Arcadia 1/60 VF-0S & VF-0A

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

I think I should sell it. hahaha

before you do, should test it.

[Gakken85]

You should test yours! haha

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

??? not sure if you read the thread... or just joking, but i read your post speculating its hard to know the range of people it effects... i just think its a hard sell here if you opened yours for display and don't want to test it.

Edited November 18, 2015 by davidwhangchoi

[Gakken85]

Yeah. I read it. I've been posting in it. It is hard to know - but it's not my job to be a tester for Arcadia and check the sample size.

It's just as likely to be broken as a sealed one.

If you want to know so bad open one of yours. Just because I displayed mine doesn't mean I have an obligation to break the leg off more than somebody who collects sealed boxes. People buy sealed (or so they think) Yamato VF-1's all the time that may have broken shoulders.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Gakken85

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Well I transformed my VF-0A a couple times and pulled out the hips. So far so good but with my luck after this post it will surely self detach.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

I'd like to see somebody say that they worked the hip joint repeatedly and nothing broke,

you posted YOU would like to see someone test their valk while you OWN one taken out of the box. if you have one in hand no need to speculate, if it's safe, you're home free.

If you want to know so bad open one of yours.

you read the thread right?

[Gakken85]

If you're asking if I know your complete history in this thread, no. I saw Jenius' review and I've been tracking it from there. I don't know if you own any or not.

I haven't had a desire to transform the VF-0D. I'm not going to change my mind now just to throw more fuel on the fire when it's obviously a structural problem.

I can speculate about the extent of the problem, but that doesn't mean I want to be a guinea pig either. Saying I'd like to see somebody do doughnuts in a parking lot to test a tire I own doesn't mean I'm going to do it. haha. If I had a sealed Super Ostrich I wouldn't open it up to confirm what I already know either. Somebody may want to just display it in fighter.

[jenius]

He opened one and tested it and the leg fell off, so he practiced as he preached.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

He opened one and tested it and the leg fell off, so he practiced as he preached.

+1 thanks!

i've been looking at the healthy (other) leg on my 0a and can see the ball joint enclosure is not fully closed due to the ball being over sized. it moves freely and doesn't pop out. since the actual rubber ball is oversized, everyone's ball joint enclosure will be this way, though some will have both legs healthy,

[Gakken85]

I think he took my point out of context, and I didn't really understand what he was getting at. I didn't think David opened any of his stuff haha

"I'd like to see somebody say that they worked the hip joint repeatedly and nothing broke," isn't "everybody who owns one must take one for the team and transform it."

Those who chose to take theirs out of the box and transform it and still have no hip issues could test it to see how much stress it could take.

Some folks might not want to pay more for a fix, or aren't that good at swapping parts. They may not want the hassle.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Gakken85

[Sandman]

After looking at the VF-1 parts breakdown above... it seems like a really dumb issue. What does the Yamato version 1 VF-0 hip mechanism look like in comparison?

Anyway, I don't think anyone is denying that there is a QC problem. I know I appreciate the details of this discussion and jenius's time bomb description, which is making more sense as more people use their toys and report back. To that end, I've ordered some plastic prying (spludge) tools for the repair if/when the legs on mine go.

Where did you get the plastic prying tools. I want to pick them up as well. Everytime i try to take something apart i end up damaging the plastic.

[no3Ljm]

Both of my 0D and 0A are still holding up in Battroid mode when I checked them last night.

[Mommar]

Both of my 0D and 0A are still holding up in Battroid mode when I checked them last night.

It sounds like very night before bed you give your 0's legs a crank just to see if they still hold up. lol

[technoblue]

Where did you get the plastic prying tools. I want to pick them up as well. Everytime i try to take something apart i end up damaging the plastic.

No problemo.

In case you have a guitar pick hanging about, dwc showed that will do the job.

In case you have a spare $5 US, this is the spudger set that I bought from amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-iPhone-Screen-Non-abrasive-Spudgers/dp/B00KRO8HO0/ref=sr_1_18/183-8486008-8887705?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1447872615&sr=1-18&keywords=spudger

[no3Ljm]

It sounds like very night before bed you give your 0's legs a crank just to see if they still hold up. lol

Hahaha! I give them good massage every night, Mommar.

