Arcadia YF-19 coming in 2014

[Reïvaj]

I really hope the wing hinges have ratchets. Nothing else will hold/last over time in battroid mode, period. And I mean ratchets on like EVERY axis/hinge/joint.

And I want the shoulder covers to STAY DOWN in fighter mode. That always bugged me on the last one---while the shoulders themselves would lock to the legs, the covers would still pop up whenever you squeezed it anywhere near the wingroots, as they'd press against the unsecured shoulder armor. Both the shoulders/thrusters, and the shoulder covers/armor need to lock in place in fighter mode.

I believe you don't have a Yamato VF-19, have you?

[David Hingtgen]

VF-19? No. Was waiting for either the -19F to get cheap, or a new Isamu. And Isamu's happened first.

Also--I have seen Yamato "regress", making things worse, or "forgetting" things. Just because the VF-19 may have done something right, does not guarantee the new YF-19 will have it too. In fact, some of my (and other people's) biggest complaints about the first 1/60 YF-19 and YF-21, were not present in the old 1/72 versions----Yamato somehow "forgot" some things when making the 1/60 versions that were very much needed/appreciated on the older 1/72 versions.

So I don't blindly trust them/Arcadia's design team to keep every improvement, or to not "screw up what they already fixed".

[Reïvaj]

Yep, it's entirely up to you

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

VF-19? No. Was waiting for either the -19F to get cheap, or a new Isamu. And Isamu's happened first.

Also--I have seen Yamato "regress", making things worse, or "forgetting" things. Just because the VF-19 may have done something right, does not guarantee the new YF-19 will have it too. In fact, some of my (and other people's) biggest complaints about the first 1/60 YF-19 and YF-21, were not present in the old 1/72 versions----Yamato somehow "forgot" some things when making the 1/60 versions that were very much needed/appreciated on the older 1/72 versions.

So I don't blindly trust them/Arcadia's design team to keep every improvement, or to not "screw up what they already fixed".

The old YF-19 was probably the worst of the 3 Macross Plus toys imo. But the VF-19 made up for it. Maybe they put a lot more effort into the VF-19 because macross 7 was a lot more well received in japan than macross plus?

Basara and the clown valk (and variants) is popular so they poured a lot of effort into that. Whatever lessons they learned from that will probably be brought to new edition of macross plus mecha.

1/60 VF-11 despite being the cannon fodder in the show, was my fave toy of the three. Too bad it didn't sell well. I think Arcadia need to make sure they only make limited quantities of less popular mecha from now on if they wish to survive.

Edited July 24, 2013 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Graham]

VF-19? No. Was waiting for either the -19F to get cheap, or a new Isamu. And Isamu's happened first.

Also--I have seen Yamato "regress", making things worse, or "forgetting" things. Just because the VF-19 may have done something right, does not guarantee the new YF-19 will have it too. In fact, some of my (and other people's) biggest complaints about the first 1/60 YF-19 and YF-21, were not present in the old 1/72 versions----Yamato somehow "forgot" some things when making the 1/60 versions that were very much needed/appreciated on the older 1/72 versions.

So I don't blindly trust them/Arcadia's design team to keep every improvement, or to not "screw up what they already fixed".

Haha, exactly what things were appreciated on the 1/72 versions?????

Don't think it's a case of Yamato forgetting things, rather, it's a completely different designer now, compared to the old design team(s).

Graham

[Dobber]

Curious why a new design team would not look at what a different team did....to get ideas and/or watch for pitfalls ect. Would it be due to pride or would it be considered something like plagiarism?

Chris

[CRYO]

Yamato's VF17 does have build in neck cover, but that was a bit hard to pull it out from that little space, and keep it in place as it will be pushed while you adjust the head position in fighter mode.... so I like their decision to keep the extra neck cover part just like VF19

[Chronocidal]

Oh, its not likely at all that the neck cover is integrated, sadly. I just mistook the actual neck for the cover in that pic. If this transforms like the VF-19s, there's no room for anything under that chest piece.

