BANDAI DX YF-19!!

[Zx31]

Huh, I must be an outlier because I rather enjoy the DX 19 transformation. Though, I also didn't have any problems with the DX 262. My most frustrating transformations have been the first time going battroid and back with the YF-22 and trying to get the heat shield on either VF-11 to stay put.

[kanedaestes]

I’d say of all the valks, the yf-22 seemed the most challenging for me at first. Most other ones I’m fine with. But then I’ve been messing with these things for a long time now too

Edited September 23, 2018 by kanedaestes

[no3Ljm]

You guys talk about YF-21 and not VF-22, I presume? Or mix of both if you have YF-21 and VF-22? 

 

[Zx31]

Both, but I got the 22 first so I keep mixing up the numbers.

[Shizuka the Cat]

I love how quick DHL is.  My YF-19 that shipped out from Tokyo last night is already at the DHL Cincinnati hub. I wonder if it will get to Boston sooner than the Wednesday estimate.

[onnasake]

Well, I changed it back to plane mode when I woke up and it was a lot faster.  I'm getting the hang of it.  Still finicky as hell and sequences where I accidentally ripped things off and had a mini heart attack thinking I broke the damn thing.

Still can't get everything to tab in at the same time to save the life of me.

The stupid thing was so expensive cause it has all these extras and options, and I'm actually just displaying it with nothing but the gunpod.  I guess cause it's my first YF 19 I just wanna appreciate it's simplest look first, without the bells and whistles.  Oh and the fact that the wings can't tab in to the fast packs on the legs almost gave me a stroke, so better to avoid it.

I want to love this toy but I can't.  It's still frustrating.  And dear god was it expensive.  I personally do NOT feel it was worth the money, no matter how many extra missiles it came with.

 

But at least I don't HATE it.  So that's an enormous step up from my four hour struggle last night.

 

The packaging is absolutely wonderful by the way, but you guys already know that from pics and videos.

 

I feel weird.  On the one hand, I own a YF-19 toy.  FINALLY.   I am not exaggerating: I've been pining for one for two decades.  On the other hand?  Other than LOOKING at it on my shelf, it's not a pleasant experience.

 

I guess it's like finally getting the hot chick you've been in love with for years to come home with you, and then you can't get it up.  Or something like that.

 

[Krunc]

6 hours ago, kazuo said:

Lots of complaints on JP Twitter about various QC issues.

You can currently buy through Amazon JP for around 31K yen, with 1200 yen shipping to the USA. Be sure to purchase from a seller offering Prime shipping / fulfilled by Amazon, as other offers will not ship to the USA.

How bad is it?

What would happen if I had to return mine due to faulty or crappy QC issues?

[Trifalger]

21 minutes ago, onnasake said:

Well, I changed it back to plane mode when I woke up and it was a lot faster.  I'm getting the hang of it.  Still finicky as hell and sequences where I accidentally ripped things off and had a mini heart attack thinking I broke the damn thing.

Still can't get everything to tab in at the same time to save the life of me.

The stupid thing was so expensive cause it has all these extras and options, and I'm actually just displaying it with nothing but the gunpod.  I guess cause it's my first YF 19 I just wanna appreciate it's simplest look first, without the bells and whistles.  Oh and the fact that the wings can't tab in to the fast packs on the legs almost gave me a stroke, so better to avoid it.

I want to love this toy but I can't.  It's still frustrating.  And dear god was it expensive.  I personally do NOT feel it was worth the money, no matter how many extra missiles it came with.

 

But at least I don't HATE it.  So that's an enormous step up from my four hour struggle last night.

 

The packaging is absolutely wonderful by the way, but you guys already know that from pics and videos.

 

I feel weird.  On the one hand, I own a YF-19 toy.  FINALLY.   I am not exaggerating: I've been pining for one for two decades.  On the other hand?  Other than LOOKING at it on my shelf, it's not a pleasant experience.

 

I guess it's like finally getting the hot chick you've been in love with for years to come home with you, and then you can't get it up.  Or something like that.

 

It may seem like blasphemy but I haven’t heard whether it seemed possible to cut space out of the leg fast packs for the wing tabs and that fix the gap and secure the wings too. It couldn’t be that easy or they would’ve made them that way right?

[Sildani]

I’ll wonder about that when I get mine. 

@onnasake: if you want to sell those missiles and recoup a few bucks of your investment, PM me. 

[scand]

Just got a second one from Amazon.co.jp. I started to panic earlier in the week and went with a scalper on Ebay... Probably will end up with two but don't won't to wait 5 weeks. $11 bucks for 7 day global shipping... can't beat that.

