DX VF-31J Super Siegfried (Hayate Immelmann Use) Revival Version

[sh9000]

Preorder 4/26.

https://tamashiiweb.com/item/14876

 

Edited April 18 by sh9000

[lykiat]

What the..... Well on the positive note, this will help new collectors i guess hahaha

[WhatBoutMyStar]

Don't really understand the rationale behind this when the 31J has had quite a number of prior releases already. If they're going to re-release any of the 31s, it should be the 31A and Arad's 31S given that they are more difficult to find and more expensive in the aftermarket. Perhaps Mirage's 31C in that group as well.

[Bolt]

The main hero valk strikes again. Personally , the most boring of the lot. But apparently the domestic market wants it(?). I am curious to know if there's any real difference here from the last release, or just another pour from the same mold..

Edited April 18 by Bolt

[jenius]

Well, it's the first WWM release of the regular 31J so I guess it makes sense.

[Chronocidal]

Yeah, fortunately another I can sit out on entirely.  Of course not including the reaction missiles either, because Bandai gonna Bandai.  

Really think they should have sweetened the deal by including the sound booster though, since it's not likely to ever see the light of day again, and it was specifically paired with the super packs in the series.

[PointBlankSniper]

In the midst of enless second hands and same colored AX in circulation, gotta use up the blue paint and plastic, and deny collectors of completing story sets. Just another round of typical bandai

[WhatBoutMyStar]

I believe Mandarake was selling the 31J with the fold projection unit for 16,000 yen unopened recently. For basically around the same price of this revival, you could probably get that version which has been plentiful in the aftermarket as well as the the super parts set. You'd end up being ahead and better off given the extra sound booster which is a very nice accessory. Shame Bandai didn't sell it separately as I would've bought one for each of the other members of Delta Flight.

[MKT]

ZZZzZzzzzzZZZZZZZZ...  another production spot taken up that could have been given to so many other better releases. Yup Bandai being totally random again.

I wonder what's the need to call it Revival this time? Perhaps matte finishing now changed to glossy. 

 

3 hours ago, jenius said:

Well, it's the first WWM release of the regular 31J so I guess it makes sense.

 This is the only sensible reason, but just not compelling enough.. 

[Anasazi37]

WHY, BANDAI? WHY??? No one asked for this and the secondary market has plenty of the past releases available NIB at MSRP or below. I agree that they should have included the sound booster to at least make it a complete set...and maybe a little more interesting.

I'm treating this as further evidence to support my hypothesis that Bandai is using some kind of poorly-trained AI model to make their Macross release decisions, because they can't be bothered to put any real human thought into the process. An executive clicks a button and the program spits out the next ten release ideas automatically. Job done. Fourth release of the same valk? Perfect! Another non-canon valk with dubious links to another product line's 50th anniversary that uses a strange combination of colors and finishes on parts? Great!

Using a random decision generator program would give us more variety in releases than whatever Bandai is doing right now.

[Bolt]

2 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

I'm treating this as further evidence to support my hypothesis that Bandai is using some kind of poorly-trained AI model to make their Macross release decisions, because they can't be bothered to put any real human thought into the process.

Skynet is really busy and distracted right now 

[no3Ljm]

Revival, huh? Maybe all those arm panels now shuts properly and flushed in Fighter mode? Anyways.

To replace or not to replace? Or it's just time to rethink life at this point being a plastic addict. Ho-hum.

[PointBlankSniper]

5 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

Bandai is using some kind of poorly-trained AI model

You have it backwards. The AI model is well trained on bandai's long standing history of releases. At which point you would think they don't need to use said AI because they can do it themselves. But they still use it, because bandai.

[Lolicon]

Wish Bandai did a "Revival" edition of Chuck and Arad instead so we can finally get their super parts. 

[Anasazi37]

5 hours ago, PointBlankSniper said:

You have it backwards. The AI model is well trained on bandai's long standing history of releases. At which point you would think they don't need to use said AI because they can do it themselves. But they still use it, because bandai.

A fair point. If the model was successfully trained on a long series of weird/bad/random decisions by Bandai, that's what it will produce.

1 hour ago, Lolicon said:

Wish Bandai did a "Revival" edition of Chuck and Arad instead so we can finally get their super parts. 

Yes, this. Long overdue.

