Bandai VF-31AX Kairos Plus - Hayate Type

[Mommar]

1 hour ago, sqidd said:

I think it's three or four. I haven't been buying from them long. They're my go to sop for Macross stuff now. I can get my order in before PO night and not have to worry about it. Yeah, I pay a markup. WORTH IT.

That said, after the NY garbage I NEVER let my ability to chargeback expire at any shop.

Hopefully you're right.  But until I see this AX ship I'm still going to be skeptical.

[eXis10z]

When exactly is this supposed to be released? Dec? Hope for 1 of the shops to open up slots near release date.

[no3Ljm]

8 hours ago, Heron said:

Is it only me (Can't be) or does VF-31AX have a thermometer coming out of the rear? It looks rather Frankenstein in design.

Not just you. We already discussed this in the movie and mecha thread as a pregnancy test or/ rectal thermometer from the moment they released the initial images for the said movie.  

[no3Ljm]

1 hour ago, eXis10z said:

When exactly is this supposed to be released? Dec? Hope for 1 of the shops to open up slots near release date.

Yes, December. But no specific date yet.

 

[Anasazi37]

6 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Yes, December. But no specific date yet.

 

For what it's worth, Amazon Japan lists 31 Dec as the release date. That could be a "we don't actually know" estimate or the real deal. Hard to tell.

[Sanity is Optional]

3 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

For what it's worth, Amazon Japan lists 31 Dec as the release date. That could be a "we don't actually know" estimate or the real deal. Hard to tell.

Usually for Bandai products the actual release day is announced at the start of the release month, and until that’s announced the retailers just list the last day of the month.

[borgified]

Seen this on another Macross thread. I'll also post in the correct threads as well. 

[no3Ljm]

[Sandman]

On 11/26/2021 at 1:37 AM, no3Ljm said:

What's the difference?

[weiser21]

Ugh, one's in Japanese and the other is in English...

Edited November 27, 2021 by weiser21

[Mommar]

I think he's just showing the release date. 

[Anasazi37]

2 hours ago, Mommar said:

I think he's just showing the release date. 

Edited November 27, 2021 by Anasazi37

[Scyla]

I wonder if the Kairos Plus toys will have better transforming hands that can bend the trigger finger and hold the gun properly. They were the only downside of the VF-31 toys.

[Sandman]

3 hours ago, Scyla said:

I wonder if the Kairos Plus toys will have better transforming hands that can bend the trigger finger and hold the gun properly. They were the only downside of the VF-31 toys.

Yeah my gun handle broke for my vf-31J. 

[Mommar]

I still don't know why they never demo these things in Gerwalk.  It's hard to tell but it looks like they're using fixed pose hands on the demo unit there.

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by Mommar

[aurance]

I wonder if this has drones or missiles in the leg bays. Presumably missiles because no charger? Could be wrong.

Edited November 29, 2021 by aurance

[100mega]

Gerwalk mode if you zoom in.

Edited December 2, 2021 by 100mega

[nightmareB4macross]

The size of that box looks larger than normal!

Will add on packs or extra munitions be included beyond the stand and normal accessories?

[crackpot]

4 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said:

The size of that box looks larger than normal!

Will add on packs or extra munitions be included beyond the stand and normal accessories?

I'm betting it's the special stand making this box larger than it's supposed to be. 

[sqidd]

1 hour ago, nightmareB4macross said:

The size of that box looks larger than normal!

Will add on packs or extra munitions be included beyond the stand and normal accessories?

Good eye. That looks even bigger than the boxes that come with stands.

[no3Ljm]

[wm cheng]

Does it include the super packs?

[Lolicon]

It's the special Walkure stand. 

[no3Ljm]

[wm cheng]

That's it?!?!  The Original VF-1J and Roy's VF-1S included this (in black) and it didn't make the box any bigger?

[iguanaman8989]

It might be a sleeve like how the VF-1J came packaged.

It looks like there’s a plastic band wrapped around the front, and if you look along the one side, there’s a bit that looks like the side of a smaller box bowing out slightly (along the top left).

[no3Ljm]

1 hour ago, wm cheng said:

That's it?!?!  The Original VF-1J and Roy's VF-1S included this (in black) and it didn't make the box any bigger?

