Bandai DX YF-30 Chronos

[funkymonkeyjavajunky]

Just unboxed my YF-30 and (so far) it has exceeded my expectations. The tampo printing is nicely done, the joints/parts all line up nicely, and the look/feel of this new design is different from the 25 and 29 lines (straighter lines, less curves). And, hardpoints are the icing on the cake.

[Scream Man]

Hey at the end of Macross 30 does Uroboros get unstuck in time (or hwhatever?) I just wonder if the 30 entered the galaxy network main group of fighters or if it remains isolated on the world...

[valhary]

agree and the pictures not do it justice in hand It is still more impressive

[Kanedas Bike]

i think just shy of a home run... body attachment. debatable (some love it, some don't) missile box ascetics

i say a very nice triple...

It's not bad but some of the minor fit and finish issues are preventing me from enjoying this release as much as I normally would. The nosecone doesn't fit very well, the 'spine' of the jet doesn't fit together smoothly, the pilot is just rattling around loose in the cockpit and the bare plastic compressor fans really could have used some paint.

Have to agree, not a home run in my book mainly because a few fit and finish issues, mostly in Fighter mode - the pilot in need of a safety harness along with a nosecone that doesn't quite line up the chief culprits.

I love the Battroid mode and while initially the skinny legs bothered me the look from head to toe has grown on me.

Knocking on wood, not QC issues and most parts are pretty tight - no brackets or braces needed in Battroid.

-b.

[mickyg]

I'm not keen on getting one, mostly due to the Valk having no context for me - haven't even seen the game. But it definitely looks great. For me though, the standout feature is the twisting waist. That is just too cool. Imagine if they'd been able to do that with the original VF-1...

[MacrossJunkie]

I've transformed mine back and forth a bunch of times over the past few days and thus far, haven't found any use for any of the braces. Mine has been holding very well in all modes. It definitely feels like it holds together better than the VF-171 in battroid at the very least. Hopefully it stays that way.

My only gripes for it are:

• There ought to be some sort of tactile indication for when the vertical stabilizers are in the right spot in fighter mode
• The left wing on mine swings up higher and flatter than the right will go by a subtle but still noticeable degree.
• The missile pod doesn't really sit flush with the backplate and leaves kind of an ugly gap on the top of the fighter.

On the plus side, I like how it shares some similarities with the YF-21. Like the very similar wings, how the hands are hidden in pockets, or being able to do the same "high speed mode" as the 21 by folding the wings down and moving the stabilizers inward. It's also nice having another Frontier era valk, aside from the VF-171, that doesn't have a nearly identical transformation as the 25.

That satin finish looks great out of the box as well.

I think I will use the renders of the 30 from the Macross 30 game as reference for the weathering. I noticed that the renders still have a subtle camo pattern that the red/black and black/purple schemes have but didn't translate over to the toy itself (not to be confused with the reflections). That's a shame. I may have to try adding that myself as I like that.

[ULessa]

URGH! mines sitting in the mailroom just waiting for me to pick it up... So much crap has happened these past 2 days I'm so damn burnt out.

[spanner]

URGH! mines sitting in the mailroom just waiting for me to pick it up... So much crap has happened these past 2 days I'm so damn burnt out.

I feel your pain! I hate waiting for stuff.. it drives me friggin mad! I'm so impatient..

[Shukenzero]

Bad or patchy qc on this one. Picked up a third one to try my luck, but there are blotchy areas of paint and/or glue on each copy I've had. Joints are right thankfully.

[TCracker]

I feel inadequate. Mine is still not shipped yet.

[Aye Aye]

Ok, longtime viewer of MW forums, first time poster here. Have to say I am too impressed with the YF-30, in general there is something about the valks with the Hikaru-ish paint scheme (the red on black) that compels me to purchase each that come out regardless of similarities to the last. Only got one, so not sure whether to crack it open for display or keep it in the box...ugh....

[KH355hamdi]

More pose! I love how the arms swing forward in fighter mode without having to lower the legs.

[valhary]

maybe is the non glossy plastic but I feel this valk for bandai as equal to the vf 4 of the yamato's

[Kanedas Bike]

maybe is the non glossy plastic but I feel this valk for bandai as equal to the vf 4 of the yamato's

It's a good effort from Bandai for sure, but even if there were no reports of inconsistent QA....no sir.

-b.

[F360]

I feel inadequate. Mine is still not shipped yet.

Same here too , it's pretty sad waiting for an Ems package to get shipped out

[Gakken85]

Mine is sitting in my HLJ warehouse.

Might just wait til wheeljack comes out.

[Valkyrie Magnus]

More pose! I love how the arms swing forward in fighter mode without having to lower the legs.

I love the pose! I have to try it

[Jasonc]

Mine got here straight from Japan, and is now in customs in L.A. Should be here Monday or Tuesday.

[Roy's Blues]

More pose! I love how the arms swing forward in fighter mode without having to lower the legs.

Even mecha step in dog poop.

[spanner]

My only gripes for it are:

• There ought to be some sort of tactile indication for when the vertical stabilizers are in the right spot in fighter mode
• The left wing on mine swings up higher and flatter than the right will go by a subtle but still noticeable degree.
• The missile pod doesn't really sit flush with the backplate and leaves kind of an ugly gap on the top of the fighter

The vertical stabilizers design still bugs me a bit.. haven't found the best possible reference picture yet to make sure I have set them on the most correct angle / position..

Its the left wing on mine that sits slightly lower and the folding outer wing tip section doesn't quite lock in 100%..

From what I can tell the missile pod doesn't sit flush with any 30 I have seen pics of so far.. just how its designed I guess. Although I still think it could have been made to be a little smaller and the legs a little chunkier.

