Yamato 1/60 VF-17 Nightmare Diamond Force (Thread no.2)

[IXTL]

New thread since the old thread has been retired.

http://www.macrosswo...showtopic=35038

Nothing really new but here's another photo of the poster shown at WF2012 advertising the 17D.

Earlier pics of the 1/60 VF-17D made the stripes look white but they look to have a slight tinge of blue in this photo.

Edited January 29, 2013 by azrael

[Reïvaj]

If it's a Diamond Force custom it has to have that tinge of blue.

[IXTL]

If it's a Diamond Force custom it has to have that tinge of blue.

Yes indeed it should. It's just that earlier photos gave the impression that it might not be so. Glad to see that it looks like it'll be bluish.

[Scream Man]

Im a bit torn on which way to go. Either get a 17 or a Blazer valk. The 17 is more expensive, but i dont have one at all yet.

Is the new 17D coming with the Fast Packs, or are they separate? Im not a big fan of the 17 packs, and its expensive enough as it is, so I'd rather hold off if i can.

Also I know the 17 u have to watch out for the legs during transform; is this a serious issue, or a case of 'be careful and you'll be right?'

[ah_t00t]

I have this 17 & it ranks much better than the bandai renewals in just my opinion in terms of paint job & flawless mold (QC), i.e; I had very close look & can't really find any plastic chip or factory defect on the toy itself.

Things to take note: It takes awhile to transform because you have to watch out for those pointy edges, i mean they are really sharp!!!, for the legs, i dun see any thing wrong with it, just be careful & slow with every turn, the manual is not very clear & concise, you can search youtube for better instructions, if you ever get it which i strongly recommend, please do ask your seller to pack it firmly for you because, the inner plastic packaging is abit flimsy.

Whether does it come in a bundle, i won't be able to tell but from the looks of it, i doubt so because they already reissued the 17S, 19 kai valks separately around this feb march period which i got it from, but nevertheless they could & hopefully issue the 17D together with the pack as a bundle. Hope this helps! Cheers!

Edited March 21, 2012 by ah_t00t

[Mommar]

Im a bit torn on which way to go. Either get a 17 or a Blazer valk. The 17 is more expensive, but i dont have one at all yet.

Is the new 17D coming with the Fast Packs, or are they separate? Im not a big fan of the 17 packs, and its expensive enough as it is, so I'd rather hold off if i can.

Also I know the 17 u have to watch out for the legs during transform; is this a serious issue, or a case of 'be careful and you'll be right?'

I believe the Fast Packs are being released separately in the Fall. I highly doubt they would come with the D. As far as the legs go, I personally didn't have any problems transforming the thing back from Battroid to Fighter but I also tend to be very meticulous when transforming my toys.

[VF5SS]

Just watch my videos for help

[IXTL]

Im a bit torn on which way to go. Either get a 17 or a Blazer valk. The 17 is more expensive, but i dont have one at all yet. Is the new 17D coming with the Fast Packs, or are they separate?

All the info we have so far suggest that they will be separate.

The VF-17D poster I posted above does not mention any inclusion of Super Packs and has the price listed at 26,040yen.

The Super Packs were advertised in a separate poster with the price to be announced.

[VF-18S Hornet]

So when does the preorders start?

[ErikElvis]

Im digging the light blue in fighter. The S I guess will stay in battroid.

[ron5864]

I just notice the retail price for the 1/60 VF-17 is about 24,000Yen. The similar Bandai 1/60 VF-171 is about 14,000Yen. That is a big difference in price for mostly similar valkyries.

What is in Yamato's version that can justify for the 10,000Yen difference????

[jenius]

We won't know the real answer to that for several more months.

[Mommar]

I just notice the retail price for the 1/60 VF-17 is about 24,000Yen. The similar Bandai 1/60 VF-171 is about 14,000Yen. That is a big difference in price for mostly similar valkyries.

What is in Yamato's version that can justify for the 10,000Yen difference????

The Valk comes from a show that debuted back in the early 90's and has far less exposure/marketing then the 171.

