pengbuzz Posted July 4 Posted July 4 1 minute ago, M'Kyuun said: I've been waiting to see pics of it drawn in as far as it can go, but 'the gap' is pretty much all I've seen thus far, which has me thinking this is as good as it's going to get. The battroid looks good from the front and 3/4 angles, but in profile, Yikes! It's such an obviously wrong departure from the line art and the animation, not to mention just about every other model and toy of the YF-21 thus produced, that it beggars the question how something so off-model made it through to production without being remedied. And especially by Bandai, of all companies. I'd expect far better from them, given their history and previous stuff. Quote
betocc Posted July 4 Posted July 4 2 hours ago, Graham said: The antenna is easily removable. Has anyone considered 3d print some antennas? Starting by creating the model of the antenna. Do we have some 3d printing experts here? Willing to fund the creation of the model if necessary. Quote
pengbuzz Posted July 4 Posted July 4 2 hours ago, Graham said: The antenna is easily removable. Which means it could probably be run under hot water at a sink and straightened out fairly easily with minimal risk of breakage. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted July 4 Posted July 4 2 minutes ago, pengbuzz said: And especially by Bandai, of all companies. I'd expect far better from them, given their history and previous stuff. Cheers to that. They've done some incredible engineering for their Gundam stuff, and their VF-19 advance, the version of their -19 that I have, is really well designed with some great solutions to eradicate the need for partsforming. Heck, I really like their VF-25 renewal, but YMMV. Then this. I'm guessing it was a very different team of designers working on the YF-21 because the level of investment on their -19 is simply not there. It's a notable dichotomy in approach and standard, unfortunately not for the best. Quote
treatment Posted July 4 Posted July 4 moar DX YF21 Backpack shots... braced: unaugmented freefloating: no-brace,non-augmented, saggy: Quote
m0n5t3r Posted July 4 Posted July 4 (edited) 23 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said: Cheers to that. They've done some incredible engineering for their Gundam stuff, and their VF-19 advance, the version of their -19 that I have, is really well designed with some great solutions to eradicate the need for partsforming. Heck, I really like their VF-25 renewal, but YMMV. Then this. I'm guessing it was a very different team of designers working on the YF-21 because the level of investment on their -19 is simply not there. It's a notable dichotomy in approach and standard, unfortunately not for the best. I too prefer Bandai's YF-19 specifically because of the no-gap chest in battroid (and the shield-integrated cover and no extra bits for the back of the thighs). What's most puzzling to me is that the Yamato version was there for them to copy what works and that this was designed almost at the same time as the HG version. Did the design team for the DX suffer some kind of temporary blindness or something? They got the legs right, though. Edited July 4 by m0n5t3r Quote
Mog Posted July 4 Posted July 4 37 minutes ago, treatment said: moar DX YF21 Backpack shots... braced: unaugmented freefloating: no-brace,non-augmented, saggy: Just gonna leave this for comparison: Quote
Bolt Posted July 4 Posted July 4 The back gap pack just can't be right. I keep thinking a transformation step is missing.. 25 minutes ago, aurance said: I'm... gonna go play with my Yamato -21. It's always fun to swoosh around Quote
Bolt Posted July 4 Posted July 4 1 minute ago, Mog said: Just gonna leave this for comparison: Beautiful ! Quote
leeboo1211 Posted July 4 Posted July 4 52 minutes ago, m0n5t3r said: I too prefer Bandai's YF-19 specifically because of the no-gap chest in battroid (and the shield-integrated cover and no extra bits for the back of the thighs). What's most puzzling to me is that the Yamato version was there for them to copy what works and that this was designed almost at the same time as the HG version. Did the design team for the DX suffer some kind of temporary blindness or something? They got the legs right, though. Since they teased the project in 2019, it's been 5 years so I wouldn't be surprised if the project had been suspended several times internally, and had a switch of design team members or at least significant turnover. There's too many design inconsistencies and engineering approaches that just feel like there were many inherited decisions from previous designs that they didn't bother to revisit. Quote
Actar Posted July 4 Posted July 4 Playing around with mine, and I think Bandai definitely missed a trick here. The remaining belly plates can actually fold out between the wings and are the perfect size to have clipped or pegged into the back, securing the backpack in place and hiding the gap... Quote
