Evolution Toy - VF-2SS Valkyrie I 《MACROSS II ~LOVERS AGAIN~&#1

[Graham]

.........I believe Yamato-Toys was just cockblocked by Bandai from getting the MII toy-license from BigWest back during Yamato-Toys' heyday.

No, Yamato were not blocked from the MII licence, they just didn't want it. The CEO always thought that MII was not popular enough and the toys wouldn't sell.

Also, I was told repeatedly each time I bought up the subject of MII toys that they were worried that it might annoy Kawamori if they made MII toys. Whether this is true or not, I don't know, but it is what I was told several times.

Graham

[aceoftherebellion]

Mr K. said basically the same thing on his twitter feed any time it was brought up. If that's what they said, I'm inclined to believe it.

My suspicions are the the success of Third Party unlicenced transformers have made smaller companies like ET bold enough to consider actually licencing and producing such a niche product. If these other companies can be successful selling exceptionally small runs of product purchased only by specific niche collectors, it might be more viable for a small company to do a high-risk product like this than it would be for a larger company. That could be an interesting sort of paradox there!

[treatment]

No, Yamato were not blocked from the MII licence, they just didn't want it. The CEO always thought that MII was not popular enough and the toys wouldn't sell.

Also, I was told repeatedly each time I bought up the subject of MII toys that they were worried that it might annoy Kawamori if they made MII toys. Whether this is true or not, I don't know, but it is what I was told several times.

Graham

Oh so that's how it went down.

Yamato must've really struck gold and made lots of moneys selling all those M0 and M7 valks instead...

[jvmacross]

Haters gonna hate, players gonna play, and Lovers gonna Love... again!

Been playing with it and transformed it about 12 times already, and just giving it a little TLC really brings out the greatness of the toy.

The only regret I have about it is the price, wish I held out and got one of those going on ebay for $175 shipped. Meh, still love it and really glad I got it.

Looks great...congrats!

[treatment]

Looks great...congrats!

Somebody chop the ET Sylvie onto that image STAT!

[505thAirborne]

Got mine this morning!! With a little creativity think I know how I can make Fighter mode much more solid, The plus side is Gerwalk & Battroid lock up very well, no floppiness there. Might take some better pics later, but for now Silvie is in Battroid and hanging out with everyone else for now!

Overall, I am very happy to have a 1/60 VF-2SS in collection!!

[no3Ljm]

Got mine this morning!! With a little creativity think I know how I can make Fighter mode much more solid, The plus side is Gerwalk & Battroid lock up very well, no floppiness there. Might take some better pics later, but for now Silvie is in Battroid and hanging out with everyone else for now!

Overall, I am very happy to have a 1/60 VF-2SS in collection!!

Cool! Glad to know everyone who has it, liked it.

[QEssential]

I'm doing this in honor of Dennis Lone. He was a true journalist.

Thanks for the review mate! Looks like its crappier than I thought. What I cannot accept from a manufacturer are parts with poor fitment and parts that break out of the box - which looks like this toy is full of.

Now that I have no desire to touch the toy/too scared to touch the toy; mine would prolly stay in the box forever.

Watching this video though kinda reminds me of the V1 Yamatos. It was kinda crap but I was still sooooo happy to get one cuz it was the first of the VF-1 toys made in a long time. Same with this toy. Lots of potential lost right there. So here's hoping for a V2 or that Bandai or Arcadia can give it a shot.

[jvmacross]

Somebody chop the ET Sylvie onto that image STAT!

[treatment]

That looks badass!

ET's Premium Finish VARIANT!

Thanks for the review mate! Looks like its crappier than I thought. What I cannot accept from a manufacturer are parts with poor fitment and parts that break out of the box - which looks like this toy is full of.

Now that I have no desire to touch the toy/too scared to touch the toy; mine would prolly stay in the box forever.

Watching this video though kinda reminds me of the V1 Yamatos. It was kinda crap but I was still sooooo happy to get one cuz it was the first of the VF-1 toys made in a long time. Same with this toy. Lots of potential lost right there. So here's hoping for a V2 or that Bandai or Arcadia can give it a shot.

I reckon a V2 with the necessary improvements and stuff will be really good. Provided ET cares enough to do a V2.

Among the current 1/60 and DX battroid valks right now, the VF-2SS battroid is really the prettiest.

