Bandai 1/60 DX Chogokin Macross Plus YF-21

[Atheonyirh]

Does the YF-21 use the same stand connector as the YF-19, out of curiosity? Want to get one of those GokinPlus stands for mine but need to know which adapter to get.

[sh9000]

I wonder if those damaged YF-21s came from stores like HLJ or Amazon JP who don't protect items fully inside the shipping box and the box was pressed in.

[MacrossJunkie]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

Mine's intact, thankfully. 😌

You can always do it yourself...

My Yamato is a little more restrained than the tampo on Bandai's. 😅

By itself, the DX doesn't look too bad, but when placed next to the old Yamato, the Yamato's proportions in fighter mode still blows the DX away.

[Axelay]

6 hours ago, jenius said:

Lol, where there's a will, there's a way, but I suspect it would be significant effort and compromises. Arcadia should swoop in and show Bandai what's up with a Yammy V2.

This. So much this. I'm one of the minority who still prefers the Arcadia YF-19 to the Bandai DX one.

[MKT]

My copy is still at HLJ PW. I wonder if I should request them to open & inspect before shipping to me..

[treatment]

from  https://x.com/neco_DXY/status/1806859640241803395

web-translated:

downscaled sample:

 

go to his twitter-page to get his pics at full-scale...

 

edit:

Ya know?

That huge hanging backpack reminds me of Happosai's looting image...

 

 

 

 

Edited June 29 by treatment

[Shawn]

minus the backpack being so high, that is my fav battroid picture so far...and standing on its own no stand in an action pose

[ValkAddict]

Wow. Awesome news!

[Chronocidal]

I wonder if that entire backplate shelf is so complex that it couldn't be replaced with an accordion-folding panel.  That seems like it would be a pretty simple way to collapse the giant gap.

[505thAirborne]

4 hours ago, tekering said:

Mine's intact, thankfully. 😌

You can always do it yourself...

My Yamato is a little more restrained than the tampo on Bandai's. 😅

So, of your two YF-21's, have you drafted a pro vs. con list of the two? 

My DX YF-21 is on the way & I just managed to nab a Max VF-22, so for me it will be fun to compare the two. 

P.S. Your collection never disappoints! 

[Actar]

1 hour ago, treatment said:

from  https://x.com/neco_DXY/status/1806859640241803395

web-translated:

downscaled sample:

 

go to his twitter-page to get his pics at full-scale...

 

edit:

Ya know?

That huge hanging backpack reminds me of Happosai's looting image...

 

 

 

 

Now, I'm really curious as to how that backpack works. If it requires an external piece to secure it, how can the backpack still move up and down while still allowing the clip to line up? Hm...

[Mog]

I don’t know if it’s the arms or the backpack throwing off the proportions, but it looks a little scrawny in battroid mode.

[enphily]

3 hours ago, treatment said:

from  https://x.com/neco_DXY/status/1806859640241803395

web-translated:

downscaled sample:

 

go to his twitter-page to get his pics at full-scale...

 

edit:

Ya know?

That huge hanging backpack reminds me of Happosai's looting image...

 

 

 

 

1st good pose but damn, same vibes

 

[IXTL]

https://x.com/XXXG00YSW/status/1806949549656981594

 

Edited June 29 by IXTL

[treatment]

https://x.com/simsim5479/status/1806948866845032586

web-translated:

Click the twitter-link to get full-scale version...

 

[tekering]

I'm a little disappointed by the prominent sprue marks on the front-facing side of the FAST packs... 🤨

...but it's nothing a little sanding can't fix. 😉

Of course, the DX Chogokin YF-21 is an expensive collector's item to be using sandpaper on. 😬

1 hour ago, 505thAirborne said:

So, of your two YF-21's, have you drafted a pro vs. con list of the two? 

I have no unique insights to share; aesthetics have always mattered more than engineering to me, and I display and photograph a lot more than I transform, so...

