HI METAL LOVE THREAD

[southpaw]

i only had the vf-1j hi-metal.

how many hi-metals got made. anyone one got all of them?

if it was cheaper it could have been the perfect squadron builder

[knoted]

Imo, the main advantage of the Hi Metal VF1 is the superior hip articulation ; the ball joints are in these sliding capsule joints, which make it possible to get a true wide A stance and it permits some additional swivel wiggle for the thighs on the Y-axis as well. The wing assembly is also a little further to the rear which permits the Hi Metal to rotate the thigh leg up a bit more, without having to use the gerwalk joint.

In comparison, I feel the Yamato 1/60 VF1's feel like geriatrics when it comes to the leg articulation. The only way to get a half decent pose is to use the gerwalk joint ; which - imo - is like breaking a thigh bone in 2. Using the swivel at the knee to get the feet apart more, is also a pseudo kind of wide A stance.

I also agree with the anymoon review on the topic of the 1/60 head placement ; too high up. The Hi Metal does this a little bit better too.

The line was a bit overpriced, but the Hi Metal do indeed pose really nicely in scale to deluxe Transformers.

[VF5SS]

You don't have to use the Gerwalk joint to pose the 1/60 VF-1's legs out if you just tilt the backplate a bit off where it locks in for Battroid mode.

[Old Man]

i only had the vf-1j hi-metal.

how many hi-metals got made. anyone one got all of them?

if it was cheaper it could have been the perfect squadron builder

SDFM

-Hikaru's VF-1J

-Max's VF-1J

DYRL?

-Roy's VF-1S

-Hikaru's VF-1A

-Max's VF-1A

-Hayao's VF-1A

Macross 7

-VF-19Kai

-VF-19S

I picked up all of the VF-1s...

[eriku]

It's a thread about something that EVERYBODY has a reason to hate. it's like starting a thread about the flu or colonoscopy and expecting a positive reaction.

Everybody? Sorry, I mean EVERYBODY? Last I checked I could officially be included in that group and I have absolutely no reason to hate Hi Metal.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find an appreciation thread of something I don't like so I can piss on it or something.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

People who hate the himetal are just spoilt for choice imo. The toy is good just that people here love to compare it with the yamato which isn't fair but is done a lot here because of the price of himetal.

If the himetal was cheaper, and if bandai did a lot of macross toys in this line (1/100 QRau would be perfect) I bet people would buy these. It's just not going to be bought over the larger toys that's all. And a lot of people who own the larger stuff make those their first preference and might just buy the smaller toys if there was no other macross toy to get at the time. It was the opposite with the ride armor toys. People ended up buying the crappy Megahouse ride armour ("it was more collectible" they said. Whatever that means..) simply because they were impatient and skipped the high end Beagle ride armor.

It makes me sad knowing we won't see any future himetal yf-19 or beagle ride armor releases. Oh well at least you can now pose a vf-1 and vf19 next to the konig monster..

Edited March 18, 2012 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[VFTF1]

Just to be precise - only four of those were availabe for wider distribution - the rest were web specials, right? I mean, only Hikaru's VF-1J, Roy's VF-1S, and the two Macross 7 valks were widely and regularly available...

Personally - I don't see the point in comparing them to Yamato all that much. In general, the Hi Metal VF-1s are indeed superior in engineering and quality. I mean let me count the ways:

1. No cracking shoulder joint

2. In fact, no risky shoulder transformation - because of the ingenious sliding joint - that is REALLY good engineering...

That said - the Yammies are good as they are too. Yamato has made a far wider range of Valkyrie from Macross - most of them have superior design and good quality.

The main advantage of the 1/100 - for me - is the scale. It works with MG Gundams...although Yammies work with PG...so...I guess it's a matter of whatever floats your boat :-)

Too bad the HI Metal line was discontinued. And - UBER too bad that the VF100 VF-25s sucked so bad...it would actually have made sense for the next HI METALS to be VF-25s...why that didn't happen...beats me.

SDFM

-Hikaru's VF-1J

-Max's VF-1J

DYRL?

-Roy's VF-1S

-Hikaru's VF-1A

-Max's VF-1A

-Hayao's VF-1A

Macross 7

-VF-19Kai

-VF-19S

I picked up all of the VF-1s...