But to be serious, I haven't tried pulling the hip joints for wide stances so I don't know if it's going to come off if I do that.

[jenius]

I think if your legs rotate all around and don't pop off you can probably feel safe using the extension gimmick.

[Scyla]

Here are some pictures showing the blemishes on my version of the toy:

[edit:] Does anyone have an idea how to remove the black scratch without damaging the paint?

Also an image of the plate that might scratch the paint on your wings:

This needs to be away from the back because there is a tab on the underside that will scrape on the wings if it is too close to the body (in case you didn't know).

Edited November 18, 2015 by Scyla

[spanner]

That sucks.. looks like it could have been dropped in the factory or during packaging!?

[Lolicon]

When I get home later, I'm going to transform my 0A back to fighter and really twist and pull the legs around mid-transformation to see if I can't get it to pop off. They're perfectly fine atm.

Ultimately, I'd like to know if this is a widespread issue or just a few isolated cases. Those that have had the leg pop off are of course rightfully upset that such an expensive toy would break like that, but the plural of "anecdote" is not "data."

Well, here's hoping that mine won't break off!

[seti88]

Here are some pictures showing the blemishes on my version of the toy:

[edit:] Does anyone have an idea how to remove the black scratch without damaging the paint

Scyla you might want to try using a clean eraser to lightly flick the mark out. But pls make sure the eraser is clean after flicking as you do not want to spread more marks instead. I use this method at times for cleaning up panel lines on plamo.

[jenius]

When I get home later, I'm going to transform my 0A back to fighter and really twist and pull the legs around mid-transformation to see if I can't get it to pop off. They're perfectly fine atm.

Ultimately, I'd like to know if this is a widespread issue or just a few isolated cases. Those that have had the leg pop off are of course rightfully upset that such an expensive toy would break like that, but the plural of "anecdote" is not "data."

Well, here's hoping that mine won't break off!

Count is data... thus the poll.

[no3Ljm]

[edit:] Does anyone have an idea how to remove the black scratch without damaging the paint?

Try the white staedler erasers.

[Lolicon]

Count is data... thus the poll.

Even a cursory glance at the anecdotes will show that the poll is not accurate. Poll isn't much use if few people bother voting.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

When I get home later, I'm going to transform my 0A back to fighter and really twist and pull the legs around mid-transformation to see if I can't get it to pop off. They're perfectly fine atm.

Ultimately, I'd like to know if this is a widespread issue or just a few isolated cases. Those that have had the leg pop off are of course rightfully upset that such an expensive toy would break like that, but the plural of "anecdote" is not "data."

Well, here's hoping that mine won't break off!

i wouldn't mess with it too much. if it's not popping out then you're good.

all the ball joint enclosures will not fully close due to the mis sized rubber balls but even though they don'l fully close, they holds the ball pretty ok without popping out.

its just some were over glued which made closing the gap harder while not allowing the ball to move freely making it easy to tear off and pop out since the partially open enclosures have even a bigger hole.

putting a smaller correct size ball will allow the enclosure to fully close like on the vf-1. where then it will never pop out.

right now out of default, i would just use it as it is and just be super careful. my vf-1 they're so strong i wouldn't even think twice about it.

[Lolicon]

i wouldn't mess with it too much. if it's not popping out then you're good.

all the ball joint enclosures will not fully close due to the mis sized rubber balls but even though they don'l fully close, they holds the ball pretty ok without popping out.

its just some were over glued which made closing the gap harder while not allowing the ball to move freely making it easy to tear off and pop out since the partially open enclosures have even a bigger hole.

putting a smaller correct size ball will allow the enclosure to fully close like on the vf-1. where then it will never pop out.

right now out of default, i would just use it as it is and just be super careful. my vf-1 they're so strong i wouldn't even think twice about it.

Oh I wasn't going to intentionally try to rip it out lol Just rotate it around some, pull the legs in and out... The kind of stress I would expect it to sustain from transforming and posing.

[Scyla]

I think the main problem is that the design of the hip joint is not very good. This would be a non issue if it where designed differently. It is a single point of failure for the whole toy which is never a good thing. Joints glued shut is something that might slip by even if you have the tightest qc on the shop floor. The too big diameter could occur because the molding was done wrong. We don't know if ever ball is too big because people where the leg is not broken don't want to open the area to take a look so it could be a faulty batch.