treatment Posted July 4 Posted July 4 12 minutes ago, leeboo1211 said: Since they teased the project in 2019, it's been 5 years so I wouldn't be surprised if the project had been suspended several times internally, and had a switch of design team members or at least significant turnover. There's too many design inconsistencies and engineering approaches that just feel like there were many inherited decisions from previous designs that they didn't bother to revisit. hmm... reminds me this MWF classic.... https://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/topic/27410-bandai-160-dx-vf-25-transformable-toy-thread/?do=findComment&comment=666926 Quote
cheemingwan1234 Posted July 4 Posted July 4 (edited) Can the DX YF-21 hold itself together without the braces? Oh, and the partsforming cockpit means one thing....we're going to get a VF-22 that has the heatshield for the first time in a 1/60 scale toy! Edited July 4 by cheemingwan1234 Quote
MKT Posted July 4 Posted July 4 14 hours ago, Mog said: It doesn’t even have to be a panel-former per se. But if they changed the bellyplate ratio from 2/3 hipguard and 1/3 backpack to 3/4 hipguard and 1/4 backpack. And then had that backpack portion flip around so that its backside could become those missing ventral vents. That little change could reduce some of the backpack’s thickness and probably allow that gap between the back and backpack to be reduced a bit. And it would allow for the missing ventral VOTL vents to be shown off in Gerwalk. 6 hours ago, PointBlankSniper said: The thing is, what I'm proposing isn't actually more folding or panel forming than what is already on the toy. The tail third of the belly plates already fold to lay in a stack against the top of the backpack, just to be covered up by giant partsforming delimiter chunks. So basically the engines are already panel forming by default. Those panels only fold to serve no purpose and may as well have been detached along with the limbs. So despite the type of transformation mechanism being questionable, they are already built in. What I'm proposing is just making sense and use of their existing mechanics. It's just placing panel hinges in a different direction, so they stow into what seems to be wasted space, to get out of the way for full belly plates in fighter mode, and then come out and be useful for all the other modes. The only addition I'm really making is an extra intake panel that could swing out from another space like the hand cover. That space seems to only be taken up by a not very critical looking rotating tab, that is only used for fighter mode, which I still can't tell the purpose of from photos and reviews. It may as well serve double duty by being made as a larger swing out intake panel when not needed as a tab outside of fighter mode. The lock bar thing isn't shellforming, and integrated brace contraptions like that are nothing new, so I assume it's not part of your worries. Unfortunately, I'm just speaking on photos since I've got not word for my order from YYK, and will probably use slow boat if I can anyway. So I'm just speaking out of my bum. Easiest solution I think would be just make the belly plates canon, then when coming to Gerwalk just slam on a plate cover to close the bottom cavity & emulate the ventral vents - almost like what they are already doing for delimiter mode. It'll be partsforming Gerwalk, but they are already doing so for delimiter mode anyway, and the cover will not be any different in principle to the VF-1 chest side covers. 3 hours ago, M'Kyuun said: 😄 The truncated belly plates at the aft end look clean, but they're definitely not canon. Below is Kawamori's line art. All that leg is supposed to cram into an area that's even smaller than what Yamato was able to do on their take using skinny legs. There's a lot of animation magic going on. I like the Bandai solution so far as enlarging the nacelles and using them for storage for proportionately sized legs. It's a shame they couldn't have found a way to somehow replicate that interior leg bay detail without resorting to a huge partforming piece. Granted it looks nice, certainly nicer than the alternative as we've seen with the Yamato, but one would think that, too, would have been part of the engineering evolution invested in this toy. Alas, no, a bit of a step back instead. I'm likely in the minority for my preference of the non-canonically truncated belly panels; I just never liked the leg-length panels, and I think the shorter ones compliment the battroid better, except when the gunpod is attached and hangs tackily over the edge; they should have been at least as long as the entirety of the gunpod. However, GERWALK looks better with the full panels open and those VTOL verniers visible and, once again, it's shame they didn't exert an iota's worth more of effort towards actualizing all the aspects of this valk, with certain concessions in mind, to achieve, like their other DX figures, a 'perfect' transformation that still captures all the features and details as envisioned by Kawamori. Seeing this make me realise now that Yamato's belly plates are also not canon after all. Yamato's hip skirts are much longer than they should be, whilst Bandai's went the other way and are much shorter. Ok we wait for Arcadia to tackle the YF-21 again and see how they will solve this - another 10 years perhaps.. Quote