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2018 by scand

[Mommar]

1 hour ago, onnasake said:

Oh and the fact that the wings can't tab in to the fast packs on the legs almost gave me a stroke, so better to avoid it.
 

This is actually a feature of the Bandai 19... because they engineered it wrong

[Numbninja]

1 hour ago, onnasake said:

Well, I changed it back to plane mode when I woke up and it was a lot faster.  I'm getting the hang of it.  Still finicky as hell and sequences where I accidentally ripped things off and had a mini heart attack thinking I broke the damn thing.

Still can't get everything to tab in at the same time to save the life of me.

The stupid thing was so expensive cause it has all these extras and options, and I'm actually just displaying it with nothing but the gunpod.  I guess cause it's my first YF 19 I just wanna appreciate it's simplest look first, without the bells and whistles.  Oh and the fact that the wings can't tab in to the fast packs on the legs almost gave me a stroke, so better to avoid it.

I want to love this toy but I can't.  It's still frustrating.  And dear god was it expensive.  I personally do NOT feel it was worth the money, no matter how many extra missiles it came with.

 

But at least I don't HATE it.  So that's an enormous step up from my four hour struggle last night.

 

The packaging is absolutely wonderful by the way, but you guys already know that from pics and videos.

 

I feel weird.  On the one hand, I own a YF-19 toy.  FINALLY.   I am not exaggerating: I've been pining for one for two decades.  On the other hand?  Other than LOOKING at it on my shelf, it's not a pleasant experience.

 

I guess it's like finally getting the hot chick you've been in love with for years to come home with you, and then you can't get it up.  Or something like that.

 

This man is conflicted as hell....sometimes we humans do put high expectations on things only to feel frustrated.. expecting how something should be based on the value we put on it...take it easy bro.

im sure it wont be your last disappointment either if that helps

[SuperHobo]

This guy's review is like Wotafa level of nice and clear. This should help folks who are feeling stuck. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5caDm_STbT4

[Numbninja]

28 minutes ago, Mommar said:

This is actually a feature of the Bandai 19... because they engineered it wrong

due to the nature of macross po madness...you dont have the luxury of getting review and feed back from the community to determine weather u really want it inspite of the issues if it has any to begin with...but i guess in this case, it was the same mold sooo... somebody should have done their home work before droping that cheese tho

[sh9000]

I’ll put my CMs Isamu with this YF-19.  Mine will be coming in November from NY but I saved about $40 so it’s all good.

[kajnrig]

Question: Is the front landing gear accurate, or did they fudge it to add the hip rotation/some other articulation? I know for sure the landing gear itself is inaccurate folding in half like that, but what about the bay doors? The Hasegawa model shows longer doors that extend to the base of the air intakes, but I know that details get fudged around a lot for this particular VF.

[Zx31]

I thought the wings not tabbing in with the FAST Packs attached was intentional in order to keep the ability to open the leg bays as shown in the OVA

[Trifalger]

20 minutes ago, Zx31 said:

I thought the wings not tabbing in with the FAST Packs attached was intentional in order to keep the ability to open the leg bays as shown in the OVA

You’re correct. I forgot. When I saw the gap on the upper wing tabs it just hit me that it seemed silly not to make cutouts for the wings in the fast packs. According to Anymoon (with the VF-19) you’ll likely have to untab the wings anyway so I guess I’d rather have them tabbed and eliminate the gap. It’s neat to deploy missiles like the movie but I don’t think I’ll be displaying fighter mode with leg fast packs showing that gap. 

[recon]

Anypne hoping that bandai takes a notch further and do a VF-19S/F not forgetting the YF-21/VF-22? I am hoping they will revisit the VF-171 design and possibly make a  simpler VF-17S/D

[TrickyCustomer]

This is the only recent video I can find on the new yf-19, while we wait Apologies if it has already been posted here. I would have thought there would be some reviews out by now? 

[Sanity is Optional]

5 minutes ago, TrickyCustomer said:

This is the only recent video I can find on the new yf-19, while we wait Apologies if it has already been posted here. I would have thought there would be some reviews out by now? 

There's one at the top of this page.

 

[CRYO]

3 hours ago, kajnrig said:

Question: Is the front landing gear accurate, or did they fudge it to add the hip rotation/some other articulation? I know for sure the landing gear itself is inaccurate folding in half like that, but what about the bay doors? The Hasegawa model shows longer doors that extend to the base of the air intakes, but I know that details get fudged around a lot for this particular VF.