Really, I don't know if I even care if the YF-19 has a neck cover at all though, since the cover is black anyway, and doesn't "disappear" like on the fire valk. They might make the neck gray underneath like before, so the black will cover that, but the gray never bothered me that much on the first version.

[Mechapilot77]

haven't checked this thread in a while. it does come with a lot of cool stuff. Lets hope they don't price this out of the stratosphere. It should really be closer to the VF-19 prices than the VF-4G. I flat out am not paying anything close to $400 shipped for this. If Arcadia truly is using Bandai as a gage of pricing lets hope it comes in near the price of the upcoming DX VF-27 with super parts. To be honest, i think they will lose A TON of customers (remember M+ wasn't that popular in japan compared to m7 etc) if they start getting too ambitious with their pricing strategy.

[David Hingtgen]

Haha, exactly what things were appreciated on the 1/72 versions?????

1. On the 1/72 YF-19, the chest had two sets of slots for the wings to connect to---one for fighter, one for GERWALK. This locked the chest in place in the "slightly raised" position, rather than just flopping about on top of the spine like on the 1/60. True, both of them have the godawful "chest doesn't lock in battroid" issue, but the 1/72 at least figured out something for GERWALK---and I believe the 1/60 VF-19 has something similar.

2. On the 1/60 YF-21, probably my biggest issue with fighter mode was how the upper rear fuselage didn't tab/lock into place at all, it purely depended on friction. And it was fighting the legs and belly plates, and usually lost. The 1/72 had a tab that locked into place totally flush and darn near seamless. Strangely, the 1/72 FP YF-21 seemed to have changed there---it was never as good as the original, the tab barely connected and always seemed "raised up" a little. But still better than the 1/60's "oh, let's just hope the friction is strong enough" method.

3. Related, the 1/72 actually had decent posts/tabs to hold the belly plates in place, especially at the rear. The 1/60---well, I don't really need to specify the various ways the 1/60's belly plates didn't hold in place or connect to anything--especially at the rear. The 1/60 really was a mess at the rear, I honestly feel the 1/72 transformed with more "finality" there. The 1/60 you just kind of shoved everything in together, smooshed it as tight as you could, and hoped the belly plates would sorta hold, while bulging all around. The 1/72---the feet and belly plates really "meshed" and didn't fight each other. (a couple of actual posts and slots could have really helped the 1/60 there, but wouldn't really have solved the root problem)

[Reïvaj]

No matter how bad one may think the 1/60 YF-19 and YF-21 are, the 1/72 ones are much worse IMO

Edited July 24, 2013 by Reïvaj

[Shaorin]

for my part, the "High-Speed Mode" gimmick is a BIG MISTAKE. the current Yammie/ARCADIA VF/YF base frame is complex enough as is... and AMAZINGLY DURABLE for all that.

the last thing this beautiful work of art needs is an Achilles' heel dragging it all down, and i'm really not so sure how ARCADIA (Mr.K) can make this gimmick rugged enough

to live up to the standard set by my own nigh-indestructible VF-19S copy.

that said, Mr.K has handily pulled off some impossible engineering feats to date, and perhaps i should just sit back and have faith in ARCADIA's miracle-worker...

Edited July 24, 2013 by Shaorin

[Reïvaj]

Yeah, the fact you're not sure how they can make it doesn't mean they can't or that it's a big mistake. I'm pretty sure they offer the gimmick because they can make it so let's hope for the best.

[Mommar]

Yeah, the fact you're not sure how they can make it doesn't mean they can't or that it's a big mistake. I'm pretty sure they offer the gimmick because they can make it so let's hope for the best.

Just because they can make it doesn't mean it won't break... And it's a possible sacrifice for a mode that many of us find at best useless, and and in all likelihood very, very dumb.