• Bandai's is the more accurately-proportioned and better-articulated battroid, so that's the mode you display it in.
• Arcadia's is the more accurately-proportioned (and not overly-tampographed) fighter, so that's the mode you display it in. 😊

3 hours ago, Shawn said:

standing on its own no stand in an action pose

Oh, the ratchets in the ankles are superb, and it's capable of some excellent action poses. 😎

1 hour ago, 505thAirborne said:

Your collection never disappoints! 

I'm afraid my lightbox is inaccessible for the moment, so pics from the anime room will have to suffice. 😌

[MKT]

8 minutes ago, tekering said:

I'm a little disappointed by the prominent sprue marks on the front-facing side of the FAST packs... 🤨

...but it's nothing a little sanding can't fix. 😉

Of course, the DX Chogokin YF-21 is an expensive collector's item to be using sandpaper on. 😬

I have no unique insights to share; aesthetics have always mattered more than engineering to me, and I display and photograph a lot more than I transform, so...

• Bandai's is the more accurately-proportioned and better-articulated battroid, so that's the mode you display it in.
• Arcadia's is the more accurately-proportioned (and not overly-tampographed) fighter, so that's the mode you display it in. 😊

Oh, the ratchets in the ankles are superb, and it's capable of some excellent action poses. 😎

I'm afraid my lightbox is inaccessible for the moment, so pics from the anime room will have to suffice. 😌

 

Nice pics!  And great to hear posing is not an issue for this toy. 

So far a lot of Battroid pics of it look better than previous ones that have come out - whether by Bandai or the HJ Web features.

[Actar]

43 minutes ago, tekering said:

I'm a little disappointed by the prominent sprue marks on the front-facing side of the FAST packs... 🤨

...but it's nothing a little sanding can't fix. 😉

Of course, the DX Chogokin YF-21 is an expensive collector's item to be using sandpaper on. 😬

I have no unique insights to share; aesthetics have always mattered more than engineering to me, and I display and photograph a lot more than I transform, so...

• Bandai's is the more accurately-proportioned and better-articulated battroid, so that's the mode you display it in.
• Arcadia's is the more accurately-proportioned (and not overly-tampographed) fighter, so that's the mode you display it in. 😊

Oh, the ratchets in the ankles are superb, and it's capable of some excellent action poses. 😎

I'm afraid my lightbox is inaccessible for the moment, so pics from the anime room will have to suffice. 😌

Nice. Confirmation of ratchet joints.

[IXTL]

 

 

[enphily]

i'm not sure if this is absolutely correct, but still

@simsim5479 in twitter

Edited June 29 by enphily

[enphily]

also https://hacchaka.net/archives/52110508.html

Edited June 29 by enphily

[enphily]

semi-review that blown my mind

[26662]

21 hours ago, borgified said:

Just out of curiosity, isn't there a Shapeways replacement for the broken 21 antenna  (if it does happen like the 19)?   

FWIW, I plan on making replacements.  Should only cost a couple bucks.  I don’t usually advertise/sell, but this situation seems all kinds of “this could have been avoided” and it really irks me.

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, enphily said:

semi-review that blown my mind

I like this a lot, but the number of parts-forming bits, from the cockpit chair to the various locking mechanisms, all bely some really poor engineering when those things couldn't be built-in, especially for the price. I am glad, however, that the joints appear to have a proper level of torque/tension for a figure of this size and weight. It definitely presents well and those beefier legs make all the difference for the look of battroid, my preferred mode for display.

[Actar]

Wooh! My YF-21 managed to get delivered today, exactly on my birthday! Spent a good couple of hours playing with it. It's almost surreal how I have this in hand a whole 5 years after the first prototype was revealed.

