Bandai High Grade 1/100 YF-19 model kit

[Shawn]

Any of my fellow HLJ orderers get notice their kit is in their private warehouse yet? Its been a a while since I asked the collective
Still nothing yet for me...decals just sitting there burning up their storage space

[Convectuoso]

29 minutes ago, Shawn said:

Any of my fellow HLJ orderers get notice their kit is in their private warehouse yet? Its been a a while since I asked the collective
Still nothing yet for me...decals just sitting there burning up their storage space

I canceled mine and bought it somewhere else

[Chronocidal]

Yeah, nothing here either, but I'm in no rush at all.  If they come through, great, if not, I'm not counting it as any huge loss.  Maybe reception in Japan has been tepid enough that Bandai are re-thinking their approach.

[Big s]

3 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Yeah, nothing here either, but I'm in no rush at all.  If they come through, great, if not, I'm not counting it as any huge loss.  Maybe reception in Japan has been tepid enough that Bandai are re-thinking their approach.

I think it may be the other way around. More people bought a preorder than expected. A lot of places seemed to not have enough on release and for people that weren’t in Japan the options were limited on where to shop. Hlj was one of the only major ones to offer it outside Japan. But there were U.S. retailers like bbts and usags that offered preorders. 

the set I got was from HLJ, but since they only offered one per customer at the time of preorder for the kits and decals, I ordered 2 more sets from bbts. Those still haven’t come in stock. They’re probably on a slow boat from across the way. I wasn’t in a big rush to build them since I’ve got a big backlog going, although I think they’ll bump ahead of a few projects.

 

[Gabe Q]

@Shawn I still haven't gotten mine in either. I'm no hurry but it'll be terrible if I get stuck with a set of decals with no kit to put them on. 

[kajnrig]

If anyone is really in need, I've been seeing tons of them on YJA, both built and unbuilt: https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/search/search?auccat=&tab_ex=commerce&ei=utf-8&aq=-1&oq=&sc_i=&p=HG+1%2F100+YF-19&x=0&y=0

[Big s]

2 hours ago, Gabe Q said:

@Shawn I still haven't gotten mine in either. I'm no hurry but it'll be terrible if I get stuck with a set of decals with no kit to put them on. 

It’s just a matter of time. The standard releases are are usually restocked every couple months. These are just high grade models and not premium metal build figures with a limited number manufactured.

I remember when there was a big demand for the hg nightingale and it only took two months before the second batch was released.

[kajnrig]

Courtesy MacrossCentral. The first half is a bit of a retrospective on the OVA/movie, and the second half is mostly stuff we already know.

 

[Gabe Q]

@Big s Ok, thanks. That makes me feel a bit better about the whole situation. 

[Bolt]

12 hours ago, kajnrig said:

Courtesy MacrossCentral. The first half is a bit of a retrospective on the OVA/movie, and the second half is mostly stuff we already know.

 

Great marketing.  Makes me want to buy one , if only for this..

And Kawamori pretty much said , the YF-21 will also come, if this YF-19 does well.

[Big s]

4 hours ago, Bolt said:

And Kawamori pretty much said , the YF-21 will also come, if this YF-19 does well.

Then I guess there’s a good chance of that since there are still people that preordered and they didn’t have enough to go around 

[Chronocidal]

I just wish Bandai would make up it's freakin' mind, and pick a scale already.  They made so many 1/72 kits, and now they're just going "Nah, we like 1/100 now."  Sheeeeeeeesh.  

They haven't figured out that "1/100" being a "good" scale is entirely dependent on the size of the subject.  Valks are pretty tiny compared to Gundams, and you're not going to be able to even come close to the amount of detail in an HG Gundam kit at that scale, especially if you expect the thing to transform.

Edited February 22, 2023 by Chronocidal

[sketchley]

3 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

They haven't figured out that "1/100" being a "good" scale is entirely dependent on the size of the subject.  Valks are pretty tiny compared to Gundams, and you're not going to be able to even come close to the amount of detail in an HG Gundam kit at that scale, especially if you expect the thing to transform.

