Bandai 1/60 DX Chogokin Macross Plus YF-21

[m0n5t3r]

9 hours ago, Alex GS said:

I think lots of us saw lots of outcomes in the new DX YF 21 the very first day that was shown, me for example said back in the day the nosecone is too small and not large enough , some said is just the picture angle that is making the design not look accurate, I even think I point out the design specially in jet mode resemblance the Yamato YF 21 1/72 scale, I wonder why Bandai didn't see all this design flaws and the huge separate backpack, damn!!, I think Bandai should it put the DX YF 21 back to the drawing boards, Bandai they definitely can do a much better job and the DX YF 19 proves it, also if Yamato can do a much better job more than a decade ago why Bandai can't with todays new design tech?, DX YF-21 Renewal in the future anyone?  

I'm actually hoping more for HMR versions of the 19, 22 and 11B. One can wish... 

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, m0n5t3r said:

I'm actually hoping more for HMR versions of the 19, 22 and 11B. One can wish... 

At this point?  Honestly, I'm entirely onboard with that.  If the HMRs are just going to be copy-pasted Yamato/Arcadia molds, I'd love to see those molds all recreated in a more compact size.

[Yugure0]

On 7/20/2024 at 11:21 PM, MKT said:

Love this display. 
 

@Angesdad I’m still waiting reply from HLJ. Meanwhile, someone else did get replacements from them yesterday.

Bit of head scratcher why HLJ telling some there no replacements from Bandai, & at same time others do get it. 

 

For what it’s worth, you can add me to the list of people with a rejection email (I’m in Japan). I was a hopeful after getting the email from HLJ that they were contacting their supplier last week, but just received an update from customer service today informing me that replacement parts aren’t available from their supplier.

Edited July 22 by Yugure0

[MKT]

2 hours ago, Yugure0 said:

For what it’s worth, you can add me to the list of people with a rejection email (I’m in Japan). I was a hopeful after getting the email from HLJ that they were contacting their supplier last week, but just received an update from customer service today informing me that replacement parts aren’t available from their supplier.

I think 'contacting supplier' reply is a standard initial response from HLJ for replacement part request. I've also just received the rejection mail from HLJ just now.
As you are in Japan, perhaps you'll have better luck in contacting Bandai directly? That seems to work based on a few examples posted over the past few pages.. 

Edited July 22 by MKT

[ArchieNov]

How badly bent are your head lasers? You don't want to try straightening them out yourself if it's not too extreme?

[MKT]

9 minutes ago, ArchieNov said:

How badly bent are your head lasers? You don't want to try straightening them out yourself if it's not too extreme?

Moderately bent going by comparison with others. I just wanted to first exhaust options with HLJ, in case they or Bandai asked to send in the bent part if there is a replacement to be given. Guess I'll straighten it myself now. 

 

Meanwhile, Bandai published a support article on how to detach & re-attach the head lasers.

https://support.bandaispirits.co.jp/s/article/20240705

[rematron]

Anybody hear from and/or received an order from Luna Park yet?

[ArchieNov]

8 hours ago, MKT said:

Moderately bent going by comparison with others. I just wanted to first exhaust options with HLJ, in case they or Bandai asked to send in the bent part if there is a replacement to be given. Guess I'll straighten it myself now. 

 

Meanwhile, Bandai published a support article on how to detach & re-attach the head lasers.

https://support.bandaispirits.co.jp/s/article/20240705

Oh nice to know the proper method. Funny they also refer to it as an antenna instead of a laser haha.

[Angesdad]

Really pissed off about the outcome of my inquiry to HLJ, especially when I've been nothing but patient.

[no3Ljm]

Has anyone posted a photo of it in High Maneuver Speed configuration? And how does that mode look compared with Yamato's?

[Chronocidal]

5 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Has anyone posted a photo of it in High Maneuver Speed configuration? And how does that mode look compared with Yamato's?

Bandai themselves put up a few pics of it, I think.  I recall it actually looking better that way than with all the baggage attached.  

