DX VF-25 Renewal Series (Part III)

[VF-Zer0S]

http://figsoku.net/blog-entry-185117.html

 

Before I hype to many people up is this just a reissue or a new 3.0?

[Sildani]

Neither I’d say, it’s probably one of those Frame Arms Girls model kits, with a G variant. 

[Saviant]

Isn’t  that for a model kit from aoshima, it even says the company name in the post

[VF-Zer0S]

1 minute ago, Sildani said:

Neither I’d say, it’s probably one of those Frame Arms Girls model kits, with a G variant. 

Yeah I looked more into it. Nvm 

[Sanity is Optional]

9 minutes ago, Saviant said:

Isn’t  that for a model kit from aoshima, it even says the company name in the post

Yup, looks like they're making a VF-25G valkyrie girl.

I still think they're majorly missing out by not having the girls be macross characters. Like a VF-31C Mirage, or a VF-25G Klan.

[anime52k8]

Whatever it is I don't think it's a 25G. An armored Messiah with a sniper gunpod is more likely Alto's 25F from the last episode of the series.

BTW, I'd scoop up an armored VF-25F reissue/bundle in a heartbeat.

[Sanity is Optional]

1 minute ago, anime52k8 said:

Whatever it is I don't think it's a 25G. An armored Messiah with a sniper gunpod is more likely Alto's 25F from the last episode of the series.

BTW, I'd scoop up an armored VF-25F reissue/bundle in a heartbeat.

It's definitely an Aoshima VF Girl model kit, going by the linked post.

Since the silhouette of the VFG 25 is a bit different from a VF-25 battroid it's hard to tell if it's wearing a super/armor pack or not (going off the twitter post I'll guess super pack). The only think that's 100% clear is it's holding the VF25G's sniper rifle.

Text on the twitter post translates as:

Quote

 

Yesterday #VFGirl New Silhouette Quiz!?

The Answer is at the 2/9 Wonder Festival!!

Overwhelming volume, keep an eye on further evolution ~ This is a must check.

#Aoshima

 

 

[David Hingtgen]

3 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Yup, looks like they're making a VF-25G valkyrie girl.

I still think they're majorly missing out by not having the girls be macross characters. Like a VF-31C Mirage, or a VF-25G Klan.

VF-27 Grace...

[anime52k8]

9 minutes ago, David Hingtgen said:

3 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Yup, looks like they're making a VF-25G valkyrie girl.

I still think they're majorly missing out by not having the girls be macross characters. Like a VF-31C Mirage, or a VF-25G Klan.

VF-27 Grace...

VF-17S Gamlin

[Aaadriiann]

20 hours ago, anime52k8 said:

VF-17S Gamlin

VF-1A Kakizaki 

[Sanity is Optional]

24 minutes ago, Aaadriiann said:

VF-1A Kakizaki 

VF-1J Miria

VF-1S Claudia

VF-1A/J/S/D//VT-1 Misa or Minmei

[Saburo]

6 years ago

[VF-Zer0S]

On 3/25/2020 at 8:37 AM, Saburo said:

6 years ago

Crazy how far you’ve come. This is still a nice picture but it pales in comparison to your new ones. Keep up the good work

[chyll2]

What were you thinking when you bought the first one? Was it an innocent buy?

[David Hingtgen]

Anyone else starting to get peeling paint on the feet? My Alto has been sitting in fighter mode for the past year, and I just picked it up to transform and remove the super pack---and noticed one of the feet looked "dirty/smudged"----tried to rub it off----and it was peeling paint!  Flaked off into the ether in front of my eyes. 

Now I have to try to match that insane golden-olive-brown-bronze color for touch up.   

[HardlyNever]

Is there anyway to tell the difference between a first and later release Alto or Ozma custom?  I'm talking about the renewals here (not version one); it looks like there was a first release in 2011, then reissues in 2013 and 2014.  Does the re-issue box say 2013/2014 on it?  Or do they all say 2011?

[chyll2]

Afaik the first renewal has the anniversary sticker.