Some of my observations and concerns:

- The pilot seat doesn't need to be swapped out with another, just repositioned. While not as ideal as a simple flip-down seat, it is much better than having to replace the entire thing.
- The lock pin is absolutely not necessary. There is a rather substantial "click" when the back is pushed down into the sliding channel, and in fighter mode, the legs prevent the section from being depressed anyway.
- Yes, unfortunately, the backpack is quite substantial, especially compared to the Yamato. The fact that it requires an additional joint piece to be secured is almost a deal-breaker for me. I really don't understand why they couldn't have engineered a flip-out joint like Yamato's.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it all comes down to the feel and build quality of the figure. Thankfully, the plastic does feel good and robust, and all the joints are nice and solid... perhaps maybe even too solid. There are even ratchets in both the knees and ankles. Despite the huge backpack, the thing can actually stand quite well in a variety of poses. Color me surprised. I also don't think there's any risk of the hip skirts becoming loose at all.

I am, however, a bit afraid of the arms breaking off. The connection at the shoulder is similar to Yamato's but far shorter. With the shoulder joints being rather tight, I'm afraid that the tab will sheer or break off. The plastic holding the tab might even crack. Definitely something to watch out for.

The YF-21 is my absolute favorite Valk of all time, and I am beyond frustrated that there were so many mind-boggling missteps with such obvious and simple solutions. That being said, I can't bring myself to outright hate this thing. For better or worse, the 1/60 Yamato toy still exists and is still relevant. And while we're still way off from the perfect YF-21 toy, the Bandai DX toy kinda complements the Yamato perfectly by doing well what the Yamato does poorly and vice versa.

Edited June 29 by Actar

[MKT]

Thanks for posting your thoughts @Actar, & happy birthday! 

Great to hear it stands well & its main design objective achieved.

Though in the back to back comparison, it’s a bit jarring to see how much shorter it is compared to Yamato’s, even if the backpack is at about same level.

 

5 hours ago, enphily said:

also https://hacchaka.net/archives/52110508.html

Looking at Hacchaka’s pics, the only explanation or excuse that can be made of the short hip skirts, & then head scratching-ly lengthened back again with the super parts, is that Bandai wanted some of it leftover at the belly to cover the underside in Gerwalk. Otherwise, it may look weird peering underneath & see huge cavity at where the booster compartment is since that space was utilised for the legs.

Gerwalk actually looks very nice in all the pics of that mode so far, but it is the mode that had the biggest departure from line-art in terms of how the underside & hip-skirts are being managed.

FYI, I think there’s another 2 cases of broken head lasers from HK owners today, bringing a total of 5 reported cases since yesterday. 

Edited June 29 by MKT

[rsvictor1976]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I like this a lot, but the number of parts-forming bits, from the cockpit chair to the various locking mechanisms, all bely some really poor engineering when those things couldn't be built-in, especially for the price. I am glad, however, that the joints appear to have a proper level of torque/tension for a figure of this size and weight. It definitely presents well and those beefier legs make all the difference for the look of battroid, my preferred mode for display.

I'm okay with the parts-forming. IMO the newer Transformers, specially the combiners, look better with the extra parts. This is going to be more of a display piece and probably wouldn't be transformed on a daily basis. Most of us as okay with the chest fillers, hinge bars, and exchangeable hands on the recent VF-1s so I don't think its a too big of a deal if they can give us something that looks good and sturdy. 

Edited June 29 by rsvictor1976

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Another review (3:22 hours live, a while ago).

[treatment]

On 6/29/2024 at 8:54 AM, Actar said:

Wooh! My YF-21 managed to get delivered today, exactly on my birthday! Spent a good couple of hours playing with it. It's almost surreal how I have this in hand a whole 5 years after the first prototype was revealed.

