Bandai DX VF-31

[ridgebacks]

Well look at Mr. money bag here, with 3 of each valk.

Joke aside, nice set up.

By the way, what's that clean stand you are using for the 31? Is there any place to get it?

[spanner]

hehe!  money bags! not anymore..  Bandai and its re-sellers now have all my money now. 

those clear stands are Flight Pose.. http://flightpose.com/

[Saburo]

2 hours ago, spanner said:

Time to buy more Ikea Detolfs mate! hehe! 

I am not sure i can fit more than 2 Valks in fighter mode per shelf in a detolf. Only the 1/60 VF-1 i was able to get 3 to fit with a Yeti stand

 

 

Edited December 30, 2016 by Saburo
removed extra comma

[Slave IV]

Sweet pics from everyone and glad to see TCracker on Macrossworld now too!

[spanner]

1 hour ago, Saburo said:

I am not sure, i can fit more than 2 Valks in fighter mode per shelf in a detolf. Only the 1/60 VF-1 i was able to get 3 to fit with a Yeti stand

The Detolf are great for shelf height but width and depth are a little limited. Its nearly the complete opposite with the Klingsbo which has more depth and width but the shelf height is just too low. I can just barely fit a 31 in battroid with a millimeter or two room to spare..

Problem is ikea has discontinued the Klingsbo cabinet here is Australia and I didn't want to get  Detolf as it wouldn't match the rest of my displays so I found a new cabinet (stockholm) for my cars (which is a very nice cabinet!) and recovered a Klingsbo for more Valks! 

It would be nice to replace all my other cabinets with Stockholm cabinets as they would be prefect for Valkyries but that would incur enormous costs.. 

[Saburo]

22 minutes ago, spanner said:

The Detolf are great for shelf height but width and depth are a little limited. Its nearly the complete opposite with the Klingsbo which has more depth and width but the shelf height is just too low. I can just barely fit a 31 in battroid with a millimeter or two room to spare..

Problem is ikea has discontinued the Klingsbo cabinet here is Australia and I didn't want to get  Detolf as it wouldn't match the rest of my displays so I found a new cabinet (stockholm) for my cars (which is a very nice cabinet!) and recovered a Klingsbo for more Valks! 

It would be nice to replace all my other cabinets with Stockholm cabinets as they would be prefect for Valkyries but that would incur enormous costs.. 

Agreed the detolf is limited is width and depth for displaying, overall I am pretty happy with the way my display is setup but I am always looking for something better.  I have to take down some Valks for make room for the new Delta valks.

*side note I had an extra comma in my initial post, that is quoted in you post.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Saburo

[MAC-X]

1 hour ago, spanner said:

The Detolf are great for shelf height but width and depth are a little limited. Its nearly the complete opposite with the Klingsbo which has more depth and width but the shelf height is just too low. I can just barely fit a 31 in battroid with a millimeter or two room to spare..

Problem is ikea has discontinued the Klingsbo cabinet here is Australia and I didn't want to get  Detolf as it wouldn't match the rest of my displays so I found a new cabinet (stockholm) for my cars (which is a very nice cabinet!) and recovered a Klingsbo for more Valks! 

It would be nice to replace all my other cabinets with Stockholm cabinets as they would be prefect for Valkyries but that would incur enormous costs.. 

Spanner, do you mean the Stockholm Glass-door cabinet? I'm looking at that too, but cost-wise its rather expensive when compared to Detolf.

[Roy's Blues]

Am I missing something? What's with the hands on this figure? on all my other bandai chogokin macross figures, I can use the standard possible hands in all modes. 

There are no tabs/post/holes for the gunpod. I have to wedge it in an hope it holds with the 3 finger grip.

Mostly it does. In some extreme poses the gunpod flops back or forward.

[Slave IV]

You can solve at least the width problem by doing the combined detolf mod. Technically, you could probably put 4 together and solve the depth issue too. Personally, I think they need to be taller...A big base that serves as an extra shelf or two would be perfect.

