25 Renewal ver., vs 25 Revival ver.

[Vintage Fanboy]

.. i'd just talk with some guys who got their Revival ver., and some said that the Renewal ver., has (still) better assembly (for each) parts and better mold (?!?). As they didn't say in details, i thought (maybe) Bandai uses the same (more than a decade old mold of Renewal ver.) and therefore the Revival ver., feels like "deteriorated" in some parts?!?

..please shre with us any inputs / the comparison if any of you got both of them.. 🙏🏼

[HardlyNever]

Not 100% sure what you're asking, but the latest reissues of the Bandai VF-25 are pretty similar to the initial renewal versions.  There are some differences, though.  Jenuis' review covers them, starting at about 9:15.

Overall, it's still like... 95% the same mold, though.

[MKT]

Whether it’s due to mold degradation or not, but off the top of head there are a few fit issues observed for the VF-25 WWM scheme that weren’t present in the older renewals:

1. The nosecone in Fighter doesn’t seem to close as well as it should, leaving a slight gap.

2. The gunpod doesn’t fit properly into one of the arm tabs in Fighter, so it would be very hard to display Fighter with its gun. Gun can still be angled straight though, but one of the arms will be rotated every so slightly offset.

3. The crotch lock in Battroid is not as tight, & so unbuckles rather easily during handling.

Not sure if these issues have been fixed for the new 25F Revival though.

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by MKT
Changed #2

[MacrossJunkie]

13 hours ago, Vintage Fanboy said:

.. i'd just talk with some guys who got their Revival ver., and some said that the Renewal ver., has (still) better assembly (for each) parts and better mold (?!?). As they didn't say in details, i thought (maybe) Bandai uses the same (more than a decade old mold of Renewal ver.) and therefore the Revival ver., feels like "deteriorated" in some parts?!?

..please shre with us any inputs / the comparison if any of you got both of them.. 🙏🏼

I don't have the revival versions, but if their releases with the VF-31AX and Max's YF-29 are any indication, their quality control has seriously suffered.

They have had various problems that weren't issues for prior YF-29 and VF-31 releases. I think that is what people are talking about, whether it be degradation of the mold or bad plastic or whatever else. 

[Mommar]

22 hours ago, MKT said:

Whether it’s due to mold degradation or not, but off the top of head there are a few fit issues observed for the VF-25 WWM scheme that weren’t present in the older renewals:

1. The nosecone in Fighter doesn’t seem to close as well as it should, leaving a slight gap.

2. The gunpod doesn’t fit properly into one of the arm tabs in Fighter, so it would be very hard to display Fighter with its gun.

3. The crotch lock in Battroid is not as tight, & so unbuckles rather easily during handling.

Not sure if these issues have been fixed for the new 25F Revival though.

 

I'll have to disagree with 1 and 2.  The tab is a bit more stiff and hard to angle but the nose cone snaps into place very solid.  And I haven't had a hard time fitting the gunpod in fighter at all.  The crotch lock does seem to be looser however.

[Halfstep]

6 hours ago, Mommar said:

2. The gunpod doesn’t fit properly into one of the arm tabs in Fighter, so it would be very hard to display Fighter with its gun.

I thought I was going nuts with my WWM VF-25 and the gun pod not securing to one of the arms.  Is there a solution for that?  I can't tell if it's the tab or the slot or cut out for the handle causing this issue.  I almost want to shave the tab in the offending arm completely out so it does not cause a headache with Fighter mode.  It offsets the arms and leg because of this issue when the gun pod is in play.

[David Hingtgen]

My original -25F renewal definitely had the wing roots pivot/angle and sit flush a lot better and easier than the latest issue, and the intakes/thighs pegged together better in fighter mode.  Plus the nosecone issue.   But my original broke, so a new one is better than a broken one, despite some minor issues.   

[Lolicon]

On the revival 25F one of the arm tabs for the gunpod is incorrectly sized so that's an issue from the WWM release that has not been fixed.

Front landing gear is slightly crooked so that when you push back into the bay, the front wheel rubs against one side, which makes is harder to push in and pull back out later.

Gunpod is at least straight this time. It was warped on my WWM.

Wings and head lasers are still prone to being warped. This is another long-running issue from the renewals.

Also have had to touch up some sloppy paint apps, but I think that's just something that's always plagued Bandai's stuff i.e. their fit & finish has always been inferior to Yamato/Arcadia (for the most part).

 

[Halfstep]

I am going to try shaving away at that tab until it fits.  

