Hi-Metal R

[Lord_Of_Tetris]

Aaaaah freeeeeeeeeeaking hell. I preordered my 2 VF-2SS in July, and they haven't shipped yet. I got impatient of waiting and sent a message to the vendor. The response stated that 1 of my 2 VF-2SS has a "paint issue," they "contacted supplier to get a new one, but no more stock." The vendor refunded me the cost of 1 of the VF-2SS and stated it will ship one VF-2SS to me "this week."

Sigh. No damage done. I'm glad the vendor noticed a defect, I'm glad they won't be shipping me a defective item, and I'm glad I received a refund. I wish the vendor was proactive in telling me this, but in the end, no damage done.

First world problems, I guess. I had my heart set on getting TWO of these, and much sooner than this.

[spacemanoeuvres]

18 minutes ago, UN Spacy said:

Who has the new SDF: Macross animation in the most recent Hi-Metal commercial?

 

It features Roy dogfighting with some NJD'S inside Macross City.

Someone posted this on the discord server:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1470780579701589&id=1072529709526680&refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2FMechaAlliance%2Fvideos%2F1470780579701589%2F&_rdr

quality is pretty bad though 

Edited December 4, 2017 by spacemanoeuvres

[Sanity is Optional]

19 minutes ago, spacemanoeuvres said:

Someone posted this on the discord server:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1470780579701589&id=1072529709526680&refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2FMechaAlliance%2Fvideos%2F1470780579701589%2F&_rdr

quality is pretty bad though 

So, right before the "Valkyrie project" logo they showed a bunch of valkyries, including the YF-21. This gives me hope.

[edit] Upon closer inspection, there also appears to be a VF-11.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Sanity is Optional

[HardlyNever]

20 minutes ago, spacemanoeuvres said:

Someone posted this on the discord server:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1470780579701589&id=1072529709526680&refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2FMechaAlliance%2Fvideos%2F1470780579701589%2F&_rdr

quality is pretty bad though 

Based on that ad, it looks like "Valkyrie project" is a new bandai line?  Maybe trying to create "definitive" versions of the most iconic macross valks? 

Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.

[Convectuoso]

Well, the ad shows the Queadluun-Rau. That gives me hope

[505thAirborne]

Seeing the Queadluun-Rau & YF-21 is a good sign, hell if we're going by that commercial, might as well add the SDF-1 to the list..... not that I'm complaining mind you. 

[no3Ljm]

48 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

Seeing the Queadluun-Rau & YF-21 is a good sign, hell if we're going by that commercial, might as well add the SDF-1 to the list..... not that I'm complaining mind you. 

Should we also add Gol Boddole's Fortress then? 

 

[505thAirborne]

16 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Should we also add Gol Boddole's Fortress then? 

 

Make it so #1!! 

[sh9000]

I’ll take the HMR TV Queadluun-Rau and TV white VF-1S Roy.

[ScrambledValkyrie]

25 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

I’ll take the HMR TV Queadluun-Rau and TV white VF-1S Roy.

Me too. And judging by the fact that these are what appear after the HMR logo (but before the DX logo) it would seem to suggest these are upcoming releases!

[Graham]

Received my two VF-2SS yesterday.

Only had time to open one and attach the SAP in battroid mode, but I'm liking what I see already.

Joints are nice and tight, it poses well and looks great. 

My initial impression is that this is the VF-2SS toy I've been waiting 25 years for and it's far superior to the Evolution Toys version. 

Of course, I'd prefer a larger scale with less parts-forming, put for the size I'm loving it.

Will try transforming my other one to fighter mode at the weekend. 

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

Missed on Sylvie (couldn't afford it at the moment), but the one I really wanted is Nexx's anyway, I just wasn't sure when would Bandai release that one if ever. Now that it's coming I'm happy I didn't get Sylvie's. Bandai might even want to tweak the flaws on Nexx's, but I'll happily take it for what it is.   

[RDX17]

I don't know any of the details, but I'm hoping this Valkyrie Project doesn't affect the HM-R line (negatively that is). I'll be bummed if they drop HM-R for something else entirely.

[Podtastic]

13 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Should we also add Gol Boddole's Fortress then? 

 

If being in the ad is a criterion then we could add ALL the Zentraedi Capital ships. Which suits me fine.

[fenrir72]

3 hours ago, Podtastic said:

If being in the ad is a criterion then we could add ALL the Zentraedi Capital ships. Which suits me fine.

But will it sell? The Destroid Monster though a great undertaking ( I got one too) seems to be a turkey with regards to sales.

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

I love the Zentran ships myself, but as toys they'd have very little consumer's appeal IMHO, so I don't see Bandai making those anytime soon. They're just green turds that do nothing and wouldn't be in scale to anything. At least he SDF-1 transforms.

[Roy Focker]

Nobody is updating my VF-2SS shipping status.   Last reported status was that it left Japan's office of exchange on November 28th.

[Chronocidal]

Yeah, postal service updates across the board have just been nonsense for the past month or so for me.  I'll buy something, and I'll see it leave Japan, but I won't get an update on the US side until after they try to deliver it.

[Podtastic]

10 hours ago, Lonely Soldier Boy said:

I love the Zentran ships myself, but as toys they'd have very little consumer's appeal IMHO, so I don't see Bandai making those anytime soon. They're just green turds that do nothing and wouldn't be in scale to anything. At least he SDF-1 

I'm guessing that "green turd" comment refers to the lack of  the transformation gimmick rather than implying that the ship's are amorphous. Because each of the 6 ships I know has a very distinctive  shape.

I don't want the SDF 1, it's clunky shaped.

[sh9000]

Transformed Roy and Max so far.

[Podtastic]

11 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Yeah, postal service updates across the board have just been nonsense for the past month or so for me.  I'll buy something, and I'll see it leave Japan, but I won't get an update on the US side until after they try to deliver it.

