Arcadia: 1/60 VF 1S Roy Focker Special Movie Ver

[technoblue]

Indeed. I have halogen lights set in the candelabra in the dining room where I took those photos. The pink hue in the bright Arcadia white does stand out there, especially with both Roys side-by-side. I agree that lighting is a factor, though, because it isn't as obvious in the room where I display them (that room has better controlled lighting).

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

Ironically the valkyries on the site banner up on top of the page have the same pinkish hue.

too funny

Indeed. I have halogen lights set in the candelabra in the dining room where I took those photos. The pink hue in the bright Arcadia white does stand out there, especially with both Roys side-by-side. I agree that lighting is a factor, though, because it isn't as obvious in the room where I display them (that room has better controlled lighting).

i was going to say it reminds me of the colors of both your avatars

thanks techno blue and eriku for the photos!!

Edited January 22, 2014 by davidwhangchoi

[Scyla]

Now that I had time to fiddle with the toy a bit more I really see some lost potential in the stand. I still love how the pieces of the stand feel when I handle them but I have some thoughts how the stand would be better.

1. Make the base a bit longer so you can sink the main strut of the arm into the middle of the base which would create sort of a launch deck of an aircraft carrier. The support strut can be stored in the compartments so it is all neat and tidy.

2. Add an additional joint in front of the connection to the support strut so that the plane can roll. It could be as simple as the piece where the stand adapter attaches to. Maybe beef it up a bit so the toy is save.

3. Add an additional rotation joint int the main arm behind the connector of the support strut so that we can pose the Valkyrie as it launches with a steep ascent from the deck of the carrier.

I have it display in a way where the main arm is hanging off the other and of the base and the support strut fills in the gab in the middle to fake the look of a flight deck but I like my stands as I like my transforming toys: sleek, self-contained and intricate.

[edit:] I have to add that the base looks like a dustpan right now and I don't like that.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Scyla

[Chronocidal]

I haven't looked at my stand closely to check, but if it's anything like the SV-51/YF-21 stand, it should be possible to rotate the tip of the stand, and mount it sideways so you can roll the jet. I'm not sure about roll and pitch though.

The old stand had a different mount than the standard Yamato stand adapters, and had a big peg that would accept the adapters at several angles, so you could mount the valk sideways, tilted, backwards, etc, to get the maximum variability out of the stand. You would have to angle the base in some weird ways to display the valk that way though.

Edit: Yeah, just looked at my stand, the tip that accepts the stand adapters can be attached at a lot of angles, looks like either 12 or 16. All you have to do is mount the tip rotated, and you can get pretty much any angle of bank and pitch you want, as long as you don't mind the base being angled on your shelf.

Edited January 24, 2014 by Chronocidal

[Scyla]

You can rotate the tip of the stand I know that but I would rather have a stand where the stand is always under the toy itself. It just looks better and I have a better feeling displaying it like that.

Frankly I really like the Bandai stands that come with the Renewal VFs. They might look ugly but you don't have to take the plane apart to mount it because attaching the Fighter-Mode piece on the VF-1 is just scary. And why is the gun-pod of the VF-1 so damn close to the connector piece? I don't want to display it with the gun-pod attached because either it is under pressure of the stand piece or it is angled.

It is a good stand but it has just too many issue that let me scratch my head. I still like to touch it once and a while because the plastic feels so good. Don't say anything I know it is creepy.

[Reïvaj]

You may have one of these if you buy a VF-1S Roy Focker Special at WF:

Source: Arcadia

[ErikElvis]

scratch/dent VF-1S Roy on HLJ:

http://www.hlj.com/product/DMG-1-ACA82018/Sci

thanks I ordered it. we'll see how bad it is.

Edit: or should i cancel it and get another 29 isamu...

Just got it in the mail. I was expecting the worst. Only like a 2" tear on the back of the box. not bad at all

[Knightdramon]

Little help here?

I'm THIS close to getting this one [still available everywhere].

It does have all the extra side cover things the last Yamato release has, right?

I'm kind of turned off by the bright[er] white colour though; do you see these yellowing in the future more easily than the old Yamato ones?

Ah decisions, decisions...

[Ignacio Ocamica]

None of my Yamato white TV VF-1 valks have yellowed so I guess you should be fine.

My Hikaru VF-1J (from 2008 or 2009) has no discoloration at all.

[Chronocidal]

I have seen a little yellowing on some of my bright white valks, but only the ones I haven't kept hidden in a box, or behind things to protect them. It's highly dependent on environment too, since even in complete darkness, I've had old toys yellow just from being kept in somewhere that could get warm.