[Frogze]

This is true but I doubt it's the reason that justifies the difference in price. My opinion (and of course it's also pure speculation from here) is that Bandai can cut very low prices with the chinese factories they work with because they are one of the few big toy companies, and as such they give these factories work during all the year. Obvioulsy the 171 was produced in low quantities so it's not as if Bandai could cut the price because of a high production number on this toy. I believe because Yamato is a much smaller client they are forced to order more copies of a valk than Bandai has to and even so get's a much higher price for producing their toys than Bandai.

But maybe it's just because Bandai's VF-171 is slighty inferior in quality, materials and engineering...

I've no idea, but a VF-17S is finally on it's way to me from Japan

[Knightdramon]

I just notice the retail price for the 1/60 VF-17 is about 24,000Yen. The similar Bandai 1/60 VF-171 is about 14,000Yen. That is a big difference in price for mostly similar valkyries.

What is in Yamato's version that can justify for the 10,000Yen difference????

Besides an actual comparison in weight, height, mass and materials, for which we'll have to wait for the VF171 to be released...

My guess is that Bandai's is cheaper because they have the economical power, as a company, to do so. Their high-end products are almost always cheaper than the respective high end items of other companies just because they can manufacture much more.

I'm not sure how this goes with the fact that all their preorders are sold out without everybody getting one, but at least in the past, that was the case.

Yamato is a much smaller company in comparison and possibly pumps out far less units per release, which drives the cost up.

[Chronocidal]

Actually.. I'd say the bottom line is more that Bandai is still focusing on making toys for the mass market, while Yamato's stuff falls more under the collectible market. They overlap a ton obviously, but comparing the quality of productions still leaves a huge gap.

Bandai has come a long way with their designs, and they're catching up, but the engineering is still quite a ways behind where Yamato is now. The quality and precision of the manufacturing of the VF-19 is incredible, and it goes a ways toward explaining the higher cost compared with Bandai's stuff. And all engineering issues aside, Yamato's attention to the little details and dedication to accurate representation of the source material consistently blows Bandai out of the water.

[chen]

I agree, It's not so much that Bandai can't make a Valk like Yamato since it would be incredibly easy to just reverse engineer a Yamato Valk, it's that they have different priorities, budgets, sales expectations, company policies, etc. Bandai may be huge and a giant compared to Yamato, but it doesn't mean they have unlimited development budgets or that Macross is such a important money maker for them to make it a huge priority. I agree that right now as a collector Yamato is still tops with their attention to detail and willingness to use less than ideal solutions to keep it line art accurate, but Bandai is closing the gap and with it's considerable rescources and talent it's conceivable that they could not only catch up to Yamato but surpass them too. But that would wholly depend if they continue making 1/60 Macross stuff and if sales are high enough to convince them to keep putting the effort in and keep improving.

[Dimis]

If you handle Yamato's VF-17s it feels so solid that you get the impression you'll have to be really rough with it to do any sort of damage. That's not the case with the VF-25 releases, or the YF-29 for that matter. I imagine it will not be the case with VF-171 either. If it were a bit floppy like Yamato's YF-19 and YF-21 i would have agreed with you that it is overpriced, but now i think it's worth it.

Edited March 26, 2012 by Dimis

[Scream Man]

i ended up going with the 19 Blazer. Ill wait for the 17D i think.

[logos]

What if the 17S goes on sale when the 17D comes out? .............. ..............Frankly I don't care which version I have I am just waiting to find one close to around $200US if possible. Holding off on the Blazer Valk appears to have turned out so........lets hope HLJ puts the 17S and 19S on sale sometime in the future?

[Loop]

What if the 17S goes on sale when the 17D comes out? .............. ..............Frankly I don't care which version I have I am just waiting to find one close to around $200US if possible. Holding off on the Blazer Valk appears to have turned out so........lets hope HLJ puts the 17S and 19S on sale sometime in the future?

If HLJ puts these up 17s for sale I would most likely buy another. Can't wait for the "D" though I will leave my S in batteroid mode how it is and leave the D in fighter mode.

