DX Chogokin VF-171EX Alto - Revival ver. WWM Release

[Chronocidal]

50 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

Remember, kids: as far as high end collectables go, Bandai doesn't strive for "best." They strive for "good enough."

Funny that in the 171's case they didn't even come close to scratching that goal.  It should be a posterchild for how not to design a transforming toy, collectible or otherwise.

[Anasazi37]

6 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Remember, kids: as far as high end collectables go, Bandai doesn't strive for "best." They strive for "good enough."

[Anasazi37]

I decided to open up my 171 last night, just to see how bad it might look in Fighter mode. Both head lasers are laughably, ridiculously warped. Thank goodness for the second set of hard plastic ones. Paint seems fine so far. I plan to carefully transform it to Battroid mode this weekend. I'm prepared for more disappointment.

[twich]

So I have a question on this release, the leg armor of the VF-171ex has these little flaps, and on these flaps it looks like it has little guns on it, like the hip guns of the VF-25/27 and YF-29. This is not listed in the stats, as far as I can tell, so what are these?

Twich

[Anasazi37]

On 3/20/2024 at 8:34 PM, Anasazi37 said:

I decided to open up my 171 last night, just to see how bad it might look in Fighter mode. Both head lasers are laughably, ridiculously warped. Thank goodness for the second set of hard plastic ones. Paint seems fine so far. I plan to carefully transform it to Battroid mode this weekend. I'm prepared for more disappointment.

I managed to transform my 171 to Battroid mode this weekend. It was a very stressful experience, made worse by unclear printed instructions and a lack of decent quality videos online. I found several that detailed the transformation from Battroid to Fighter, but not the other way. There was one from about ten years ago that was...okay, but the lighting was terrible, the person didn't know how to adequately describe what they were doing, and the resolution was bad. Had to replay sections of it multiple times. Getting the torso, chest, and head properly aligned and locked in was the worst part. The tolerances on this toy are very tight and pretty much all of the joints and hinges are very stiff, so I constantly felt like something was going to break while I was trying to move things around. I had to apply a bit more force than usual.

I am never transforming this toy again. Much like my 171 CF is permanently in Fighter mode.

[Chronocidal]

Sounds about right, that was always my experience.  

The worst steps for me, in either direction, were always the way the legs "lock" in place for battroid, the insanely tight metal hinge that collapses the backplate, the alignment of the arms going back to fighter, and.. well, just everything about the legs.

The problem I always had going into battroid was that there never seemed enough room for the legs to rotate into place without removing the front landing gear doors.  They don't fit well alongside the swingbar if you squeezed it shut, and for me, no 171 I ever transformed had a swingbar that actually locked in place, so the hip joints always flopped around on that metal bar.

The legs are a very special thing though.  I've mentioned it a few times in previous 171 threads, so apologies for the broken record, but I don't think it can be overstated, because this is part of why the legs tend to explode (the other part being that the design is just structurally incompetent).

In short, Bandai screwed up the instructions.  They didn't give us reverse instructions for going from battroid to fighter, and the process of dropping the legs does not work in reverse.  The interlocks that keep the lower legs from twisting do not work with the knees bent.

It's interesting seeing the instructions with the new WWM release, because they actually translate all the little warning callouts now.  Unfortunately, they're still wrong.  

The callouts in the leg transformation section say to move the leg to a specific angle before rotating the lower legs.  This ONLY works when going from fighter to battroid.  For the reverse transformation, the knee joints must be fully straightened before the lower legs will rotate the other direction.  They didn't give instructions on the reverse transformation, and that little omission is the smoking gun for anyone whose legs disintegrated while trying to un-rotate them going back to fighter mode.  The only reason the legs will rotate as shown in the instructions is because of slippage in the knee interlock.

To minimize stress in the joint, never rotate the lower legs with the knees bent. 

The steps to transform the legs should be the following:
1. Detach the lower leg from the backplate, and drop it one click at the knee
2. Immediately follow the step to release the upper leg, and drop the leg at the gerwalk joint
3. Re-straighten the knee
4. NOW you can rotate the lower leg
5. Extend the knee, and bend it as needed

The reverse needs to be done going back to fighter.
1. Collapse the knee, and straighten it
2. Rotate the lower leg back to fighter position
3. Press the leg back into the belly, keeping the leg as straight as possible to minimize the stress on the knee

The really bad part is that there doesn't seem any way to actually lessen the stress that the knee joints take when dropping the legs in the first place.  Once the lower leg is free, you're really just yanking the upper leg free by applying sideways and twisting pressure on the knee joint, whether the knee is bent or not.

[MKT]

3 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

I managed to transform my 171 to Battroid mode this weekend. It was a very stressful experience, made worse by unclear printed instructions and a lack of decent quality videos online. I found several that detailed the transformation from Battroid to Fighter, but not the other way. There was one from about ten years ago that was...okay, but the lighting was terrible, the person didn't know how to adequately describe what they were doing, and the resolution was bad. Had to replay sections of it multiple times. Getting the torso, chest, and head properly aligned and locked in was the worst part. The tolerances on this toy are very tight and pretty much all of the joints and hinges are very stiff, so I constantly felt like something was going to break while I was trying to move things around. I had to apply a bit more force than usual.