However these qc issues wouldn't be an issue if the design was different. For example if Arcadia had designed it like the VF-25 joint (see my post above) than it wouldn't even need to be glued on which would reduce the amount of potential issues completely. This is something where Arcadia is responsible for designing a sound mechanism.

This is something Arcadia has a direct control over it. I like to ramble on and on about the missing paint applications on the lower legs but it could be a case where Arcadia wanted to have the printing on there but the Chinese factory omitted it to increase their profit (this happens a lot to the Playmates Turtles toys). Designing a hip joint that is a single point of failure for a $300 toy is not good and Arcadia should have fixed it after they had the VF-0D in hand and could take a closer look on the finished toy.

[Carceroth]

Do you guys think its worth it to hold on to a pre order for the VF-0S? This problem seems really worrisome to me as i can only afford one of these and its quite pricey. I'm considering cancelling but i don't want to miss out if it turns out to be a non issue and have to pay a large amount on the secondary market.

[no3Ljm]

Do you guys think its worth it to hold on to a pre order for the VF-0S? This problem seems really worrisome to me as i can only afford one of these and its quite pricey. I'm considering cancelling but i don't want to miss out if it turns out to be a non issue and have to pay a large amount on the secondary market.

Nobody knows for sure. For now, Mr.K's reply on some tweets is that it's being fix for the 0S release. But the truth is, it's always a risk esp for us who lives outside Japan. If you want to make sure and check and wait for everyone's review or feedback then hold it for now. But make sure that if the price went up then that's the price to pay for missing the initial release. But I doubt it will do that since Arcadia products is always available a few months after the initial release. And seeing that most of the members here already expressed their PO cancelled and that they will never bother to buy another product from Arcadia. Or you could still keep your PO, wait for days before paying it and see everyone's review first. Or if you already paid, then you can just wait for the item and if you're not happy with it, sell it. Hope that helps.

Just always remember that buying stuff from Japan is always and forever will be a 'gamble'.

[mechaninac]

Considering that the VF-0A Shin Kudo type is still available at NY for 28,920¥ and HLJ for 31,320¥, unless the VF-0S proves a bulletproof release right off the gate, it's mostly safe to assume that it will be available at or near retail for quite some time after release.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Well, I'm keeping my preorder!! Can't wait for the reactive armor! Hope the hip mechanism gets revised. We shouldn't have to repair a $300 toy but it's an easy fix.

[jenius]

You only get to call it easy if you have done it.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

I want to do a show and tell for those who are curious and don't know what's the issue is. I for one was reading the thread carefully but had no idea what's going on until i took mine apart.

hopefully i can simplify what's going on: (though there are already some great photos and detailed write ups, i wanted to do my own bc it happened to me and i'm staring at it at the moment )

these are the parts: ball joint (this is on the hip bar that connects to the leg)

enclosure opened up (this is inside the leg of the vf-0A and D that attaches to the hip)

it fully closes without the ball:

let's put the ball inside:

not a perfect fit: making some vf-0a and D legs easy to pop out but as most of you shared, a lot of legs are healthy with no issues:

the bottom line is all of these are not able to fully close: whether it pops out on yours or not.

with the yeti fix, he created a smaller sized ball which allows the enclosure to fully seal around the ball so that it will be impossible to pop out barring some insane user mishandle.

it is not to say EVERYONE's joint is going to explode as the majority here seems ok, but it's a fact that all of them were manufactured with an incorrect sized ball. so YMMV... just be care when handling yours

Edited November 20, 2015 by davidwhangchoi

[ChaoticYeti]

That's pretty close to the amount of gap mine had with the stock ball cap.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Is it possible to sand the plastic ball down? I would think so. I could also recast the plastic ball and sand the resin copy down. My VF-0D and VF-0A have all limbs attached.

[seti88]

Is it possible to sand the plastic ball down? I would think so. I could also recast the plastic ball and sand the resin copy down. My VF-0D and VF-0A have all limbs attached.

I sanded it down though unevenly, and just to get the socket to close. Leg still stands ok.