Bandai DX VF-31

[funkymonkeyjavajunky]

10 hours ago, kyekye said:

I ordered mine on 10/6 - still waiting

I don't know what kind of logic they are using to fullfill 31A preorders..

Maybe I should cry louder and more often

The squeaky wheel gets the grease 

[spacemanoeuvres]

I send an email about my outstanding VF-31A preorder once a month and get the same’ish response each time:

It’s taking a long time to get our stock, you ordered more than one so you have to wait even longer. 

...yay :/

[davidwhangchoi]

damn these are taking awhile to ship. 

[rdrunner]

21 hours ago, borgified said:

10K Yen more than the last listed price? That is seriously rolling into From Japan territory when the 31a got released. Just meandered into From Japan and the highest listed is at 130K yen while the lowest is 44K yen.

This one closed at 46,500 Yen earlier today.  

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/x566187801

[borgified]

Dah!!! Since the DX YF-19 Full package has gotten and stolen the spotlight, here's @jenius' review on Arad's 31s.

 

[kyekye]

On 9/24/2018 at 11:50 PM, Sanity is Optional said:

Welcome to the club, next you get to waffle over opening it.

I asked them if they got this directly from Bandai premium online and it sounds like they are avoiding direct answers.

They did say no brown box. but hey, I'm just happy to get it even this late..

[seti88]

10 hours ago, borgified said:

Dah!!! Since the DX YF-19 Full package has gotten and stolen the spotlight, here's @jenius' review on Arad's 31s.

 

The 31 valk is indeed above expectations interms of design as well as engineering.

Next valk has quite the high bar to live up to....but as long as it doesnt have a charger pod, safe to say that's already one plus point 

Edited September 27, 2018 by seti88

[borgified]

1 hour ago, seti88 said:

Next valk has quite the high bar to live up to....but as long as it doesnt have a charger pod, safe to say that's already one plus point 

We all know who that it is: Chuck's 31e or Arad's 31a with the Dragon Head Ishta. 

[seti88]

that's not what i meant...

the next valk would be a VF-33, 35, 37? ..... totally new valk to obsess over and it has a high bar to jump over the 31...

i mentioned previously that before delta launched kawamori was in his den, quietly designing valks like fine sake....hehe....hope thats still the case....

[Sildani]

Probably, I’d like to see an updated transforming biplane, because why not?! Kawamori’s never done one before!

Think a Pitts Special or a Beech Staggerwing with burst thermonuclear turbine engines and SWAG armor. 

Edited September 27, 2018 by Sildani

[seti88]

Haha any takers? It’s all driven by sales potential ... I wouldn’t mind one, fiddly propellers and all..

may get a lot of comments why it’s so flimsy etc...

[chyll2]

the propellers would make a good melee weapon

[sh9000]

 

 

Edited September 28, 2018 by sh9000

[Lolicon]

^ not a VF-31

[sh9000]

Got an email from NY stating the new release date for the VF-31F Messer/Hayate is 10/13.

[Mac]

Whats the difference between the movie version and the first release?

[Killaforevah]

2 hours ago, Mac said:

Whats the difference between the movie version and the first release?

My understanding is nothing regarding the mold and paint scheme, but the movie release will have an extra pilot figure (Hayate) and clip adapters for the lil draken

[Plasticgoose]

So after five emails sent about every other month between the March release date.  I actually received my VF-31A in the mail yesterday.  Like most, I kept asking for more details and eventually told them I would pull my order and ask for a refund.  Coincidentally after that it shipped the following week.  I ordered mine 11/16 and it shipped 8/28.  Took about one month to get to me.  Came with no brown box but I am not worried and it appears to not be a second hand (I figured NY would be fishing the second hand market).  According to my past chats with NY they did tell me that there were QC issues and Bandai had not discontinued production.  Not sure if that was just lip service.

[Marcion]

how to fix this paint chip?

Edited September 30, 2018 by Marcion

[MacrossMania]

Something I posted in another section.  It belongs here:

Um, really?  The VF-31 has the single biggest design flaw of all the valks.  A huge backpack.  It looks like a butterfly.  Ever notice the promo pics never show it from the side?  Because it looks truly awful.  The plane is beautiful, true.   But valkyrie design is a delicate balance between all three modes, jet, fighter, and yes, even gerwalk mode.  But it's definitely NOT a slavish devotion to one mode at the sacrifice of all the others, with cherry on top engineering to make it seem more lovelier than it is.