Edited July 22 by Chronocidal

[no3Ljm]

51 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

Bandai themselves put up a few pics of it, I think.  I recall it actually looking better that way than with all the baggage attached.  

When you said 'all the baggage attached', you're not referring to the mode without the limbs, right? If it is, I was referring to the mode where Guld and Isamu are fighting and chasing one another. Below is the HG kit with its High Maneuver mode. I just don't remember if anyone posted it in this mode.  

 

[Chronocidal]

Oh, fair, I forgot they were different, actually.  Clearly I need to rewatch it.

Just got my first copy from HLJ delivered, and yeah, laser had a fair bend and stress mark at the tip.  Was able to get everything mostly evened out with some tweezers and a small space heater though.

I think what's kind of funny is that one of my main complaints about the design seems to have come down almost entirely to people displaying it incorrectly (it's Bandai, go figure).  I was thinking the tails looked like they were mounted too far forward in all of the early pictures, and it looks like that's because people were just leaving them in their forward position.  When I got it in hand and realized they actually slide back, it was a pretty big improvement.  Still too much junk in that trunk, but at least it's not looking like the tails are steering from the middle of the plane anymore.

Think my biggest issue is the arms now.  By deciding to go for a clean look covered in panels, they forgot that the arms were those panels, and now they're stupidly tiny to fit inside.  They should be bulky enough to occupy that entire space without anything but the most rearward portion to cover the hands like the Yamato did.  Even just using the same approach as the HG kit would have done worlds better.  The forearms just need to be about half an inch longer, and about a quarter inch deeper so they would fill out that cavity better.

Although, looking back through the thread, at least I'm not alone, but this kind of thing makes me want to scream.  It's just too stupid to be believable.

On 7/13/2024 at 9:38 AM, treatment said:

 

How difficult is it to print a literal arrow shape pointing in the right direction, Bandai?

Come to think of it.. are any of the markings on this supposed to line up with anything.. or each other?  Every one of the tail stripes on both sides seems to be cocked at a different angle.  Feels like they hired drunken hobos to calibrate their tampo machines.  

The more I look at them, the more I want to scrape everything off.

Edited July 22 by Chronocidal

[Mommar]

The descriptions from everyone really does make it sound like some Frankensteins Monster engineering.

[BroTaku79]

On 6/28/2024 at 7:32 PM, Atheonyirh said:

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.

Yes, it uses the same one, you need DX-A adapter.

[Chronocidal]

What's that quote about man being nothing but a miserable pile of secrets?

I feel like the DX YF-21 falls squarely in the category of "a miserable pile of compromises."

On the positive side, it doesn't look as bad as I first expected.. but it definitely looks better from certain perspectives than others, and anything focusing on the back half is not pretty.  It's almost like it was designed to give you a real-world implementation of forced perspective, in a weird way?  If you look at it from the front, the back end actually gets hidden enough that it looks proportional.  From the back end though, you get the opposite, and it looks like the plane is getting sucked into a black hole from how narrow the front looks. 

The shape is just such a weird combination of chunky and slim, it looks like they pasted together a 1/60 fighter front end with a 1/48 engine section.  I think maybe the problem my brain has is that it actually looks too chunky to fly.  The back end is so bloated, it just doesn't look airworthy, or aerodynamic.

It's just.. weird.  The overall proportions in fighter mode aren't even that significantly different from the Yamato, but the sizes and placements of the individual components make all the difference.  It definitely needs about another half inch of nose, or rather, it needs everything from the intakes to the tails yanked backwards about that much, while keeping the overall size the same.

As much as they're responsible for the bulky back end though, I don't want to blame this entirely on the legs.  They're the primary source of the badonk for certain, but there were a lot of other things Bandai could have done to mitigate that chonk, and they just didn't.  The arm cover panels are egregiously massive, and I see absolutely no reason they could not have been made significantly smaller, while making the forearms also significantly larger to take up the space.  They look absolutely puny, and don't even fill half the space they were given.  There is no excuse for how small those arms are, they had all the room in the world to enlarge them, and they chose to eat the space with a panel instead.  (One small caveat here.. I will give them credit for closing that space.  The Yamato had a gap there from the arms not being quite the right shape to fill the cavity.  The 1/100 HG kit has a much better solution than either, though.)

