Bandai 1/60 DX Chogokin Macross Plus YF-21

[MikeRoz]

40 minutes ago, MacrossJunkie said:

Just an update on the progress of my submission to the Bandai replacements form.

I got an email today saying the following;

Quote

Thank you for reaching out to Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles America.
 
We have forwarded your inquiry to our manufacturers in Japan to see if this replacement request can be fulfilled at this time. We thank you for your understanding and appreciate your patience with this process. We hope to be able to provide an update for you soon.
Thank you,

BNTCA Customer Service

 

Word-for-word what they put on my ticket yesterday.

Edited August 16 by MikeRoz
Added the message to the quote since this is on a page break for the default post per page.

[Duymon]

lol I just got the same copy paste. I think maybe Bandai will realize they dun goofed

 

And as for timelines as long as I get my replacement parts I'm fine. At least I don't habe to go through a 3rd party to get in touch with Bandai like we have to for SDFM and DYRL stuff

Edited August 16 by Duymon

[davidwhangchoi]

man... i'm not looking forward to my packages friday morning/afternoon. 

 

 

[rematron]

I ordered 2 from Luna Park at the same time.  One arrived yesterday.  I hope the other will be delivered soon.  I'm surprised they weren't shipped together and hope they didn't misread my order.  

There were no obvious issues with my unit, so I feel lucky for that.  We'll see if my luck holds out for the 2nd unit yet to arrive.  I only opened my 1st up to check and did not transform.

These are my brief initial thoughts, now that I've had it in hand:

It's heavy, which gives it a feel of quality.  The colors and tampo printing and quality of plastic are nice.  But, being partial to fighter-mode, I cannot get over the big belly and huge thrusters on this thing.  It's like the front half is 1/60 scale and the rear half is 1/48.  A Bandai 1/60 VF-31 pilot could practically stand fully erect inside the thruster of the Bandai YF-21. 

My opinion is that the beefy legs were not worth this fighter-mode at all.  Especially, since the beefy legs appear to be the only 'improvement' over the Yamato YF-21.  Even the arms are obvious in fighter-mode just like Yamato's.  Bandai had the opportunity to do great things with the YF-21, especially with the ability to learn from Yamato's version of it.  They did not do great things, IMO.

I will probably sell my Bandai 21's and continue to enjoy my Yamato 21 and 22's.   The legs don't bother me.  Taking the line art out of the equation (not that Bandai did a good job of following it anyways), my head-cannon continues to tell me that the Yamato legs are more believable anyways considering they don't provide any use at all in fighter mode and only add weight.  In battroid-mode the legs don't really need to be beefy either since they are not used for thruster vectoring and it's not like the YF-21 especially needs the ability to walk around.  It's just fine jumping around with its thruster backpack and using it's legs like a mosquito. 

Maybe, someday, Arcadia will improve upon the Yamato design.

[davidwhangchoi]

Update: my 2x came in from Tokyo Otaku

and...

good news both had no bent antennas and no issues with tampo paint damage. 

Q/A checked put them back in the box and leaving them in storage as the VT-1's 

Considered new/ untouched/ checked for any bent antenna's or half bitten canopy's.

 

[Lolicon]

I would love to see an Arcadia PF YF-21. I love their PF YF-19 and it's the best version of that design, IMO. 

[wsna]

32 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

I would love to see an Arcadia PF YF-21. I love their PF YF-19 and it's the best version of that design, IMO. 

I'm going to leave this here:

I'm pretty sure that a custom garage revision kit add-on or modification kit for the Yammie is fermenting in someone's brain. When you think about the parade of customs on the 1/48 scale valks...it is just a matter of time. This is low hanging fruit.

thoughts?

[Bolt]

53 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

I would love to see an Arcadia PF YF-21. I love their PF YF-19 and it's the best version of that design, IMO. 

Agreed. This the time for Arcadia to double up  on Bandai's mix review YF-21.

 

10 minutes ago, wsna said:

I'm going to leave this here:

I'm pretty sure that a custom garage revision kit add-on or modification kit for the Yammie is fermenting in someone's brain. When you think about the parade of customs on the 1/48 scale valks...it is just a matter of time. This is low hanging fruit.

thoughts?

No doubt many are in the process. 

[bruinsinla]

Sadly mine from Tokyo Otaku came extremely bent.  

[davidwhangchoi]

4 hours ago, bruinsinla said:

Sadly mine from Tokyo Otaku came extremely bent.  

damn that stinks

this release of having bent head lasers have been so frequent. Bandai has been trash with Quality Assurance for the 21 and VT-1. how are they leaving the design of the clamshell without testing it? and if they are coming from factory like this, how are these not being checked and passed inspection?

