DX VF-171EX from Macross Frontier

[xrentonx]

Wow, I can't believe that people are having so much problem with the 171, I'm tempted to record my own transformation video just to show how easy it is for me to switch between modes.

Good god, man, please do! I just got my two 171s today and I haven't transformed them yet. I was looking at Veef and the other guy manhandle their 171s and I'm honestly a little nervous.

Edited July 13, 2012 by xrentonx

[Matrix Soul]

Filming it now, I got up to putting the arms back and then my phone ran out of room, which I did not realize, so I went all the way to finishing the transformation back to fighter, now I gotta reshoot that LOL

[raptormesh]

Good god, man, please do! I just got my two 171s today and I haven't transformed them yet. I was looking at Veef and the other guy manhandle their 171s and I'm honestly a little nervous.

Be gentle but firm, you know what the say about first times...

[Chronocidal]

I'm actually pretty interested to know if anyone's legs and back hinges aren't incredibly stiff. Forget popping the wings off, I had to push the back so hard I was worried the backplate would snap in half.

[slaginpit]

regarding the fast armor packs for the bandai 171 nightmare. Are these things going to be super exlusive. And where can I pre-order without giving them my money upfront?

Thanks

[VF5SS]

you son of a bitch

[Stark1975]

regarding the fast armor packs for the bandai 171 nightmare. Are these things going to be super exlusive. And where can I pre-order without giving them my money upfront?

Thanks

Nippon Yasan has them for preorder. It looks like their policy is that you don't have to pay until up to one day before the release date. You'll get the invoice to pay two to three weeks before the release date

[Matrix Soul]

Good god, man, please do! I just got my two 171s today and I haven't transformed them yet. I was looking at Veef and the other guy manhandle their 171s and I'm honestly a little nervous.

Here is Fighter to Battroid:

and Battroid to Fighter:

Edited July 13, 2012 by Matrix Soul

[xrentonx]

Cool! I'll check it out this weekend when I attempt my first transformations on these.

[VF5SS]

no no check out my video because i screw up during it

[xrentonx]

I always do! (those screwups are golden)

[Kurisama]

you son of a bitch

What's the matter, UN Spacey gotcha pushin' too many pencils?

[Mommar]

Good Lord. I just tried transforming my second 171 tonight. Putting this thing back into Gerwalk/Fighter has been a colossal bitch. Pressing the chest piece back down has been insane on this thing. It's like the two diecast bars are ever so slightly too far away from the center and every time I close the chest piece all the way the two little covers that flip out for Battroid will literally fly across the room. I got hit in the face by flying covers more than once. I did not have this problem with the first 171. This second one has MUCH better hold on the wings though. Tighter hinges on the back too. Interesting how different each of these can be.

[xrentonx]

Here is Fighter to Battroid:

and Battroid to Fighter:

Thanks, this was super useful. Gonna give this a try tomorrow. All the videos so far are great

you son of a bitch

Note to self: pay attention to the shoulder verniers going back to fighter mode

[NightCastle]

Good Lord. I just tried transforming my second 171 tonight. Putting this thing back into Gerwalk/Fighter has been a colossal bitch. Pressing the chest piece back down has been insane on this thing. It's like the two diecast bars are ever so slightly too far away from the center and every time I close the chest piece all the way the two little covers that flip out for Battroid will literally fly across the room. I got hit in the face by flying covers more than once. I did not have this problem with the first 171. This second one has MUCH better hold on the wings though. Tighter hinges on the back too. Interesting how different each of these can be.

Man isn't that a shame?! That is exactly what kept happening to me when I was converting mine back to fighter mode. That and the two other hinged pieces under the chest kept popping off.

[Matrix Soul]

Watch the tutorial guys, doesn't have to be that way

[Mommar]

I watched it, I transformed it the same way as the video. I got a face full of chest panel.

[Lolicon]

The first time I transformed it back into fighter, I had the chest panels pop out. I found out that I could avoid it by leaving the chest panels all the way out as I push the chest downwards until it's almost all the way down before pushing the chest panels in.

I haven't transformed it again since finishing my wash on it, so I'll have to review it again. I think I could also push the chest panels in only slightly, leaving them at an angle, so that when I did push the chest downward, it pushed the panels back up into its fighter mode position.

[Matrix Soul]

I watched it, I transformed it the same way as the video. I got a face full of chest panel.

I don't know why, but that mental image made me LOL

Edited July 15, 2012 by Matrix Soul

[xrentonx]

OK. I got this thing down to Gerwalk so far but I gotta stop before I get too frustrated and do something or stress something I'll regret. Currently the latch underneath that releases the backplate locking arm is giving me a load of hassles.

Anyway, my thoughts so far since I have two of these...fighter mode is absolutely beautiful and very solid. However, why can't Bandai ever get their wings straight? All of the Frontier Valks they released so far seem to have an ever so slight upward bow to the wings. Not very noticeable if you aren't looking for it but it's there. Gerwalk mode is also very beautiful but getting there is not so fun to be honest.

So far transforming to Gerwalk has not given me any problems with the wings falling off but I'm very careful and check the pins every so often. Everything is a very tight fit which is a good thing but it makes the transformation not very fun so far. I accept the fact that tranforming toys that look this good are generally unfun to transform though.

I initially had the same problem with the one hand not locking down like Veef but I jiggled the hand a bit and eventually it locked down for me. I'm also a little leery about those black filler panels behind the hips and the thin white piece next to them (described in Veef's video) but I guess I'll just be extra careful in that area. I noticed the black filler panels seem to keep the legs locked in Gerwalk (at least I think they do) but I'm not sure how durable that would be in the long run. Would hate to break those filler pieces one day.