[xrentonx]

In general, the Hi Metal VF-1s are indeed superior in engineering and quality.

I disagree with this because you can easily turn this the other way around. However to keep on topic...

I have the VF-1S, 1J, and the 19S and they are the best Macross things I have in this scale. Nothing else in 1/100 Macross comes close. I love them to bits (despite a few things) and it's a real shame they killed the line.

What I love:

LOVE that dynamic A-stance of the 1S and 1J in battroid mode

LOVE the size

LOVE the 19S in fighter mode

LOVE the 1S and 1J in battroid mode

LOVE the box art and the magnet-y goodness of the flaps

Hope that's enough LOVE for everyone but I could go on... It's all about LOVE guys

Edited March 18, 2012 by xrentonx

[Black Valkyrie]

They should have continued with the line, at least some more TV VFs and the VF-25. Why the CF never gets love from Bandai.

[Mommar]

Just to be precise - only four of those were availabe for wider distribution - the rest were web specials, right? I mean, only Hikaru's VF-1J, Roy's VF-1S, and the two Macross 7 valks were widely and regularly available...

Personally - I don't see the point in comparing them to Yamato all that much. In general, the Hi Metal VF-1s are indeed superior in engineering and quality. I mean let me count the ways:

1. No cracking shoulder joint

2. In fact, no risky shoulder transformation - because of the ingenious sliding joint - that is REALLY good engineering...

That said - the Yammies are good as they are too. Yamato has made a far wider range of Valkyrie from Macross - most of them have superior design and good quality.

The main advantage of the 1/100 - for me - is the scale. It works with MG Gundams...although Yammies work with PG...so...I guess it's a matter of whatever floats your boat :-)

Too bad the HI Metal line was discontinued. And - UBER too bad that the VF100 VF-25s sucked so bad...it would actually have made sense for the next HI METALS to be VF-25s...why that didn't happen...beats me.

You're right, that slide bar is a brilliant design that I really, really would like to see on other VF-1's. However, I'm wondering if it's implementation may dictate the size/shape of the backpack which may contribute to the shape/size of the back portion of fighter/gerwalk which I feel don't look as good.

Battroid does pose VERY easy too. I leave my 1J Hikky in that mode exclusively and it is fun to pick up and repose quickly and easily. If Bandai had implemented that collapsing fuselage bump so that the backpack could fold up farther that would have been a very good idea to keep the backpack from angling out so far and relying slightly less on friction.

Edited March 18, 2012 by Mommar

[Mommar]

SDFM

-Max's VF-1J

Do you have any pics of the Max 1J? I've never seen any in anybodies collections.

[Old Man]

Do you have any pics of the Max 1J? I've never seen any in anybodies collections.

Mine's packed away at the moment, but I found this in the Official 1/100 BANDAI VF Hi Metal VF-1J Valkyrie thread...

Edited March 18, 2012 by Old Man

[anime52k8]

Everybody? Sorry, I mean EVERYBODY? Last I checked I could officially be included in that group and I have absolutely no reason to hate Hi Metal.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find an appreciation thread of something I don't like so I can piss on it or something.

My point was that that even if you absolutely LOVE the hi metal toys, and think they're the greatest toys ever made in the history of the world, you still have reason to be pissed because bandai made half the releases in the line hard to get web exclusives then killed the whole line off after only 2 VF's.

[Mommar]

Mine's packed away at the moment, but I found this in the Official 1/100 BANDAI VF Hi Metal VF-1J Valkyrie thread...

I must have missed that when I was digging through the thread. Thanks.

[kamadoma]

Since I'm one of those Max Jenius fans, I just want to try and get the 1J since I don't have any VF-1 Hi-Metal yet. Then again, it's a web exclusive and I'm more inching towards Roy's 1S. Believe me, I still don't own a single Roy unit as of today. XD

[Mommar]

Since I'm one of those Max Jenius fans, I just want to try and get the 1J since I don't have any VF-1 Hi-Metal yet. Then again, it's a web exclusive and I'm more inching towards Roy's 1S. Believe me, I still don't own a single Roy unit as of today. XD

I'm a Max fan as well. Since seeing that pic Old Man posted, and also since I like posing these things in Battroid, I went digging around online and actually found a Max 1J for sale for $50. We'll see what kind of shape it's in when it gets here.

