Hi-Metal R

[Chronocidal]

Have to agree about the gray background as well, it makes the stuff you're focusing on pop just that much better, especially when half the things you review tend to be shades of white.  

Far as the line-up goes with the legs, I think the thing missing is that images 4 and 5 both show the legs in the same position, but they're not showing the legs out, they're showing them down.  The underside of the chest plate curves inward, so while you're seeing the top of the intake under the chest, you're not seeing that they're also inset horizontally.

There's also a direct line vertically from the outer edges of the nose section that lines up with the insides of the legs, and the HMR in your photo has a gap there that's the width of the hinge the hips swing downward on.

Again, the angle the legs are at screws up the alignment in pretty much every way, and the poses are nothing alike, so it's a fairly bad comparison.  I think if the legs were angled straight forward, they'd line up much better.  The line art isn't even anywhere near consistent either, and the intakes in that picture look too wide anyway, so I would very strongly hesitate to say it's a solid reference.  I also wonder if the hip bars could be pushed any farther inward, but it looks like that's as good as they get in gerwalk.

Big picture-wise though.. I'm going to admit, this is me being very nitpicky over language, and questionable line art.  I think it looks awesome anyway, and the angled stance you have it in looks much better than the line art to begin with.

Far as bandwidth goes though, I think the board tweaks the thumbnails so they only load at the displayed size. I haven't noticed any slowdown, and I'm on a pretty slow network.  Loading the full images from your review itself takes quite a while.

 

[Slave IV]

33 minutes ago, jenius said:

Ruh roh! The image is hosted on my site and linked here. Is it causing performance issues for anyone in a slower bandwidth? If so, I'm happy to just put the URL up, don't want to muck up anyone's MW experience.

I don't have any problem with it and I just looked and there doesn't seem to be any restrictions on image posting so I think you are all good!

[easnoddy]

My regults (and HMR Soltic) are in NYC, woot!

Do we have a pre-order date on the Nexx 2SS?

[jenius]

Negative on Nexx but I'd guess very late this year. The VT-1 has to be next doesn't it? Or maybe the Tomahawk. Now that we have Hikaru's 1A there has to be a Max and Kakizaki also right?

I'm weak, picked up another set of regults.

[easnoddy]

8 minutes ago, jenius said:

Negative on Nexx but I'd guess very late this year. The VT-1 has to be next doesn't it? Or maybe the Tomahawk. Now that we have Hikaru's 1A there has to be a Max and Kakizaki also right?

I'm weak, picked up another set of regults.

I'm hoping they spread out releases of the same type like they have been doing.  Its working well for them to keep the fans from tiring of the line.  Endless recolors of the same thing released one after another tend to create line fatigue.  So the VF-1's have had space between, Zentran mechs, destroids, etc.  Since the Elint is this month and the 1A in April (2 VF-1's in a row albeit quite different), would have hoped they have something exciting for May/June.

[Sanity is Optional]

15 minutes ago, jenius said:

Negative on Nexx but I'd guess very late this year. The VT-1 has to be next doesn't it? Or maybe the Tomahawk. Now that we have Hikaru's 1A there has to be a Max and Kakizaki also right?

I'm weak, picked up another set of regults.

I want my tomahawk, going to buy a few of those. It's my favorite desdroid from original macross.

[mechaninac]

20 minutes ago, jenius said:

I'm weak, picked up another set of regults.

It's not weakness; it's finances defying dogged commitment.  

[spacemanoeuvres]

2 hours ago, jenius said:

Negative on Nexx but I'd guess very late this year. The VT-1 has to be next doesn't it? Or maybe the Tomahawk. Now that we have Hikaru's 1A there has to be a Max and Kakizaki also right?

I'm weak, picked up another set of regults.

Nice I almost picked up another pair the other day. From Japan had a 10% off Rakuten sale but I resisted!!!

[no3Ljm]

14 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Have to agree about the gray background as well, it makes the stuff you're focusing on pop just that much better, especially when half the things you review tend to be shades of white.  

Far as the line-up goes with the legs, I think the thing missing is that images 4 and 5 both show the legs in the same position, but they're not showing the legs out, they're showing them down.  The underside of the chest plate curves inward, so while you're seeing the top of the intake under the chest, you're not seeing that they're also inset horizontally.

