Bandai DX VF-31

[Sandman]

Don't suppose anyone has a spare gun they can sell me?

[Mommar]

I just had the displeasure of attempting to dust off my collection and made it to the 31 shelf.  I know we've ragged Yamcadia time and again for the awful 17/19 ankles but, to be honest, from the 171 to the 31 NONE of Bandai's joints (not just the ankles) will hold up.   Unless you leave it alone in fighter mode none of the joints are safe on these things.

[Foblander]

1 minute ago, Mommar said:

I just had the displeasure of attempting to dust off my collection and made it to the 31 shelf.  I know we've ragged Yamcadia time and again for the awful 17/19 ankles but, to be honest, from the 171 to the 31 NONE of Bandai's joints (not just the ankles) will hold up.   Unless you leave it alone in fighter mode none of the joints are safe on these things.

Oh man really? Can you elaborate on your experience? Which specific Bandai toy and how often you played with it?

Edited March 29, 2020 by Foblander

[Mommar]

Just now, Foblander said:

Oh man really? Can you elaborate on your experience? Which specific Bandai toy and how often you played with it?

All of them.

Never.

[brouken]

Hi all! Hope everyone is doing okay staying home and keeping safe from the COVID-19 contagion. A global recession is in place as global supply chains have been disrupted, and the toy industry is no exception. Given these circumstances, and an uncertain future, anyone think Bandai is still considering completing the Delta lineup? I'm waiting specifically for the super packs for Arad and Chuck's valks. You think these are still in pipeline? Or are we doomed to have a naked Chuck forever? Your thoughts?

[jenius]

I don't know that they ever intended to produce those items and this mess certainly didn't help. Delta is old at this point. If more Delta comes out, that would help.

[borgified]

14 minutes ago, brouken said:

Hi all! Hope everyone is doing okay staying home and keeping safe from the COVID-19 contagion. A global recession is in place as global supply chains have been disrupted, and the toy industry is no exception. Given these circumstances, and an uncertain future, anyone think Bandai is still considering completing the Delta lineup? I'm waiting specifically for the super packs for Arad and Chuck's valks. You think these are still in pipeline? Or are we doomed to have a naked Chuck forever? Your thoughts?

 

3 minutes ago, jenius said:

I don't know that they ever intended to produce those items and this mess certainly didn't help. Delta is old at this point. If more Delta comes out, that would help.

Supers for Chuck and Arad are a given as it has been shown in the series plus a short cameo of Arads' 31a with the Dragonhead Itasha. Most likely that we will have to wait till the next Delta movie gets shown (even with the 262's).

The DX VF-1 is keeping Bandai busy for the present as Kakizaki's 1a has just been announced as a TWE. There's no way that Bandai will ever cross the line in order to make Delta or HMR products.

[sqidd]

26 minutes ago, brouken said:

 You think these are still in pipeline? Or are we doomed to have a naked Chuck forever? Your thoughts?

If I had to push my chips in I would push them in on "no".

[jenius]

3 minutes ago, borgified said:

 

Supers for Chuck and Arad are a given as it has been shown in the series plus a short cameo of Arads' 31a with the Dragonhead Itasha. 

A given? I am impressed by your confidence.

[borgified]

7 minutes ago, jenius said:

A given? I am impressed by your confidence.

How can Bandai not do it?

They made Messer's, Hayate's and Mirage's. 

Bandai loves to milk mold and suck us dry for extras.  

[sqidd]

7 minutes ago, borgified said:

How can Bandai not do it?

They made Messer's, Hayate's and Mirage's. 

Bandai loves to milk mold and suck us dry for extras.  

I have a feeling the world as we know it is in the process of changing dramatically. Which direction things goes is anybody's guess. There is nothing in history to use as a yard stick.

Bandai may not even be in business in 18mo. Or they could come out stronger.

[borgified]

It's true that the Global World is evolving in this critical state of disruption.

I'm going for the "Glass empty, Glass full" type of thinking as anything can happen after all in this is present situation. No doubt that the economy has been hit the hardest during this time, I'm sure that everything will be back up and running again in due time with safety pre-cautions on everyones mind.     

[Sanity is Optional]

I suspect that any further Delta releases will be once the movie is out.

[Bolt]

Buying Valkyrie's has taken a bit of a back seat to some now , unfortunately .

2 hours ago, Mommar said:

All of them.

Never.

Oh..wtf..