[spanner]

2 hours ago, MAC-X said:

Spanner, do you mean the Stockholm Glass-door cabinet? I'm looking at that too, but cost-wise its rather expensive when compared to Detolf.

yep I got the Stockholm cabinet. And yes it was expensive! about 4x the price of the of a Detolf.. but very worth it! Makes a great display cabinet but im only using it for my 1/18 cars.

1 hour ago, Slave IV said:

You can solve at least the width problem by doing the combined detolf mod. Technically, you could probably put 4 together and solve the depth issue too. Personally, I think they need to be taller...A big base that serves as an extra shelf or two would be perfect.

Saburo has the 4x side by side and it looks great! that was my other option was to sell off all of my Klingsbo and buy 6 or 8 Detolf and line them all up side by side!

The only thing would be building a base for them all so they don't sit directly on the carpet and then selling off my other cabinets. Then doing all the lighting again.

Too much effort for me sadly.. im lazy. And impatient.

[spanner]

1 hour ago, Roy's Blues said:

Am I missing something? What's with the hands on this figure? on all my other bandai chogokin macross figures, I can use the standard possible hands in all modes. 

There are no tabs/post/holes for the gunpod. I have to wedge it in an hope it holds with the 3 finger grip.

Mostly it does. In some extreme poses the gunpod flops back or forward.

yeah the hands don't really hold on to the gun pod so well but personally I prefer having the gun pod fixed to the weapons pod and having the forearm guns deployed. Its something different from pretty much all previous Valk's and still looks bad ass!

The other problem with swapping out the hands is im not entirely sure if they replacement hands will fit in the small cavity in the wings when you switch it back to fighter mode so you might have to swap the hands back to the original or something else that fits but I haven't tried that so I really don't know.

[no3Ljm]

Congrats to everyone who has their VF-31J on hand. Looking at you, Spanner. Hahaha!

Too bad, my quote signature is gone now.

 

[Lolicon]

I'm glad they made the fingers  jointed with no need to swap out for the transformation. There's not much space under the wing. Certainly hands like the VF-1 or VF-25 would not fit in such a tight space.

 

Save the parts swapping for the HMR line, please.

[TCracker]

Finally got my old account back. TCrackers was me too.

Here are more pics-

[abbadon]

Wicked poses, TCracker!

[TCracker]

Thanks, it was a JOY transforming him back and forth. Just love how intuitive stuffs fold around 

[Pedro2k6]

9 hours ago, linitrofe said:

My unit has been without any update from the DHL since December 23 :/

BTW: I order it from Loopaza paying USD 58 for DHL (to Chile). The thing is they use DHLG whish is handled from HK to CL by DHL and from there by the local post office. Sucks!

So far with the delay from DHL there is no difference with any SAL service from JP.

Yo pague EMS en HLJ y la wea todavia no ingresa al pais. Por lo general llegan a mi casa entre 5 y 10 dias. Una vez use DHL desde HK y se demoro 4 dias en llegar a mi casa (Antofagasta). Correos y aduanas en estas fechas son como el or.....

Saludos

[spanner]

1 hour ago, no3Ljm said:

Congrats to everyone who has their VF-31J on hand. Looking at you, Spanner. Hahaha!

Too bad, my quote signature is gone now.

oh yeah I was wondering what was missing and that was it!

And welcome back TCracker! 

[charger69]

3 hours ago, TCracker said:

Finally got my old account back. TCrackers was me too.

Here are more pics-

 

Why you are sharing your photos in such a small resolution, why??!!

Edited December 30, 2016 by charger69
Typo

[MAC-X]

3 hours ago, spanner said:

yep I got the Stockholm cabinet. And yes it was expensive! about 4x the price of the of a Detolf.. but very worth it! Makes a great display cabinet but im only using it for my 1/18 cars.

Man, you got it good down under. The Stockholm is about 10X the price of a Detolf over here. I was thinking of using 2 Stockholm side by side with a Besta TV bench as a base for the 2 cabinet. I don't like the Stockholm stand lol. 