[David Hingtgen]

Let me know what you find---I'm currently working on getting the nosecone flush.  (it's not nearly as bad as the WMM one, but it could be better---my first thought was the hinge-bar is preventing the nosecone from tabbing in fully, but shaving it down a smidge didn't do anything---now I'm just trying nail polish on the tab--which is clearly NOT the issue/cause, but may "overcome" whatever the source of the pressure is)   

[pengbuzz]

3 hours ago, David Hingtgen said:

My original -25F renewal definitely had the wing roots pivot/angle and sit flush a lot better and easier than the latest issue, and the intakes/thighs pegged together better in fighter mode.  Plus the nosecone issue.   But my original broke, so a new one is better than a broken one, despite some minor issues.   

What broke on your original 25F, if you don't mind my asking?

[MKT]

13 hours ago, Mommar said:

I'll have to disagree with 1 and 2.  The tab is a bit more stiff and hard to angle but the nose cone snaps into place very solid.  And I haven't had a hard time fitting the gunpod in fighter at all.  The crotch lock does seem to be looser however.

It just so happens I got my VF-25F Revival in yesterday, and this after handling the renewal VF-25S recently.

The nosecone gap issue is definitely still present though. The pics on the box itself shows the gap pretty clearly, but at end of the day it's not really that bothersome, just conspicuous when u put it side by side with the renewals. Great that your copy has no issues on that front , so perhaps it is not something that affects every copy.

For the gunpod in Fighter, it was based on earlier 25 WWM reports on one of the arm tabs not properly fitting into the gun handle slot, and I incorrectly surmised it would affect display in that mode. I tried it myself on the Revival 25F, and whilst it appears to retain the ill-fit on one of the arms, the gun can still be angled very much straight; just that the affected arm will be ever so slightly rotated, as @Halfstep experienced above. Again, this is something not very noticeable visually as the arms are mostly blocked by the gunpod.

 

So far, I would say these 'defects' in Fighter are not really big deals because you do find certain other gaps here and there that were also present in the renewals that were characteristic of Bandai Macross molds of that era.

However, most of the movable bits in Fighter (haven't transformed my copies yet) for the revivals are definitely much stiffer than the older renewals. The firmer snapping of the wing roots to the legs, the much-reduced slack between each position of the wings' swing angles, the stiffer cockpit opening/closing motion & its tighter fit - every part appear to have been made a tiny hair's width thicker. As I'm typing this, the thought crossed my mind that, if we assume both renewals and revivals came out at same time, it is as if Bandai KO'ed one of their own mold of the other. I don't have a Valkyrie Factory VF-1 KO, but from the reviews of them, the varying differences of tolerances compared to Yamcadia originals sounds like the kind of differences we are hearing of the Renewals vs Revivals today.   

[Lolicon]

RE: nose cone gap

While it's not present on my 25F, there was a very noticeable gap on my WWM. I noticed the top and bottom halves of the nose were not aligned properly. I pushed the two halves in opposite directions until they were aligned, then applied super glue along the seam to keep them aligned. That fixed the gap.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Lolicon

[MKT]

Great you found the root cause for the nosecone gap @Lolicon 

 

Whether it is due to the new matte formulation, the generally tighter fit or both, the plastic on the revivals qualitatively feels more tactile and stronger - although both revivals and renewals weight the same. I very much hope it is stronger though, as beyond the loose joints of the renewals (easily fixable), the other more serious issue is the cracking of the hinge that holds the upper and lower torso in Battroid together (the hinge between the intakes in Fighter). It seems the plastic for this joint rot over time and gives out even if there is no tension on being in Fighter mode.  

 

[David Hingtgen]

13 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

What broke on your original 25F, if you don't mind my asking?

"The hinge that often breaks" at the waist, because Bandai uses split pins there that slowly expand over time.  

The entire valk's 2 main halves are held together by that hinge, and it's plastic.  Mine cracked apart while sitting in fighter mode with no packs/boosters attached, under zero stress/weight.  

 

This is a -29, but it's the same piece/issue:

[Mommar]

On 5/10/2023 at 9:36 AM, David Hingtgen said:

"The hinge that often breaks" at the waist, because Bandai uses split pins there that slowly expand over time.  

The entire valk's 2 main halves are held together by that hinge, and it's plastic.  Mine cracked apart while sitting in fighter mode with no packs/boosters attached, under zero stress/weight.  

 

This is a -29, but it's the same piece/issue:

I guess I'll be doing some inspections today...

[Sandman]

I haven't encounter that but now i'm worried. Going to have to check all my 25s and 29s.

[treatment]

Finally put this Revival up into battroid-mode...
 

 

 

and it really does kinda suck and a bit disappointing.

Mainly the hips' ball-joints when equipped with SPs.

First time TF'ed and it already insist on wanting to be loosey leaning back due to being back-heavy with the boosters.

This is my first DX VF-25 valk, so I dunno how you guys suffered it with the previous Renewal editions.  I only had the tiny non-transformable Robot Spirits, previously.

This Revival's leg-armors annoys me  as it pops out easily at the slightest touch. The left hip-armor does not even secure itself properly, unlike the right hip-armor.