Maybe it was a marketing decision?  (I.e. the marketing team chose the scale, not the actual model designers.)  To make it easier to bundle together with their other 1/100 lines?  Or that the 1/72 scale turns off (domestic) buyers since they're not used to that scale, or that it eats up too much 'display space' when finished?

Edited February 23, 2023 by sketchley

[kajnrig]

I think they just wanted to target the 12-14cm tall range, and 1/100 was a common scale that most closely matched that range. 1/72 kits would be too big, and 1/144 would be too small.

[Chronocidal]

55 minutes ago, kajnrig said:

I think they just wanted to target the 12-14cm tall range, and 1/100 was a common scale that most closely matched that range. 1/72 kits would be too big, and 1/144 would be too small.

See, that's all fine when talking about non-transforming mecha.. but that scale just isn't big enough to do Macross kits any justice.  All you wind up with is all of the major compromises in this kit, and a kit that doesn't really scale well with any other modern series of Macross kits that exist.

Comparing my HM VF-19S with an ancient 1/100 HG Gundam kit doesn't feel too bad of a size comparison, but the VF-19S feels a lot more spindly, while the Gundam has some bulk to it.

It just doesn't feel like it makes any sense to make the kit this small, unless they're banking on nostalgia for the older Macross kits in the same size range.  All of their more recent kits from Frontier and Delta have all been in 1/72.  This comes off feeling like they gave up on making an HMR YF-19, and decided to make it a kit with parts swapping instead... and if they DO come out with an HMR YF-19, it's just going to destroy this kit's sales.

Edited February 23, 2023 by Chronocidal

[Big s]

10 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

I just wish Bandai would make up it's freakin' mind, and pick a scale already.  They made so many 1/72 kits, and now they're just going "Nah, we like 1/100 now."  Sheeeeeeeesh.  

They haven't figured out that "1/100" being a "good" scale is entirely dependent on the size of the subject.  Valks are pretty tiny compared to Gundams, and you're not going to be able to even come close to the amount of detail in an HG Gundam kit at that scale, especially if you expect the thing to transform.

Bandai likes having multiple scales and products. The 1/72 kits are kinda like a master grade with inner frames and full or close to full transformations and these 1/100 kits are the high grade entries that will have a lower price and part swapping . There probably will be an hmr as well down the line and some people won’t have cash for it and opt out for the kit and others will want it for their hmr collection and others who’ll have both.

Their gundam line had everything from ship scales 1/220and 1/200, the common 1/144 , 1/100 1/160 and all the way up to 1/35 entries and a bunch of scales I didn’t even list. Dunbine, Patlabor and other franchisees have had many different scales for toys and kits. I wouldn’t expect them to stay to one scale or product for Macross. They currently have the hg and 1/72 line for kits. Hmr , 1/72 dx and 1/48 scale dx for figures and so far I don’t think any line is damaging another 

[treatment]

from

https://twitter.com/simsim5479/status/1632214634081169409?cxt=HHwWgsDR2fqj5aYtAAAA

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by treatment

[Big s]

16 hours ago, treatment said:

from

https://twitter.com/simsim5479/status/1632214634081169409?cxt=HHwWgsDR2fqj5aYtAAAA

 

 

 

 

 

I’m more curious about how it compares to the wave 1/100 vf1 kits.

[Bolt]

On 2/23/2023 at 1:58 AM, Big s said:

Bandai likes having multiple scales and products. The 1/72 kits are kinda like a master grade with inner frames and full or close to full transformations and these 1/100 kits are the high grade entries that will have a lower price and part swapping . There probably will be an hmr as well down the line and some people won’t have cash for it and opt out for the kit and others will want it for their hmr collection and others who’ll have both.

