DX VF-171EX from Macross Frontier

[stormshadow0621]

I ordered from BBTS as well but did not receive any shipping/billing notice either. I emailed them and they indicated that they should be able to fulfill their preorders. We'll see.

I just released my BBTS preorder this morning...so hopefully someone gets it.

I already have two coming my way from Japan

[Mommar]

Just opened mine up. Initial impressions:

-Missing wing pin upon taking it out of the box. Luckily it had just fallen out, rather than being forgotten at the factory. Still, parts falling off while boxed?

-Wings feel kinda loose/flimsy.

My first impression when taking mine out of the box was, "I hate this f**king wing pin." It makes the wings too loose. Such a stupid idea/implementation Bandai.

Also, whoever factory worker packaged my item didn't quite transform it correct. The chest was only halfway pushed down and collapsing it all the way made one of the wings difficult to set properly in fighter. I hope I'm not in for a surprise when I transform it.

[Kurisama]

Same here - got mine this morning - in regards to the wings. Mine had a slight tampo-defect, the worker obviously handled mine while it was still drying - so on the intake where there are 2 little triangles, there is a the same markings in finger-print stencil offset a few mm to the side. Also my valk's left intake joint to the thigh is so loose and jiggly - even when tightening the screw at the back.

Otherwise, sexy as valkyrie! I like it, a lot.

[Loop]

frakk amiami!!! This was their response to the missing part:

"Thank you for mailing us.

We are sorry to hear about the missing piece. Unfortunately we are unable to get a replacement for the missing part but we would like to offer you a 200 JPY refund. Please let us know if you would like to accept and we will send the refund through PayPal."

Crap, i was just going to email them with regards to the vf-22s i just got from them. Bloody came with a missing part and cracked leg joint!

Shoot them an email regarding your VF-22, there's plenty stock of it out there, unlike the VF-171. There's a good chance they can get you the missing/broken parts or even a new one.

This is the treatment I had in the past from Amiami. I e-mailed them to let them know that Yamato was replacing the wings on the VF-19 Kai due to the defect with the wing tip lights being on the wrong sides.They gave me this whole thing about how they don't help or offer replacement parts. They later replied with a line similar too "Oh boy you got lucky they decided to help" although I never had that problem with Yamato and HLJ for replacements on defective toys. I did order from them again though, but they included a little yellow sheet in the box explaining that they won't help customers outside of Japan.I guess it's a chance you have to take with Amiami. With my luck with Bandai so far (YF-29 defect) I am not so sure I would want to pre-order Bandai stuff from Amiami. You get great customer service with HLJ,but the tradeoff is the slow lead times once something is released, although I have a merchant agreement setup with them and Paypal and stuff seems to go sorta faster than when I use a CC. Forgot to add that Amiami made me pay a small fee for the wings and shipping, whereas HLJ did not make me pay for replacement parts.

Back on topic: My VF-171 has arrived today from NY I will inspect it when I get a chance. I also got my package from HLJ today it's like a valk holiday up in here lol.

Edited July 4, 2012 by Loop

[eyesonme78]

Did any one ordered VF-171EX from Nippon yasan this few days?

had ordered mine from there today but worried they might not have stock.

[Murphy]

wow transforming this thing for the 1st time is a pain,the hip joints are so tight i thought i was going to rip off the legs. Also the right hand was jammed in so tight that i had to use a allen key to pry it out since the paper clip kept on bending.The transformation steps from 8-9 confused me a little trying to get the cockpit to sit right with the chest piece over it. But overall i like it, and no missing or broken parts.

[eyesonme78]

NY just replied item is in stock and preparing my item..

Now they will get my orders for the armour pack, it is way cheaper then my local supplier.

[OzmaLee74]

Watch out for those little flaps on the chest piece. Mine popped off during transformation and was a b*tch to find in the carpet.

Edited July 4, 2012 by OzmaLee74

[ErikElvis]

NY just replied item is in stock and preparing my item..

Now they will get my orders for the armour pack, it is way cheaper then my local supplier.

NY got 2 orders for 171's from me and 2 for weapons pack. I paid for em already cuz christmas time is going to suck with MP soundwave and the VF-4 coming out.

[Murphy]

BEEFY!!