Some of my observations and concerns:

- The pilot seat doesn't need to be swapped out with another, just repositioned. While not as ideal as a simple flip-down seat, it is much better than having to replace the entire thing.
- The lock pin is absolutely not necessary. There is a rather substantial "click" when the back is pushed down into the sliding channel, and in fighter mode, the legs prevent the section from being depressed anyway.
- Yes, unfortunately, the backpack is quite substantial, especially compared to the Yamato. The fact that it requires an additional joint piece to be secured is almost a deal-breaker for me. I really don't understand why they couldn't have engineered a flip-out joint like Yamato's.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it all comes down to the feel and build quality of the figure. Thankfully, the plastic does feel good and robust, and all the joints are nice and solid... perhaps maybe even too solid. There are even ratchets in both the knees and ankles. Despite the huge backpack, the thing can actually stand quite well in a variety of poses. Color me surprised. I also don't think there's any risk of the hip skirts becoming loose at all.

I am, however, a bit afraid of the arms breaking off. The connection at the shoulder is similar to Yamato's but far shorter. With the shoulder joints being rather tight, I'm afraid that the tab will sheer or break off. The plastic holding the tab might even crack. Definitely something to watch out for.

The YF-21 is my absolute favorite Valk of all time, and I am beyond frustrated that there were so many mind-boggling missteps with such obvious and simple solutions. That being said, I can't bring myself to outright hate this thing. For better or worse, the 1/60 Yamato toy still exists and is still relevant. And while we're still way off from the perfect YF-21 toy, the Bandai DX toy kinda complements the Yamato perfectly by doing well what the Yamato does poorly and vice versa.

Great mini-review, @Actar!

Unfortunately, that back-to-back battroid side shot is totally  unfavorable to the DX. Seems Bandai engineers and designers just did their usual "good-enough" effort. 

It's clearly not even symmetrical! 

 

On 6/29/2024 at 6:13 AM, enphily said:

semi-review that blown my mind

 

Based on MarkH's video, that Battroid-brace is quite dumb to be a separate accessory:

 

The pilot-seat has so much unncessary finagling:

 

The lock-pin seems necessary only for Fighter-mode, as it needs to be removed  for Gerwalk-mode to compress/accordion the engines and stuff forward.

Hacchaka pointed out Gerwalk mode is already unstable due to being back-heavy:

https://hacchaka.net/archives/52110508.html

 

That said, my order seems still stuck in a  DHL plane, as no updates on the tracking since yesterday. Guess no Saturday-delivery for me. 

 

 

Edited June 30 by treatment
clarity

[Shawn]

I love youtube caption translate 

[Mog]

Rather interesting take/translation by the YouTube algorithm 😗 😅

[Chronocidal]

12 hours ago, Mog said:

I don’t know if it’s the arms or the backpack throwing off the proportions, but it looks a little scrawny in battroid mode.

I think the thing that strikes me the most about the arms is that Bandai made them small enough to hide entirely inside the panels, while Yamato's just used the arms themselves as the side panels.  The side-by-side is really telling, the Bandai's arms are absolutely scrawny by comparison, with tiny hands to match.   The Yamato's hands may have been a little too beefy, but these are definitely too small.

The backpack does throw off the side profile, but I don't really notice it from the front.  The upper torso just looks undersized.

 

[Shawn]

jump to 53:50.....then watch for a minute
He finds a part that fell off, but has no clue where it comes from
this is going to be a fun transformation

[Mog]

19 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

I think the thing that strikes me the most about the arms is that Bandai made them small enough to hide entirely inside the panels, while Yamato's just used the arms themselves as the side panels.  The side-by-side is really telling, the Bandai's arms are absolutely scrawny by comparison, with tiny hands to match.   The Yamato's hands may have been a little too beefy, but these are definitely too small.

The backpack does throw off the side profile, but I don't really notice it from the front.  The upper torso just looks undersized.

 

The other weird thing is that Bandai tapered the arms as they move closer to the hands and gave them a bigger upward angle as they go towards the wrists (moreso than Yamato).  These choices also cause the forearms to look smaller.

[treatment]

Shot by Ox...

https://x.com/XXXG00YSW/status/1806955048423043407

web-translated:

As usual, click on his twitter-lilnk for full-scale of the shot...