Their gundam line had everything from ship scales 1/220and 1/200, the common 1/144 , 1/100 1/160 and all the way up to 1/35 entries and a bunch of scales I didn’t even list. Dunbine, Patlabor and other franchisees have had many different scales for toys and kits. I wouldn’t expect them to stay to one scale or product for Macross. They currently have the hg and 1/72 line for kits. Hmr , 1/72 dx and 1/48 scale dx for figures and so far I don’t think any line is damaging another 

That's a good point. About the multiple scales for the same toy lines. And i think Bandai is probing that potential. Because, lets face it, Macross hasn't been as popular (as Gundam for example)  and has been hamstrung (globally) for so long. I'm glad that multiple options are becoming more and more available for everyone. Especially those that don't want to take on a resin or Hasegawa kit, or fork out hundreds of dead presidents for a toy. 

[P.W.Royce]

I’m still waiting on my HLJ order (kit and decals) and I reserved it pretty early on.

As for the scale, I’m kind of a sucker for anything Macross in 1/100. I will reserve judgement until I have the thing built and displayed.
 

At 1/100 scale and smaller things can get out of proportion pretty easily, just ask anyone that collects 1/144 fighter jets…

[Convectuoso]

I'm so glad I canceled my HLJ order and got it somewhere else. I've already got Battroid mode almost ready, with just the wings and some decals pending.

[treatment]

from https://twitter.com/hami006/status/1635244163171254274

 

c;'mon, Bandai!

DO DAT, STAT!

 

 

 

[KOG Water Dragon]

On 3/12/2023 at 12:14 PM, P.W.Royce said:

I’m still waiting on my HLJ order (kit and decals) and I reserved it pretty early on.

As for the scale, I’m kind of a sucker for anything Macross in 1/100. I will reserve judgement until I have the thing built and displayed.
 

At 1/100 scale and smaller things can get out of proportion pretty easily, just ask anyone that collects 1/144 fighter jets…

I finally picked up a VF-19 and decals at my local shop. I've gotten another set of the decals from HLJ, but they still haven't filled my order for the VF-19. I'll leave it on order since I'd like to have 2 or 3 sets to do 2 or 3 of the modes eventually. But I can't believe my first one came through my local shop.

[kajnrig]

FYI, got my shipping notice from USAGS. I'd imagine other US stores are similarly getting their stock in and shipping out.

[no3Ljm]

Someone is customizing the HG YF-19 to VF-19 Kai.  

[Bolt]

Of course they are !That's looking really good. Thanks for sharing  

[Big s]

I have a feeling that that’s gonna be an actual Bandai release eventually. Might be a standard release, but probably a web exclusive. 
I do love seeing people excited enough to do their own customs though 

[frankell05]

Cool process!

[sh9000]

BBTS's stock is ready to ship to customers.  No update from HLJ still.

[sh9000]

Ordered a second one at HLJ a while back once the first one went into the private warehouse.  Also cancelled my order at BBTS.

[Chronocidal]

Yeeesh.  I'm still waiting for the first one I preordered there in October.  What is even going on with that kit's supply?

[Big s]

2 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Yeeesh.  I'm still waiting for the first one I preordered there in October.  What is even going on with that kit's supply?

They sent them all to the U.S. apparently since they’re at all the stores here including some of the brick and mortar shops. 

[Chronocidal]

Apparently HLJ FINALLY got stock of these, my order from release just got charged.  Yeeesh.

[kajnrig]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

Apparently HLJ FINALLY got stock of these, my order from release just got charged.  Yeeesh.

Just checked my email and saw the same. Going to the site though, it's still "Backordered," suggesting the restock wasn't very big at all. Bandai really being stingy about allocation, or HLJ misjudging demand?

[Chronocidal]

I'm thinking HLJ is on Bandai's naughty list for not buying enough of their big ticket items to sell.

Given the pre-order server DDOSs Bandai's stuff usually causes for them, I kind of don't blame them wanting to avoid the mess.