[Old Man]

I'm a Max fan as well. Since seeing that pic Old Man posted, and also since I like posing these things in Battroid, I went digging around online and actually found a Max 1J for sale for $50. We'll see what kind of shape it's in when it gets here.

That's a great deal regardless. I probably paid close to double that for a new one several months ago. Congratulations!

[Mommar]

That's a great deal regardless. I probably paid close to double that for a new one several months ago. Congratulations!

It's been previously opened. Supposedly it was in a display case and still has the original packaging and all of the extras but we'll see. It may be a floppy mess for all I know.

[ff95gj]

The Hi-Metal line must be doing very poorly. We don't even get the Millia 1J, web exclusive or not.

[Old Man]

The Hi-Metal line must be doing very poorly. We don't even get the Millia 1J, web exclusive or not.

I know...I was kinda banking on it too...such a disappointment .

Edited March 19, 2012 by Old Man

[Graham]

To be honest, the Hi-Metal line didn't really impress me very much.

The VF-19 toys had a nice battroid mode sculpt, but the fight mode was pretty horrible. Yamato really nailed their VF-19 sculpt. Bandai however IMO, did a horrible job with the overall shape of the cockpit, plane nose and area behind the cockpit. Just wrong, wrong, wrong. Then of course there was the whole fiasco with the inability to connect the gunpod in fighter mode and the cop-out 'sit the plane on thevlanding gear' solution they came out with.

The VF-1 was a bit better, but the glued on intake on mine really killed it for me and I would rather pay slightly more for the 1/60 or 1/48.

If they had concentrated on other more unique VFs besides the VF-1, maybe the line would have done better.

Graham

[VFTF1]

To be honest, the Hi-Metal line didn't really impress me very much.

The VF-19 toys had a nice battroid mode sculpt, but the fight mode was pretty horrible. Yamato really nailed their VF-19 sculpt. Bandai however IMO, did a horrible job with the overall shape of the cockpit, plane nose and area behind the cockpit. Just wrong, wrong, wrong. Then of course there was the whole fiasco with the inability to connect the gunpod in fighter mode and the cop-out 'sit the plane on thevlanding gear' solution they came out with.

The VF-1 was a bit better, but the glued on intake on mine really killed it for me and I would rather pay slightly more for the 1/60 or 1/48.

If they had concentrated on other more unique VFs besides the VF-1, maybe the line would have done better.

Graham

Yeah - I agree about the intakes...and the landing gear for that matter... but in the 1/100 scale I'm not ure if anything else was possible.

I mean, this is one of the reasons why 1/60 is such a good scale for variable mecha. 1/72 is great for airplanes/details - but if it has to transform (the MF models notwithstanding) - 1/60 is better. The 1/48s were amazing when they hit the market...but I think that had less to do with the scale and more to do with how utterly bad the version 1 1/60 stuff was...

That said...why oh why did the HI METAL line die? I don't understand why it didn't do as financially well...if that's even the reason?

Pete

[Vifam7]

I mean, this is one of the reasons why 1/60 is such a good scale for variable mecha. 1/72 is great for airplanes/details - but if it has to transform (the MF models notwithstanding) - 1/60 is better.

But Bandai showed that a solid transformable Valkyrie toy is possible with 1/100 scale. So there's no reason why it can't be done in 1/72 scale. Integrated landing gears is possible in 1/72 scale too. The 1980s Imai kit had them!

[Mommar]

Yeah - I agree about the intakes...and the landing gear for that matter... but in the 1/100 scale I'm not ure if anything else was possible.

I mean, this is one of the reasons why 1/60 is such a good scale for variable mecha. 1/72 is great for airplanes/details - but if it has to transform (the MF models notwithstanding) - 1/60 is better. The 1/48s were amazing when they hit the market...but I think that had less to do with the scale and more to do with how utterly bad the version 1 1/60 stuff was...

That said...why oh why did the HI METAL line die? I don't understand why it didn't do as financially well...if that's even the reason?

Pete

You answered your own question. They don't translate the transformation as well. And the attempt to do that, and do it well, led to a toy that was almost as much as the 1/60 which was already available and contained more gimmicks without all of the extra part swapping.