 

1 hour ago, jenius said:

A given? I am impressed by your confidence.

Lol. Same here. Arad's 31 would be the 31A frenzied chaos for sure.

 

51 minutes ago, borgified said:

How can Bandai not do it?

They made Messer's, Hayate's and Mirage's. 

Bandai loves to milk mold and suck us dry for extras.  

Looks good on paper. But we're talking Bandai Macross here

[Bolt]

Just now, Sanity is Optional said:

I suspect that any further Delta releases will be once the movie is out.

Now THAT makes sense..now come on Hasegawa!

[treatment]

59 minutes ago, borgified said:

How can Bandai not do it?

They made Messer's, Hayate's and Mirage's. 

Bandai loves to milk mold and suck us dry for extras.  

 

[jeniusornome]

Shrug. The yf-25 and yf-29b never got super parts. The HMR line still hasn’t released figures where prototypes were shown years ago. Bandai hasn’t completed a VF-1 squad in any toy lines ever. 
 

why would anyone think they want to release more Delta stuff to “complete” anything?

 

I’d bet (short of reissues) what we have now for VF-31 stuff is all we’re going to get.

[HardlyNever]

Pre-covid I would have said an Arad 31A was likely but not guaranteed (Bandai's gotta milk that 31A mold to recoup costs).

Arad got armor already, so maybe he gets his super parts, maybe he doesn't.  He sold well enough to justify it.

Chuck is still floating around near MSRP, so I'd have said supers or armor for him were unlikely.

Post-covid, it's all up in the air.  I think we're still lucky to be getting any Macross product at all (like the DX 1/48 line), given the circumstances.

[Sandman]

I think the time has passed for Arab and chuck supers. It's been too long since both 31s were released. I don't think bandai plans to release them. They didn't even add the speaker pack to the supers.

[Bolt]

1 hour ago, jeniusornome said:

 

Shrug. The yf-25 and yf-29b never got super parts. The HMR line still hasn’t released figures where prototypes were shown years ago. Bandai hasn’t completed a VF-1 squad in any toy lines ever. 
 

 

 

YF-29 got these as supers

 

6 minutes ago, Sandman said:

I think the time has passed for Arab and chuck supers. It's been too long since both 31s were released. I don't think bandai plans to release them. They didn't even add the speaker pack to the supers.

I would think the release of the new Delta movie is Bandai's plan to fleece us for what's been missing.  Some things we'll probably never see though..

[jeniusornome]

@Bolt the yf-29b - the blue one. Everyone was certain it would get super parts since it was just another repaint, but, no super parts.
 

people seem to ascribe some kind of “wants complete sets” mentality to Bandai when there has been no evidence, ever, of them being that way. 
 

Yamato was the only company to try and release everything. But that strategy didn’t work for them.

 

VF-31E and F figures are still readily available so I think that’s a good indication to Bandai that releasing more Delta stuff right now isn’t going to do much for sales. 

[Lolicon]

Super parts are web exclusives for existing products so it shouldn't be a concern for their retail sales. Unless Bandai doesn't feel it's worth their time to make them if they can make more money using their factory capacity to crank out more Kamen Rider stuff or something. 

[borgified]

I know that shipping to where ever you are is a go ahead (however delayed via EMS) or you want to try DHL, Mirage's Supers is up for grabs.

For 12k yen (Item A, Box B) on Amiami  - https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=FIGURE-038852-R

[Grey728]

2 hours ago, borgified said:

I know that shipping to where ever you are is a go ahead (however delayed via EMS) or you want to try DHL, Mirage's Supers is up for grabs.

For 12k yen (Item A, Box B) on Amiami  - https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=FIGURE-038852-R

Thank you. Ordered it.

[Knightdramon]

On 3/29/2020 at 6:47 PM, Mommar said:

I just had the displeasure of attempting to dust off my collection and made it to the 31 shelf.  I know we've ragged Yamcadia time and again for the awful 17/19 ankles but, to be honest, from the 171 to the 31 NONE of Bandai's joints (not just the ankles) will hold up.   Unless you leave it alone in fighter mode none of the joints are safe on these things.

 

Quoted, as it seems even the ratchets on the legs are not that safe. My DX 31 Messer is not ragdoll loose, but substantially looser than when bought new. It's the most frequently transformed one, but not really played with or doing any extreme weight-bearing poses. My Kairos has been in fighter mode for, what, 3 years now? No idea how its joints are.