There's also a direct line vertically from the outer edges of the nose section that lines up with the insides of the legs, and the HMR in your photo has a gap there that's the width of the hinge the hips swing downward on.

Again, the angle the legs are at screws up the alignment in pretty much every way, and the poses are nothing alike, so it's a fairly bad comparison.  I think if the legs were angled straight forward, they'd line up much better.  The line art isn't even anywhere near consistent either, and the intakes in that picture look too wide anyway, so I would very strongly hesitate to say it's a solid reference.  I also wonder if the hip bars could be pushed any farther inward, but it looks like that's as good as they get in gerwalk.

Big picture-wise though.. I'm going to admit, this is me being very nitpicky over language, and questionable line art.  I think it looks awesome anyway, and the angled stance you have it in looks much better than the line art to begin with.

Far as bandwidth goes though, I think the board tweaks the thumbnails so they only load at the displayed size. I haven't noticed any slowdown, and I'm on a pretty slow network.  Loading the full images from your review itself takes quite a while.

 

Yup. That's what I meant on the intake gap on the HMR is wider than the Evolution Toy's as per lineart. I did try it earlier on my HMR if that lineart setup is doable but the metal swivel joint is too thick and won't let the intake rest under the chest area which I'm sure that Evolution Toy kind of nailed it. Plus making the wings go up.

By the way, just want to update that one of the 'screw-less head' screws on my intake joints (yup, those metal joints that fold that connects the intakes) pop out and there's no way for me to screw it back because it's head is screw-less. Only thing I could do is insert it back and hope it won't pop out again. I might coat the screw some clear nail polish next time and insert it back.

 

[jasonmacross83]

On 1/8/2018 at 1:13 PM, ScrambledValkyrie said:

Mine was Prep in Progress that date as well but made it out about 3-4 days later. I think Nippon Yasan was closed all last week for a Japanese holiday. My Regults have apparently been sitting in customs in New York for almost a week at this point. 

And @tekering, those are some really cool light effects! Great job with those.

I live in NYC too. I ordered the VF-31J Messer. Its still in preparation after 4 days. Jenius mentioned that they take their time picking out boxes for certain items or something like that. I just hope they ship it out by next Tuesday. I bought it back in 12/31 know they were closed up to the 8th :-(

[Chronocidal]

10 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

By the way, just want to update that one of the 'screw-less head' screws on my intake joints (yup, those metal joints that fold that connects the intakes) pop out and there's no way for me to screw it back because it's head is screw-less. Only thing I could do is insert it back and hope it won't pop out again. I might coat the screw some clear nail polish next time and insert it back.

Is it actually a threaded screw?    I suppose it wouldn't be hard to replace with one with an actual head if you could find the right size, but it makes me wonder how they got it in there in the first place.

[no3Ljm]

30 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

Is it actually a threaded screw?    I suppose it wouldn't be hard to replace with one with an actual head if you could find the right size, but it makes me wonder how they got it in there in the first place.

Yes. It's still a threaded screw. I'm sure it's still can be replaced with the one with a screw head. But I have to wait for the other one to fall off too so I can replaced two rather than having one with flat head and one without.

So it's basically like this one. The nearest one I can google is called Elevator Bolt. But yeah, not sure to how they put it there in the first place.

The other screw I'm thinking about if the other gets loose and I need to replace both, I need to get something like this. So the screw is up to the edge so it looks nicer.

 

[Sanity is Optional]

4 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Yes. It's still a threaded screw. I'm sure it's still can be replaced with the one with a screw head. But I have to wait for the other one to fall off too so I can replaced two rather than having one with flat head and one without.

So it's basically like this one. The nearest one I can google is called Elevator Bolt. But yeah, not sure to how they put it there in the first place.

The other screw I'm thinking about if the other gets loose and I need to replace both, I need to get something like this. So the screw is up to the edge so it looks nicer.

 

They probably glued a driver to the screw head and then popped it off with UV, acetone, or heat.

Might be able to use museum wax and then freeze it so the wax hardens and pops off?

[no3Ljm]

25 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

They probably glued a driver to the screw head and then popped it off with UV, acetone, or heat.

Might be able to use museum wax and then freeze it so the wax hardens and pops off?

Or they probably just used those conventional Jewelry Rubber Mallet and hammer it down(?) manually since the screw is small.