Edited July 24, 2013 by Mommar

[Scyla]

Oh come on, we all have fun swiveling wings around. That was the coolest feature of the old F-14 model kits. To bad they cannot make them geared.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

funny how things change, prior to the cads coming out everyone saying "high speed mode as one of the wishes they want to see" now it's the other way around...

[Reïvaj]

Exactly. Sometimes people are hard to please...

[Ahab]

And this thing is (at least) six months away... Can you imagine how "the glass is half empty" folks are going to sound by that time?! I think I'll check back in next year!

Edited July 24, 2013 by Ahab

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I just hope nothing explodes. This thing will cost a lot of money so I expect high quality.

I think much like the Yamato Konig monster the old 19 needed someone to check how good it was as a figure with enough locking mechanism to make it feel like a complete toy as opposed to a thing you leave on a display and never touch.

When they did the vf-19 it was designed around robot mode it seems because everything was all chunky like the lineart of these mechs in robot mode. And it looked posable in pics. That seems to be the new direction of these later valks.

If they do a yf-21 after this, will this mean beefier legs (in accordance with the robot mode lineart) I wonder?

I wish arcadia did some mospeada toys. Wasn't that big a fan of the CMs "slim" Legioss.

Edited July 24, 2013 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Mommar]

I never wanted high speed. I think it completely ruins the bird of prey look and it introduces a new potential point of failure. I think there's two different camps here, and now you're hearing from the opposite now that it's known they're changing things to accommodate the mode.

[Frogze]

Fingers crossed for a new YF-21 next. Although I'm happy with the two I already own, I'll gladly take another rendition by Arcadia that matches this beauty.

I'm a high speed mode supporter myself, and I'm really glad it was included in this toy besides it's the first transforming toy that would achieve this feat to my knowledge, it was also in one of the coolest scenes in M+ and appeared frequently in the Macross games on PSP (whenever you hit the afterburners).

If they can make it and it's a lineart feature why not make it even if I'm never going to use it?

I don't care for the wing missiles personally but I might change my mind in a few months who knows ?

[Valkyrie addict]

I can't wait for the next 10 years when we begin to complain about how the prototype pics of the v4 YF-19 don't show the accurate LED lighting color shade and why it won't come with included batteries.

[Shaorin]

Exactly. Sometimes people are hard to please...

i'm just hoping that if this gimmick, of already questionable value to many, absolutely must be included, that it can be executed

without compromising the overall ruggedness of the VF-19 base that this new YF is designed upon in any way whatsoever .

i mean, that's one of the things i love the most about my VF-19S; it is quite complex, yet rugged as all hell.

i have transformed my primary copy like 100 times at least by now, and i never feel like anything is going to break in any way.

it is an expensive, and relatively difficult to obtain toy, and it's overall rugged assurance of design is, well, reassuring.

without the question of this unknown radical of a wing gimmick hanging over their heads,

potential prospective buyers such as myself could reasonably expect this new YF-19

to be every bit the rugged masterpiece that the 19S/F/Ps are, and could be more than comfortable in the assurance

of spending $250+ on a thoroughly satisfying tank of a VF toy, closely based upon an existing proven winner of a design...

Edited July 25, 2013 by Shaorin

[skullmilitia]

I can't wait for the next 10 years when we begin to complain about how the prototype pics of the v4 YF-19 don't show the accurate LED lighting color shade and why it won't come with included batteries.

That's funny you say that, that's actually where the industry is headed.

There's a lot of companies moving into lighting that is pushing the boundaries

Of toy lighting, Hell 3A has the Halo figures using fiber optic lighting.

It's cheap now, plus ... Lighted cockpits? Nav lights..

Ha maybe someday.

[anime52k8]

That's funny you say that, that's actually where the industry is headed.

There's a lot of companies moving into lighting that is pushing the boundaries

Of toy lighting, Hell 3A has the Halo figures using fiber optic lighting.

