Bandai VF-31AX Kairos Plus - Hayate Type

[RIBFIR]

HLJ came through. Love the new design!

Edited December 28, 2021 by RIBFIR

[nightmareB4macross]

2 hours ago, Master Dex said:

Yeah.. I posted a whole thing earlier about how they told me that. I was just making a point that I was ok with it.

Cool.

[Lolicon]

Just got home and had a chance to open my 31AX.

Overall she's a beautiful bird. A nice step up from the 31 line.

Just a few quick notes:

The original 31 line had cockpits that were too small and pilots were squished up against the instrument panel. Now the pendulum has swung the other way: cockpits that are way too big for the pilots. It's pushing DX VF-1 levels of oversized cockpits/undersized pilots.

Bandai cheaped out and painted the forward sensors on instead of giving us clear parts.

I actually like the Walkure stand. Not because of the Walkure logo but because it's a nice white stand that looks better than the regular old hex stand.

Noticed that the box was a step down from the premium boxes we got with the original 31 line. And freaking styrofoam again? After the much better plastic trays with the VF-1 and YF-29? F U Bandai.

Anyway, those are just minor quibbles. She's a sweet valk and I'm going to have some fun whooshing her around. 

[Rein+]

Hey... its not frosted canopy and its clear now, at least we can see the pilot this time.

[sqidd]

6 hours ago, Lolicon said:

And freaking styrofoam again?

 

 

 

 

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[chriswoo]

I can't get my head off imagine thermometer backpack pod 

[Mommar]

On 12/27/2021 at 10:41 PM, Master Dex said:

(Clearly quoting text works differently than it used to.. oh well lol)

 

Ok, I emailed them. Amazingly, they responded immediately and said the following:

[quote]The item has just been released.

DHL is closed in Japan (new year holiday)

all parcels will be moving after new year holiday on 4th January, please let us know once you receive it.

wishing you a wonderful new year holiday, thanks again.[/quote]

And to wit, a separate email with the shipping confirmation came as well. I guess they were just gonna send it on the 4th but since I asked they just gave me the info. They're reasoning is valid though, much as @Kanedas Bike said above, it's basically the holidays.

 

Except DHL isn't closed.  We have people on this message board receiving theirs via DHL right now.  I'm already skeptical of their response. 

Personally I don't want DHL anymore, I just received another lost package with contents that barely survived the trip.

[Master Dex]

I dunno, even if that was just an excuse it was enough to know they were working on it for me and that it fit my personal time table so I'm not gonna fuss.

[Lolicon]

I still haven't gotten any notification from Amiami for mine.

[F360]

release date was 12-25-21, It is currently the week just after Christmas.  Some business will be either still be closed for the holiday or short staffed. 

DHL will be short staffed , so if they use any logistic packaging service from them, it might still be close until January.  Luna park stores staff is probably also off for the Holidays too. 

In short, don't expect anything shipping out until January.  Anything that shipped out near Christmas is more of an exception than the norm. 

[Sandman]

Can't seem to find any reference to my preorder fpr the 31ax. I'm sure i preoreded it. Anyone remember the preorder date? Going to have to scour the preorder thread.

[Chronocidal]

Anyone have pics with the regular 31 pod?  Thinking it would look a lot better without the thermometer.  

[F360]

39 minutes ago, Sandman said:

Can't seem to find any reference to my preorder fpr the 31ax. I'm sure i preoreded it. Anyone remember the preorder date? Going to have to scour the preorder thread.

its' August 2 2021

[manfred17]

The new design of the arm makes the gun wabling and adds gaps.

Bandai should have added an extra knob or something like that to make the gun remain at its correct place.

[sqidd]

5 hours ago, F360 said:

release date was 12-25-21, It is currently the week just after Christmas.  Some business will be either still be closed for the holiday or short staffed. 

DHL will be short staffed , so if they use any logistic packaging service from them, it might still be close until January.  Luna park stores staff is probably also off for the Holidays too. 

In short, don't expect anything shipping out until January.  Anything that shipped out near Christmas is more of an exception than the norm. 

My business is a perfect example of this. We have not been shipping since two days before Xmas and we won't resume shipping until next week. We're effectively closed (we'll, we're doing a  bunch of behind the scenes things). Most of my industry is doing the same thing.

Edited December 30, 2021 by sqidd

[Mommar]

1 hour ago, manfred17 said:

The new design of the arm makes the gun wabling and adds gaps.

Bandai should have added an extra knob or something like that to make the gun remain at its correct place.

Looks miss-transformed to me.

[Chronocidal]

13 minutes ago, Mommar said:

Looks miss-transformed to me.

May be, but that was always a problematic thing for the original VF-31 as well.  Those guns always were a bit sloppy, and it looks like they had to add more moving parts to this version to get it working.

[Mommar]

18 hours ago, Lolicon said:

 

 

 

29 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

May be, but that was always a problematic thing for the original VF-31 as well.  Those guns always were a bit sloppy, and it looks like they had to add more moving parts to this version to get it working.

While you could potentially knock it out of place I'd never call it anything like a "problem."  Lolicon seems to have had zero problems lining his up.