Lesson learned, never store things in a garage in California.

[matic]

How long would it take box items in a garage to start yellowing? Mines been less then two.

[Chronocidal]

I can't really say, because the toy I'm thinking of (an old GI Joe Crusader Shuttle) was up there for easily ten years, stashed in the rafters of my garage. The key thing is, while it was dark in the box, it was also a house in the middle of Caifornia, where summers get up into the 100-110s at times.

Basically, bottom line, if you're going to store things long term, put them somewhere that'll be UV-resistant (a cardboard box won't do it, it seems), and keep them as low to the ground as possible to avoid the really warm air. If you can keep them in a space with air conditioning, and away from any direct sunlight or heat, you'll be much better off.

Edited March 8, 2014 by Chronocidal

[jenius]

You also need to make sure there isn't a ton of moisture in that environment though also so a basement might not be a good fit either.

[SuperSenpai]

I've read conflicting reports on air contact w.r.t. to yellowing -- some saying that keeping the toy in sealed in its box prevents yellowing due to lack of contact with the outside air, others saying the opposite, that leaving it sealed in its box without any circulation will cause it to yellow.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

i agree on the conflicting reports.

i have a vf-1s v.1 lying out on top of the radiator in my parents place that i forgot about when i moved. left it there for years and no yellowing. i think environment is a huge factor.

[Cdr Fokker]

i agree on the conflicting reports.

i have a vf-1s v.1 lying out on top of the radiator in my parents place that i forgot about when i moved. left it there for years and no yellowing. i think environment is a huge factor.

It seems to vary a lot from piece-to-piece as well.

I have two V1 CFs that I took out recently. One had never been displayed, the other had been displayed for a couple of years before being put away in storage. Both were stored in the same way in the same locations. The one that had never been displayed has yellowed, while the one that had been on display didn't. Go figure.

Oh, and my V1 Max 1A, which I have owned for the longest of all of my Valks, still has yet to yellow. And it's sitting on my desk at work.

[Sandman]

Yeah my V1 Max 1A has yet to yellow. My hikaru that sits right beside it has partially yellowed.

[Budo]

Hello everyone! It's my first post here so forgive me for raising this topic from the dead - I didn't feel comfortable with starting a new one just to ask a few questions.

Anyway - I'm a long time Macross (Robotech as a kid) fan from Montenegro (currently living in Serbia) and one of the things I had always dreamed of was a perfectly transformable VF-1 valk. My dream came true about a month ago when I got my Arcadia 1/60 Roy from my girlfriend as the best birthday present ever. Since it's almost impossible (or just incredibly expensive) to get anything of this sort in this neck of the woods, she grabbed the opportunity when one of our friends who lives in Japan was coming over unexpectedly and ordered it for me. Long story short - I'm a fan, not a collector and I wanted this to be able to handle it, play with it, pose it, take pictures, brag to my friends... Roy has been a source of joy for me (and envy for others) ever since I got him.

I've read a lot about the various issues Yamato and others had with the various releases of the VF-1 toys, but I haven't seen comparisons with the one Arcadia release, so I thought I'd share some of my own (mis)adventures with my specimen...

First of all - right out of the box, as I was handling the jet for the first time, a small piece fell out of it. Turned out to be a small piece of the engine detail in the foot:

It's molded separately and upon close examination, it looked as if it was never glued in at all. I put a tiny dab of basic universal glue on it and put it back in its place.

Pretty soon afterwards, the seat on the neck cover gimmick separated from the base (I didn't take pictures of this, it's self explanatory). Again, tiny dab of glue and it's back on.

These two occurrences made me think that perhaps whoever was putting these tiny cosmetic bits together perhaps missed a few spots, which is something to think about, but certainly not that big of a deal overall.

Then just yesterday, after more than a month of owning it, I had two problems: first a piece of one of the bottom fins fell off (I was very lucky to catch this, it's tiny!)

Looking at it, it didn't break, but just fell off. As it's a fully painted piece, as it fell off, its paint stayed glued firmly to the base, and just the plastic detached! As you can see, it's back on, but I figure this could be an issue specific to the VF-1 as one hald of the landing gear bay door hits this piece of the fin as it opens and puts pressure on it when open, all the time. Other owners should take note, as this is an easy little thing to overlook and lose.