[jvmacross]

I say ET should forge ahead with the VF-2J Icarus next....then do the Metaaaal Siiiiren afterwards....then they can revisit the VF-2SS after Bandai releases their diminutive HMR version so they can then upscale it to 1/60 and KO the crap out of it Hong Kong 3P style!

[Major Focker]

crappy or not, i'm getting the VF-2J.

unlike the 2SS where one could "settle" for the bandai kit or the GKs, getting hold of the 2J GKs is nearly impossible.

[no3Ljm]

I say ET should forge ahead with the VF-2J Icarus next....then do the Metaaaal Siiiiren afterwards....then they can revisit the VF-2SS after Bandai releases their diminutive HMR version so they can then upscale it to 1/60 and KO the crap out of it Hong Kong 3P style!

I agree with this. But assuming that ET made good sale on their VF-2SS, then all things are possible. So here's what you guys need to do... Go grab a VF-2SS now! So that they can revisit this down the line and do everyone's Version 2 request.

[Bobby]

Now that is a nice looking VF-2 collection!

Nice! A proud VF-2SS lover.

Thanks

Awesome display! Is that the wood model sold on ebay? Would you mind taking some shots of it on several angles.....I've always been curious about it...is it the one labeled as "large"?

Agreed, it is great to have....plus Macross II valks are no longer absentees in your 1/60 VF collection!

Yes it is. I bought it about 5 yrs ago and that is actually the small version. It was emodelairplanes and I was given the chance to send them edits as to what I hoped they would change/improve and I was happy with the final outcome. I don't know if they still do that but back then they offered a "proofing" process to make sure you were happy. Each one is hand-carved and hand-painted therefore a little different. Some parts are really smooth and sleek while other parts are crude and not as shiny. They are spots where the airbrush was held a little to long and heavy but the markings are crisp and straight. I touched it up with various paint markers/pens after I received it. There are a few online right now (red, white, SAPP) and my guess is you would be buying the one you see unless you request they carve another one. Here are some pics (you can pull a still from any pause). I really enjoy having a rather large dedicated fighter version on the shelf

BOBBY! WOWZERS...and I thought Adrian was the biggest VF-2SS fan here.

AWESOME collection brah.

I'm sure he still is and will be buying 5 of these just to re-enact the transformation sequence from #9 Hobby Japan '92

Can you tell me what's the other toys in the pictures? Especially the second smallest robot and the smallest robot.

Yes, the 3 fighters on the left are the licensed Bandai 1/250 scale Macross Fighter Collection Set #1 that was originally released in '09 and can still be found on ebay. The little battroid next to them is a custom featured here and on my friend's site here. The next 2 battroids are customs of the Bandai kit (more here and here) and the fighter on the right is wood and was just described earlier.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Bobby

[jvmacross]

Thanks

Yes it is. I bought it about 5 yrs ago and that is actually the small version. It was emodelairplanes and I was given the chance to send them edits as to what I hoped they would change/improve and I was happy with the final outcome. I don't know if they still do that but back then they offered a "proofing" process to make sure you were happy. Each one is hand-carved and hand-painted therefore a little different. Some parts are really smooth and sleek while other parts are crude and not as shiny. They are spots where the airbrush was held a little to long and heavy but the markings are crisp and straight. I touched it up with various paint markers/pens after I received it. There are a few online right now (red, white, SAPP) and my guess is you would be buying the one you see unless you request they carve another one. Here are some pics (you can pull a still from any pause). I really enjoy having a rather large dedicated fighter version on the shelf

Thanks for posting the pics....looks really nice!

[Bobby]

Ur welcome! And at least its got the intakes jutting out right

[jvmacross]

Ur welcome! And at least its got the intakes jutting out right

You should do some more of those gif pics showing what it would look like with "corrected or swappable" parts....like some intake extenders, shortened backpack "plank", and boosters in proper height when in Battroid...

[Dangard Ace]

I like how it's got the same screw up as wmchengs awesome VF2SS model. Fold line right across the chest piece.

[spanner]

impressive collection of VF-2 stuff!

[aceoftherebellion]

Alright, now that I'm home from work and have had a chance to sit and really play with this, I can say that yeah, I definitely love it. The plastic is a bit thin, but like I said above, I've got Third Party Transformers that are about the same, so that doesn't really bother me as much as it maybe should. One thing I can say- a few drops of superglue on the tabs that hold it together in fighter mode and it's actually pretty darn solid in all three modes. About 30 seconds of DIY work and it's suddenly a perfectly servicable, swooshable 80's arcade shooter airplane.