[Kanedas Bike]

On 12/28/2016 at 3:43 AM, Scream Man said:

Love the pics as always Saburo  

This is definitely one of my favorite Valk toys. Im not sure if it beats the 19Adv yet overall, thats a real favorite of mine, but this is pretty great! 

Agreed - that was the first thing I did when I freed one of my 31's from box mode.

I haven't transformed it yet, it's a great looking Fighter mode but my immediate thought was "I don't know if I like this as much as the Advanced". Not sure if it's the stronger (nostalgic) connection to Macross Plus compared to having only watched the first episode of Delta.

Saburo's pictures always make me want to spend more money than what I have in my budget. They're that good. lol

I'll get around to transforming it to Battroid if I get a 3rd copy (looking at you Spanner) or once I have the 31F in hand.

-b.

[Actar]

OMG. I just received mine and it's absolutely gorgeous. One thing that I'd like to talk about is how amazing the box design is. Undoubtedly one of the nicest DX Chogokin boxes yet. A hard cardboard box with a flip top lit, an insert and a box for the accessories. They sure know how to impress.

Regarding the Valk itself, it's lovely, tight and transforms beautifully. I freaked out when I realized that the legs were ratcheted and there was a forwards and back waist joint in addition to a side to side one. Goodness, it took them this long to put in ratchet joints into the legs...

 

However, I have to be the bearer of bad news as mine has a rather "unique" QC issue...

One of the flaps of the Fold Wave System is unpainted. Seriously? I'm not going to get any luck with amiami, so I'm not going to even bother trying.

12 hours ago, spanner said:

I love how easy it is to transform too! Had both battroid and gerwalk done in less than 10mins!

VF-31 vs YF-30    

Dear lord... I just want ONE YF-30... But they're so horrendously expensive.

On 28/12/2016 at 2:28 PM, Sandman said:

Second problem is the right leg/feet. The foot keeps collapsing into the leg. It doesn't want to stay extended. Just looking at it makes it sink back into the leg. Anyone know a fix i can do for this? If i can't fix this this will basically have to be a fighter only valk which will suck. Otherwise this dx is amazing and well done. Unfortunately seems like i have one with a bum leg.

Regarding the foot, is it extended all the way? I actually had to pull quite hard before I heard an audible click. Once it was locked in place, they remain rock solid and take quite a bit of force to push back in.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Actar

[Lolicon]

32 minutes ago, Actar said:

OMG. I just received mine and it's absolutely gorgeous. One thing that I'd like to talk about is how amazing the box design is. Undoubtedly one of the nicest DX Chogokin boxes yet. A hard cardboard box with a flip top lit, an insert and a box for the accessories. They sure know how to impress.

Regarding the Valk itself, it's lovely, tight and transforms beautifully. However, I have to be the bearer of bad news as mine has a rather "unique" QC issue...

One of the flaps of the Fold Wave System is unpainted. Seriously? I'm not going to get any luck with amiami, so I'm not going to even bother trying.

Dear lord that's terrible. Seeing that made me immediately check my other 31 to make sure it was painted. 

I think someone earlier mentioned Amiami actually offered a refund. Maybe try asking them? I doubt they'll replace it as it's sold out, but if you can get your money back you could snag one elsewhere with the money.

[derex3592]

I would just find a green paint that matches, mask that off and paint it. 30 second fix if you have an airbrush. Or even brush paint wouldn't be horrible. 

[Actar]

I might try the paint approach, because I don't think I have the strength to part with one after going through so much anxiety to get one. (^.^;) Out of curiosity, when does the rear container get deployed? It seems that most of the time, the container is left hanging off the backs of the Battroid mode.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Actar

[Saburo]

9 hours ago, Roy's Blues said:

Am I missing something? What's with the hands on this figure? on all my other bandai chogokin macross figures, I can use the standard possible hands in all modes. 

There are no tabs/post/holes for the gunpod. I have to wedge it in an hope it holds with the 3 finger grip.

Mostly it does. In some extreme poses the gunpod flops back or forward.