My Arad 31S has noticeably tighter joints than Messer's, but is not handled much. I had the armour parts on for a while but took them off because of all the weight they add, especially to his arms.

However, saying that, my Yamato VF19S and 19Kai have developed looseness over time by doing nothing more than chilling in a museum-style pose in battroid for years. They usually get transformed once every few months and have never stayed in gerwalk. 

I guess it's the Macross high end figures curse...

Edited April 4, 2020 by Knightdramon

[ErikElvis]

Never opened any of my 31’s. No where to put them. First world probs. 

[Lolicon]

So I got my acrylic valk stands after more than two months. Delay probably related to some bug going around in China.

Anyway, the stands are okay. They're really meant for the much smaller and lighter VF-1 from Yamato, but they can hold a VF-31. Not particularly well though, and it's pretty easy to knock them off with the slightest jostle.

My 31s are going back to their Yeti stands after this.

[Slave IV]

8 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

So I got my acrylic valk stands after more than two months. Delay probably related to some bug going around in China.

Anyway, the stands are okay. They're really meant for the much smaller and lighter VF-1 from Yamato, but they can hold a VF-31. Not particularly well though, and it's pretty easy to knock them off with the slightest jostle.

My 31s are going back to their Yeti stands after this.

They look nice together! But yeah, I’m not too impressed with the stands. I got a few and right now just using one for a much smaller, lighter, unrelated to Macross display. Plus, it’s real boring to have a bunch of figures displayed the exact same way, the exact same angle right next to each other. I’ve seen some creative use of them and glad I have a few to mess with but not gonna buy anymore. 

[Foblander]

On 4/4/2020 at 2:35 PM, Knightdramon said:

 

Quoted, as it seems even the ratchets on the legs are not that safe. My DX 31 Messer is not ragdoll loose, but substantially looser than when bought new. It's the most frequently transformed one, but not really played with or doing any extreme weight-bearing poses. My Kairos has been in fighter mode for, what, 3 years now? No idea how its joints are.

My Arad 31S has noticeably tighter joints than Messer's, but is not handled much. I had the armour parts on for a while but took them off because of all the weight they add, especially to his arms.

However, saying that, my Yamato VF19S and 19Kai have developed looseness over time by doing nothing more than chilling in a museum-style pose in battroid for years. They usually get transformed once every few months and have never stayed in gerwalk. 

I guess it's the Macross high end figures curse...

This is so disheartening 

[Lolicon]

15 hours ago, Slave IV said:

They look nice together! But yeah, I’m not too impressed with the stands. I got a few and right now just using one for a much smaller, lighter, unrelated to Macross display. Plus, it’s real boring to have a bunch of figures displayed the exact same way, the exact same angle right next to each other. I’ve seen some creative use of them and glad I have a few to mess with but not gonna buy anymore. 

I was going to use them to hold up my favorite whooshers on my desk so I could just whoosh them whenever I wanted. But they're too flimsy and unreliable for that. So they'll be relegated to holding up my many duplicate VF-1s.

[Slave IV]

2 hours ago, Lolicon said:

I was going to use them to hold up my favorite whooshers on my desk so I could just whoosh them whenever I wanted. But they're too flimsy and unreliable for that. So they'll be relegated to holding up my many duplicate VF-1s.

Yeah, the only thing I’m using it for right now is to hold a hollow Firebird shell for my Gatchaman God Phoenix

[aurance]

When you fold the arms forward, are the hinged shoulder parts behind the canard supposed to sit flush instead of having a gap? I don’t want to force it.

[HardlyNever]

16 hours ago, aurance said:

When you fold the arms forward, are the hinged shoulder parts behind the canard supposed to sit flush instead of having a gap? I don’t want to force it.

Not exactly sure what you're talking about, but if you're talking about the "armpit" area, then yea, there is a always a bit of gap there.  You can't have the arms going perfectly straight down.

[aurance]

1 hour ago, HardlyNever said:

Not exactly sure what you're talking about, but if you're talking about the "armpit" area, then yea, there is a always a bit of gap there.  You can't have the arms going perfectly straight down.

Yes exactly that. Thank you, it looks fine, just checking that I did it correctly.

[borgified]

If anyone missed out and needs either Arad or Mirage, both on Amiami!!

Arad for 33k yen (Item A, Box B)

https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=FIGURE-037574-R

Mirage for 33.5k yen (Item A/Box B)

https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=FIGURE-029195-R