I do love the VF-31's jet mode.  It's by far one of the most elegant designs.  And the engineering is superb.  No doubt about it.  But they could never figure out where to put those wings.  I mean like, at all.  It just hangs there intrepidly into space as if it's not the embarrassment to Bandai's legacy of quality design work that it is. 

When it comes to the dance of all three modes, I'd say the VF-1 still does it best.  Flat and behind the back no questions asked.  The YF-19 does a pretty good job, and a novel one too, putting them on the sides of the legs.  The overlooked YF-29 does a pretty good job as well.  The flaring menace of those upside down wings makes it look like a cobra.  And the flare of all those missiles on the legs and shoulders, like a King Cobra.

But the poor old VF-31, it's skinny, awkward, and frankly looks like a praying mantis.  The bug look of the new valks is something I can't get over.  And I honestly don't understand why people have so completely overlooked the VF-31's design flaw.  Maybe it's just blind allegiance to a master artist developing his craft.  And I agree there's no doubt he's moved it forward, as he inevitably does being the master craftsman that he is.  But I put the VF-31 more along the lines of an evolution in valkyrie design, not a revolution, and certainly not a landmark valkyrie.  Not the way, say, the VF-1 was, or even the YF-29, which in my mind is an overlooked masterpiece.

[seti88]

I like the butterfly wings in battroid..I thk it’s quite beautiful..totally understandable if you don’t like it.. only thing I find out of place is the dang boomerang charger..

and i thk the 31 is purposeful design to fit the walkure logo, a girl with butterfly wings, having a valk with wings to protect her...

In fact I think it’s pretty incredible of kawamori-San to design valks that have some relation to the theme of the show...just hope he doesn’t run out of ideas on how many more ways you can fold a fighter into a robot and yet preserve the sleekness of a fighter...

maybe the next valk would be more...macho......oh well such as it is, am just happy to see more valk designs!

p.s. and that’s where I find the 262 so incredible! Fighter mode is so sleek but yet batttoid mode is brute-ish.

Edited September 30, 2018 by seti88

[no3Ljm]

Agreed to some points. But there's always solution for it. Regarding the wings, instead of following the original concept of folding towards the back, you can actually leave it as is flat on the back. Yes, it's not as same as VF-1's nor VF-171's, but atleast, it's still flat on the back. This applies for VF-25's, YF-29's and VF-31's. And yes, that's how I like to pose these Valks in Battroid mode.

 

[Lolicon]

If we're still talking about the quality of the engineering, then the 29 shares the same weaknesses as the 25, with the added bonus of shoulder pauldrons that pop off if you look at them the wrong way. 

[Sanity is Optional]

Also the 29 sagging wingtips, which get even worse with super parts added.

[Sildani]

Thought the 25’s backpack was supposed to mimic angel’s wings, in keeping with the “Messiah” name. 

[MacrossMania]

Appreciate the thought that may have been put behind the shape of the wings on both the 31 and 25's.  Not sure that was actually the case, but if it was, that's cool.  To me though, it's still a poor design choice.  And that's the point, design versus engineering.  At least in my world.  The engineers make the architect's vision happen in the real world.  And so the bandai toymakers make Kawamori's designs happen in the "make believe" one.  But it's the initial design that's totally flawed as far as I'm concerned.  No amount of engineering is going to solve that problem when the thing is designed to have wings that look like the back of a praying mantis.

 

I hate saying this, because macross fans are always so preening and well wishing -as the internet is generally I guess, but especially so when you get these self-anointed specialty groups like nerd heaven or something.  I know I risk the wrath of the Macross community by daring to criticize a Kawamori design, but let's face it, you can rank them, and as far as the 31 is concerned, it had to be said.

[BlueMax]

6 hours ago, MacrossMania said:

Appreciate the thought that may have been put behind the shape of the wings on both the 31 and 25's.  Not sure that was actually the case, but if it was, that's cool.  To me though, it's still a poor design choice.  And that's the point, design versus engineering.  At least in my world.  The engineers make the architect's vision happen in the real world.  And so the bandai toymakers make Kawamori's designs happen in the "make believe" one.  But it's the initial design that's totally flawed as far as I'm concerned.  No amount of engineering is going to solve that problem when the thing is designed to have wings that look like the back of a praying mantis.

 

I hate saying this, because macross fans are always so preening and well wishing -as the internet is generally I guess, but especially so when you get these self-anointed specialty groups like nerd heaven or something.  I know I risk the wrath of the Macross community by daring to criticize a Kawamori design, but let's face it, you can rank them, and as far as the 31 is concerned, it had to be said.