[jenius]

Sounds like an M2 (or less) threaded rod, I was looking at something similar to repair my Toynami MPC where a plastic peg had broken in the foot.

[sh9000]

This is how I have the VF-2SS in Gerwalk mode.

[jenius]

Did you do a mod for the angles wings or just applying pressure with the shoulders?

[maximusprime888]

where'd you guys get the second set of missile regults?

[vlenhoff]

Fantastic pictures guys, and great led light work.

Here is the HM-R and her 14 year old friend. [9/2003]

[chriswoo]

Hi Guys It been awhile I post here,

 This is the 1st time i owning any Hi Metal R series however this VF2SS really a master piece work from predecessor VF1 Hi Metal R line. It definitely more durable + stable and fun to play than DX Chogokin series.

 

So far Love this one. 

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2018 by chriswoo

[Slave IV]

4 minutes ago, chriswoo said:

Hi Guys It been awhile I post here,

 This is the 1st time i owning any Hi Metal R series however this VF2SS really a master piece work from predecessor VF1 Hi Metal R line. It definitely more durable + stable and fun to play than DX Chogokin series.

 

So far Love this one. 

 

 

 

Looking good!

[borgified]

2 hours ago, chriswoo said:

Hi Guys It been awhile I post here,

 This is the 1st time i owning any Hi Metal R series however this VF2SS really a master piece work from predecessor VF1 Hi Metal R line. It definitely more durable + stable and fun to play than DX Chogokin series.

 

So far Love this one. 

 

 

 

As the Pringle Chips jingle goes: "Once you pop, you can't stop" or as the Pokeman catch phrase goes "Gotta catch'em all".

[chriswoo]

haha if it this series VF2SS yes i try to collect complete it but i saw the review VF1 lines metal R wasn't very good as this one due to more Toyish than this 

[F360]

On 1/12/2018 at 8:31 PM, maximusprime888 said:

where'd you guys get the second set of missile regults?

you'll have to preorder it months ago,  

But you can still get it with a bit of a mark up.

23000 yen  https://www.nippon-yasan.com/figures/21764-hi-metal-r-regult-missile-type-set-limited-edition.html

20490 yen https://www.nin-nin-game.com/en/japanese-import-figures-pre-order/24444-the-super-dimension-fortress-macross-regult-light-heavy-missile-carrier-type-limited-set-hi-metal-r-.html

 

[Acteon]

Finally got my second 2SS from Yes Asia - no customs this time though so the price worked out about the same as HLJ. Sadly they aren't anywhere near as fast :/

Still, very pleased to have it, must dig out my old model kit version for a proper family get together!

[sh9000]

@jenius there was no mod to the wings.  Maybe the shoulders are pushing it up a little.

@chriswoo and @Acteon nice pics.

[maximusprime888]

20 hours ago, F360 said:

you'll have to preorder it months ago,  

But you can still get it with a bit of a mark up.

23000 yen  https://www.nippon-yasan.com/figures/21764-hi-metal-r-regult-missile-type-set-limited-edition.html

20490 yen https://www.nin-nin-game.com/en/japanese-import-figures-pre-order/24444-the-super-dimension-fortress-macross-regult-light-heavy-missile-carrier-type-limited-set-hi-metal-r-.html

 

Yup, I got mine from NY but wanted another set for troop building.

I thought NINNIN was unreliable?

[F360]

33 minutes ago, maximusprime888 said:

Yup, I got mine from NY but wanted another set for troop building.

I thought NINNIN was unreliable?

Nin-nin seems fine for me.  They delivered what I ordered.  They also reissue me another coupon when the one they gave me was used in error when the credit card did not approved.

[GabrielV]

On 1/11/2018 at 12:57 AM, jenius said:

Well, a few weeks late to the party but I posted my VF-2SS review on anymoon. Hopefully I'll get the videos up this weekend. This toy gave me a reason to try out my gray backdrop. I think all pics are now 4K and will continue to be going forward.

Check out the review and let me know if I screwed anything up! http://anymoon.com/blog/?p=10337

I just got done watching the video review.  I think it was pretty on target.  I sort of wish we could stop beating up on the ET VF-2, but as yours seems to be disintegrating as you handle it, I completely understand why you did.

I only noticed two things:

You have the SAP equipped fighter mistransformed.  The top missile shield should be further back.  I made the same mistake when I was taking pictures of mine a while back.  The shield pops off and is remounted via another peg hole making it sit further back.