Finally, the big problem:

This is the side that rubs against the other shoulder when the arms are "packed in" in fighter mode. Am I doing it wrong somehow? Because no matter how I do it, it's such a tight fit and the shoulder pads rub against eachother when I pull them out or in. I must say, the paint job on the entire toy is impeccable, except for the shoulders, so I'm a bit disappointed at how easily a highly visible part is damaged. I've temporarily dabbed it a bit with a Sharpie so as it's not an eyesore, but I'm open to suggestions and advice.

[xrentonx]

Yeah...gotta be careful on the paint rub but that's pretty much true about any toy. Are you pulling both arms at the same time or one at a time?

[MacrossJunkie]

Dang... that's the first time I've heard of that happening regarding those pieces that fell off.

That's also the worst case of paint rub I've seen for the shoulder. I've only seen and had the Yamato made ones so I don't know if there's anything different with the paint or something else on the Arcadia versions.

The only thing I could possibly think of to help is after you've fixed it is to try clear coating the shoulder parts. A semi-gloss black and masking tape should do the trick if you want to fully fix the black painted area. I would just be careful pulling the arms out from fighter mode or pushing them back into position for fighter from then on.

[Budo]

Yeah...gotta be careful on the paint rub but that's pretty much true about any toy. Are you pulling both arms at the same time or one at a time?

It took me four hours to get it to battroid the first time. I was so careful I triple checked everything and watched three Youtube guides, as well as consulted the printed manual.

But yeah, I sort of fiddle with them to find the optimal position to release both, as all the Youtube clips show them coming out rather easily. Perhaps the stiffness of the shoulder ball joints is the issue: Arcadia makes them SUPER STIFF, at least mine is. Every time I rotate the arms, I carefully hold the shoulder hinges, as the pressure bends them easily, and I don't care if these are not V1 - I'm not letting mine explode.

*snip*

Thanks, I'll definitely consult friends with more resources and experience (I know several master model builders and painters locally) if it continues to be an issue in the future.

Anyway, I'm still extremely happy with it, even though its cost still weighs on me (in these parts, 16.600 Yen is the equivalent of a month's rent), but I just wanted to offer some perspective from the viewpoint of a "hands-on" owner, since I haven't found reports from the other owners of Arcadia VF-1s. Hope it helps someone.

[xrentonx]

Forgot to ask...do the rub marks appear on both shoulders?

[Budo]

Nope, just that one. Although the paint has sort of chipped away in tiny bits at the edges, like you see on the above image.

[xrentonx]

Hmmm...my guess it that you're pulling the arms one at a time if the rub marks are uneven like that. I'm not sure what they show in the instructions or what other people do, but I try to pull the arms and have them swing on their arcs evenly if possible to minimize any rubbing. It's a tight fit so if I move the arms on their arcs evenly, the space between them should be the same at all points. If they don't move at the same time, just move one arm a little on its way so that you can start the movement of the other arm. The shoulders do have a little tilt and give to them. So far I have no paint rubs...knock on wood

Edit: I got both Yamato and Arcadia releases.

Edited October 25, 2014 by xrentonx

[wmkjr]

The same thing happened to the bottom fin on mine.

[ChaoticYeti]

Has anyone else had a foot fall off? I was just going from fighter to gerwalk, and one of the "toes" just fell to the floor. It does not look like anything is broke. The glue just gave up.

[Chronocidal]

I've occasionally had that happen on various valks, I know the foot thruster vents have slipped out of place on more than one of my VF-1s. It's just a lack of glue, or glue that came loose really, should be easy to clean the mount and re-glue it.

[ChaoticYeti]

It is an easy fix. I was just curious as to how common this was.

[Mommar]

I've not had that happen to any of my 20+ VF-1's.

[ZDZIYO]

Isn't there a peg?

I think you can put it back.

Has anyone else had a foot fall off? I was just going from fighter to gerwalk, and one of the "toes" just fell to the floor. It does not look like anything is broke. The glue just gave up.

[jenius]

I've seen that before. I have it worse on my VF-11B toy.

[barurutor]

I've had one foot thruster vent fall off my 30th anniversary VF-1D, just glued it back in place.

[ChaoticYeti]

Yep, like I said it isn't broken. It slides right back on. A dab of glue should do it.

[Xigfrid]

It happened to my Yamato VF-1S Roy "30th anniversary" edition. Perhaps they were in a hurry for this last production before switching to Arcadia and less QC?

[anime52k8]

The one thing that Yamato was consistently inconsistent about throughout their entire history was using enough glue. even under the Arcadia banner, they still have issues with little bits popping off because they're not glued down properly.