This folded landing gear design is original from the original Bandai DX VF 19 Advance few years ago, the Arcadia YF19 have the normal landing gear but no rotating waist.  If you are looking for a YF19 which is more OVA design accurate, you should go for the Arcadia version.

[Mommar]

2 hours ago, Zx31 said:

I thought the wings not tabbing in with the FAST Packs attached was intentional in order to keep the ability to open the leg bays as shown in the OVA

That's the head-cannon everyone came up with.  Nobody officially said that so we don't know for sure though it does allow that.  We do know photoshopping the image to make it look right on the box was intentional.

[CRYO]

Amazon JP shipped my Friday pre-order.  You guys order from them can have a look.

[onnasake]

I still haven't come to terms with the fact that I spent $300 on this thing.  It's not the worst product in the world but it's certainly nowhere near the best.  I shouldn't keep calling it a "toy" either....it's a very delicate movable pre-built model.

It's getting trashed on amazon japan, ratings wise.

Obviously this was too rich for my blood. Like they say, if you have to ASK if you can afford something, then you obviously can't afford it.  I'm not really in a position to be throwing $300 around on toys.

I wonder if I would have just been happier all along if I'd just been able to get the Yamato 1/72 like I wanted back when it first came out.  What was it, about a hundred dollars?  At the time that seemed like a grand to me.

 

I've got the 19 back in plane mode, on the stand, with no extra parts except the gunpod underneath.  I've got it as tabbed in as I possible could without breaking anything.  (I'll probably end up breaking it sooner than later I'm sure.)  But for now, just looking at it, it's pretty lovely.  I should try to be more positive, I guess.

 

[Trifalger]

It's starting to land in many of the Asia destinations so I guess next thing would be to wait for English-speaking reviews. Here are some more reviews.

https://ameblo.jp/un1c0rn-rx-8/entry-12406895484.html

Youtube YF-19 vids:

https://livetube.sumry.xyz/?et=recording&od=date&q=yf-19&ct=

The reviewer from the previous 2chan thread continues to update his posting btw. The stand was loose for him and since the VF-19 and YF-19 have the same super stiff leg joints, silicone spray was recommended there to help prevent breakage.

 

Edited September 23, 2018 by Trifalger

[Blue Meanie]

My Amazon Japan order went from shipping on the 23rd, to delivery date pending, and I suddenly have the option to cancel. Wonder if Amazon burned me.

Edited September 23, 2018 by Blue Meanie

[Sildani]

You and I are in complete agreement, Sithlord. I’ll never tell people how to have fun or how to enjoy their things, but some people are so dang nit-picky I sometimes wonder if they can really enjoy any collectible at all. 

@onnasake: yeah, stop thinking of it as a toy. It really isn’t, it’s a collectible with all that the term implies. My offer for the missiles stands, BTW. 

[HardlyNever]

10 minutes ago, Sildani said:

You and I are in complete agreement, Sithlord. I’ll never tell people how to have fun or how to enjoy their things, but some people are so dang nit-picky I sometimes wonder if they can really enjoy any collectible at all. 

@onnasake: yeah, stop thinking of it as a toy. It really isn’t, it’s a collectible with all that the term implies. My offer for the missiles stands, BTW. 

Yeah, it is just a reality of any hobby like this.  I still haven't gotten mine yet, but I'm just excited to have a yf-19 at all, for sub $300 prices.  All the accessories are great, too.  I'm not losing sleep about the heel being large for fighter mode, or w/e.

I do kind of understand how it happens, though.  After the initial hype phase, there isn't really much to discuss between announcement and release.  So all that is left is really for people to scrutinize and dissect every picture that comes out and compare it to line-art and existing toys.  For some people, this is their 3rd, or 4th... or 5th version of a y-19, so I can see the desire to ask "how is this one better than the last?"

Of course, after all the complaining, the vast majority of those people will still buy it...

[kajnrig]

6 hours ago, CRYO said:

This folded landing gear design is original from the original Bandai DX VF 19 Advance few years ago, the Arcadia YF19 have the normal landing gear but no rotating waist.  If you are looking for a YF19 which is more OVA design accurate, you should go for the Arcadia version.

That... didn't really answer my question, but I appreciate the response. I was asking if the doors are (reasonably) accurate to the original or if they were shortened by half to make room for what I'm presuming is the waist rotation. I know the hinged landing gear is a carry-over from the Advance. I'd argue that the Arcadia has its own inaccuracies that make it about on par with the DX in terms of accuracy.