You seem to imply that the ET VF-2 doesn't have articulation on the SAP wings.  It does.  The SAP wings can be tilted back/up.  The range of motion isn't as much as on the HMR, though, and that was possibly what you meant.  Not that it has any bearing on the review of the HMR.

Otherwise, I think you hit the nail on the head.  Like you, I initially had a negative impression of the toy.  Then I started handling it and warmed considerably to it.  Personally, I don't think it looks bad at all in battloid, but the jet mode really does shine.

[jenius]

Yep, I definitely missed setting that rear weapon pod back in fighter mode. Is that an optional step? It's included in the instructions in what looks like a "gimmicks" section rather than the transformation steps. Either way, I'll be sure to address that in the Nexx review. 

Maybe the QC is just bad on my Evolution Toys SAP (SHOCKER). On one side it can pivot a tiny bit but it feels like it's only able to do that because it's broken. On the other side its frozen which is why I made the comment. Someday I'll pull out my ET gift-sets and the standalone and do reviews on those and spend a little more time trying to coax them to behave properly.

Too bad about those flubs. Thanks for letting me know so I can get them straight the next time around.

Edited January 15, 2018 by jenius

[Chronocidal]

10 minutes ago, jenius said:

Yep, I definitely did missed setting that rear weapon pod back in fighter mode. Is that an optional step? It's included in the instructions in what looks like a "gimmicks" section rather than the transformation steps. Either way, I'll be sure to address that in the Nexx review. 

Is there even any reason why that rear pod has two mounting positions?  I'm guessing it's some minor discrepancy in the line art, like maybe someone thought it stuck up too far in battroid mode with the gun folded forward.

I kind of don't see any reason for it, since the default mounting point doesn't interfere with the gun deployment in battroid.  If it had been a sliding joint, I might consider doing it, but taking it off and repositioning it seems like a waste of effort, not to mention unnecessary wear and tear on the pivot point.

[GabrielV]

1 hour ago, jenius said:

Yep, I definitely missed setting that rear weapon pod back in fighter mode. Is that an optional step? It's included in the instructions in what looks like a "gimmicks" section rather than the transformation steps. Either way, I'll be sure to address that in the Nexx review. 

Maybe the QC is just bad on my Evolution Toys SAP (SHOCKER). On one side it can pivot a tiny bit but it feels like it's only able to do that because it's broken. On the other side its frozen which is why I made the comment. Someday I'll pull out my ET gift-sets and the standalone and do reviews on those and spend a little more time trying to coax them to behave properly.

Too bad about those flubs. Thanks for letting me know so I can get them straight the next time around.

I probably only notice it because of the old Bandai 1/100 model.  On that model it's on a slider: forward for battloid, back for gerwalk and fighter.

The lineart I have access to in the Macross II This is Animation Special #5 doesn't show the shield moving as part of transformation (it doesn't show SAP transformation at all), but it does show it in a further back position in gerwalk and fighter than it occupies in battloid.  Having it further back does give the fighter mode a nicer side profile (IMO).

It's kind of like the antenna.  It's something you never really notice unless you're specifically looking for it.  In fact, the only reason I pointed it out at all is because I had missed it myself.

As for the stuff about the ET VF-2, no worries.  It was just a minor quibble, and it wasn't even the focus of the review.  A comparison between the two toys is expected and required in this case.  It's undeniable the ET version doesn't come out looking good.  I just kind of went "huh" when you said the SAP wings couldn't pivot because I had been trying to get them tilted back just the right amount when I was taking pics of mine in battloid a while ago.  

[HardlyNever]

Word of warning for anyone swapping the wings out on the HMR vf-2ss.  The peg that the wings peg onto can come out of the metal housing that they rest in.  Luckily, nothing broke on my peg, and it just pegged back in, but I could definitely see those pegs as being a durability issue in the long-term.  I think the transformation video Bandai put out even has a caution for them.

[sh9000]

[maximusprime888]

On ‎1‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 8:23 PM, F360 said:

Nin-nin seems fine for me.  They delivered what I ordered.  They also reissue me another coupon when the one they gave me was used in error when the credit card did not approved.

ah, I see. The reviews for them were hit and miss. Good to hear it went good.............I was gonna order from them but they've jacked the prices on the Roundfacer and Regult set. Doh