[VF5SS]

That said...why oh why did the HI METAL line die? I don't understand why it didn't do as financially well...if that's even the reason?

Well the two VF-19s were rather lackluster and the VF-1 came after Yamato had saturated the market.

[Uxi]

I was hoping there would be more so I could get into the line. Just not interested in yet another VF-1 to start, though was close to getting the Blazer (more than the Fire). That they're oddballs now mean I won't unless I see them heavily discounted somewhere.

[Andy NYK]

too bad the 1/100 lines all died off, they're good companions to the bigger scales actually.

[Valkyrie Driver]

I just got my VF-19, and I gotta say, for a 1/100 scale valk, it feels a lot like my 1/60 scale yamatos. I like that, it feels solid, and so what that there is some partsforming, but that's to be expected from a toy this small. I don't mind the small size and small inaccuracies. Besides, at 1/3rd the price, I have a vf-19. The head could be more posesable, but it's all good.

[windcloud]

Ya I love the HI-Metal as well. Just got the 19kai, 19blazer, and the strike 1s. They are a bit overpriced but the scale is perfect. Yamato ones are good and I have several of those but they are just too big and chunky to handle with. Was hoping Bandai will at least complete the line with the 21, sigh...

[Valkyrie Driver]

I love my VF-19S HiMetal. It was less than a third of the price for the Yamato 1/60 scale. I don't mind swapping hands on a toy this small, and all the modes look fine. Sure it doesn't have as much detail, But that doesn't matter as much to me, because I'm too add to appreciate the detail anyway. (Not entirely true, I do appreciate the detail of my 1/60's, but they're just too damn big to fidget with.) I like to fidget when I work, so the 1/100's are perfect, plus I get the VF-19, which I've always wanted, I wish it was a YF19 instead, but beggars can't be choosers.

[Chronocidal]

Have to admit, there are some aspects of the Hi-Metal Fire Valk I do prefer over the Yamato one. Mostly, I like the top profile more. Because of the different method they used for the hips, the leading edge extension meets the fuselage farther back, behind the canards instead of under them. While the nose may not be any longer, it does give it that impression.

The angle of the wing is just steeper, so the LEX starts further back. You don't notice it on the VF-19S, but I've thought it made the Fire Valk look a bit strange ever since we saw the first CAD render of the fuselage.

[VFTF1]

Dag. I must not be very technical-minded, because while I don't dispute your observations - I must admit that I simply do not really notice those differences at first, second or even seventieth glance. I guess I just don't look for stuff like that...

On the one hand, I do want something that reflects the animation model - obvious the DYRL model in general, since the SDFM TV one is more often than not innaccurate with reference to itself... Having said that, I guess I don't really pay that much attention to exactly what the CAD/animation model in general looks like. Or..at least I don't think too much about it...

For me, the main benefit of the HI METAL is that they are not any worse than the 1/60s - and you can put them side by side with Mastergrade Gundams. After years of playing with Transformers that were frustratingly incompatible with one another due to scale issues (or rather...lack of scale issues)... it is simply refreshing to have things to scale with one another :-)

Pete

[Reïvaj]

Have to admit, there are some aspects of the Hi-Metal Fire Valk I do prefer over the Yamato one. Mostly, I like the top profile more. Because of the different method they used for the hips, the leading edge extension meets the fuselage farther back, behind the canards instead of under them. While the nose may not be any longer, it does give it that impression. The angle of the wing is just steeper, so the LEX starts further back. You don't notice it on the VF-19S, but I've thought it made the Fire Valk look a bit strange ever since we saw the first CAD render of the fuselage.

If it’s a matter of preferences that’s ok, but while I don’t really mind the Hi-Metal profile configuration, I think that regarding line art accuracy the Yamato toy has the lerx better situated.

Of course, the smaller scale of the Hi-Metal probably doesn’t give much room for these rather fanciful details.

Source: Scorched Earth Toys

[VFTF1]

Ok - this is true... looking at the above pictures... but...how many times did the VF-19Kai in the anime actually confirm to that line art? That's where things get tricky :-)

Pete

[eugimon]

so... you're saying the hi-metal looks more like the vf-19 when the vf-19 is drawn wrong? 0_o