It’s 2 separate boxes. One for the Valk and one for the special stand like Hikaru’s and Roy’s. That’s just the box sleeve that made it look like it’s a big box like what  @iguanaman8989 mentioned.  

[sqidd]

Yay, another stand I won't open/use.

 

[derex3592]

Dear Bandai...

Your stands SUCK. 

Sincerely,

EVERYONE.

[Sanity is Optional]

…I actually use the Hikaru VF-1J and Roy VF-1S stands for flight mode display, bit more dynamic than the usual Bandai stands.

I would prefer yetistands, but didn’t get around to it before COVID hit and he shuttered (hopefully temporarily).

[no3Ljm]

Bandai's decision on adding this so-called special stands is still a bargain whether we use it or not. Technically it's just a freebie since they don't charge extra for it. If you check Tamashii page for both Hayate's and Mirage's Kairos Plus, they're both Y25300. We only get hammered with the shipping cost due to that extra weight and dimension.  

For sure down the line, there will be someone who's going to ask for those stands for completion for the other Valks that didn't come with it. You know, just sayin'. 

[100mega]

For anyone that has the previous VF-31A Kairos I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it's design compared to the VF-31J. I'm guessing the engineering of this new one will be much like the older Kairos.

[Chronocidal]

7 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Dear Bandai...

Your stands SUCK. 

Sincerely,

EVERYONE.

I'm still astounded that they have just kept on rolling with the crappy generic hexagonal bases they first came up with for the VF-171 (I think).  It is utterly baffling that they didn't just straight up make a new kite base for the VF-1s.  Like.. why could you not do what probably thousands of home 3D printers have been used for?  

Is it that freaking expensive to redesign their packaging?  

Their limited edition stands are a bit better in terms of style at least, but they still fail to produce what I'd consider an aesthetically pleasing display due to their inability to mount anything without a ginormous honking bracket clamping all over the valk.  Would it be so hard to integrate a mounting point into the valk that doesn't completely suck?

[no3Ljm]

25 minutes ago, 100mega said:

For anyone that has the previous VF-31A Kairos I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it's design compared to the VF-31J. I'm guessing the engineering of this new one will be much like the older Kairos.

I'm not sure if I understand your question properly since the DX VF-31A, engineering-wise, is the same as the VF-31J. The only differences of these 2 when it came out are the paint, head, fold carbon chest details, back leg missiles (instead of drone chambers) and the delta wings. And when you say engineering, are you referring to the transformation or the overall engineering updates on the body design? Because if it's transformation, then this new 31AX is still going to be 95% the same as the transformation of the previous VF-31. If it's design, then there's some body modification done to it to distinguished the difference between the 31AX and the previous 31.

Unless ofcourse you were meant to ask the VF-31AX (Hayate) instead of 'VF-31J', then I'm looking forward to see a side-by-side comparison between it with a 31A once it gets released later this December since I didn't PO Hayate's.

 

[100mega]

  

5 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

I'm not sure if I understand your question properly since the DX VF-31A, engineering-wise, is the same as the VF-31J. The only differences of these 2 when it came out are the paint, head, fold carbon chest details, back leg missiles (instead of drone chambers) and the delta wings. And when you say engineering, are you referring to the transformation or the overall engineering updates on the body design? Because if it's transformation, then this new 31AX is still going to be 95% the same as the transformation of the previous VF-31. If it's design, then there's some body modification done to it to distinguished the difference between the 31AX and the previous 31.

Unless ofcourse you were meant to ask the VF-31AX (Hayate) instead of 'VF-31J', then I'm looking forward to see a side-by-side comparison between it with a 31A once it gets released later this December since I didn't PO Hayate's.

 

 

I guess I'm sort of asking about things I don't understand so sorry if it was confusing. I am personally trying to decide if I want the Hayate one with the fold projector or the new Hayate AX one. The shape of the planes looks pretty different to me like W-shape vs a diamond shape and since this AX, the diamond shaped one, is like the previously released Kairos I guess I was wondering is if people prefer one style of design over the other since the older Kairos has been out in the wild. I guess the transformation of each is pretty similar and the different wing shape is just throwing me off.

Edited December 4, 2021 by 100mega