Bandai DX Chogokin 1/48 VF-1

[no3Ljm]

25 minutes ago, Radioguy said:

I hate to rob from Rick to pay Roy, as it were.

Well, depends on those scale and bracket comparisons, I suppose (If anyone has, or could speak to that).

Yeah. I believe it will still need some customizing.

[Radioguy]

https://www.nin-nin-game.com/en/macross/100295-dx-chogokin-macross-do-you-remember-love-vf-1s-valkyrie-ichijou-hikaru-use-148-mechanic-edition-bandai-spirits-.html

Back for the moment.

[grogall]

On 5/28/2024 at 1:01 AM, Chronocidal said:

Judging by the mounts and pictures from before, these are the Bandai missiles for their 1/72 transforming kit.  Hasegawa ones just had pin mounts.

It was posted as a paint guide for @Radioguy, not for scale nor mounting points...😉

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, grogall said:

It was posted as a paint guide for @Radioguy, not for scale nor mounting points...😉

Maybe what you intended, but not what you said.  You just called them the Hasegawa missiles.

Anyhow, the weird part of the TV missiles is that they don't use the same hardpoints as DYRL, since they actually use three separate pylons for the reaction missiles.  I don't remember if I've ever really seen any specific explanation of this, and whether the TV VF-1s always had three wing hardpoints, and only used the inner two for the missile clusters, or whether they may have had five separate hardpoints.

Hasegawa actually flip-flopped on this a little between their 1/72 and 1/48 releases, since the 1/72 missile sets used separate pylons for the two reaction missiles, rather than a dual mount.  The spacing here looks more like there are five separate mounting points on the wing.

Edited May 31 by Chronocidal

[grogall]

20 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Maybe what you intended, but not what you said.  You just called them the Hasegawa missiles.

Anyhow, the weird part of the TV missiles is that they don't use the same hardpoints as DYRL, since they actually use three separate pylons for the reaction missiles.  I don't remember if I've ever really seen any specific explanation of this, and whether the TV VF-1s always had three wing hardpoints, and only used the inner two for the missile clusters, or whether they may have had five separate hardpoints.

 

Hasegawa actually flip-flopped on this a little between their 1/72 and 1/48 releases, since the 1/72 missile sets used separate pylons for the two reaction missiles, rather than a dual mount.  The spacing here looks more like there are five separate mounting points on the wing.

-Snipe-

Thanks! There are some magazines out there which do show mounting guides, but not sure how "canon" they are...

For 2 Hard Points (Per Wing), Google Translates....

Like conventional fighters, the VF-1 mounts its weapons under the wings even outside the atmosphere where there is no aerodynamic effect. This is because the upper surface of the wings is assumed to function as armor on the back when in Battroid mode. Another reason is that the same part has spoilers that are used as movable surfaces in the atmosphere.

Hard points are located on blocks 1 to 8, two on each side, and the first interstellar warfare.

For 3 Hard Points (Per Wing)....

From Block 9 onwards, which were built after the war, there were three hardpoints each. A certain number of aircraft with five hardpoints were also produced. However, even with the addition of more hardpoints, the size of the weapons themselves meant that the standard equipment around 2010 could not accommodate many, so there was no actual change in payload. This addition was made to allow for more room for the load in case new weapons were developed later, and the rigidity of the main wing was also improved.

And I was also answering @Radioguy question on the paints in that post! 😉

And I, honestly mount mine until they look good! 🤪

Edited June 1 by grogall

[grogall]

So the last two (Mech Guts) edition from Mandrake went at 46,000 and 48,000 yen respectively! That with the current yen price is actually not bad!?

 

[MKT]

9 hours ago, grogall said:

So the last two (Mech Guts) edition from Mandrake went at 46,000 and 48,000 yen respectively! That with the current yen price is actually not bad!?

 

Gotta hand it to Bandai, by dripping out the release in stages, it ensures the secondary pricing stays at a high level.

Nice pic btw. 

[Radioguy]

19 hours ago, MKT said:

Gotta hand it to Bandai, by dripping out the release in stages, it ensures the secondary pricing stays at a high level.

Probably the result of some kind of predictive algorithm.

Wouldn't surprise me if BandAI is watching, and probably even reading these forums. It probably knows @sh9000 buys two of everything, and wants him to buy four.

[grogall]

So going back on some research, there was actually three releases of the missile set VF-1, First was May 2019, 2nd June  2020, and then there was a third that was a lottery from January 21-27 2022 released in February 2022, so it is possible that this could come up again!?...

[sh9000]

14 hours ago, Radioguy said:

Wouldn't surprise me if BandAI is watching, and probably even reading these forums. It probably knows @sh9000 buys two of everything, and wants him to buy four.

I know people from Hasbro read posts in the Toyark forum so I wouldn't be surprised.

[MKT]

14 hours ago, Radioguy said:

Probably the result of some kind of predictive algorithm.

Wouldn't surprise me if BandAI is watching, and probably even reading these forums. It probably knows @sh9000 buys two of everything, and wants him to buy four.