Guess I'll need to Future or Kiki the hip ball-joints and stuff to stop being annoyed with it.

I can appreciate my Mirage DX VF-31 even more now, it seems...

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Bought one of these revivals after seeing scorched earth review.  I am happy these got re-released. I think valks in modern macross shows are too skinny to be wearing armor and I like the old fan concept of a transforming destroid instead. 😛 One of the reason I like the YF-19 design is it looked fine with no armor and only had little pieces attached to it. VF-19 and YF-19 without the extra add-ons are good overall.

In the OG macross show the original purpose of battroid mode was fight giant soldiers at close range. So I think robot without armor looks fine if you just think of it like that. But later there was obsession of wearing all this fat suit stuff and that didn't make sense to me. The story says: we need something to beat the Qrau, but I think a destroid that transforms would be better idea than a skinny valkyrie with a feminine skinny figure wearing stuff. It would put more stress on the robot joints especially if it was skinny design don't you think?  But a chunky transforming Destroid (in battroid mode) wouldn't have that problem because it was built to be fat robot. (ie it's got the bulky "dwarf" body type) You would attach stuff to a transformed destroid without its skinny body under stress.

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[jenius]

Has anyone had success tightening up the hips on their DX VF-25 toys (either renewal or revival)? All I've every done is torque the screw a little harder but has anyone popped the screws out and done anything internally and really liked how it came out?

[aurance]

On 6/15/2023 at 11:32 AM, jenius said:

Has anyone had success tightening up the hips on their DX VF-25 toys (either renewal or revival)? All I've every done is torque the screw a little harder but has anyone popped the screws out and done anything internally and really liked how it came out?

Yes, I removed the screw and coated the internal ball joint with floor polish then reassembled. I did this a year or so ago, and it's still holding up very well with the super pack. I don't have the armored pack so I don't know if it's strong enough for that.

 

[davidwhangchoi]

future floor polish like aurance said

[Wewyllenium]

I'm back and here's my fix for the common hinges on these renewal types.  

I'm currently testing out a pinless snap-fit version and a print-in-place complete assembly.

[jenius]

Wow, looking good so far!

[nightmareB4macross]

That is some really great work on those hinges. 

[David Hingtgen]

I'll take a set in white, when they're ready...

[pengbuzz]

On 6/30/2024 at 5:09 PM, nightmareB4macross said:

That is some really great work on those hinges. 

I agree; really tight work on those! In comparison, the old ones look like utter garbage!! Almost looks like the same plastic they used on the knee joints for MP-44 Optimus Prime/ Convoy! 😠 

Edited July 4 by pengbuzz

[chriswoo]

On 6/30/2024 at 11:44 PM, Wewyllenium said:

I'm back and here's my fix for the common hinges on these renewal types.  

I'm currently testing out a pinless snap-fit version and a print-in-place complete assembly.

f

Nice job making STL file to have those replacement part for the weakpoint of the hinges of all VF-25.  I would love get some from you too once you fully refined it. 

[Wewyllenium]

Hi all. Here's a vid I made showing off the hinges and how to install them.

 

 

[JIS]

On 7/5/2024 at 8:59 PM, Wewyllenium said:

Hi all. Here's a vid I made showing off the hinges and how to install them.

 

 

Amazing work!! It's awesome!!

I'm from the UK. Are you selling them? I would love to have a couple of those (I have only one valk broken but they are time bombs).

[Special Sauce]

What's the general consensus on which is better?  Renewal or Revival?  I have renewals of the VF-25S and 25F.  I have the fast pack sets for them too.  Wasn't sure if it was worth buying the new 25F set with everything included unless it was made better.  

[JIS]

5 minutes ago, Special Sauce said:

What's the general consensus on which is better?  Renewal or Revival?  I have renewals of the VF-25S and 25F.  I have the fast pack sets for them too.  Wasn't sure if it was worth buying the new 25F set with everything included unless it was made better.  

In my opinion the revival is just superior. I don't see any drawbacks in my VF-25F and it has the matte painting (very important for me), more support for the legs and a little more tambo (also important for me). It's still disappointing because it doesn't include all the tampo of Max's YF-29 nor his chest articulation. They also didn't improve the ankles, improve the plastic connector in the crotch, etc.

It should have been better but it is better.

[Lolicon]

Revivals have the chest stripes painted incorrectly.

[Special Sauce]

Seems like there are pros and cons to each version.  

[Wewyllenium]

On 7/9/2024 at 5:30 PM, JIS said:

Amazing work!! It's awesome!!

I'm from the UK. Are you selling them? I would love to have a couple of those (I have only one valk broken but they are time bombs).

At my local region. I'm trying to work up ways for these to be out via Shapeways or something. Shipping from where I'm at over there is too much.