7 hours ago, Lolicon said:

I would love to see an Arcadia PF YF-21. I love their PF YF-19 and it's the best version of that design, IMO. 

I already said Bandai only got the dx VF-1 and YF-19 by practically cloning Yamato/Arcadia's vf-1 version 2 and yf-19 version 3 designs. Pretty sure they didn't have a version 2 yf-21 to copy from Arcadia which is why been trash.

If Arcadia is still alive as a company and does a YF-21, it will superior to bandai's in every way. 

[M'Kyuun]

12 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

If Arcadia is still alive as a company and does a YF-21, it will superior to bandai's in every way. 

The lack of news on Arcadia's front concerning their VF-5000, which already seemed to be in final phases of development, and no news at all in light of Bandai's YF-21 is a bit troubling. Are they done with Macross? It would be a huge loss to the fandom if they were quitting the franchise, having given us some incredible toys over the last several decades as well as some innovative solutions to making them work mechanically, enjoy full articulation, and appear very close to Kawamori's art. I hope they're still in the game, but their silence of late is a bit concerning.

[MKT]

@jenius’s transformation video is up. 

Edit:  Video re-uploaded by jenius,  see his post further down this page. 
 

 

Edited August 20 by MKT

[kajnrig]

Hey, all, just asking what's already been asked because I don't know how far back it is. What are the known issues to look for at the moment? What I'm aware of:

- head laser bent

- under-intake stabilizers? are the same, should be separate right/left side

- canopy hinge can be broken

- paint blemishes

(- ailerons loose

- many other small parts too)

 

...and fortunately for me, I think I only have the bent head laser.

EDIT: Oh, and I'll go looking, but in case I can't find it, what's the US email for replacement parts? https://www.bandai.com/returns-replacements

Edited August 17 by kajnrig

[lmtsuper]

This piece fell out from the toy when I first transformed it. Does anyone know what this is?

 

[jenius]

Yeah, that's the backpack locking pin. It's mean to be removable. See my transformation guide above. 

[davidwhangchoi]

On 8/13/2024 at 2:55 PM, Ignacio Ocamica said:

Sorry your YF-21 head laser arrived bent!!

Be careful with:

* the ailerons are not glued, they can fall off the wings

* some canopies are broken/paint scratched out of the box (two reported cases that I know so far)

* there is one reported case of a YF-21 with two right shoulder joints 

That's all, being the bent head lasers the worst QC ofender.

 

On 8/14/2024 at 7:19 PM, PsYcHoDyNaMiX said:

snip... 

bent antennas
 double shoulders
 damage canopies
 double bottom mini fins
 paint blemishes 

 

1 hour ago, kajnrig said:

Hey, all, just asking what's already been asked because I don't know how far back it is. What are the known issues to look for at the moment? What I'm aware of:

- head laser bent

- under-intake stabilizers? are the same, should be separate right/left side

- canopy hinge can be broken

- paint blemishes

(- ailerons loose

- many other small parts too)

 

...and fortunately for me, I think I only have the bent head laser.

EDIT: Oh, and I'll go looking, but in case I can't find it, what's the US email for replacement parts? https://www.bandai.com/returns-replacements

hey kajnrig, just requoting previous posts, you have most of them listed but in addition, double right shoulders was reported for one.

[jenius]

In my first transformation guide, I rotated the hips all the way up into their fighter position for battroid which is not correct... slightly more line art accurate but it causes handling issues. I've corrected the video and made it more clear where the hip should stop.

 

[wsna]

17 hours ago, jenius said:

In my first transformation guide, I rotated the hips all the way up into their fighter position for battroid which is not correct... slightly more line art accurate but it causes handling issues. I've corrected the video and made it more clear where the hip should stop....

 

I always appreciate your work and BTW, thanks for suggesting BBTS. I have been extremely happy with these guys!

-WS

[AlphaOne]

Bought all 3 from BBTS - all three came in without any bent lasers 😮‍💨

[Zeliard]

18 hours ago, jenius said:

In my first transformation guide, I rotated the hips all the way up into their fighter position for battroid which is not correct... slightly more line art accurate but it causes handling issues. I've corrected the video and made it more clear where the hip should stop.

 

I always use your video as reference, which I do find it to be more user friendly than the inserted manual. 

[ArchieNov]

19 hours ago, AlphaOne said:

Bought all 3 from BBTS - all three came in without any bent lasers 😮‍💨

You must be the luckiest person so far in this forum

[chriswoo]

i got mine from Amazon japan and lucky don't have bending fins or any other problems

[Zeliard]

On 8/19/2024 at 2:56 AM, jenius said:

In my first transformation guide, I rotated the hips all the way up into their fighter position for battroid which is not correct... slightly more line art accurate but it causes handling issues. I've corrected the video and made it more clear where the hip should stop.