28 minutes ago, s_i_t_h_l_o_r_d said:

I don't understand the demand for line art accuracy for a fictional object. I'm just happy that it resembles the anime which is good enough for me and their interpretations are in itself an art form. So wether it would be Yamato, Aracadia, Bandai and who ever want to jump into the foray is fine by me. Just make it look good. Yamato's 1/48 VF-1 isn't to spec but I appreciate the engineering and art they applied to make their facsimile of an abstract idea riddled with so much anime magic into reality, but there are concessions to color accuracy and markings that would be a legitimate argument for the purist to demand.

Thank you for also missing the point. I never said anything about line art accuracy, much less demanded it. I mean, there IS something to be said about adhering to the source material, knowing of course that concessions must be made for reality. There's also something to be said for this being especially true if you're going to make a $300 halo product. But that's getting away from the point.

To answer my own question, I took some screenshots from the movie, the only ones I remember seeing the YF-19 with gears deployed. I couldn't find any art/sketches/etc. of the landing gear on the MMM. And it appears to be one of those things that, like the rest of the VF, can be liberally interpreted. The Hasegawa kits have it extend as far back as the base of the intakes, the Yamato/Arcadia toys extend it to about midway between the front and base of the intakes, and the Bandai DX cuts it off prematurely... which actually is fairly close to what it looks like in the last screenshot. Seems the primary concern in all cases was simply to allow the landing gear struts to fit inside the wells (or in Hasegawa's case, to appear to allow the struts to fit inside).

So y'all can put down your pitchforks and stop making this about something it's not now. Yeesh.

[nightmareB4macross]

11 hours ago, SuperHobo said:

This guy's review is like Wotafa level of nice and clear. This should help folks who are feeling stuck. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5caDm_STbT4

This video presentor really makes the transformation look seemless. Calm and in control. He spends more time with commentary than transformation and gets the job done.

there is something to be learned from this video.

[Trifalger]

23 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said:

This video presentor really makes the transformation look seemless. Calm and in control. He spends more time with commentary than transformation and gets the job done.

there is something to be learned from this video.

Yeah so far he's got the best review by far.

[onnasake]

22 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said:

This video presentor really makes the transformation look seemless. Calm and in control. He spends more time with commentary than transformation and gets the job done.

there is something to be learned from this video.

The opposite of my first few times!!  It's getting better now...I'm more calm.  As of now, the only casualty is a stress mark I put right in the center of the toy cause I thought the stupid thing was supposed to rotate 180 degrees.  Whoops.

 

As of now, I'm still keeping all the missiles and stuff cause you know how we collectors are...if I start parting out pieces, even pieces I don't use, it's always gonna be "incomplete" you know?  Collectors can be sick in the head sometimes, can't we?

[tekering]

27 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said:

This video presentor really makes the transformation look seemless. Calm and in control. He spends more time with commentary than transformation and gets the job done.

Ah, but his commentary is frustratingly repetitive.  He says the same things over and over again, and takes forever to get to the point of what he wants to say.  Even by Japanese standards, it's infuriating.

Still, he makes the transformation look relatively easy, and I had no more trouble getting it to battroid than he did.

And the battroid mode is fabulous.  

Having fixed the offensive tampo on the wings, I'm now completely satisfied with the figure, and may order a second while they're still available at retail rates.  I have no QC issues, no objections to the design or execution of the figure, and nothing to complain about.  But that may have a lot to do with my expectations...

See, I've never handled or even seen the VF-19 Advance, nor the Arcadia YF-19, so my expectations are largely based on the two Yamato releases I own.  Those versions are far less accurate, far too simplistic, and far too lacking in detail to satisfy in any mode.  Consider this simple comparison:

Bandai's new release didn't break on me when I tried to transform it; no pieces came flying off as I handled it; nothing was loose or floppy; and the product doesn't feel cheap or hollow.  Furthermore, comments like onnasake's led me to expect a much more difficult and frustrating experience than I had with the figure, thus it has pretty much exceeded all my expectations... and I've barely begun to experiment with all the accessories and display options available.

I absolutely love this toy!  

[onnasake]

PS.....I've taken over this thread in the last few days and I apologize for my keyboard diarrhea.

 

But if anyone is interested, I want to refer you back to my original post from almost 10 years ago that explains my whole love affair with the YF 19.  It's a bit of a long read but again, to mention "poop" for the second time in one sentence, if you need some bathroom reading and wanna read about a complete stranger's journey to get this toy, I'll post it here: