Bandai VF-19 Advance....!!!

[CoreyD]

Fair enough. Admittedly, I know very little about mass manufacturing, but it stood to reason that the poor QC issues Mr. K. talked about could easily spill over to manufacturing tolerances as well. Point taken.

[Test_Pilot_2]

Received my VF-19 Advance today. Boy is it gorgeous. The review posted above is phenomenal! I too observed some of the sticking points of it, but regardless it is still a marvelous little piece. My last 19 was Yamato's 1/72 YF-19 that I sadly had to sell due to uncontrollable circumstances... First thing that crossed my mind was how ridiculously far they've come with the details and quality of these figures.

I'm ultra-excited to see how nice my VF-4 will be next year.

Now waiting for the Hi-Metal R Strike, but feel like it would've been better to get that one first, THEN the VF-19. I can't help but feel once I get the Hi-Metal I'll likely be disappointed after fiddling around with the 19.

[Loop]

Your actually lucky you sold your 1/72, I hope you got a good value for it when it was newer.

*edit*

That came out wrong, sorry for the circumstances that made you have to sell it.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Loop

[DarkHawk]

Hey!?!?! ..... I was just on Hlj.com and the dx vf-19 advance is in stock!?!?!

Edited December 23, 2015 by DarkHawk

[505thAirborne]

Hey!?!?! ..... I was just on Hlj.com and the dx vf-19 advance is in stock!?!?!

Not a horrible price, anyone who still wants one.... Now's the time!!

[Double Spy]

Just saw this too

[Pedro2k6]

http://www.hlj.com/product/ban992012

[505thAirborne]

And they're gone!!

[JLYC]

And they're gone!!

was surprised to see it in stock when i was just browsing hlj. took me a couple hours to bite the bullet but after i placed my order it's out of stock again so maybe i got the last one.

[505thAirborne]

was surprised to see it in stock when i was just browsing hlj. took me a couple hours to bite the bullet but after i placed my order it's out of stock again so maybe i got the last one.

You probably did, I'll bet someone the other day found a box of these hiding in the stockroom. Congrats on getting one, you'll definitely enjoy this VF-19!!

[JLYC]

You probably did, I'll bet someone the other day found a box of these hiding in the stockroom. Congrats on getting one, you'll definitely enjoy this VF-19!!

i believe so...and it's not just the vf19...there were some other collectibles that were long sold out that all of a sudden appeared on hlj as in stock again

[Vi-RS]

was surprised to see it in stock when i was just browsing hlj. took me a couple hours to bite the bullet but after i placed my order it's out of stock again so maybe i got the last one.

Nope, you are not, but thanks for the heads up.

[Valkyrie Driver]

Sorry for the Thread Necro, but I just had a terrifying experience and figured I'd let you all know so you can avoid this issue if you have it.

The intake began cracking as I tried to transform my VF-19. it's because the hips are so stiff, which is nice for holding a pose, but there is a range that is stiff as you transform the legs.

I haven't gone in and tried to fix the hip yet, as I got it around, but I'll have to sooner or later, and I'll need to get in there with a bit of superglue to fix the cracking.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Valkyrie Driver

[mickyg]

Pics on that one would be super helpful! I've had the whole intake piece apart and it would be really good to know what's weak and what to look out for. Thanks for sharing, lack of pics notwithstanding!

[Valkyrie Driver]

I'll get some pics up, but essentially what you need to do is take the intake off, and loosen the screws holding the two halves of the hip joint together. That should give you enough slack to avoid the cracking issue I had. I already went ahead and fixed it, however I still have some stress marks where it started.

Like I said I'll get pics up, I'm not at home right now, so I don't have access to the toy.

[Valkyrie Driver]

As promised, pics!