But let's get some more in-hand pics! To be fair to the toy, I photographed it with the Gold Standard Arcadia V2 Valk, and for some perspective, a legitimately terribly designed toy, the Bandai V1 VF-25. (I don't even know how it's turned so piss yellow, it's never seen an open window in its life...)

Overall, it's pretty damn decent. Posability is not significantly worse than the V2 VF-1, and IMO quite a lot better than the fest of awkward joints and desire to collapse into a mess of joints that was the VF-25. Gerwalk mode is actually pretty decent- it can easily take that agressive stance that seemed to elude Bandai AND Yamato/Arcadia recently (ahem VF-19....) For a version one work, let's be fair and compare it to the first offerings of a much larger company that had the technical know-how. Valkyries are NOT easy to design, and while their materials might be kind of cheap and they took a few inelegant shortcuts, the final product is really not bad. No, not A-game, but it isn't a complete failure like certain recent releases were.

Also, for those who are saying it isn't very posable?

As long as you're willing to unhook some things and be a little daring with gravity, Obari would like to have a few words.

(HAH, okay, now this is in the right thread, whooops)

[ArchieNov]

Wow I just watched Veef's review and it feels like people are being too forgiving of this toy. I don't think being a small company should be a justification for delivering such a substandard product. I may be wrong but as far as I know, Sentinel is also a very small company with just a few employees in their team. But I consider a lot of their products to be the best in their scale, with excellent design, engineering, paint, and quality. Their toys may be relatively expensive but I never feel cheated by their asking price and I know it won't get easily obsoleted by another manufacturer's take on it.

[Chronocidal]

Wow, the color on that Alto is baaaaaaaaaad. Makes me sorta almost glad that the one I got was the blue-tinted "movie" release.

The 2SS is looking good there though, I admit it's sort of refreshing to see a truly battroid focused take on a valk, even if the fighter mode suffers from it.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Chronocidal

[aceoftherebellion]

Wow, the color on that Alt is baaaaaaaaaad. Makes me sorta almost glad that the one I got was the blue-tinted "movie" release.

The 2SS is looking good there though, I admit it's sort of refreshing to see a truly battroid focused take on a valk, even if the fighter mode suffers from it.

I have no idea how it managed to yellow so badly. It's actually yellowed *worse* underneath the super-parts, too, which is just. Odd. It's clearly more of a chemical degradation than your standard 'UV exposure' problem because it's yellowed in places that have never been exposed to much light, period- and it's spent most of it's life in a room where I intentionally boarded over the window just to keep excess sunlight out!

The 2SS is a really good Battroid. A pretty darn decent Gerwalk, and like I said, with a few minutes worth of practically no effort at all, a surprisingly solid fighter mode. A bit thin on the plastic side, but not worse than most third party transformers and honestly, several Hasbro/Takara products. At least it's a hell of a lot better than the V1 Bandai and Yamato offerings!

[treatment]

Very nice! Really goes well with Skull Leader.

That Alto-v1 really is quite an eyesore, tho.

Overall, it's pretty damn decent. Posability is not significantly worse than the V2 VF-1, and IMO quite a lot better than the fest of awkward joints and desire to collapse into a mess of joints that was the VF-25. Gerwalk mode is actually pretty decent- it can easily take that agressive stance that seemed to elude Bandai AND Yamato/Arcadia recently (ahem VF-19....) For a version one work, let's be fair and compare it to the first offerings of a much larger company that had the technical know-how. Valkyries are NOT easy to design, and while their materials might be kind of cheap and they took a few inelegant shortcuts, the final product is really not bad. No, not A-game, but it isn't a complete failure like certain recent releases were.

Also, for those who are saying it isn't very posable?

As long as you're willing to unhook some things and be a little daring with gravity, Obari would like to have a few words.

(HAH, okay, now this is in the right thread, whooops)

Can it hold more dynamic Obari-like poses if you use a stand like SA's or Yeti's?

Or does gravity wins again on it?

[seti88]

Nice comparison pics ace! As i suspected it could hold its own with other valks, esp in battroid mode.

[aceoftherebellion]

Those big diecast leg struts everyone is complaining about in fighter mode are actually on fairly robust hinges, so he'll hold a dynamic pose midair a lot better than you'd think. I do have it 'resting' on the legs dyanamically here so gravity is helping keep the legs that far apart, but you can still get some pretty dramatic obari-esque poses on a flight-stand of some sort, and possibly even better.

And yeah, the poor VF-25 has seen much better days...