It's cheap now, plus ... Lighted cockpits? Nav lights..

Ha maybe someday.

totally off topic but I think I would have preferred it if 3A had passed on the light up gimmicks and instead included additional accessories with their Halo figures.

in general I think lights and sounds are cool, but when I'm looking at a figure where light/sound gimmicks aren't the primary draw there pretty low on my priority list behind detail, accessories, pose-ability and materials.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I am a fan of gimmicks like sounds and lights if they don't intrude in any way to the toy.

The leader class brawl toy from the original Bayformers movie is a good example. The buttons to activate the sounds are virtually hidden on the toy. You would not suspect they were even buttons to make a shooting sound.

If they can't do that easily, then it is no big deal to me without it.

the future toys will probably have materials that bend and flex like muscles to capture the original quality of the skin of the yf-21.

Edited July 25, 2013 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[EXO]

I can't wait for the next 10 years when we begin to complain about how the prototype pics of the v4 YF-19 don't show the accurate LED lighting color shade and why it won't come with included batteries.

Not only that, they put the battery where the wire gets worn by transformation! What the hell Deathshadow! Why do I keep giving you my money and all I get is wonky crap! End typing... no Siri! Don't include that last part. Goddamit... I said stop...

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

let's go back to complaining about the non ratchet feet... i liked that topic... at least we have experience with both ball joint and ratchet to know what does and doesn't work.

those prefer non-high speed, i would hold onto the fire and blazers, the latest tech without the high speed wings... so we'll get the best of both worlds. if we won both.

and those who want 1/72 features... i guess we still have time till 2014 so we can still complain and hope it reaches Mr. K.

[Isamu Dyson]

Lets hope they don't price this out of the stratosphere. It should really be closer to the VF-19 prices than the VF-4G. I flat out am not paying anything close to $400 shipped for this. If Arcadia truly is using Bandai as a gage of pricing lets hope it comes in near the price of the upcoming DX VF-27 with super parts. To be honest, i think they will lose A TON of customers (remember M+ wasn't that popular in japan compared to m7 etc) if they start getting too ambitious with their pricing strategy.

Wow - 3 extra pilot figures, missle containers and fast pack. I expect this baby to be about the $400 range before shipping. I just have a gut feeling Arcadia is going to price the YF-19 similar to the VF-4G. So be prepared my friend. M7 was more popular to the general audiences but to the Macross fans who followed since SDF, M+ stands toe to toe if not more so to most of us. Only serious Macross fans would shell out that kind of cash and we will. Start saving up buddy cuz once the final mass production pics starts rolling, you might have to think about biting the bullet.

Edited July 25, 2013 by Isamu Dyson

[raptormesh]

The price for this would be a good indicator for that VF-0D they are doing next. Right? RIGHT?

[Isamu Dyson]

After the VF-4G - anything is possible now even a VF-0D.

Arcadia: Ghost X-9 us already - It doesn't even transform. Simple and easy sell for us - Just don't mark it up to $400.

I think Graham may have mentioned to Yamato about the VF-0D just before the time it fused with Arcadia. Might want to ask him how that conversation went. Thinking back he hinted about the YF-19 revist by Yamato so in essence he was the first to know in MW.

[Graham]

VF-0D is the most likely possibility after YF-19, followed by all new VF-0S.

Graham

[Graham]

The post with the photo of the open leg weapon bay seems to have disappeared. Can somebody please repost it.

Thanks in advance.

Graham

[Isamu Dyson]

Sweet! Is this insider information back with Yamato or have you reconnected a source with Arcadia now?

[Mommar]

I'm surprised Graham was so open about that this time...

To be fair, back when all we saw were some CAD designs there was a mini-VF-0D fig sitting right smack in the middle of the blueprints. Mr. K likes to tease his projects. A 0D and a fixed 0S would be pretty cool. I suspect they would cost what the the VF-19's have been now.