If Bandai watching this forum, they would have released the HMR Tomahawk long time ago. Unless they take pleasure in watching us collectors slowly implode by gaslighting us for years that the release of that is juuuuust around the corner... 

 

3 hours ago, grogall said:

So going back on some research, there was actually three releases of the missile set VF-1, First was May 2019, 2nd June  2020, and then there was a third that was a lottery from January 21-27 2022 released in February 2022, so it is possible that this could come up again!?...

Never say never I guess. This missile pack was one of those items that Bandai broke their practice of never reissuing P-Bandai items.

[Chronocidal]

I really think the VF-1, and maybe Macross releases as a whole, threw an orbital strike-sized wrench into Bandai's typical mentality and approach to exclusive items.

When all of your exclusives are one-off custom upgrades to individual mechs that you don't plan on re-releasing, yeah, single-issue exclusives make more sense.

Once you cross that bridge into releasing vehicles that all use the same standard set of equipment, you've introduced a huge problem to that way of thinking.  You've now made an item that every release in the franchise can use.  If you intend to keep releasing more things that can use those add-ons, you'd best revisit the idea of making more.

At this point, I think they're finally at least slightly waking up to the ridiculous market situation their practices have produced.  As insanely overdue as it is, if we're finally getting a reissue of Ozma's armor pack in any form, I think pretty much anything is possible.

I think what prompted them to release as many runs of the missiles as they did though is a byproduct of their past history.  Collectors know how Bandai behaves, and so they may have attempted to stockpile all the missiles for all of the VF-1s they ever planned to buy in the future.  Bandai was probably not prepared for that level of demand, because the orders they received could very well have exceeded the number of DX VF-1s they had even produced by that point.

Edited June 10 by Chronocidal

[grogall]

2 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

-snipe-

I think what prompted them to release as many runs of the missiles as they did though is a byproduct of their past history.  Collectors know how Bandai behaves, and so they may have attempted to stockpile all the missiles for all of the VF-1s they ever planned to buy in the future.  Bandai was probably not prepared for that level of demand, because the orders they received could very well have exceeded the number of DX VF-1s they had even produced by that point.

I don't even think that Bandai know's how large the VF-1 series is going to be. Although the should! If they ever release the VF-1A standard mass-production machines in DX format the missile situation is going to get even worse if they aren't included with that unit!

Edited June 10 by grogall

[LBluesummers]

Fantastic display!  One shudders to think at the excitement (and cost!) of an equivalent DX version...

[ScrambledValkyrie]

You'd think the prospect of multiple purchases driven by the desire to army build would help encourage Bandai to go ahead and release a cannon fodder version. The DX price would be a little prohibitive of a really large squad, but buying multiples would still be tempting for many.

I mean, Bandai is re-releasing the HMR VF-4, but could probably do just as well re-releasing the HMR VF-1A. I'd bet that @sh9000 (who I believe took that photo above) would be up for a few more. 😁

[pengbuzz]

7 hours ago, ScrambledValkyrie said:

You'd think the prospect of multiple purchases driven by the desire to army build would help encourage Bandai to go ahead and release a cannon fodder version. The DX price would be a little prohibitive of a really large squad, but buying multiples would still be tempting for many.

I mean, Bandai is re-releasing the HMR VF-4, but could probably do just as well re-releasing the HMR VF-1A. I'd bet that @sh9000 (who I believe took that photo above) would be up for a few more. 😁

Right? One would think...

[sh9000]

On 6/27/2024 at 5:22 PM, ScrambledValkyrie said:

You'd think the prospect of multiple purchases driven by the desire to army build would help encourage Bandai to go ahead and release a cannon fodder version. The DX price would be a little prohibitive of a really large squad, but buying multiples would still be tempting for many.

I mean, Bandai is re-releasing the HMR VF-4, but could probably do just as well re-releasing the HMR VF-1A. I'd bet that @sh9000 (who I believe took that photo above) would be up for a few more. 😁

Yep that's my photo.  I'd probably buy 2 or 3 DX CF VF-1As.  I just ordered my 24th HMR CF VF-1A.

[grogall]

12 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Yep that's my photo.  I'd probably buy 2 or 3 DX CF VF-1As.  I just ordered my 24th HMR CF VF-1A.

What kind off diorama are you making with 24 standard mass-production  VF-1A? And I thought I overdone it with 5 DX VF-1A Angel Birds....🤓

[vladykins]

8 hours ago, grogall said:

What kind off diorama are you making with 24 standard mass-production  VF-1A? And I thought I overdone it with 5 DX VF-1A Angel Birds....🤓

The HMR chess set uses up 10 alone.

[pengbuzz]

10 hours ago, vladykins said:

The HMR chess set uses up 10 alone.

O.o wow!

[sh9000]

11 hours ago, vladykins said:

The HMR chess set uses up 10 alone.

My HMR chess set uses 8 and I think that's what you meant.