Can somebody tell me if i transformed the chest/head right. its a bad picture but it seem that there is a huge gap in the neck area in person for some odd reason. Im so glad the head lasers are soft plastic it they weren't they would of snapped off during transformation.

[anubis20]

Amiami screw you reply:

"Hi again,

 

Thank you for replying.

 

Unfortunately manufacturers do not provide support for international orders/shipments and we are unable to receive replacement parts from them.

 

We can only offer you a 200 JPY refund for the missing part, or you can send the item back to us (you will need to pay the return shipping costs) and we will give you a full refund (including your initial shipping costs). The item is sold out at the moment but if we are able to somehow procure another, we can offer to include it with your July order for half price (5145 JPY). If you would like us to check, please let us know. Please understand however that we would be unable to guarantee that we can procure another.

 

Thank you for shopping at AmiAmi"

Theyre offering me something at 1/2 price that they cant obtain.

[Murphy]

Theyre offering me something at 1/2 price that they cant obtain.

That may be true, but if you do decide to return your 171 do it now because I was able to get a yf-29 2nd release at amiami after the release date. It's all luck I guess. I hope you get your issue resolved.

Btw hlj just sent my shipping notice, now to wait 3-4 days.

[MacrossJunkie]

Amiami screw you reply:

"Hi again,

Thank you for replying.

Unfortunately manufacturers do not provide support for international orders/shipments and we are unable to receive replacement parts from them.

We can only offer you a 200 JPY refund for the missing part, or you can send the item back to us (you will need to pay the return shipping costs) and we will give you a full refund (including your initial shipping costs). The item is sold out at the moment but if we are able to somehow procure another, we can offer to include it with your July order for half price (5145 JPY). If you would like us to check, please let us know. Please understand however that we would be unable to guarantee that we can procure another.

Thank you for shopping at AmiAmi"

Theyre offering me something at 1/2 price that they cant obtain.

Man, that sucks. It's stuff like this that has forced me to go with HLJ for any future Macross toy purchases. So many things can go wrong and only HLJ will support their customers (as far as I know. Feel free to correct me with additional vendors that will support their customers to the level that HLJ does, like sending you replacement parts and not forcing you to mail back the whole toy at your expense. The more choices we have, the better). AmiAmi has super prices, but you're screwed if you have anything wrong with the toy, even right out of the box.

[Matrix Soul]

Watch out for those little flaps on the chest piece. Mine popped off during transformation and was a b*tch to find in the carpet.

You have to leave those flaps down until the chest is behind the fuselage, then you can fold it.

Can somebody tell me if i transformed the chest/head right. its a bad picture but it seem that there is a huge gap in the neck area in person for some odd reason. Im so glad the head lasers are soft plastic it they weren't they would of snapped off during transformation.

You forgot the compress the back plate, there are 2 metal hinges that folds into the backpack

Edited July 4, 2012 by Matrix Soul

[Negotiator]

are we supposed to pop the metal waist bars back in in battroid mode? if I leave it popped out there's a little bit of a swing to it, leaving it unstable.

edit:

btw, are the new vf-17's this intricate? Don't have any of the new yammies yet.

Edited July 4, 2012 by Negotiator

[Graham]

are we supposed to pop the metal waist bars back in in battroid mode? if I leave it popped out there's a little bit of a swing to it, leaving it unstable.

edit:

btw, are the new vf-17's this intricate? Don't have any of the new yammies yet.

Yes.

Graham

[jenius]

I got an email from YesAsia cancelling my preorder... fortunately the next email I received was notice the other one I ordered was prepping for shipping. Man Bandai... you are not making this easy.

[Phalanix]

Man, that sucks. It's stuff like this that has forced me to go with HLJ for any future Macross toy purchases. So many things can go wrong and only HLJ will support their customers (as far as I know. Feel free to correct me with additional vendors that will support their customers to the level that HLJ does, like sending you replacement parts and not forcing you to mail back the whole toy at your expense. The more choices we have, the better). AmiAmi has super prices, but you're screwed if you have anything wrong with the toy, even right out of the box.

The problem is sourcing replacement products or parts, a lot of the places couldn't even fill all the pre-orders. These aren't Yamato Valks we're talking about (darn you Bandai, darn you)!