The default (articulated) hands are ok, but just not for holding anything. I having a difficult time trying to get it to hold the gunpod when taking photos.  If they had made the index finger with a 2nd joint it would hold the gunpod or combat knife more securely. I later swapped the default hand for the grip hand and that was much better.

 

7 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Congrats to everyone who has their VF-31J on hand. Looking at you, Spanner. Hahaha!

Too bad, my quote signature is gone now.

 

You haven't gotten yours yet?

 

7 hours ago, TCracker said:

Finally got my old account back. TCrackers was me too.

Here are more pics-

Welcome back again TC!

Great shots and again your poses are awesome, I am wanting to take more photos and try to get more dynamic poses like you have.

 

2 hours ago, Kanedas Bike said:

Agreed - that was the first thing I did when I freed one of my 31's from box mode.

I haven't transformed it yet, it's a great looking Fighter mode but my immediate thought was "I don't know if I like this as much as the Advanced". Not sure if it's the stronger (nostalgic) connection to Macross Plus compared to having only watched the first episode of Delta.

Saburo's pictures always make me want to spend more money than what I have in my budget. They're that good. lol

I'll get around to transforming it to Battroid if I get a 3rd copy (looking at you Spanner) or once I have the 31F in hand.

-b.

You are too kind KB, thank you.

I guess my MW forum title still holds true....

 

[sh9000]

The VF-31J is awesome.  One thing I love about Valkyries is figuring out how to transform them without instructions.  Took me about 20 minutes.  I love the box too.  Now boxes can be stacked for my MISB collection without damage.  Anyway here's my top shelf of my blue badasses.

[spanner]

5 hours ago, Actar said:

One of the flaps of the Fold Wave System is unpainted. Seriously? I'm not going to get any luck with amiami, so I'm not going to even bother trying.

That's sure is a strange one eh! And unfortunate.. but should be easily corrected with matching paint. Even knowing that Ami ami most likely would be unwilling to do much about it, I'd still get in contact with them. Heck you never know they might actually give you something like store credit etc..

[spanner]

And great photo sh9000! All the bluey's look awesome on display! 

[no3Ljm]

2 hours ago, Saburo said:

You haven't gotten yours yet?

Not yet. Company Shutdown. At first, I thought it's going to make it before the shutdown (Christmas Break). Until NY emailed me asking for extra Y800 for the shipping fee. So by then, I know that it will arrive past Christmas Day and into the Company Shutdown schedule. So I'll receive mine probably on Jan. 4. Let's just hope that there's no problem with the item once I open it.

 

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

I received mine from Amiami right before the holiday. I didn't have the chance to take it out and inspect/swoosh it around, but mine had two physical cosmetic QC issues. The left sensor on the forward fuselage looked like it was over cut at the injection point (before being painted/assembled) and the outer most mount bracket on the left wing looked like it something was jammed or gouged it. I'll try to take some pics after I change it back from batt to fighter mode. Yea I don't think I want to bother with Amiami's customer service cause iirc it's either nill or full refund with hassles.

[no3Ljm]

^ And not to mention Account Suspended afterward.

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

Quote

^ And not to mention Account Suspended afterward.

^Yup!

Seems like Bandai has a frequency of lemons in their batches or I'm just having bad luck.

I guess I'll know for sure when I get my 2nd from CDJ via SAL sometime mid/late Jan lol.

Edited December 30, 2016 by PsYcHoDyNaMiX

[wmkjr]

11 hours ago, TCracker said:

Finally got my old account back. TCrackers was me too.

*snips*

I was thinking that name was familiar. I remember your valk pics with the knife.

Edited December 30, 2016 by wmkjr
Wrong area typed (quoted area)

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

As mentioned earlier here are the pics of the two physical cosmetic issues with my VF-31J. After getting to Batt mode I realized mine also has the loose telescoping right ankle issue as well.

The sensor appears to have a small hairline crack going towards the center of it. The gouge/dent on the mounting bracket is pretty apparent. Not sure what the assembly worker was doing or used to cause it.

Edited December 31, 2016 by PsYcHoDyNaMiX