[Lolicon]

Just off the top of my head, the first release of the renewal 25F, 25S, and first reissue of the 29 had the 30th anniversary sticker, as those came out in late 2011 through 2012. I think the 25G and 171 also.

Later reissues did not have the 30th anniversary sticker.

The only years I've ever recalled seen on the box or toys are the year of the show they're from (2007 for Frontier).

[HardlyNever]

So I ended up going down a bit of a rabbit hole with all this; I'll spare all the details, but what I've ended up concluding is that there is basically always a Big West copyright date on all official Macross releases (Bandai or otherwise), that pertains to the year the show/movie that product is related to came out, which makes sense.  I'm sure somewhere out there are exceptions to this rule, but that really isn't important regarding this.

Then Bandai has their own copyright notice on there, that doesn't always have a year.  When it does have a year, though, that year is when that product was released (as opposed to say, the year that mold was copyrighted).  There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason as to when Bandai includes a year on there and when they don't, but they did include a year on the VF-25F renewal that I have.

The catch with all this is I don't actually have any Bandai reissues (of any variety) at hand.  So it might be possible that they don't change anything at all about the box (including the copyright year) when they do a reissue.  So does anyone have an Alto and/or Ozma vf-25 reissue that they know for certain was a reissue , and can they check the date on the corner of the box?

Edited May 10, 2020 by HardlyNever

[Lolicon]

29 minutes ago, HardlyNever said:

So I ended up going down a bit of a rabbit hole with all this; I'll spare all the details, but what I've ended up concluding is that there is basically always a Big West copyright date on all official Macross releases (Bandai or otherwise), that pertains to the year the show/movie that product is related to came out, which makes sense.  I'm sure somewhere out there are exceptions to this rule, but that really isn't important regarding this.

Then Bandai has their own copyright notice on there, that doesn't always have a year.  When it does have a year, though, that year is when that product was released (as opposed to say, the year that mold was copyrighted).  There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason as to when Bandai includes a year on there and when they don't, but they did include a year on the VF-25F renewal that I have.

The catch with all this is I don't actually have any Bandai reissues (of any variety) at hand.  So it might be possible that they don't change anything at all about the box (including the copyright year) when they do a reissue.  So does anyone have an Alto and/or Ozma vf-25 reissue that they know for certain was a reissue , and can they check the date on the corner of the box?

Awesome! Thanks for going down that rabbit hole, especially as I didn't want to rummage through the piles of boxes I have. 

So I looked at a 25F box I had (it was at the top of the pile so no rummaging) which did not have the 30th anniversary sticker, so I'm assuming it was one of the reissues, and it still says 2011.

[HardlyNever]

16 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Awesome! Thanks for going down that rabbit hole, especially as I didn't want to rummage through the piles of boxes I have. 

So I looked at a 25F box I had (it was at the top of the pile so no rummaging) which did not have the 30th anniversary sticker, so I'm assuming it was one of the reissues, and it still says 2011.

Thanks for checking.

Honestly, I have a few qualms about relying on the 30th anniversary sticker to date things, but in the absence of anything else, it's probably the best we have to go by in most cases.  I doubt people have receipts and the like from that long ago, and when shopping online you'll be lucky to get a picture of the actual box you're going to buy.

Edit: I continued going further down this rabbit hole, and I'm probably losing my mind.  The only thing I feel comfortable saying regarding initial releases versus reissues is:

If it is an Ozma with a 30th anniversary sticker on the box, it is (probably) an initial 2011 release.  If it is an Ozma without a 30th anniversary sticker, it is (probably) a 2014 reissue.  I've seen enough pictures of boxes with and without stickers for that particular release to be comfortable with that statement.  I'm pretty sure even the 2014 reissue will say "Bandai 2011" in the corner.

Anything outside of that is too hard to tell.  I think the Michael 25G and Luca RVF releases (as well as some other products) also had stickers, but they didn't get reissued, so it doesn't really matter.