I agree that the wings on the 25 and 31 are not ideal, and if we are to be honest about it, despite justification for their existance as we know it, they are just kibble (to borrow a Transformer term, and Transformer fans generally HATE kibble). 

Re: Bugs and insects: I have also felt the same since the 25 - they look insectoid. jointed thin limbs with sharp extremities.  The head unit of the VF-31F doesn't help, it just screams insect. A lay person will have very much difficulty telling the 25, 29, 30 and 31 apart on 1st look in battroid mode with the Multi Purpose Container hidden. most would just refer to it as .... Gundam (as oppossed to Transformers for the VF-1)

 

Still like all of them though, just that, maybe except the YF-19, nothing equals the VF-1 in terms of how iconic and how clean everything look in all modes. In my opinion only.

 

Edited October 1, 2018 by BlueMax

[WaferMouse]

4 hours ago, MacrossMania said:

I hate saying this, because macross fans are always so preening and well wishing -as the internet is generally I guess, but especially so when you get these self-anointed specialty groups like nerd heaven or something.  I know I risk the wrath of the Macross community by daring to criticize a Kawamori design, but let's face it, you can rank them, and as far as the 31 is concerned, it had to be said.

I don't think anyone's going to ostracize you for having an opinion. For my part, I like the backpack on the 31, it reminds me of someone carrying a folding bike.

[HardlyNever]

While I'm not a huge fan of the back kibble that both most of the modern valk designs have, I feel like it is just Kawamori trying something different.  The vast majority of his valk designs for over two decades had wings that fold up flat against the back in battroid mode(not every single one, but most of them).  I would get tired of designing the same gimmick over and over again, too.

So while the result may not be amazing, I can understand why he wanted to try a new "archetype" of battroid mode.  And to call it a complete failure is a bit harsh; it works both in animation and the real world of toys (works as in it is achievable and the battroid can stand up on its own).  It also gives a lot of them a slimmer appearance from the front, which is what I think he was going for.

[slide]

8 hours ago, BlueMax said:

I agree that the wings on the 25 and 31 are not ideal, and if we are to be honest about it, despite justification for their existance as we know it, they are just kibble (to borrow a Transformer term, and Transformer fans generally HATE kibble). 

Re: Bugs and insects: I have also felt the same since the 25 - they look insectoid. jointed thin limbs with sharp extremities.  The head unit of the VF-31F doesn't help, it just screams insect. A lay person will have very much difficulty telling the 25, 29, 30 and 31 apart on 1st look in battroid mode with the Multi Purpose Container hidden. most would just refer to it as .... Gundam (as oppossed to Transformers for the VF-1)

 

Still like all of them though, just that, maybe except the YF-19, nothing equals the VF-1 in terms of how iconic and how clean everything look in all modes. In my opinion only.

 

I agree with your assessment of insectoid trends...

I think as our technologies advance, we're going to see more and more direct imitations of nature present themselves in all of our techno-constructs.

the super-clean-robot-look is likely gone forever... along with variable-sweep wings.

[Excal88]

Relatively new member to the new Vf-31s.  Since they're re-releasing the Messer, do you guys think they'll do another VF-31A release?  Really love the wing design and color since it reminds me of the VF-11.

[Darth Mingus]

There is a Pre-Owned Arad's VF-31S at HLJ for 24,500 yen:

https://hlj.com/pre-owned-condition-a-bandai-dx-chogokin-vf-31s-siegfried-arad-molders-custom-pow-1-bann23920

[borgified]

1 hour ago, Excal88 said:

Relatively new member to the new Vf-31s.  Since they're re-releasing the Messer, do you guys think they'll do another VF-31A release?  Really love the wing design and color since it reminds me of the VF-11.

Can't say for sure since that some of us on this thread are wishing for Arad's 31a with the Dragon head Itasha. If and when Bandai decides to do it, only time will tell.

The TWE 31a release was a nightmare affair and some members are still waiting for their own copy of the 31a since the pre-orders where made way back in October of last year...

[Slave IV]

Whoops, I posted some responses meant for the 19 thread here on accident...editing this post to remove and as for another 31A, it seems likely that another version will be released at some point.

Edited October 1, 2018 by Slave IV

[eggy99]

Hoping for a bit TWE 31A the 2nd release.

Fast packs included please.