When that happens all the time, and your parcel sits somewhere in the country for several months after shipping from japan in a  few days, then you are in the third world.

[anubis20]

The neck plate on the 2SS supposed to peg in somewhere? I took a peek at mine last night and out of the box i couldnt figure out if that neck plate pegs in anywhere. 

[GabrielV]

1 hour ago, anubis20 said:

The neck plate on the 2SS supposed to peg in somewhere? I took a peek at mine last night and out of the box i couldnt figure out if that neck plate pegs in anywhere. 

The rear of the neck plate kinda/sorta pegs in to the folding back plate, but not securely.  Otherwise it's just held in place by the front of it folding between the two joints as you change it to battloid.

 

[anubis20]

6 minutes ago, GabrielV said:

The rear of the neck plate kinda/sorta pegs in to the folding back plate, but not securely.  Otherwise it's just held in place by the front of it folding between the two joints as you change it to battloid.

 

Ah ok i havent transformed it so it might have been mis-transformed out of the box. Thanks!

[sh9000]

Transformed my VF-1A Hikaru into Fighter mode and just need to transform Kakizaki for my HMR Skull Squadron.  Then I’ll need to equip the rest of my CF’s with Fast Packs and transform them into Fighter mode.

Happy to pick up my 3rd Gnerl today.

[Mommar]

34 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Transformed my VF-1A Hikaru into Fighter mode and just need to transform Kakizaki for my HMR Skull Squadron.  Then I’ll need to equip the rest of my CF’s with Fast Packs and transform them into Fighter mode.

Happy to pick up my 3rd Gnerl today.

When do the giant battle diorama pics start going up?

[sh9000]

3 hours ago, Mommar said:

When do the giant battle diorama pics start going up?

I’ll see what I can do with the pockets of time that I have.  My wife and baby are my priorities.  I still want to make a custom Daedalus for my HMR some day as well.

Looking back at last year.

[Sanity is Optional]

After transforming my brand new VF-2SS into gerwalk, I'm feeling the anime magic.

Dear god, the number of hinges involved in the legs and hips.

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, Sanity is Optional said:

After transforming my brand new VF-2SS into gerwalk, I'm feeling the anime magic.

Dear god, the number of hinges involved in the legs and hips.

Yeah, I was surprised how the entire thing manages to hold together.  I transformed it blindly out of the box into fighter mode, and pretty much got everything lined up, but couldn't figure out how the backpack connects without consulting the directions. 

I'm waiting on a second one to wear the SAP, but for now I'm loving having the fighter mode sitting on my desk.  It's definitely like no other Macross design, since it's really not an aircraft so much as a vaguely airplane-ish spacecraft, with bits of aircraft glued on.   I kind of love the quirkiness, and it has its own sort of charm.  Not my favorite design, but I'm glad to get one that has the same swoopy curved style as the line art.  All other things aside, I think that was the biggest thing that turned me off the Evo Toys one.

It's definitely in a class by itself in terms of anime magic though.  There's literally nothing holding the legs in place except those insanely complex hip joints.  I'd love to see a larger scale version to see how much they could improve the mechanism.

I do think a few things could use some improvement, but a bigger scale might fix them too.  The shifty double-jointed wing hinges are pretty floppy on mine, and could use a little work with alignment.. if I tuck the hinges in all the way forward, the pressure against the upper fuselage causes the wings to angle up on them.. but if I don't, the wings will flop around by the secondary hinge, since there's barely any tension in it.  Might be fixable with adding some glue or nail polish to the joint, which looks easily accessible.  Think the scariest thing is how fragile the tail pod sliders feel.

Have to agree about the lack of careful assembly QC though, there are knife gouges all over the thing where the parts were cut from the sprues.   

 

[Sanity is Optional]

1 minute ago, Chronocidal said:

Have to agree about the lack of careful assembly QC though, there are knife gouges all over the thing where the parts were cut from the sprues. 

Yeah, I noticed this as well. Had to pull out my hobby knife and trim a few offenders (one of the legs actually had a nub that was still sticking out!)

I wonder if it's a symptom of the high demand/volume, or if they've just generally slacked in QC. The DX toys are much better, but they damn well ought to be for those prices.

 

Either way, I probably will grab a Nexx version and display it with the SAP, maybe in fighter mode while the current one is in Gerwalk. I'd have gone for Battroid, except the heatshield hinge bothered me too much.

[Dobber]

Sh9000, what bases are you using?

Chris

[no3Ljm]

1 hour ago, Dobber said:

Sh9000, what bases are you using?

Chris

Those are Bandai's Tamashii Stage Act 5 and Tamashii Stage Act Trident Plus

Tamashii Stage Act 5
http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=TOY-IPN-1688

Tamashii Stage Act Trident Plus
http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIGURE-018924

 

[Convectuoso]

10 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Transformed my VF-1A Hikaru into Fighter mode and just need to transform Kakizaki for my HMR Skull Squadron.  Then I’ll need to equip the rest of my CF’s with Fast Packs and transform them into Fighter mode.

Happy to pick up my 3rd Gnerl today.

Have you started painting your Gnerls? I ordered one for my self and ain't sure about how to paint the cockpit and the bottom of it.

[sh9000]

13 hours ago, Dobber said:

Sh9000, what bases are you using?

Chris

Pretty much the ones that no3Ljm mentioned.  They work well and I have a lot of them from the Regults.

12 hours ago, Convectuoso said:

Have you started painting your Gnerls? I ordered one for my self and ain't sure about how to paint the cockpit and the bottom of it.

I haven’t painted them yet but I’m using this for reference.

[protostar8]

I'm honestly surprised we haven't gotten a Hi-Metal YF-19 yet...