I am never transforming this toy again. Much like my 171 CF is permanently in Fighter mode.

The only 171 that I’ve transformed to Battroid is the RVF-171. I recall the hip swing bars were crazy stiff & I took almost as much time to wrangle it to its final proper position as getting up to that point from Fighter.

It was early days of collecting then & I wasn’t that aware how fragile the mold is. Luckily nothing broke, but  I don’t think I would have attempted it today, just as much as I won’t bring it out of Battroid.

[505thAirborne]

@jenius delivers another awesome review!! 

 

[jenius]

Thanks, I completely redid the written review on anymoon also which I think makes it a lot more useful and comprehensive... That's what made the review take so long.

[505thAirborne]

25 minutes ago, jenius said:

Thanks, I completely redid the written review on anymoon also which I think makes it a lot more useful and comprehensive... That's what made the review take so long.

The reviews & information provided are always worth the wait. Unless I missed it, how are the triangles on this revival version? 

I do like how Bandai fixed the wing/hard point issue, having to swap out the wings was always a strange option. 

Edited March 27 by 505thAirborne

[jenius]

I didn't mention it because I have only seen that be an issue on the Nightmare Plus. I don't remember seeing it as a problem for the original Alto, Luca, or Maruyama. Everything is fine so far on both my original and Revival.

[Chronocidal]

I did notice that the quality of the plastic on the re-release is very different, even from the original EX version.  The shoulder triangles (both the upper shoulder joint, and lower folding panel) seem to be a dark gray instead of solid black.  It might be partially due to the change from gloss to dull, but they don't look like the same color.

[505thAirborne]

1 hour ago, jenius said:

I didn't mention it because I have only seen that be an issue on the Nightmare Plus. I don't remember seeing it as a problem for the original Alto, Luca, or Maruyama. Everything is fine so far on both my original and Revival.

Thank you for clarifying that, I wasn't sure if it was all 171's or just the Nightmare. I might have to get one of these revivals, if anything else it includes the Armor. 

[jenius]

3 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

I did notice that the quality of the plastic on the re-release is very different, even from the original EX version.  The shoulder triangles (both the upper shoulder joint, and lower folding panel) seem to be a dark gray instead of solid black.  It might be partially due to the change from gloss to dull, but they don't look like the same color.

I think it's just a color and finish change. I'll poke 'em a bit more as I handle it with the armor.

[MacrossJunkie]

Good comparison. Thanks for the video. Would you say that your original one had yellowed a bit or more that the reissue came just super bright white (like whiter than the original release)?

[jenius]

13 hours ago, MacrossJunkie said:

Good comparison. Thanks for the video. Would you say that your original one had yellowed a bit or more that the reissue came just super bright white (like whiter than the original release)?

It's possible my Alto is not the same level of whiteness as it was when new but my Luca and Maruyama are a similar hue. I think the revival version might be a little more pure white and the matte finish may also catch the light better making it look even brighter when being photographed. 

[MacrossJunkie]

12 hours ago, jenius said:

It's possible my Alto is not the same level of whiteness as it was when new but my Luca and Maruyama are a similar hue. I think the revival version might be a little more pure white and the matte finish may also catch the light better making it look even brighter when being photographed. 

That's good to know. Thanks! I was debating whether if I should get one of these reissues or not, but was worried about the color not matching Luca or Maruyama's.

[David Hingtgen]

Interesting, as I feel the latest Alto -25 is not as pure white as the original renewals.  (At least, certainly not the "alternate" type of plastic used in some spots, like near the waist/hinges----it's not POM I think, but it's also not the "standard" ABS used for the main parts of the wings and legs etc----the previous releases seemed to have a more perfect match as-new, but those parts yellowed at different rates----the latest -25 doesn't match as well to start with, and almost looks very slightly pre-yellowed on those parts)   

Having the latest Alto -171 be even brighter than the original is surprising.   

[505thAirborne]

@jenius delivers the goods again!!

Edited April 16 by 505thAirborne

[Paco Grande]

Hello, sorry for the kind of off topic post, but it's about this figure so hopefully acceptable. A little while ago I was complaining about not being able to sell Bandai DX valks because of the crazy high prices I have to pay to get them to Canada. I'm typically paying over $400 Canadian (around $290 USD) including taxes and shipping. So the issue is that when I go to sell one the price is so high nobody wants it. Then I will keep lowering the price until it finally sells and I always end up selling at a massive loss. Even the DX VF-1A DYRL Kaki, which I've heard is rare and in demand, I took a massive hit on. I purchased the VF-171EX Revival last year and finally took delivery from Ages 3 And Up this past summer for a total of $430 ($310 USD). It took so long from purchase to delivery that I changed my mind on owning this valk and decided to sell it sealed MISB. And as usual I've had it up for sale on Kijiji and FaceBook Marketplace for weeks at that price and no luck selling it. I typically list on sites without fees and I don't normally try to sell on this forum because most Americans refuse to pay the shipping costs from Canada. Especially on top of the high price I'm selling at to cover my costs. Shipping is more expensive in Canada so I normally do not do free shipping.