Now about that locking arm underneath that holds the backpack up in Gerwalk. How the hell do you unlock that thing? Mine doesn't seem to want to budge at all. I can't pull it down to unlock it and I've put firm pressure on it as well. Any more pressure and I'm afraid the thing will snap. Everyone's videos make it look so easy to do.

I'm a fighter mode guy so my Valks usually stay in fighter mode but I like to get a few transformations out of them to make sure everything works (also to inspect for QC, etc).

*****EDIT: Jesus...I finally figured it out. It's much easier if you slide the backpack back and work the hinge back and forth while pulling the locking arm down.

Edited July 16, 2012 by xrentonx

[Rabidweezil]

My 171 shipped from Japan on the 1st, arrived on the West Coast US on the 6th. I live ON the west coast and I still haven't gotten it yet. It appears to have sat in customs from the 6th until the 13th.

Never had that happen before...

[Mommar]

I've had customs occasionally take FOREVER with a package once or twice before. Usually it's a few hours. But sometimes I think they misplace/forget something and it sits.

[ultraman zoffy]

Battroid is hot. Happy happy purchase... I'll give it a couple of days in this mode before attempting to go back to fighter.

Edited July 16, 2012 by ultraman zoffy

[Chronocidal]

I see I'm not the only one who hasn't bothered to transform the arms completely. Those double shoulder joints (the joint shown for moving the arms out further from the chest) just wouldn't budge on mine. I thought I was going to snap the shoulder covers off.

[eugimon]

I see I'm not the only one who hasn't bothered to transform the arms completely. Those double shoulder joints (the joint shown for moving the arms out further from the chest) just wouldn't budge on mine. I thought I was going to snap the shoulder covers off.

don't worry, the shoulder pauldrons are on two rounded nubs, they're designed to pop off if forced.

[Mommar]

It's actually easier to adjust them if you just take the shoulder covers off. They pop right on and off.

I was looking over mine last night trying to figure out just where the armor parts are going to fit on. This is going to be an even bigger bitch to transform with that crap attached. Hopefully they'll stay attached as well.

[Chronocidal]

K, good to know they detach easily then.

Really looking forward to that armor set when it gets released. The arm and leg pieces might be a pain, but I'm really looking forward to getting the wings with hardpoints. Once I have them on, I'm supergluing the pins in place.

[ultraman zoffy]

I see I'm not the only one who hasn't bothered to transform the arms completely. Those double shoulder joints (the joint shown for moving the arms out further from the chest) just wouldn't budge on mine. I thought I was going to snap the shoulder covers off.

Yeah... I'm pretty much transforming my 171 based upon a "path of least resistance" approach. Some of these hinges are just... man.

Edited July 16, 2012 by ultraman zoffy

[anime52k8]

MINE FINALLY CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY LIKE TWO SECONDS AGO! I'M SO EXCITED!!!

Edited July 16, 2012 by anime52k8

[Golden Arms]

Getting the backpack positioned correctly in battroid mode is a royal pain. Ditto for the hands if they fall off before they are locked into place.

[locidm]

got these over the weekend but haven't had time to transform it yet.

first complaint would be Alto's pilot figure......not that it's horrible, but it's just that when put next to a yamato valk with the cockpit opened, it looks relatively terrible. Alto's head with the helmet on has the proportion of a regular human head (no helmet), whereas yamato's pilots are a lot more detailed with nicer paint app and better proportion.

Are there skilled sculptor here who is doing 1/60 MF pilot figures for the DX line?

Edited July 17, 2012 by locidm

[VF5SS]

My full review should be up very soon.

[xrentonx]

Finally got this thing from fighter to battroid back to fighter again. It truly is beautiful in all three modes but this baby is staying in fighter mode for a very long time. The transformation is so fiddly and way too tough. Love this thing to death but it took me a good long time to figure out how to position the arms so that they snap back in to the backpack in fighter mode. The hips, like everyone says, are stupidly tight and now I see what everyone means by being scared of breaking something there. I wasn't so afraid of snapping the diecast as I was afraid of putting so much pressure on the upper intakes as to snap the plastic there. You gotta place your fingers right next to the hip or else you'll break one of the legs for sure due the to leverage it takes to swing those goddamn legs around to rotate the hips.

Absolutely nothing popped off on mine so I lucked out there.

Edited July 17, 2012 by xrentonx

[anime52k8]

well, I've had a chance to mess with mine for an afternoon, and I have no idea how the hip bars are supposed to work. I've gone through the transformation several times, gotten it to work fine in fighter mode, and I can at make them look right in battroid mode, but I just feel like I'm doing something wrong.

Are the hip bars supposed to lock forward in battroid mode? are they even supposed to swing forward? when I pull them apart and swing them forward there's a click like a soft detent on one side, but it's easily swung back (and with the hips so tight it's basically impossible to move them without throwing the hip bars out of place.

Also, the left side swing bar (the narrower one) has a bunch of extra play compared to the right side (which itself has a fair bit of play itself). It just feels like the swing bars should have solid way of locking in battroid mode. Am I doing something wrong?

Also, the ball joints on the hips of this thing are f*cking obnoxious. I hate when transforming toys make you rotate a ball joint for transformation. I honestly thing they could have done something like on the VF-19a with the back of the intake on a forward and backwards swivel, and the front part swiveling in and out off of that. give some sort of push button lock like on the 19 and It would be perfect.

Basically what I'm saying is that I really like it, and it's the second best Macross toy I own, but it's still not as good as the VF-19, mostly because of the hips.

[xrentonx]

You ain't doing anything wrong as far as I can tell. The hip bars on mine have a lot of wiggle to them too.