I'm honestly sorely tempted to remove those back panels, and redesign them, and the lower arms and tails from scratch.  There's really no fixing the side profile, because the bigger legs are never going to allow the side profile to look reasonable from the back half, but at least battroid would look more proportional if the arms were bulked up to match them.

As it stands now, I guess my original impression remains unchanged.  The legs are an improvement, but literally everything else looks worse in all modes compared with the Yamato.  And yes, that includes the tampo.  Extra markings are only a positive when they aren't printed by someone who's completely cross-eyed, and constantly making you question whether something is actually causing a localized dimensional distortion.

[PointBlankSniper]

If we're talking replacing whole sections of the toy, I was just thinking of how everything waist down is entirely removable. So theoretically, someone could come up with middle ground proportioned legs. That could solve all the issues like short belly plate, fat pengoid, ground clearance, partsforming, non canon transformation, etc. Maybe even hide some integrated mechanism that could stand in for the battroid brace that holds up the back pack at a more desirable height.

I guess the same goes for the removable arms, especially since people don't like the roll pin bicep either.

Basically, chuck out half the toy and replace it with homemade or aftermarket parts. lol 🤪

[Chronocidal]

4 hours ago, PointBlankSniper said:

If we're talking replacing whole sections of the toy, I was just thinking of how everything waist down is entirely removable. So theoretically, someone could come up with middle ground proportioned legs. That could solve all the issues like short belly plate, fat pengoid, ground clearance, partsforming, non canon transformation, etc. Maybe even hide some integrated mechanism that could stand in for the battroid brace that holds up the back pack at a more desirable height.

I guess the same goes for the removable arms, especially since people don't like the roll pin bicep either.

Basically, chuck out half the toy and replace it with homemade or aftermarket parts. lol 🤪

Only problem with that approach is that removing the legs does nothing to slim down the back end.  You'd have to pull off everything including the arms, legs, the entire belly plate and the entire rear engine sliding section before you're back working with something that could theoretically be streamlined.

All I'm thinking of doing is chopping the rear side panels smaller and replacing the lower arm with something that fits the cavity and doesn't need an external cover.

[Yugure0]

On 7/22/2024 at 7:06 PM, MKT said:

I think 'contacting supplier' reply is a standard initial response from HLJ for replacement part request. I've also just received the rejection mail from HLJ just now.
As you are in Japan, perhaps you'll have better luck in contacting Bandai directly? That seems to work based on a few examples posted over the past few pages.. 

Will give that a try. I’ll update here after.

[no3Ljm]

Just for kicks. DX legs on Yamato's.  

 

Original post image from Twitter's Heppoko Samurai (@simsim5479).

[Chronocidal]

Oof.  Given the options, I'm starting to think the best idea is just slapping the Bandai legs on a Yamato and leaving it that way in battroid permanently.

[sjoebarry]

4 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

Oof.  Given the options, I'm starting to think the best idea is just slapping the Bandai legs on a Yamato and leaving it that way in battroid permanently.

Is that even possible?

[m0n5t3r]

21 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Just for kicks. DX legs on Yamato's.  

 

I've been wondering about this possibility...

That's it right there. Someone make this happen.

Edited July 24 by m0n5t3r

[Chronocidal]

10 minutes ago, sjoebarry said:

Is that even possible?

Anything's possible if you don't care about it being permanent or not.  

Seriously though, the Yamato's legs already just pop off, and I'm sure with the right amount of plastic surgery the Bandai's could easily be mounted on the Yamato's posts.

I have to wonder if the images are color-matched though, that looks closer than I would expect the two to look pasted together.