I'm aware that you can get these things cheaper in Japan, but I always have a hard time buying them there because they sell out or I don't have the money available when the pre-order goes up. Macross is not my main collecting focus so my money is usually spent on other lines. For the Macross Frontier Revival valks I've been buying them from North American sellers because of the convenience and most of them cost me less than I usually pay buying DX valks from Japan because Amazon put them on sale. But this one I could only get at A3U at full price and it was pretty expensive. 

If I am unable to sell it for what I paid for it I'm thinking about just opening it and putting it on my Macross shelf rather than lose money. But I thought I would ask again here to see if you expert Macross collectors have any advice for me.

I'm also thinking about buying DX valks from Mandarake from now on because they seem to be available and cheaper. Even sealed.

Thank you!

[Bolt]

I feel for ya. It's not always an easy formula buying and selling Macross. As a collector mostly, I've sold off most of my 1/60's but it was before all the new and revival DX's. Ao demand was a bit better. Also I usually had mine on display so they weren't MISB. So any loss i may have taken was chocked up to having enjoyed the Valk before passing it on. 
Also, i never intended to play the buy and re sell game when i was buying any Macross. 
As far as buying future DX's , Mandrake is awesome and has great prices. 

[Paco Grande]

43 minutes ago, Bolt said:

I feel for ya. It's not always an easy formula buying and selling Macross. As a collector mostly, I've sold off most of my 1/60's but it was before all the new and revival DX's. Ao demand was a bit better. Also I usually had mine on display so they weren't MISB. So any loss i may have taken was chocked up to having enjoyed the Valk before passing it on. 
Also, i never intended to play the buy and re sell game when i was buying any Macross. 
As far as buying future DX's , Mandrake is awesome and has great prices. 

Thank you for the comments! Normally I don't intend t sell these things but I only have so much money to spend and these things are expensive so unfortunately sometimes some of them need to go so I can get more toys.

For example, in this case I'm a huge fan of Macross Plus and own the DX YF-19. I have never even seen Macross Frontier so I have no attachment to the VF-171 at all. What I actually want is the YF-21 to go with my YF-19 but the 21 is so expensive I canceled my pre-order for it and now I'm trying to sell this figure so I can get the 21. I would be willing to trade for a 21 but I'm assuming nobody would do that since the 21 is so much more expensive.

Edited October 11 by Paco Grande

[Sandman]

I’m from Canada and I find it’s just way easier and cheaper to buy from Japan. The Canadian markup is ridiculous. Even with the exchange rate it’s still cheaper. Unfortunately it’s also not worth getting them from the US due to the exchange rate. 

[PointBlankSniper]

Since this thread is alive again, I'd just like to report that I finally played with mine a bit. I accidentally put a considerable amount of force on one of the triangles while it was folded, during transformation, and absolutely nothing happened. 🙃

These revival triangles are hella strong and definitely not made of explodium like CFs I heard so much of. There's more of a possibility that the tips and edges of those triagles can be mushed against it's own folded layer because there are no indications of their intended range of motion, but that is honestly a very minor concern compared to cracking or exploding.

Trying to find the magic angle of the bicep for least stress and crookedness in fighter mode, and trying to to close the gerwalk intake extension weren't fun though. Going into battroid, the neck plate spin was real weird, and trying to line the spine's scalloped out spot with the major hinge section was somehow harder than it should be. But overall, I don't think it was as complicated to transform as I heard.

Would definitely like to see a teal CF revival down the road. Especially if they made the RFV with dual the wing top fold boosters and tossed in all the big bombs. Bandai could probably even do away with the partsforming RVF brace if they just changed up the spine peg or added an integral adapter. There seems to be a lot of space to hide things between the dorsal panel and legs. A 17 with super parts would be nice too. Don't want to monkey paw this stuff into existence too soon though. Wallet needs to rest 😭

[Paco Grande]

On 10/12/2024 at 3:43 PM, Sandman said:

I’m from Canada and I find it’s just way easier and cheaper to buy from Japan. The Canadian markup is ridiculous. Even with the exchange rate it’s still cheaper. Unfortunately it’s also not worth getting them from the US due to the exchange rate. 

 

I completely agree that it's cheaper buying from Japan and I buy all my Transformers related stuff there or China. But the Macross items I typically want are too difficult to buy there because of pre-order madness and having to pay up front for pre-orders that show up out of nowhere. For Masterpiece Transformers you can order at your leisure and pay when the figure releases 6 to 8 months later. It's fantastic. For Macross stuff they announce a new item a few days before the pre-order date and in my time zone you need to get the F5 key ready at 3:00am and pray you get an order in. And I've never succeeded so I gave up trying. Now this is typically for DX VF-1 figures which used to be the only thing I bought for Macross. You still have to buy those in Japan and I will typically buy from stores that offer secondary stock at jacked prices because that's all I can get. Lately I have started buying Frontier stuff and it's been easier to buy those items. As I was saying earlier I'll most likely be buying items like the YF-21 from Mandarake because it's much easier and possibly cheaper than buying in Canada. The VF-1 figures will still be a pain though.