[vladykins]

On 6/29/2024 at 7:20 PM, sh9000 said:

My HMR chess set uses 8 and I think that's what you meant.

Yes- I was wrongly mentally counting the size of a chess board. 

[jvmacross]

So now that we know Bandai has no issues with releasing DX VF-1's w/SSP combo sets...will we see the M&M VF-1J's before we get the VE-1?  And which one will be retail vs Tamashii Web?

[jenius]

I would have been wrong every time I tried to guess Bandai's DX line up but what the heck, here's my latest guess:
VE-1 TWE
VF-1A DYRL Hikaru
DYRL Strike Parts Reissue TWE
VF-1J Max
VF-1J Miriya TWE
VF-1S TV Super Hikaru Clear Tamashii Event
VF-1A Max DYRL (bonus points if they make it convertible to VF-1S)

[grogall]

24 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

So now that we know Bandai has no issues with releasing DX VF-1's w/SSP combo sets...will we see the M&M VF-1J's before we get the VE-1?  And which one will be retail vs Tamashii Web?

I suspect we will get announcement of the VE-1 before the end of the month with release end of the year! Since it's 40th Anna of D.Y.R.L.

[Lolicon]

I stick with my original postulate that Bandai decides which VF to release next using a dart board.

[no3Ljm]

24 minutes ago, jenius said:

I would have been wrong every time I tried to guess Bandai's DX line up but what the heck, here's my latest guess:

VF-1A Max DYRL (bonus points if they make it convertible to VF-1S)

That would mean Max DYRL is going to be an expensive set. Aside from the head, it will include extra sets of nosecone/cockpit section, wing, and vertical stabilizers due to the modex number. 013 for 1A, 001 for 1S. Unless, they blank everything and let the customer decide which Max model they're going to use. Meaning making the customer buy 2 sets to apply both decals/stickers if they want both A and S. Win/Win for Bandai. 

[MKT]

Perhaps next release would be a Roy 1S reissue, in Mechanics Edition.

[no3Ljm]

1 minute ago, MKT said:

Perhaps next release would be a Roy 1S reissue, in Mechanics Edition.

Roy VF-1S in Mechanics is ok. But I would be upset if they decided to release Hikaru's Super VF-1A in Mechanics Edition. Coz I just want a regular one. 

[jenius]

1 hour ago, no3Ljm said:

That would mean Max DYRL is going to be an expensive set. Aside from the head, it will include extra sets of nosecone/cockpit section, wing, and vertical stabilizers due to the modex number. 013 for 1A, 001 for 1S. Unless, they blank everything and let the customer decide which Max model they're going to use. Meaning making the customer buy 2 sets to apply both decals/stickers if they want both A and S. Win/Win for Bandai. 

Yeah I was thinking they would go the sticker route like they did with the Kakizaki tail fin fix. A better idea, probably for everyone, would be to go 1A as regular release and 1S as TWE and for Bandai to make them at the same time and sell them a couple months apart from each other. 

[Chronocidal]

Production-wise, it would make more sense to make the two DYRL 1As at the same time, or possibly make the two remaining VF-1S releases (DYRL Roy and Max) at the same time.

Still, I'm not even going to try and predict which ones they will sell as TWE.  Their release schedule is all over the place, and the only DYRL 1A we've gotten was Kakizaki first. All bets are completely off for what logic they're following, if any at all.

 

Edited July 16 by Chronocidal

[davidwhangchoi]

i hope for roy weathering edition

[herkulease]

15 hours ago, Lolicon said:

I stick with my original postulate that Bandai decides which VF to release next using a dart board.

A dartboard would imply there's at a bare minimum some thought put into it. That is they at least picked out something to put on the board.

It feels more like some went "Oh i had a dream about this VF last night" lets make it that.

Edited July 16 by herkulease

[grogall]

The release pattern from Bandai doesn't make much sense, But I'm still glad they are sticking with the series. I recently picked up Figure King 279 which had a nice spread on the DX series with 4 pages of what could come next, Funny that actually the next Valkyrie that was released wasn't even mentioned in the article!? I'm sure with the cost off tooling and development for the series they would monetize  it for their full potential. I'm also glad the are not just sticking to the basics like VF-1A,S,J but have done the necessary tooling to do the VF-1D & VT-1, with good certainty of also releasing the VE-1. They also mentioned that the DX series is the direct successor to 1/55 series in issue of Figure King 246. I guess we just have to be patient and hope the release the missing one soon...😉

Edited July 16 by grogall

[jvmacross]

44 minutes ago, grogall said:

They also mentioned that the DX series is the direct successor to 1/55 series in issue of Figure King 246. 

From Bandai's point of view....I guess...they only want to consider their own merch when making such a proclamation...still, would that mean they consider their own HCM as a step backwards? LOL...

But in terms of the entirety of "DX" VF-1's produced as a category...I'd say the current Bandai DX is a direct successor to the Yamato VF-1....and it's not even that giant of a leap forward IMO....