd be so getting this.

Getting tired of the white hero-valk schemes.

[Jasonc]

Take a look here:

http://www.toysdaily...185615-2-1.html

And at the end of this page:

http://www.toysdaily...78263-11-1.html

I like the one guy complaining that the 5040 yen was too expensive for the armored parts and missiles. I almost wanna ask if this is his first time around the block?

[Dutch]

I can't believe these are still available at Nippon Yasan for $199 this late in the game. Maybe the demand isn't there for this one.

[ff95gj]

I can't believe these are still available at Nippon Yasan for $199 this late in the game. Maybe the demand isn't there for this one.

Exactly what I am thinking. But the latest pics are very promising!

Edit: Just checked; the price on Amazon JP has inflated as well. Now at 15800 yen (MSRP 14700).

Maybe Nippon Yasan has been marking far too high.

Edited June 24, 2012 by ff95gj

[moose]

Holding out for the canon foder version

[mechaninac]

Holding out for the canon foder version

I'll try to get that too if it's ever released, and the Elint version(s) as well.

[pud333]

I like the one guy complaining that the 5040 yen was too expensive for the armored parts and missiles. I almost wanna ask if this is his first time around the block?

Yeah, I thought it was nothing out of the ordinary.

I can't believe these are still available at Nippon Yasan for $199 this late in the game. Maybe the demand isn't there for this one.

The original preorders sold out in a blink of an eye almost everywhere. Chances are websites were being careful and put up very small numbers. Now that it's only a week or so from release, chances are they have actual stock confirmation. I wouldn't be surprised if Amiami and other major sites start opening up orders again closer to, or upon, release date. It happened with the YF-29 reissue. If NY has more preorders open, I figure they are confident they can fill more orders by now. They did lower the price by five or six bucks though. Used to be like $207 or something.

Edited June 24, 2012 by pud333

[skull_leader001]

diferent size!!

[Reïvaj]

diferent size!!

I hope you're right, that'd be cool.

[xrentonx]

So maybe the articulated one is actually integrated into the transformation...

if you're right, then this squashes my original complaint. I hope you're right.

[Chronocidal]

I don't see why they couldn't figure out some way to get the hands in there, those arms are pretty bulky. They're just triangular.

[Murphy]

What does the Japanese writing in the pic say about the hands? Mabey they are just showing that it will come with extra hands just like the v.2 vf-25.

[ultraman zoffy]

From this pic, it doesn't look like integrated hands would have anywhere to store in fighter mode... the forearm doesn't look like there's any sort of hatch built in for them (unless the fin assembly pops open to allow it, but the triangle shaped opening doesn't look like it'd allow for a cleanly rotating hinge that hands could pivot around on). Double hmmm....

[anime52k8]

I see a hing on the edge of the arm where it meets the back plate, a vertical seam between the 'VF' and '171' on the arm, and a latch mechanism on the inner side of the arm.

[shawnlee1981]

From this pic, it doesn't look like integrated hands would have anywhere to store in fighter mode... the forearm doesn't look like there's any sort of hatch built in for them (unless the fin assembly pops open to allow it, but the triangle shaped opening doesn't look like it'd allow for a cleanly rotating hinge that hands could pivot around on). Double hmmm....

Haha Actually i think the answer already lies with skull_leader's above comment. Basically means that there will be 2 sets of articulated hands, one smaller set will fit into the forearm of fighter mode to achieve the perfect transformation as like yamato's valks. Another larger set will be changeable for aesthetic/ gun holding(Does it even come with any hand held weapon in the first place?) purposes

[Hikuro]

Usually that's how it goes doesn't it? Since the renewel that is. All the valks have had interchangable hands for fixed positions. Don't see why this would be any different.

[Swoosh]

I think the question on the 171 is that we are not sure if any of those hands can actually goes inside the forearm, seems there are not enough room for them.

[Renato]

I can't believe we're still arguing about the hands ONE MONTH ON. Face it, they're parts-forming and move on, please.

http://www.macrosswo...ndpost&p=975373

Argh

EDIT -- Now of course it will be funny if they changed that prototype so that the hands CAN go in and I end up sounding like an idiot. Ha, ha. For the record, the Figure Oh scan I have linked to does plainly state that the "manipulators" are the "plug-in type". Not that they are integrated, nor that you can swap alternate hands if you so wish (although of course you actually can), the implication is clear that you have to plug them in to complete the transformation.

Edited June 25, 2012 by Renato