Edited July 24 by Chronocidal

[no3Ljm]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

Seriously though, the Yamato's legs already just pop off, and I'm sure with the right amount of plastic surgery the Bandai's could easily be mounted on the Yamato's posts.

The Yamato post is kind of lower than Bandai's. If we put Bandai's leg to Yamato's post the gap between the torso and thigh will be super obvious. However, Bandai's Battroid leg post are being rotated upward to shorten the torso gap. The surgery I think that needed to be done aside from the legs is replace Yamato's post with Bandai's as well so it will keep the torso gap just like what I photoshopped.  

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

I have to wonder if the images are color-matched though, that looks closer than I would expect the two to look pasted together.

I tweaked the color a bit on Bandai's leg to look visually close with Yamato's. On the original photo below, Yamato's blue has more red tint and Bandai's blue has more yellow tint.

Also removed some of the markings on the legs too.  

Edited July 24 by no3Ljm

[dtrinh]

On 7/23/2024 at 3:19 AM, rematron said:

Anybody hear from and/or received an order from Luna Park yet?

I received mine. My brother and I ordered together and both arrived with bent antennas - boxes were delivered pristine.

I have contacted Luna Park to report the damage and requested replacement parts. Have yet to receive a response.

[Usagi]

4 hours ago, dtrinh said:

I received mine. My brother and I ordered together and both arrived with bent antennas - boxes were delivered pristine.

I have contacted Luna Park to report the damage and requested replacement parts. Have yet to receive a response.

lately Bandai requirements for replacement includes "sending damaged part" or "sending product itself"
So I think chances for replacement from outside of Japan might be low.

[Chronocidal]

4 minutes ago, Usagi said:

lately Bandai requirements for replacement includes "sending damaged part" or "sending product itself"
So I think chances for replacement from outside of Japan might be low.

This situation is so prevalent they should just be mass producing spare lasers and sending them out to anyone who received stock of the 21.

Really just stupid on every level.  There should have been spares in the box, or they should have been detached in the packaging.  Did they just forget how many other releases have had this exact problem?

[rematron]

6 hours ago, dtrinh said:

I received mine. My brother and I ordered together and both arrived with bent antennas - boxes were delivered pristine.

I have contacted Luna Park to report the damage and requested replacement parts. Have yet to receive a response.

Thanks for your reply!  Sorry for the bent lasers.  I guess I'll have that to look forward to as well.  How long ago did you receive it from Luna Park?  Did they send a shipping email?  I haven't heard anything from them.  I live in North America.  Not sure where you are on the globe.  Thanks again.

[Shawn]

Woah-you have the ultra rare Left bent variant!
Hold onto that one, its a keeper, unlike the generic Right bents.

When I opened my 2 I was disappointed I only got the Right bent and a 'unbent', so disappointed.

[Shawn]

I wonder if someone could could 3D print a Shin cover and 'shoes' to slide over the Yamato.
In the concept of GBP leg armor-just a simply shell you'd snap over the Yamato shin/calve that gave it more of the appearance of the DX.
And perhaps a 'shoe' you could slide onto the Yamato's foot that made it larger.

[Chronocidal]

2 hours ago, Shawn said:

I wonder if someone could could 3D print a Shin cover and 'shoes' to slide over the Yamato.
In the concept of GBP leg armor-just a simply shell you'd snap over the Yamato shin/calve that gave it more of the appearance of the DX.
And perhaps a 'shoe' you could slide onto the Yamato's foot that made it larger.

Is it just me, or does every single YF-21 thread eventually circle back to the Omega Pants?

[Bolt]

3 hours ago, Shawn said:

Woah-you have the ultra rare Left bent variant!
Hold onto that one, its a keeper, unlike the generic Right bents.

When I opened my 2 I was disappointed I only got the Right bent and a 'unbent', so disappointed.

You've taken it to a whole new level ! Thanks for that , I laughed out loud. 

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Thank God my YF-21 arrived with straight antenna.

[rasky]

Received mine from Anime Export with intact lasers! Lucked out.