[MacrossJunkie]

The problem is sourcing replacement products or parts, a lot of the places couldn't even fill all the pre-orders. These aren't Yamato Valks we're talking about (darn you Bandai, darn you)!

Yes, well aside from HLJ, sourcing problems or not, I can't get replacement parts for Yamato valks either

[Lolicon]

Got around to transforming mine to battroid. Transformation is definitely way more involved than the 25. Elbows and shoulders are a bit loose on mine, but the legs were super tight! Felt like I was going to snap the metal hip bars trying to move the legs.

As usual with Bandai toys, I had to touch up a bunch of small paint chips/scratches.

I really like the battroid mode on this thing, though. Glad I got more than one so I can keep one in battroid.

[UN Spacy]

My YouTube review being edited now. It should be up by late afternoon.

The transformation process is a bit more involved than the VF-17 especially in the chest area.

Overall the only place I'm seeing paint chips is the red area near the backpack where the die cast elbows make contact in Fighter Mode. UGH. It's unavoidable.

I've seen it on Graham's, Matrix Soul's, and a few other photos. Easily fixable with a bit of red pen or paint.

I absolutely hate those wing locks. ARGGGGH

[charger69]

BAT's Photostream!!

[Lynk]

*sigh* really not happy with all of these bandai shortages... pre-ordered mine as soon as humanly possible and still missed out.

[Raptor One]

Mannn the 171 looks REALLY good. Can't wait to see it with the Super Parts, and to see the CF (if they do it).

[Chronocidal]

Well this is interesting.. Nippon Yasan noted me that they were sorry that my order had been delayed, and offered to upgrade me to Fedex Priority. So apparently they either still have stock, or are getting more of them.

No word from BBTS though.

[mass driver]

Vf-171 looks great. I just got mine yesterday. There was a factory flaw though that was probably just sloppiness on the part of some chinese sweat shop laborer. One of my dark triangles under the armpit (owners know what I'm talking about) refused to budge. I took the area apart with a screwdriver and discovered that the black plastic had a sprue nub that hadn't been completely cut off yet. I just used my trusty tamiya sprue cutter to cut it off and put everything back together. Now everything works fine, good as new. Anyways, I probably would have broken something if I forced it and didn't investigate further. The moral is NEVER force anything. Just take it apart if a piece doesn't seem to be working well.

Anyway, transformation was tough. Just as others have said it was surprisingly intricate compared to the other renewal valks. Chest area was especially though. A lot of joints and hinges are just tight. hips were tight. The backpack hinge was tight. I really had to go slow to prevent breakage.

here's a quick shot with buddy Dancouga

Edited July 4, 2012 by mass driver

[comicguru]

chronocidal, i had order mine from NY on monday and got the same letter from them asking me if i wanted to upgrade to Fedex priority. it doesnt seem that BBTS is/ will be carrying macross items. i was lucky to get the reissue of the YF-29 form them though.

[Renato]

here's a quick shot with buddy Dancouga

Somehow I always thought the Dancouga was much bigger. huh.

[ErikElvis]

Well this is interesting.. Nippon Yasan noted me that they were sorry that my order had been delayed, and offered to upgrade me to Fedex Priority. So apparently they either still have stock, or are getting more of them.

No word from BBTS though.

I got the same thing from NY. said it will be shipped in a few hours. NY FTW this round.

[typhoon]

For anyone still looking...

HLJ just updated their listing as in stock!!

http://www.hlj.com/product/BAN975641

[Golden Arms]

Toywave just informed me that they were unable to secure any stock. Is Bandai making these toys only available to Japanese retailers?

Thanks for the heads up Typhoon. I had just placed an order with NY. I was also able to order from HLJ. I'll see who will be able to keep my order.

Edited July 5, 2012 by Golden Arms

[94medition]

Yes, hlj has it in stock. Just placed an order.

[DarkHawk]

After the the "long wait", HLJ.com has the valkyrie in stock. Deffinately placed an order and now another long wait happened. Hopefully, the VF-25G will have the same availability.

[mass driver]

Well what do you know.. it is available. I guess patience really did pay off for those few who waited. Darn good price.

[94medition]

Ditto. I hope the VF-25G is the same way.