Bandai Sv-262 DX valk

[Guyffon]

I did hear some people saying that the 262 have the thumbs broken off when transforming back to fighter mode. I too transform it thru all 3 modes once and back to fighter where it sits now

[Lolicon]

I just bought two so I could keep one battroid with sword and shield and the other in fighter.

I'm sad that we will probably never get the white Draken.

[Sanity is Optional]

37 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

I just bought two so I could keep one battroid with sword and shield and the other in fighter.

I'm sad that we will probably never get the white Draken.

Speak for yourself, I managed to snag one of the 1/72 kits (with Mikumo decal nightmare).

[Lolicon]

4 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Speak for yourself, I managed to snag one of the 1/72 kits (with Mikumo decal nightmare).

This isn't the model kit subforum. Those are regularly reissued by Bandai anyway.

[Sanity is Optional]

4 hours ago, Lolicon said:

This isn't the model kit subforum. Those are regularly reissued by Bandai anyway.

I'll take what I can get.

[Atheonyirh]

On 3/23/2021 at 5:58 PM, Mommar said:

It’s in permanent Gerwalk for me, so it’s never been transformed  enough to break.

Yeah, mine stays in Gerwalk mode and will forever stay that way unless I have to move or something and put it back in the box for safe transport.

[no3Ljm]

On 3/23/2021 at 10:34 AM, borgified said:

Oh @no3Ljm.... 

The hopes of the Elvis/Mirage and other Pope Head versions maybe scuttled into oblivion, no love for the 262 anymore. 

Sad but true. But then... that means money saved for me. 

 

[borgified]

19 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Sad but true. But then... that means money saved for me. 

I'm also in the same grounds (to a degree). However until the next DX pre-order drops I'll be re-shuffling my present display and getting some other needed fidget toys. 

[Special Sauce]

How many DX pre-orders are there each year approximately?  Doesn't seem like too many.

[no3Ljm]

Just now, Special Sauce said:

How many DX pre-orders are there each year approximately?  Doesn't seem like too many.

No. Majority of the reason is due to the Covid since most of the production including the movie got delayed as well. Last year we saw 3 DX (one of them is a repainted reissue, and 2 is VF-1 molds) and 3 option VF-1 parts got released but the PO for that happened late 2019 and early 2020.

 

[Lolicon]

Artificial scarcity courtesy of Bandai.

[iguanaman8989]

On 3/23/2021 at 7:19 PM, Guyffon said:

I did hear some people saying that the 262 have the thumbs broken off when transforming back to fighter mode. I too transform it thru all 3 modes once and back to fighter where it sits now

 Yeah, the tolerances are so close that if the hands aren't perfectly folded up and in the right orientation, it can shear the thumbs right off.

But since the hands aren't visible at all in fighter mode, I just took them off before transforming.

[no3Ljm]

3 hours ago, iguanaman8989 said:

 Yeah, the tolerances are so close that if the hands aren't perfectly folded up and in the right orientation, it can shear the thumbs right off.

But since the hands aren't visible at all in fighter mode, I just took them off before transforming.

^ This is the safest way of doing it.  

 

[Saburo]

17 hours ago, iguanaman8989 said:

 Yeah, the tolerances are so close that if the hands aren't perfectly folded up and in the right orientation, it can shear the thumbs right off.

But since the hands aren't visible at all in fighter mode, I just took them off before transforming.

My buddy's thumb broke off on his 262.  I have pretty much left my 262 in Battroid mode after doing photos.  One day I'll transform it back into Fighter mode, and then back into Box Mode. 

 

14 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

^ This is the safest way of doing it.  

 

I'll note that for the day I transform it back. 

[seti88]

Initially tot this was a kit, but no, its a custom 262 DX! 

found via: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPtLrO0rXEU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

and 

This is insane!

 

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by seti88

[twich]

Wow, really makes me wish they would improve/revise the SV-262 DX mold and given us more variants.

Twich

[Special Sauce]

7 hours ago, twich said:

Wow, really makes me wish they would improve/revise the SV-262 DX mold and given us more variants.

Twich

^^This.  I love the fighter mode of this Valk.  Not crazy about the Battroid mode though.

[twich]

I believe that it is a really good design for both fighter and battroid, the Gerwalk is strange, but the real beast is trying to transform the DX toy.  Who knows what the new movie will bring to us as far as new DX toys....one can hope.

