Aoshima VFG

[wmkjr]

On 12/31/2020 at 3:58 AM, CrossAir said:

Just ordered via this link (it says it's on sale since Dec 24):

https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/aoshima-bk_6179?lang=en&rc=yshop

Seems like they either re-opened a 2nd round of orders or fixed the link in the bottom of that article since it didn't go to that order page before.

 

[kajnrig]

EDIT: Leave it to my phone to go on the fritz when I need it not to.

Anyway, the VF-31D SP, which I thought was exclusive to Aoshima's webstore, is apparently a regular release:

https://www.hlj.com/v-f-g-macross-f-vf-31d-skuld-sp-aos06180

https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=FIGURE-122315

I'm sure the other regular haunts have them on sale as well.

Edited January 3, 2021 by kajnrig

[Chronocidal]

Just got both my VF-25S and VF-25G from HLJ delivered, and the 25G box is huge, as I expected.  It's essentially a double sized one of the other VFG kits, because of all the extra parts involved in the super packs.  It includes all the same parts as the normal VF-25S, plus the super packs, and a few Klan-specific variations of a few trees.

What I did notice is that a bunch of the alternate parts advertised as some sort of exclusive add-on a while back for the Klan version are actually included in the base VF-25S kit, mainly a bunch of flesh-toned alternate parts for the body to give the outfit cut-outs.  The bodies are entirely interchangeable if you want to mix and match heads, hair, or other features.  They also use a very similar structure to the VF-31 kits, so you can probably mix and match components all over the place if you want.

[wmkjr]

Also just got my Klan in today. 5280yen via 2day Fedex shipping from HLJ but the box is big like previously mentioned.

Comparison pic with the one I picked up at the Expo.

[CF18]

Video in Chinese.  He needed 5 hours to apply the stickers.

[CrossAir]

The Special Edition Set for the VF25s came in today. As expected, it contains the water decals, face and other body parts for both girls and a instruction sheet for placing the decals. Klan parts do have a much darker skin tone than those of the other girl. Anyways, don‘t think I will use these parts. Perhaps only the face parts to create some other expressions.

[Chronocidal]

That's interesting.. I don't think the original kit parts use a different skin tone from any of the other VFG kits.  They all look interchangeable.

[CrossAir]

27 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

That's interesting.. I don't think the original kit parts use a different skin tone from any of the other VFG kits.  They all look interchangeable.

You made me curious. Just checked my original Klan kit, the parts in there have indeed the same darker skin tone, too!

[Chronocidal]

I'll have to recheck then, maybe it was just the lighting where I was looking then.  I mixed some parts with the VF-25S kit, and it didn't look darker, but my office lighting is pretty subdued.

[electric indigo]

There's a new VFG coming

[kajnrig]

Ranka version, maybe? The ears and hair track, at least. 

[Sanity is Optional]

Maybe they realized that the ones where it's actually a Macross girl sell better than the ones with generic girls.

[Focslain]

19 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Maybe they realized that the ones where it's actually a Macross girl sell better than the ones with generic girls.

Maybe, honestly the catgirl ones were what spurred me to start collecting. Might have only gotten one or two to make my pathfinder bard conversion and stopped instead of the half dozen I have now.

[Chronocidal]

If they go more that Ranka costume style in the future, I probably won't be picking any more up.  I was mostly just interested in the roughly HMR-scaled valks.  

[kajnrig]

5 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

If they go more that Ranka costume style in the future, I probably won't be picking any more up.  I was mostly just interested in the roughly HMR-scaled valks.  

Same. The current lineup is already uncomfortable for me as it is; lay the lewd on any thicker, like that figure does, and I'd tap out.

At least with the Klan one it's easy enough to paint everything red/purple/etc. so you get a full jumpsuit look, which has the added bonus of being canon.

 

[Sanity is Optional]

It would be nice if they'd ease up on the general armor+panties aesthetic that seems commonplace when it comes to mechagirls...

Would it kill them to have pants/shorts/spats?

[Bolt]

Yes. Yes it would. Or at least it would kill their profits..

[Lolicon]

Can't blame them for making what sells. Blame your fellow Macross pervs. 

Also, I don't find anything particularly exploitative or titillating about the Ranka valkyrie costume. If that costume bothers you because you find it overly sexualized or some such nonsense, well, then I'm afraid the only person that can help you is you. 

[Sanity is Optional]

16 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Can't blame them for making what sells. Blame your fellow Macross pervs. 

Also, I don't find anything particularly exploitative or titillating about the Ranka valkyrie costume. If that costume bothers you because you find it overly sexualized or some such nonsense, well, then I'm afraid the only person that can help you is you. 

I was complaining more about stuff like this:

http://en.kotobukiya.co.jp/product/product-0000004062/

http://en.kotobukiya.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/5bbec875d76472d3ce68bd4869f9f6960445c14b.jpg

http://en.kotobukiya.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/e01f7e31ef7fc560d31d3321fcc4d4e49bed8ec4.jpg

 

The Ranka one is just fine, the Klan one is even pretty good by mechagirl standards, just paint in the thighs so it's a bodysuit rather than a leotard+thighhighs.

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Sanity is Optional

[Bolt]

Kotobukiya is the shiz..

[kajnrig]

23 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Can't blame them for making what sells. Blame your fellow Macross pervs. 