Apart from a half dozen or so small paint chips / marks (most of them now fixed) the other thing that bugs me is the nose cone section doesn't sit up and properly flush with the forward cockpit section.

I have seen others the very same but then there are others that don't seem have this problem.. maybe a small modification is required to fix this perhaps..

I also did notice inside the nose section there is what looks to be a locking mechanism of some sort which might be causing the problem? I wouldn't know what that part does as I haven't attempted a transformation yet nor looked at the user manual..

[Raya1823]

AAGGGGHHH,NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!! I missed the delivery of my YF-30!!!!!

I got my numbers mixed up!!! I thought I was getting a Chunky Monkey VF-1J not the 30 today!!!!

AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

Now I have to WAIT till MONDAY!!!!! AAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

LMFAO!!!!

[ChaoticYeti]

Anyone in the states get theirs by SAL yet?

[technoblue]

Mine shipped by economy air and is still in transit. I expect the post office will have something for me Monday or Tuesday.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

Have to agree, not a home run in my book mainly because a few fit and finish issues, mostly in Fighter mode - the pilot in need of a safety harness along with a nosecone that doesn't quite line up the chief culprits.

I love the Battroid mode and while initially the skinny legs bothered me the look from head to toe has grown on me.

Knocking on wood, not QC issues and most parts are pretty tight - no brackets or braces needed in Battroid.

-b.

thanks b for the feedback on the valk

[UN Spacy]

Anyone in the states get theirs by SAL yet?

Nope...my last two SAL shipments took 14 to 15 days before they arrived.

The earliest I can get mine is the 20th.

[matic]

Fighter is highly detailed and feels heavy. I still like the 25 mold alittle better when it comes to bandai.

[sreichma]

Ok, longtime viewer of MW forums, first time poster here. Have to say I am too impressed with the YF-30, in general there is something about the valks with the Hikaru-ish paint scheme (the red on black) that compels me to purchase each that come out regardless of similarities to the last. Only got one, so not sure whether to crack it open for display or keep it in the box...ugh....

Display it static in fighter or limit to 1 transformation sequence , take care during that sequence and you will always have a tight new condition valk. Its too cool of a piece to keep hidden.

AAGGGGHHH,NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!! I missed the delivery of my YF-30!!!!!

I got my numbers mixed up!!! I thought I was getting a Chunky Monkey VF-1J not the 30 today!!!!

AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

Now I have to WAIT till MONDAY!!!!! AAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

LMFAO!!!!

Sorry chunky, you are too fat and ugly for me to stay home.

[anime52k8]

take it out of it's box, free it from it's Styrofoam prison, transforming and pose it and whoosh it around the room.

[sreichma]

I think bandai is beating yamarcadia in tampo now.

[KH355hamdi]

take it out of it's box, free it from it's Styrofoam prison, transforming and pose it and whoosh it around the room.

When I hold it in fighter mode yesterday, I feel like swooshing it around. Very nice and put together whether its fighter, gerwalk or battroid. Now if Bandai can make me 1/60 Konig Monster I can retire happily.

[ArchieNov]

I think bandai is beating yamarcadia in tampo now.

Hasn't this been the case for a long time now?

[Kanedas Bike]

thanks b for the feedback on the valk

No problem. Still going well after having it in a static Battroid pose for a couple of days.

Fighter is highly detailed and feels heavy. I still like the 25 mold alittle better when it comes to bandai.

See, my first impression of weight or heft matched another member's feedback (sorry, don't recall who) but I this Valk feels surprisingly light and not very heavy at at all.

Hasn't this been the case for a long time now?

Yep.

-b.

[Loop]

My second unit via registered air mail showed up yesterday! Now I am thinking I could have saved a bit of money on the first unit by going registered airmail, it was a only a few days difference vs EMS.

[Kanedas Bike]

My second unit via registered air mail showed up yesterday! Now I am thinking I could have saved a bit of money on the first unit by going registered airmail, it was a only a few days difference vs EMS.

Truly, mine came from CDJ via Registered Airmail and arrived as fast as a lot of the EMS shipments I've had come over.

And I'm STILL waiting on shipping confirmation from HLJ that I paid for on Tuesday for my 25F and 30.

-b.

[XFJ-01A]

Took my YF-30 out to the USS Midway here in san diego over the weekend for an impromptu photoshoot. Felt....RIGHT having it down on the no skid surfaces of the ship and flight deck among all the other classic planes. I'll have to post pics soon.

Lots of Tourists, (mainly chinese and japanese) would stop and watch as I did my thing on the flight deck. Some Japanese tourists even gawked, suprised and wondering how a YF-30 even got here so soon. It was a nice experience,

Then came the inevitable. As I was lining up a shot, A japanese family and their kids were getting their shot taken with the shooter statue on the flight deck and their toddler, bless his heart, wasn't watching where he was going and stepped on Chronos Kun. one rear stabilizer came off it's beg, and it almost looked like it was leaning.

I was shocked at first, as the mother immediately scooped him up and apologized profusely for what happened, (she was one of the few watching me at the time) but I insisted that no harm was done and that it was alright.

I scooped up Chronos Kun almost with a dread, knowing I had led her demise on her first outing, and did a visual once over. And to my surprise, she had shrugged it off like it was nothing. The stabilizer fin, as everyone knows isnt really fastened so that coming off wasn't much of a big deal, the lean wasnt there at all either. Just a litle jostle of the landing gear, (it snapped back in place) and she was good as (relatively) new.

I know bandai hasn't had much of a track record in terms of build quality, which almost makes me want to chalk this one up to blind luck, but the fact that Chronos Kun SURVIVED a toddler trouncing, on a No Skid Surface on less...well that says something...thats for sure.

only lasting damage? So paint scrape off the top of the Gunpod. Now it has a little bit of a worn look now.

Edited August 18, 2014 by XFJ-01A