Twich

[Special Sauce]

2 minutes ago, twich said:

I believe that it is a really good design for both fighter and battroid, the Gerwalk is strange, but the real beast is trying to transform the DX toy.  Who knows what the new movie will bring to us as far as new DX toys....one can hope.

Twich

I've been reading about the frustration of transforming that one.  I guess Battroid isn't so bad.  I think it's the head design that I don't like.  I hope you're right and they come out with some cool new designs.  Though hopefully not too many I'm still trying to catch up with older releases! 

[ValkAddict]

19 hours ago, seti88 said:

This is insane!

 

 

^ Damn, that is hawt!!

Edited June 5, 2021 by ValkAddict

[Lolicon]

19 hours ago, seti88 said:

Initially tot this was a kit, but no, its a custom 262 DX! 

found via: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPtLrO0rXEU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

and 

This is insane!

 

 

I'll buy 3x if Bandai ever made anything like that.

[Chronocidal]

Holy cow.. yes.  Same.  It's a crying shame Bandai abandoned the Ba so utterly.  I keep hoping they get back to it and give us a Mirage version, but it's like they've just given up on trying to sell the 262.  I doubt even throwing the main character in one would help at this point.

[MKT]

Yeahh I really want more 262 and Ba.. I'd be more excited for this than the new 31 variants in the upcoming new Delta movie.

[ValkAddict]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

... It's a crying shame Bandai abandoned the Ba so utterly.  ...  but it's like they've just given up on trying to sell the 262.  I doubt even throwing the main character in one would help at this point.

Did the SV-262 not sell well for Bandai when it was initially released? I have noticed its aftermarket price is lower compared to the VF-31s - but I figured it's because it's not really a "hero" valk.

[Chronocidal]

2 hours ago, ValkAddict said:

Did the SV-262 not sell well for Bandai when it was initially released? I have noticed its aftermarket price is lower compared to the VF-31s - but I figured it's because it's not really a "hero" valk.

I think the answer to that is complicated.

It's true, I think the Sv-262 is the only non-hero valk Bandai has ever made in their DX line.  I don't think that alone is why, since it seems to me making Mirage's version would fix that to an extent (or, to whatever extent can be attributed to her character which.. let's face it, Delta didn't do her many favors, but that's another topic for another time).

If you compare the DX Sv-262 with the 1/72 Bandai model kit though, I think you can also see that the DX figure is over-complicated in a few ways, and the transformation is more complex than it needs to be.  It's a beast to transform.

The thing that always baffled me a little about the DX though.  It looks very fragile.. but we never saw many reports of broken parts, or manufacturing defects.  That leads me to think one of two things must be true:
1. It really is actually very sturdy, despite its complex design
2. Not enough people bought it to give a good sample size of quality control.

There is always going to be a portion of the fanbase that buys any design that looks cool, regardless of being a hero or villain, but I do think that hurt this one quite a bit.  Between the complicated transformation, and villain status, I just don't think Bandai sees this as a design worth the effort to produce.

[arbit]

On 6/5/2021 at 6:29 AM, seti88 said:

This is insane!

Whoa!

[Sanity is Optional]

4 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

I think the answer to that is complicated.

It's true, I think the Sv-262 is the only non-hero valk Bandai has ever made in their DX line.  I don't think that alone is why, since it seems to me making Mirage's version would fix that to an extent (or, to whatever extent can be attributed to her character which.. let's face it, Delta didn't do her many favors, but that's another topic for another time).

If you compare the DX Sv-262 with the 1/72 Bandai model kit though, I think you can also see that the DX figure is over-complicated in a few ways, and the transformation is more complex than it needs to be.  It's a beast to transform.

The thing that always baffled me a little about the DX though.  It looks very fragile.. but we never saw many reports of broken parts, or manufacturing defects.  That leads me to think one of two things must be true:
1. It really is actually very sturdy, despite its complex design
2. Not enough people bought it to give a good sample size of quality control.

There is always going to be a portion of the fanbase that buys any design that looks cool, regardless of being a hero or villain, but I do think that hurt this one quite a bit.  Between the complicated transformation, and villain status, I just don't think Bandai sees this as a design worth the effort to produce.

There's also the possibility that there's fewer breaks due to people not handling them much (due to difficult transformation).

Also, I recall issues on release of the tampo peeling off of the wings (the gold emblems) when the "protective" film was removed. Probably put a damper on buying, similar to the Arcadia SV-51 leg issue.

[sjoebarry]

10 hours ago, MKT said:

Yeahh I really want more 262 and Ba.. I'd be more excited for this than the new 31 variants in the upcoming new Delta movie.