[eXis10z]

Bit the bullet and bought the Amazon ones above retail. 😢 Now need to find the super parts.

Edited December 30, 2021 by eXis10z

[Anasazi37]

2 hours ago, eXis10z said:

Bit the bullet and bought the Amazon ones above retail. 😢 Now need to find the super parts.

Looks like Anime Export still has some available:

https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=55299

The 23% markup over MSRP may seem a bit high, but when you tack on the fees charged by other proxies like Big in Japan, DeJapan, and FromJapan it's about the same. You're basically paying someone $20 to buy the set for you. That seems to be the going rate these days, but did I notice that one store has a 42% markup. Yikes.

[Dirtyboy]

Got my AmiAmi notifcation. Shipping options seems steep and no idea what air parcel is?

[recon]

Comparison video btw VF-31J and VF-31AX

 

[DYRL VF-1S]

9 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

Looks like Anime Export still has some available:

https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=55299

The 23% markup over MSRP may seem a bit high, but when you tack on the fees charged by other proxies like Big in Japan, DeJapan, and FromJapan it's about the same. You're basically paying someone $20 to buy the set for you. That seems to be the going rate these days, but did I notice that one store has a 42% markup. Yikes.

HEY no PO talk here sucka 😅I keed

[MKT]

3 hours ago, recon said:

Comparison video btw VF-31J and VF-31AX

 

 

Looks like the beefier arms not only makes the wing look fat in Fighter, which was my early peeve with the design, but also compromises slightly on how secure the biceps are in that mode, as the wings now no longer envelope as much around it like the older 31. There is also some sort of new sliding mechanism on the forearms, I wonder what does it really do? Is it just to tweak the arm proportions in battroid?

My copy is still sitting at HLJ, once I eventually get it I hope I like this new design as much as it when it was initially unveiled. But I suspect the VF-31A Kairos will still remain as top favorite overall...

 

[recon]

2 hours ago, MKT said:

 

Looks like the beefier arms not only makes the wing look fat in Fighter, which was my early peeve with the design, but also compromises slightly on how secure the biceps are in that mode, as the wings now no longer envelope as much around it like the older 31. There is also some sort of new sliding mechanism on the forearms, I wonder what does it really do? Is it just to tweak the arm proportions in battroid?

My copy is still sitting at HLJ, once I eventually get it I hope I like this new design as much as it when it was initially unveiled. But I suspect the VF-31A Kairos will still remain as top favorite overall...

 

Agree. Would have preferred bandai to use the VF-31A kairos as the base and mod it from there

The sliding mechanism on the forearms, i believe is to give it a beefier look and it may act as some sort of armour for the elbow joints. 

Edited December 30, 2021 by recon

[Chronocidal]

Ugh.. that just looks like a ton of tiny complicated parts to achieve what used to be a pretty simple arm joint.  I hope it's not anything fragile.

[F360]

11 hours ago, Dirtyboy said:

Got my AmiAmi notifcation. Shipping options seems steep and no idea what air parcel is?

Air parcel could be register airmail or even UPS.  so you should email them to double check.   

[68whiskey]

I’m loving the redesign overall but the ugly gaps near the shoulders are triggering my OCD. The leg doesn’t even snap into place by the forward intake vent , it just pops out of place. 

[treatment]

 

Not a fan of over-over-ricing any valk, but here you go...

from  https://bbs.toysdaily.com/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=467575&pid=8167150

 

 

 

[Wally]

[kajnrig]

Yeah, the Lil' Drakens were already pushing things. That thing's the size of a VF-1. Imagine that, a VF-31 with two VF-1s hanging off its wings...

[manfred17]

2 hours ago, 68whiskey said:

I’m loving the redesign overall but the ugly gaps near the shoulders are triggering my OCD. The leg doesn’t even snap into place by the forward intake vent , it just pops out of place. 

That is what I have tried to explain previously.

In most videos, we can clearly see this issue. The gun is pointing downwards and is wabling, because no additionnal peg to maintain it or design issue.

Edited December 31, 2021 by manfred17

[Master Dex]

1 hour ago, treatment said:

 

Not a fan of over-over-ricing any valk, but here you go...

from  https://bbs.toysdaily.com/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=467575&pid=8167150

 

 

 

I kinda want that Ghost just to display on its own, I think it looks cool, but yeah popping two on the 31 seems too much and I've already said I don't like the armor pack on the 31 at all. It's like the wrong lesson was learned from the Armored 25, IMO anyway.

[Mommar]

20 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

Looks like Anime Export still has some available:

https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=55299

The 23% markup over MSRP may seem a bit high, but when you tack on the fees charged by other proxies like Big in Japan, DeJapan, and FromJapan it's about the same. You're basically paying someone $20 to buy the set for you. That seems to be the going rate these days, but did I notice that one store has a 42% markup. Yikes.

Do you have to pay up front there?

[DYRL VF-1S]

1 hour ago, Mommar said:

Do you have to pay up front there?

Yes, but don’t all of the shops require that for TWE?

Edited December 31, 2021 by DYRL VF-1S