 

U gonna do a battroid to fighter soon?

[jenius]

1 hour ago, Zeliard said:

U gonna do a battroid to fighter soon?

Not soon, but eventually. After the review posts I'm going to move on to the VT-1.

[505thAirborne]

Another fantastic review video from @jenius

[Chronocidal]

Gah... it's just so dumb.

The Yamato needs prosthetic legs.  The Bandai needs a prosthetic nose.

If Bandai's going to just give up and make us swap this many parts, I'd rather they swap the ones that matter, and give us something that actually looks good.  

I think the slightly frustrating thing about the Bandai one (partswapping aside) is that in a vacuum, if we had never received the Yamato, this probably would have been seen as a masterpiece, or at least much better than it is by comparison.  Without the lineart comparison to go by, the nose doesn't look so tiny that it doesn't work.  And just playing devil's advocate for a moment, the nose in that idealized fighter mode lineart actually looks a little too big to me when compared with the some of the fighter mode animation.  

It just feels like a shame that we know better.  

There is no excuse for the pointless design departures, back brace, locking pin, stupid fastpacks, guns, and gear clearance issues though.  There are so many other ways they could have mitigated those, and they just chose not to.  I struggle to imagine the thought processes that led to anyone deciding, "This is a good idea, let's do it."

Edited August 21 by Chronocidal

[treatment]

1 hour ago, 505thAirborne said:

Another fantastic review video from @jenius

 

Was @jenius ever as salty in this DX valk review as he was in his old DX VF-171 cannon-fodder review?

 

[Chronocidal]

1 minute ago, treatment said:

 

Was @jenius ever as salty in this DX valk review as he was in his old DX VF-171 cannon-fodder review?

 

I admit, I don't think I recall the use of that much sad trombone before.  

[twich]

12 minutes ago, treatment said:

 

Was @jenius ever as salty in this DX valk review as he was in his old DX VF-171 cannon-fodder review?

 

Look at his first evolution toy review of the VF-2SS. He was not happy with the toy at all, understandable so!

Twich

[jenius]

I can't check right now so just going off memory, but I was pretty lucky with my nightmare plus for a long time. It took a while before it completely crumbled... I was wondering what everyone was complaining about... And then the knee shattered followed by so many other parts but well after the initial review. 

I'm keeping that sad trombone handy for future let downs!

[Mog]

41 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

I struggle to imagine the thought processes that led to anyone deciding, "This is a good idea, let's do it."

Bandai “Design” Team:  “Thicc-er legs!!!1!!!!” 

That’s it.  That’s all the thought that they put into this.  Period.

[twich]

41 minutes ago, jenius said:

I can't check right now so just going off memory, but I was pretty lucky with my nightmare plus for a long time. It took a while before it completely crumbled... I was wondering what everyone was complaining about... And then the knee shattered followed by so many other parts but well after the initial review. 

I'm keeping that sad trombone handy for future let downs!

Great review Jenius! Thank you for setting me straight on what way to install the vertical stabilizer fast pack parts! I’ve been doing it wrong and the instructions are less than clear on the matter, being shown upside down and in Battroid mode.

Twich

[HardlyNever]

Still kinda torn on this.  Macross Plus is probably my second favorite entry in the franchise and I'm a fan of the yf-21.  I'm fine with it not being super line-art accurate, but higher-than-average risk of having a toy damaged right from the factory, plus the shoddy (seemingly half-finished) fast packs and overall compromised nature of this release have me holding off on this one.

There's still things I like about it, but I might just wait and hope it comes down below MSRP.  I think the asking price is too high for what they ended up delivering.

[Chronocidal]

I picked up a pair, and at least got one without a busted head laser, but I'm definitely interested in seeing where the prices go.  If they take a plunge after the release hits the US like the Max YF-29 did, I might pick up an extra for my brother, since he's wanted one for a long time, and this is much more accessible than the Yamato at the moment.

Jenius' review makes a good point about battroid.. it does have issues, and Bandai just completely abandoned the original art, but they at least delivered something much more playable than the Yamato version was.

Edited August 22 by Chronocidal

[Graham]

Damaged head lasers aside, the other things that really annoy me about the Bandai DX YF-21 and spoil my enjoyment of the toy are:

1. The too short nose in fighter mode.
2.  Excessive and IMO ugly tampo printing, especially all those additional stripes that were never in the anime or line art. They just really bug me for some reason.
3. Incorrect front of canopy sculpt, it's missing that V cut out from the line art.
4. The huge shelf behind the head in battroid mode.
5. The silly removable clip.
6. the shit quality of the FAST packs.