Here's the break:

here's the screws to remove the leg/intake assembly from the joint:

here's the screws to loosen/remove the joint:

now, after you remove the screws the joint won't just come apart, there are some grey-green-blue ish retainer/trim pieces that will continue to hold the joint together, those need to come off to completely access the ball. They can be a bit fiddly to get back together, but it shouldn't take long (I have big, ham fisted sausage mitts, so if I can do it, anyone can).

From now on be a bit more gentle with the hip rotation for transformation, grip it as high on the intake as you can and pinch while turning to avoid this problem!

I really hope this helped!

Edited April 6, 2016 by Valkyrie Driver

[mickyg]

Thanks!

So it's not the screws that provide the clamping pressure on the ball that you're having to loosen, right? I did the same thing when i first got the toy, as the joint was simply too tight to safely move the legs against. Perhaps I've already lessened the potential for breakage?

I posted pics as well but they're so many pages ago that I'm not sure I could easily find them.

[Valkyrie Driver]

It's the screws in the third picture, the ones that clamp the ball that need to be loosened. The screws that clamp the leg/intake assembly to the joint housing should be as tight as you can get them so the leg doesn't just come free.

You might have lessened the potential for breakage if you have already messed with the joint housing. I'm going to need to be more careful in transforming the toy from this point forward to lessen the stress on that section of the toy.

[onnasake]

I saw this in person for the first time today in Akihabara. God, it was beautiful.

Unfortunately, I was priced out of this hobby a long time ago. I'd need it to be a third of what it retails for for it to be an actual option for me.

Jealous of all of you that own this toy!

[Valkyrie Driver]

It really is a beautiful toy, and a real joy to play with (after you loosen those hip joints though, jeez that's scary). I picked mine up for about 260USD shipped, and had it within a week, and I feel lucky to have one.

I have a real love affair with the Y/VF-19 series, as they are just such good looking birds, in fact I started with the Hi-Metal VF-19S, then got a Yamato YF-19, then a Yamato VF-19F, and I still wasn't satisfied, and got the VF-19Adv, which brings my 19 total to 4, I own more of the 19 than any other VF.

Now, my collection is not extensive, by any stretch, and it has been at this point the better part of a decade and I have only 16 toys, 15 valks and a tomahawk destroid, 13 of which are 1/60 scale, and 3 are 1/100. My collection has been the better part of a decade in the making. Don't feel bad, It'll likely be a long while before I go purchasing any more of these.

[Delta]

God help me, I just bit the bullet on this thing. I had Arcadia's YF-19 when that came out and was let down by the QC issues. Bandai's seems to be an improvement all around from what I've read.

[Delta]

Welp, got my VF-19 in the mail today and it's a lovely piece all around. However I appear to have a defective right-wing booster part. The circle-nub and tab that let it clip onto the wing root are noticeably flattened, so the part simply refuses to tab onto the wing root at all. It just pops right out. The left booster on the other hand is perfectly fine and tabs in with no problem (and rather securely at that!)

I'm not sure if there's any recourse for me as I bought this off of Mandarake.

[mickyg]

Delta, that's a pretty common issue and almost makes me think the mold was cast that way by mistake. There are a few fixes for it, and it's possible I even posted something about it in this very thread. As I recall, it entailed using a hobby knife to cut off some of the extra flat part of the tab.

And I'm just recalling that it also clips into one of the hardpoints under the wing as well. Have a look and see if that helps at all.

[ArchieNov]

It's not a defect to my knowledge. You just need to tab it in properly. Like mikyg said, there are 3 pegs that you need to tab in. One on top the wing root, another below it, and one last one that clips into one of the wing hardpoints. Get those 3 in and it's gonna be pretty secure.

[mickyg]

No, there's definitely some weirdness going on between the two sides. I took macro shots of it, even. One side is sharply molded and the other is, well, not. It looks like the mold had some tolerance issues or something.

But to the best of my knowledge, it's so common that I wouldn't be surprised if they're all that way.

Someone with toy manufacturing knowledge can chime in here, but is it common to only have one tool for casting plastic parts? Would that be crazy? If there are multiple molds for the parts, you'd expect some distribution in said "soft" detail on samples.