For Alto, at this point I don't think any of his releases were supposed to have 30th anniversary stickers on them (side note: the stickers are a mind screw of their own, but that's a separate topic).  I haven't seen enough (any) pictures that I trust of an Alto renewal with a 30th anniversary sticker on the box.  I'm also not sure that he got more than one reissue, as the official Bandai page only lists the 2011 and 2014 releases, while anymoon also includes a 2013 release for Alto.

I'm still digging into this a little more, probably to the detriment of my sanity.  I doubt I'll actually find a way to tell the difference between an initial release Alto and a reissue (again, barring outside documentation), but there are still a few avenues I want to check.

If anyone has a legit Alto renewal with either a 30th anniversary sticker (that came like that), or a non-"Bandai 2011"copyright in the corner, that would be helpful.  Being the internet, those kinds of things wouldn't be that hard to fake though, so I'm still going to be skeptical.

Edited May 11, 2020 by HardlyNever

[David Hingtgen]

My Alto 25F renewal, which is definitely a reissue, has no 30th sticker, and a 2011 copyright. 

[Lolicon]

VF-27 also has the 30th anniversary sticker.

[HardlyNever]

I stared with this "research" with the hopes of finding a way to tell the difference between initial releases and reissues for Alto and Ozma, especially on the outside of the box, to help people out when shopping online.  Unfortunately, I don't think I have anything else beyond what I posted before, regarding that.  I'm not especially interested in the anniversary stickers themselves; they were just a possible means to an end.  Unless some new info is found, I don't think I'll find a way to tell the difference between an initial release Alto and a reissue, at least on the outside of the box.

There are some numbers on the inside of the box, possibly serial numbers for the box, that with enough data and/or info from Bandai, we could possibly work out which toys are which.  I'm not dedicated enough to bother with any of that.  So for now, I'll just have to call it.  I did notice one kind of strange thing, though.  For some reason Bandai put another copyright notice on the display arm (which I haven't noticed in their later DXs).  And this kind of piqued my curiosity, even though it doesn't really help with my initial goal.  There is also what could be a serial number on there.  Does everyone's display arm say "Bandai 2011" on it, as well?

[jenius]

My original release Alto Renewal has "2153450" for that code.

I'll have to double-check my release schedule when I have more time, maybe I just goofed on a date.

[David Hingtgen]

My re-issue Alto Renewal, is identical to the pic--2111861.  However, see the two dots under the H in China?  Mine has 3 dots.  Could be random, could mean something.  

[Lolicon]

My display stands have been swapped between valkyries over the years and I have no idea which specific stand originally came with which valkyrie. 

[jenius]

2 hours ago, Lolicon said:

My display stands have been swapped between valkyries over the years and I have no idea which specific stand originally came with which valkyrie. 

That's a great point... I may be in the same boat.

[HardlyNever]

Thanks everyone for checking.  It looks like this is probably another dead end; the fact that you have to open the box and also know that the display stand is original to that toy is kind of a problem to begin with.

It might be possible that 2111861 is on Alto re-issue stands; it could be that it is on all Alto release stands.  It could be that there are several possible numbers that are there, and we don't know what they mean at all.  No clue what is going on with the white dots; or whether they mean anything at all. Without more data points, I don't think we could make any kind of definitive statement.

I was also a little interested in the "Bandai 2011" year on there, but I'm assuming everyone's says that as well.  Do even later release stands say "Bandai 2011" on them?  I know they stopped putting that text on there, at some point.

[Saburo]

[David Hingtgen]

It always struck me how the chest/shoulder armor bits of Alto and Ozma have "markings you can't really see"----the yellow bits on Ozma and the red bits on Alto.  They should have switched the marking colors, or used white, etc.  (they ARE printed "red on red" on Alto's).  Kind of like the "white on white"  YF-30 markings...

[Saburo]

[Saburo]

[David Hingtgen]

I thought Luca only had the little probe-thingy on one of the boosters, not both? 

[Lolicon]

Alright @Saburo you convinced me to finally finish up the SMS Skull Squadron.