[UN Spacy]

YEESH...please no more photos of the v1.0 VF-25's...they're a damn eyesore.

[Graham]

I've had a few Bandai and Banpresto toys made of white plastic over the years that have seriously yellowed in the box without ever being put on display. Guess it just depends on which plastic is used by whatever factory they contract with at the time.

[Scyla]

Alright, now that I'm home from work and have had a chance to sit and really play with this, I can say that yeah, I definitely love it. The plastic is a bit thin, but like I said above, I've got Third Party Transformers that are about the same, so that doesn't really bother me as much as it maybe should... *snip*

From Veefs review it looks and especially handles nothing like the 3rd Party Transformers I own (mostly MMC, FT and MT).

[aceoftherebellion]

From Veefs review it looks and especially handles nothing like the 3rd Party Transformers I own (mostly MMC, FT and MT).

I don't own anything from MMC or MT, and of the two FT figures I own, Not!Perceptor has, IMO, noticably inferior plastic and engineering compared to this. I own several from Badcube, and they're about exactly on par with this, IMO. I'm especially reminded of Wardog's fairly involved transformation which has a similar 'everything flops around until you can lock it very securely into place' feel.

[tomac66]

Did a quick shake video for my VF-2

https://youtu.be/ZyxAzGrUYmA

Hi, can you post pics of where to aply the superglue?

Thank's.

[Scyla]

I don't own anything from MMC or MT, and of the two FT figures I own, Not!Perceptor has, IMO, noticably inferior plastic and engineering compared to this. I own several from Badcube, and they're about exactly on par with this, IMO. I'm especially reminded of Wardog's fairly involved transformation which has a similar 'everything flops around until you can lock it very securely into place' feel.

I think FTs Tesla is one of the worst transforming toys ever. It is in on par with this it seems like.

[Lolicon]

Released in 2016 and costs as much as as its contemporaries? Sorry, I'm comparing it to what's available now, not 15 or 20 years ago.

When ET lowers the price to under 10k yen and invents a time machine and releases it in 2001, then we can compare it to Yamato and Bandai's earlier stuff.

Really, "it's better than something released 15 years ago" is not exactly high praise.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Lolicon

[Kinzoku VF]

Been complaining about the plastic since day 1. Well, finally received it this morning.....

I can say one of the good points IS the plastic. A 'slight' improvement over the usual ET figure! So guess I was wrong after all....My bad.

Also, before I forget, the little 'back wings' do slot in!! ( you have to reposition the metal ball joint a certain way, as out of the box, they just won't even go near the slots ( it's not super tight though, but they slot in.)

As far as the rest. I can tell you, the messy undercarriage part is going to be the least of your worries.....or at least mine... That will probably be the last thing I will try to improve.

To me the worse thing were the tiny little stress marks here and there ( not really obvious, unless you look for them...)again right out of the box!!! I have an allergy to stress marks...however small they are!!! Will have to use the good old 'boiling water ' technique to get rid of them...Not sure how as I would rather not dismantle it. Feels like once the screws are out....they'll ever go back in properly.

AND the unforgivable floppiness....nothing stays tabbed longer than a few minutes.....

The 'toy' as it is out of the box...(.I'm only going to talk about fighter mode as I haven't transformed it and probably won't.)

It's "O.k" from a distance, but in your hands LOL.... Fail.... Sorry....it's an: "only at a certain angle" display piece.... Will see once the makeover is complete. Might grow to enjoy it more.

In all, despite all its flaws, I am happy to finally have a 1/60 Ver....it was such a looong wait.

And overall it looks 'o.k'. Just no touching, at least not for those of who like fighter mode.

No regrets from my part. ( ok....I certainly would've rather have payed ¥10000/ ¥15000 but you have an extra ¥10000 slapped on top just for the Macross II fan club membership privilege....)

Here is a crappy pic in the 'ok' angle. I did actually filmed myself opening it up, but did it really hastily, and swore a lot in the video...not sure if it's worth uploading.

Now, the gruelling beautifying task begins......

[anime52k8]

Haters gonna hate, players gonna play, and Lovers gonna Love... again!

Been playing with it and transformed it about 12 times already, and just giving it a little TLC really brings out the greatness of the toy.

The only regret I have about it is the price, wish I held out and got one of those going on ebay for $175 shipped. Meh, still love it and really glad I got it.

The stickers honestly give it an even older vintage toy look. They remind me of what you'd see on a toy from the 80's like a takatoku or Gakken.