Lolicon Posted July 4 Posted July 4 Goddamn nin nin game finally shipped out my YF-21, more than a freaking week after other retailers got theirs. My first time buying anything from them since the Kairos debacle and they suck just as much as ever. Slow to get stuff out the door and ridiculous overpriced shipping. This is why I refuse to buy anything from them except as an absolute last resort. I would have already canceled if they didn't require payment up front since it's popped up HLJ multiple times since the initial preorder. Nin nin sucks. They're barely a step above NY. Quote
MKT Posted July 4 Posted July 4 One of the bizarre stuff that's going on with Threezero's VF-1, are the unsightly elbow joint design. Actually, I'm seeing this YF-21 having ugly elbow joints as well, but perhaps that is the least of its issues lol. Still, I've I wonder why they did the elbows this way, they are so different than one would expect. Quote
MKT Posted July 4 Posted July 4 2 minutes ago, Lolicon said: Goddamn nin nin game finally shipped out my YF-21, more than a freaking week after other retailers got theirs. My first time buying anything from them since the Kairos debacle and they suck just as much as ever. Slow to get stuff out the door and ridiculous overpriced shipping. This is why I refuse to buy anything from them except as an absolute last resort. I would have already canceled if they didn't require payment up front since it's popped up HLJ multiple times since the initial preorder. Nin nin sucks. They're barely a step above NY. I just received my first order from Nin-nin. Even their packing is reminiscent of NY - blue bubble wrap and customized shipping box that's cut to the item box size. I almost expected to see the shipper's name being 'Fiona Gomez' Quote
ZYZY Posted July 4 Posted July 4 Just got an update from HLJ that they will submit a request to bandai to provide a replacement for the antenna. Not sure what's gonna happen next. Will keep you guys updated. Quote
Robin-11 Posted July 4 Posted July 4 I got mine this morning from Amazon JP and it seems like the antenna is fine. But, because of that, i had to pay an extra 46.00 euro fee for importing the goods. First time that it happens to me with Amazon JP since that usually the import fee is included in the total when you do the initial check out or placed the pre-order. Weird things are happening these days...(clearly the extra fee was not because of the antenna being in good condition, just kidding here😜) Quote
treatment Posted July 4 Posted July 4 5 hours ago, ZYZY said: Just got an update from HLJ that they will submit a request to bandai to provide a replacement for the antenna. Not sure what's gonna happen next. Will keep you guys updated. Good news! Hopefully it gets resolve without you sending back the whole item for replacement. Return shipping-fees sucks. 1 hour ago, Robin-11 said: I got mine this morning from Amazon JP and it seems like the antenna is fine. But, because of that, i had to pay an extra 46.00 euro fee for importing the goods. First time that it happens to me with Amazon JP since that usually the import fee is included in the total when you do the initial check out or placed the pre-order. Weird things are happening these days...(clearly the extra fee was not because of the antenna being in good condition, just kidding here😜) Sheesh! Such crazy fees over there at EU... Quote
Paco Grande Posted July 4 Posted July 4 11 minutes ago, treatment said: Sheesh! Such crazy fees over there at EU... It's actually crazy fees everywhere but the U.S. Here in Canada I get to pay an extra $20 for a courier to take the package over the border and then 13% tax on the value of the item plus shipping and the $20 fee. And this is on top of the shipping fee I already paid to the store in Japan. I once paid over $90 CAD for a $30 book from HLJ because of all the shipping and taxes. This YF-21 was going to cost me $560 CAD from Amazon.com so I cancelled it after seeing the issues. For reference I bought the DX VF-1 with armor set for around $500 CAD and the Yen is way more down now. The price of the YF-21 is bonkers. When it popped up again on AE recently I almost bought it because AE does not declare full value and it would cost me way less but I have too many other geek expenses lately so I had to give up the 21 for now. I'm actually thinking about trying to find a Yamato version now or just giving up on having a friend for my YF-19 on the shelf. Quote