Edited April 21, 2016 by mickyg

[ArchieNov]

I dunno if should be called a defect. I've had 3 copies of the Advance myself and never had an issue tabbing the booster into all of them once I understood how to do it right.

[Valkyrie Driver]

I can get my booster to stay in place, but it doesn't tab in pretty, there's some weirdness with the way my right booster sits. But hey, I wanted it for the fighter and the Plus style super parts and the PPB punch effect, the big wing booster are just a plus for me. I love mine, and now that I've fixed my issue, I'm once more super pleased with my toy.

[raptormesh]

I've had mine for a year now and still have not transformed it because of how much I love the fighter mode. Maybe I should really do it.

[Duymon]

Weirdly enough i found it easiest to tab the boosters in battroid mode. Way easier to manipulate everything.

As for the calf armor in back, nail polish that part like yesterday before you start losing hair.

[Kanedas Bike]

You know, I've never even attempted to attach the Super Parts to either of my opened VF-19's. I like how clean they both look (one in Battroid, the other in Fighter) without them.'

Initially I thought that I'd definitely use them on Fighter but after having this in-hand I've never been motivated to try them out.

-b.

[technoblue]

I can get my booster to stay in place, but it doesn't tab in pretty, there's some weirdness with the way my right booster sits. But hey, I wanted it for the fighter and the Plus style super parts and the PPB punch effect, the big wing booster are just a plus for me. I love mine, and now that I've fixed my issue, I'm once more super pleased with my toy.

Valkyrie Driver:

I wanted to thank you for posting your description of that fix and including images of the parts. I bought my VF-19 Advanced new, and you could probably navigate back in this very thread to see how bummed I was about it because the very same leg on mine was super stiff and hard to maneuver back and forth. I ended up setting it aside instead of tackling the problem like I probably should have done.

On my copy, I had to open the whole joint completely and get to the ball. Once the diecast(?) clamping parts were separated from the ball, I noticed that the plastic(?) half had some flashing which was causing excess friction inside the joint. I used a sanding file to smooth and polish that area. I also added some plastic-friendly lube and put the leg back together. Now both legs are working swell, and I'm having a lot of fun with it.

[Valkyrie Driver]

Valkyrie Driver:

I wanted to thank you for posting your description of that fix and including images of the parts. I bought my VF-19 Advanced new, and you could probably navigate back in this very thread to see how bummed I was about it because the very same leg on mine was super stiff and hard to maneuver back and forth. I ended up setting it aside instead of tackling the problem like I probably should have done.

On my copy, I had to open the whole joint completely and get to the ball. Once the diecast(?) clamping parts were separated from the ball, I noticed that the plastic(?) half had some flashing which was causing excess friction inside the joint. I used a sanding file to smooth and polish that area. I also added some plastic-friendly lube and put the leg back together. Now both legs are working swell, and I'm having a lot of fun with it.

You're welcome, and I'm glad you found that useful. My joint loosened up considerably (however not annoyingly so) when I took the joint housing apart. It's a hobby, and lessons learned are best shared with the community. It enhances everyone's enjoyment.

[Sildani]

It's available again from Nippon-Yasan for the low, low price of...

¥45,000!?

Go get! https://www.nippon-yasan.com/10446-macross-f-dx-chogokin-vf-19-advance.html

[Kanedas Bike]

It's available again from Nippon-Yasan for the low, low price of...

¥45,000!?

Go get! https://www.nippon-yasan.com/10446-macross-f-dx-chogokin-vf-19-advance.html

Got the same email - just checked the price and lol'ed.

As a friend of mine used to say, "maybe it's time to sale mine".

-b.

[zulu]

Got the same email - just checked the price and lol'ed.

As a friend of mine used to say, "maybe it's time to sale mine".

-b.

Reminds me when the VF-4 was going for the same price and then Arcadia re-released it at $225. Just going to wait for the re-release