I did say though that I would buy 2x of the D just to have a complete Diamond Force squad.

[Dimis]

What if the 17S goes on sale when the 17D comes out? .............. ..............Frankly I don't care which version I have I am just waiting to find one close to around $200US if possible. Holding off on the Blazer Valk appears to have turned out so........lets hope HLJ puts the 17S and 19S on sale sometime in the future?

Where did you see the Blazer VF-19s for $200? I have been scanning, and scanning since December and found it nowhere for under $300, And i assume the first batch sold out completely if they re-issued it within three months. The VF-17s too. Also it seems illogical to put the Vf-17s on sale when the Vf-17d comes out, unless they re-issue either with some kind of decals added version? I have given up trying to second guess this industry when i paid 35000 YEN for the non-main (force attack) variant of Aquarion DX. :-)

[Scream Man]

Hell if I ever see a 17 for less than $300 shipped Ill take it.

[Reïvaj]

Where did you see the Blazer VF-19s for $200? I have been scanning, and scanning since December and found it nowhere for under $300, And i assume the first batch sold out completely if they re-issued it within three months. The VF-17s too. Also it seems illogical to put the Vf-17s on sale when the Vf-17d comes out, unless they re-issue either with some kind of decals added version? I have given up trying to second guess this industry when i paid 35000 YEN for the non-main (force attack) variant of Aquarion DX. :-)

The re-issues of both VF-17S and VF-19S seem to have already sold out at some sites like AE

[Mommar]

I can't wait to grab a D. I may even lose my mind and get a second one depending on how life goes.

[Chronocidal]

Wow, the VF-19S and VF-17S sold out already? I guess it's understandable, they're both pretty incredible.

I do wonder though.. I hope Yamato realizes what a gold mine they are, and ups the production on both molds, especially if it means getting more colored variants. I seriously want a white or low-vis VF-19F like nothing else, and that orange/white trainer version VF-17 from Macross Plus would be an instant buy.

With the VF-1 kit version, they kind of catered to every custom scheme idea at once, so we haven't seen many non-canon VF-1 schemes this time around (the only one that comes to mind is the low-vis Focker). But the complexity on the VF-17/19 designs is so much higher, I wonder if they would even consider a kit version. If they do, I'll buy a couple of each, and be set.

[Dimis]

The re-issues of both VF-17S and VF-19S seem to have already sold out at some sites like AE

I think it makes sense. The both got glowing reviews. The consumers are not dumb! mostly

[moose]

So when do we this this will be out.

[whitestar]

The re-issues of both VF-17S and VF-19S seem to have already sold out at some sites like AE

Does anyone know if the VF-17s reissue is an improvement over the first issue? And is the current stock at HLJ the reissue? They seem to still have it in stock. I've been holding off getting it in hopes that it'll be discounted, but it's been a couple of months already and I don't want to pay through the nose on the aftermarket.

[Dimis]

I don't think there was anything to be addressed on the first issue. The VF-19 first issue had an issue with the ankles allegedly, that was addressed with the VF-19s. Also i've not seen HLJ put up a sold out on the VF-17s and VF-19s. So probably first issues?

[whitestar]

Thanks Dimis.

[Scream Man]

hey does the 17 come with stickers for pilots other than Gamlin?

[Scream Man]

.....Which I ask again, now that I just bought one.

[Chronocidal]

They on sale? I've been holding out for the VF-17D and a Miria S, but I might pick one of the regular ones up eventually. Mostly been saving for the bluray sets and armor packs though recently.

[Scream Man]

....Well i got one. $245 AUD shipped was a decent enough price. She's a pretty bird alight, though a little stiff in places. The hip bar is easy, butt hen the ball sockets for the hips are REALLY stiff! And it took a couple of Transforms back and forth to get the hang of it, but i think Im good now.

i do wish Yamato hadnt stopped offering sticker guides, i always liked those, and it means i put less on now. I found some pics in an old thread of some done up, that was a help.

Also, it has to be Gamlins, no Capt Kinryu option Sads.

Very cool toy though