Also, I don't find anything particularly exploitative or titillating about the Ranka valkyrie costume. If that costume bothers you because you find it overly sexualized or some such nonsense, well, then I'm afraid the only person that can help you is you. 

Fair's fair. I suppose I misspoke, in that my issue isn't so much that it's "sexualized," but rather what they consider "sexy."

Like, you say I can't blame them for making what sells, but they (the industry writ large, not just Aoshima specifically) have only ever sold that specific... "form factor," I guess you could call it: Dainty, moe-headed cutesy loli with - as Sanity is Optional points out - V-cut leotard and/or pantsu above bare thighs (always thighs and always bare, I don't get it...) and thighhighs, with the occasional oppai and/or miniskirt thrown in when they're feeling especially creative.

One line that's like that, fine. Two lines, from two different companies, that's... also fine, if a bit uninspired. But the entire industry defaulting to that aesthetic? C'mon.

I'm just saying. If they want to cater to degeneracy, they could at least cater to my degeneracies.

With regards to that Ranka figure specifically... eh, no accounting for taste, I suppose. But sex appeal aside, it's also just kind of a lazy attempt at the end of the day. It was lazy when(/if?) it showed up in the movie, and it was lazy when it showed up as a figure. There were so many visually interesting ways to do "sexy mecha girl Ranka," and instead they went with... that.

Bah. Anyway, comparing the silhouette and figure some more, I'm something like 65% confident it'll be a Ranka-themed VFG. There are some differences, like the knee guards on the figure and the hip kibble and what seems to be a holster(/garter?) on the silhouette, but shapes generally track. My misgivings aside, I'm glad they seem to be going full hog on incorporating actual characters like they should have done from the beginning. The Klan VFG sold out really quick and has remained that way since launch, which hopefully means really good sales instead of extremely low production. A Ranka or Sheryl variant can only sell even better; after that, dare I hope for a Mirage VF-31?

[CrossAir]

I have built several Frame Arms Girls over the past years. I really liked the „original“ characters of the series but lately they flooding the market with these cross-over variants of other mecha series and more and more naked skin. It gets kind of annoying. Therefore I tend to give new girls I gonna build a more decent outfit by painting all over those skin parts. 

It had also appreciated that the water decal set for Klan came with colored parts to recreate her fully closed flight suit instead of the even more revealing skin parts.

When I look at my fully clothed VFGirls I think they are sexy enough 

[Sanity is Optional]

The Klan VFG seems to have sold really well. On Mandarake they're going for ¥12,000 which is quite a bit over both MSRP and pre-order prices.

I hope they do a tornado VF-25F with Sheryl next after Ranka.

 

As to the Ranka costume, as I recall the whole point of that montage in the series was Ranka doing very low-end idol/advertising work.

[CrossAir]

3 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

I hope they do a tornado VF-25F with Sheryl next after Ranka

Please, give me that! 

[Chronocidal]

5 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

As to the Ranka costume, as I recall the whole point of that montage in the series was Ranka doing very low-end idol/advertising work.

I mean, yes, it's exactly this in the show, a goofy cosplay mascot outfit.  Sure it's kind of cute, and I can see why they think it would sell, but compared with how the rest of the line gives you complete fighter modes that the figures can ride or wear, it's kind an abrupt drop in the content of the model.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Chronocidal

[kajnrig]

I'm sure there'll be a VF-25 (...or -27?  EDIT: wait, I'm an idiot, of course it would be a -25) and this silhouette is just to tease the G part of this VFG.

Edited March 4, 2021 by kajnrig

[Chronocidal]

Ok, but I'm preemptively disappointed, because we've already gotten a VF-25S, and it wasn't Cathy.  

[ChristopherB]

Greetings, I hope all are doing well.  I really like these kits, and hope we'll see different valkyries in the future.  Here's my collection so far, plan to have them built soon:

[Chronocidal]

So this might be one of the weirdest things I've ever written about a VF-25 kit.

The Klan VF-25G kit?  Most solid super VF-25G ever.  No, not just model.  Most solid representation of the super VF-25G period.  I'll probably disassemble this and finish it properly someday, but for now, this is just an incredibly swooshable (if slightly oddly proportioned) VF-25.  It's a little larger than my 1/100 fighter mode kits, which lands it solidly in the HMR scale range.

Legs are a bit chunky just like the other VFG kits, but it holds up well, and the boosters attach very solidly, which is the first time I've ever seen that on a VF-25.  

 

[TMBounty_Hunter]

 

[Sanity is Optional]

16 hours ago, TMBounty_Hunter said:

 

Sweet, I guess after how well the Klan VF-25 sold, they realized that actually using Macross characters worked so much better than randoms.

Can we get a Cathy armored VF-25S, or a Sheryl tornado VF-25F next?

[no3Ljm]

Edited May 14, 2021 by no3Ljm

[kajnrig]

I like the carrot gunpod.

I too wish for a future Sheryl and/or Cathy model.

[TommyWMan]

Just saw the Klan VFG at my local Hobbytown USA. Here's to more Macross stuff in the states!

[Chronocidal]

45 minutes ago, TommyWMan said:

Just saw the Klan VFG at my local Hobbytown USA. Here's to more Macross stuff in the states!

I've actually never had -that- much trouble finding the Hasegawa kits in local CA hobby shops, but that's good to see.  How much did they have it going for there?