I want the Ba version so bad. But I’m not getting that 1/72 scale plastic kit….no way. Damn shame Bandai didn’t/won’t make a DX version. I’d pay whatever they’d charge for it 

[MKT]

Bandai did give us the non-hero VF-27 variants from Frontier, twice over in both v1 and v1.5..  I haven't started collecting yet when they were released, but how did they do then? Were they shelf warmers?

If non-hero valk is really a reason the 262 did not do well comparatively, then the chances sure gets higher with the upcoming new Delta movie. Since, it's already strongly hinted the Windemerean folks will be joining the Delta Flight in battle.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by MKT

[Chronocidal]

Forgot about the VF-27s.. and they made multiples of those, so who knows... actually they made four of them, because they made the original Brera and Grace, and then did a revised version of each.

After building Mirage's 262Ba kit though.. I'm re-convinced that at least one of the reasons we haven't seen a DX of it yet is because the head transformation is just a freaking nightmare.  The model kit is just a disaster of tiny intricate parts that pop off if you look at them sideways.  I'm not at all sure Bandai could make that transformation workable on a toy.

Edited June 20, 2021 by Chronocidal

[ValkAddict]

Belated thanks for your insight @Chronocidal

[close313]

I loved transforming the model kit SV-262 so much that it broke at the waist. Still, it was a good experience and was hoping that the DX was the same. Guess it wasn't the case! Maybe I'll get Bogue model kit while waiting for Bandai to release the DX version, if ever.

[Chronocidal]

12 hours ago, close313 said:

I loved transforming the model kit SV-262 so much that it broke at the waist. Still, it was a good experience and was hoping that the DX was the same. Guess it wasn't the case! Maybe I'll get Bogue model kit while waiting for Bandai to release the DX version, if ever.

I've picked up a pair of each of the transforming 262 kits, and partsforming aspects aside, I find them all really fun to transform back and forth.  They really need smaller hands though.

The thing to keep in mind is that the mold has a few pretty serious weak points that can lead to parts snapping due to stress.  I detailed a few of those in the dedicated model topic, but the biggest to be aware of is the long thin piece that attaches the wings to the hinges above the intakes.  Those have a tendency to develop a stress mark along the thinnest cross-section, and are very susceptible to torsion and flexing from transforming the wings, especially while rotating the outer wing panels around.

The panels are hollow on the backside, so there's some room for reinforcement.  It's pretty easy to cut some sheet styrene to fit in the hollowed-out area.

Far as the DX goes, I really was hoping that even if none of the knights was popular enough for a Ba release, at least Mirage is (nominally) a main character, right?  Yeah, I don't know what Bandai is doing at this point.  Hayate gets release after re-release after re-re-release, and it seems like Bandai has no interest of giving two shakes about any other character now.

I honestly wonder if Mirage would out-sell Keith, if they did release her 262 at this point.

[Skull005]

On 6/6/2021 at 1:29 AM, Chronocidal said:

The thing that always baffled me a little about the DX though.  It looks very fragile.. but we never saw many reports of broken parts, or manufacturing defects.  That leads me to think one of two things must be true:
1. It really is actually very sturdy, despite its complex design
2. Not enough people bought it to give a good sample size of quality control.

I think Kawamori was on acid when he designed the SV-262.  That thing is the most complicated Valk I've ever tried to transform.  Ingenious design but insanely hard to transform.  

I can attest to Bandai making this thing pretty damn sturdy.  I rarely transform my valks so when I do, I do it extremely carefully.  After hour 2 of trying to transform this thing, I was banging on it like a rubics cube due to frustration.  Even managed to slip out of my hands and fall 4 feet onto my hardwood floor and still didn't break a thing.  Pretty solid build.

[sjoebarry]

5 hours ago, Skull005 said:

I think Kawamori was on acid when he designed the SV-262.  That thing is the most complicated Valk I've ever tried to transform.  Ingenious design but insanely hard to transform.  

I can attest to Bandai making this thing pretty damn sturdy.  I rarely transform my valks so when I do, I do it extremely carefully.  After hour 2 of trying to transform this thing, I was banging on it like a rubics cube due to frustration.  Even managed to slip out of my hands and fall 4 feet onto my hardwood floor and still didn't break a thing.  Pretty solid build.

I got a second SV-262 solely for the purposes of transforming it to battroid for display and I gotta be honest I didn’t find it to be that much more complicated than say the VF-171. It’s probably MORE difficult to transform it BACK to fighter.