Test_Pilot_2 Posted July 4 Posted July 4 Mine is on its way with DHL... maybe we can start an antenna dead pool and start placing bets on who is likely to get a bent antenna and to what degree of bend. Quote
505thAirborne Posted July 4 Posted July 4 For anyone who ordered from AmiAmi, mine just shipped yesterday and should arrive next Tuesday, so yours should be on the way as well. It's good to know that the Head-fin can be removed, I have zero faith that mine won't have damage either. Quote
Shizuka the Cat Posted July 4 Posted July 4 1 hour ago, jenius said: Mine arrived from HLJ and I too have the crooked head fin. Oh no! That sucks. My condolences. Still looking forward to watching your review of the YF-21. Mine is on its way from HLJ and should be arriving early next week. Praying it is okay. Quote
Shawn Posted July 4 Posted July 4 I hope someone with a bent head laser, who can get a replacement from a store with Bandai contacts, can then take the bent one and see how they can unbend it. I've got 2 in transit now from 3rd parties, so I'm out of luck with any potential support. It is really unacceptable that Bandai can't get something right as simple as protecting a $300 item within its own box....again (this really is YF-19 part 2) Good luck to anyone selling one of these sealed on the 2nd hand market...you'd better put 'As-is no returns' on the sale. Quote
Robin-11 Posted July 4 Posted July 4 5 hours ago, treatment said: Good news! Hopefully it gets resolve without you sending back the whole item for replacement. Return shipping-fees sucks. Sheesh! Such crazy fees over there at EU... Yes, it is absurd and it can get worse...usually it's the 25% of the amount of the item and shipping so for me this time it should have been almost the double(around 80 euros) but honestly here in italy the custom is a little bit like playing the russian roulette.... A mistery, nobody is able to understand how the hell they calculate exactly the fee import. Anyway i did open the box tonight and, watching the toy in plain fighter mode, i did regret buying it. For the first time in my life i feel regret in spending all this money for a Macross toy(or a modern toy in general). I know the feeling is going to pass once i transform it in battroid but honestly, in fighter mode, this YF-21 is embarassing. It made me want to buy another yamato. I will definitely keep my yamato in fighter mode and Bandai DX in battroid, pretending that huge back is not there. Quote
26662 Posted July 4 Posted July 4 10 minutes ago, Shizuka the Cat said: Oh no! That sucks. My condolences. Still looking forward to watching your review of the YF-21. Mine is on its way from HLJ and should be arriving early next week. Praying it is okay. Somehow I ordered three from three different vendors, and all three charges posted this week. Ouch. Fingers crossed that the head laser gods smile upon me. Quote
WhatBoutMyStar Posted July 4 Posted July 4 (edited) So I finally had some time on this holiday afternoon to transform the YF-21, which was a very unpleasant experience. One of my feet required an excessive amount of force to open. I was almost at the point of giving up for fear of breakage. It was the complete opposite of the other foot that was smooth to open. I'm not sure if the transformation and end Battroid result was really worth it, with the huge, tilted up back pack, the arms and the short hip skirts being my main gripes. Some of the joints are also toleranced way too stiff more than they should be. I guess my laser is straight, so perhaps I should just be thankful for that. Edited July 4 by WhatBoutMyStar Corrected photo Quote
Usagi Posted July 5 Posted July 5 (edited) I'm living in Japan and almost 8 years ordering stuff from many shops, and you know usually everything arrives at the day of release. But this time (and not only for me) most of nonresellers shops delayed delivery for about one week. So i think Bandai rushed things with this particular toy. And there many toys with small deffects. Well I just received mine few days ago and fortunately everything was ok, but still I was unable to turn legs in right position because of incredible stiffness. By the way, I made a video. It is not as good in terms or explanation (since English language is only in subtitles), but at least it is good to see how this particular toy will looks like in different poses. DX Chogokin YF-21 Guld Goa Bowman use (Macross Plus) Review (english subs only) Edited July 7 by Usagi Quote
wsna Posted July 5 Posted July 5 Question: What is the improvement(s) on the DX backpack versus the Yamato? Quote
Usagi Posted July 5 Posted July 5 well there are improvements and drawbacks in backpack. Bandai version seems more bulky, but have big gap between body and wings. Yamato is simplier during transformation, but bigger than necessary. At least i think so. Quote
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