[dur]

So.... confused...

I would have bought multiple super 31A's: oh well.  I sold my Hayate a long time ago and I suppose it it's super cheap I wouldn't mind another.

[Mommar]

On 4/18/2024 at 10:38 AM, no3Ljm said:

Revival, huh? Maybe all those arm panels now shuts properly and flushed in Fighter mode? Anyways.

To replace or not to replace? Or it's just time to rethink life at this point being a plastic addict. Ho-hum.

This is the 31, not the 31AX.  It already fit together fine.  It was Bandai's best engineered Valk.

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, Mommar said:

This is the 31, not the 31AX.  It already fit together fine.  It was Bandai's best engineered Valk.

Hey now, never underestimate their ability to mess up a good thing with later iterations.   Some of the worst-fitting parts of the 31AX were still using the same design as the original.

[Mommar]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

Hey now, never underestimate their ability to mess up a good thing with later iterations.   Some of the worst-fitting parts of the 31AX were still using the same design as the original.

Were they?

[jenius]

Is it too much to hope they'll add a joint to the articulated hands so they're not always pointing at something?

[Chronocidal]

2 hours ago, Mommar said:

Were they?

Yeah, the biggest problem outside of the arms fitting on the AX line were the wing tabs no longer fitting into the legs, because they somehow completely forgot the size tolerances needed for those parts.  Fortunately they were too big, and not too small, so they could just be filed down to fit, but it was still a pain.

Also, the sloppy spine joint in fighter tended to get even more sloppy on my copies, but that's always been pretty variable.

Then there's the experience I had having to re-drill one of the tail fold pinholes with a pin-drill because they skewed it off-center until the tail wouldn't fold properly.. front gear doors not fitting correctly, sloppy nose section joints, etc.

The AX releases just felt like worse copies of the 31 series, making it feel like Bandai bootlegged its own design.

[MKT]

5 hours ago, jenius said:

Is it too much to hope they'll add a joint to the articulated hands so they're not always pointing at something?

That would be a big improvement to an otherwise perfectly executed toy. Never understood why they did what they did.  

[68whiskey]

On 4/18/2024 at 4:29 PM, Lolicon said:

Wish Bandai did a "Revival" edition of Chuck and Arad instead so we can finally get their super parts. 

I think Chuck was the only one in the regular 31 series to not get supers or a gun , instead he got a radar dish. 

[ValkAddict]

On 4/18/2024 at 12:56 AM, MKT said:

ZZZzZzzzzzZZZZZZZZ...  another production spot taken up that could have been given to so many other better releases. Yup Bandai being totally random again.

^ This. Please release the remaining Hi-Metal Destroids Bandai.
*sigh*

[Mommar]

48 minutes ago, 68whiskey said:

I think Chuck was the only one in the regular 31 series to not get supers or a gun , instead he got a radar dish. 

Arad didn't get Supers either.  He at least got his armors, which Chuck did not.

[MKT]

Sort of remembered all of them got Supers in the series. So looked it up and from Episode 6:
 

 

[Chronocidal]

Yep, this was the obvious example, and it's all the more annoying that the super packs didn't come with the sound pack from the get-go, because all except Chuck were using it.

With how obsessive Bandai is about only including specifically what was shown on-screen with any release, they completely flubbed that one from the start.

[68whiskey]

23 hours ago, Mommar said:

Arad didn't get Supers either.  He at least got his armors, which Chuck did not.

I guess i was tyring to say that at least Arad got something , where Chuck got the short end of the stick.

[no3Ljm]

It's an insult that they didn't include the Speaker Pod for this release. 

But seriously, they should've announce Arad's and Chuck's SUPERS instead. Period. 

[jenius]

Maybe this is just the first of the whole Delta gang getting reissues....

[MKT]

13 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

With how obsessive Bandai is about only including specifically what was shown on-screen with any release, they completely flubbed that one from the start.

Now that I looked back on the Tamashii page for the 31J with Speakerpods, the blurb seems pretty inconsistent. On one hand they make a big deal about Absolute Live, as if it came from that movie (the movie doesn't show it). Even the box has the Absolute Live logo.

On other hand, in the same page they acknowledge it comes from the series' Episode 6. Which we know the Speakerpods are shown with Supers. 

 

 

[Chronocidal]

If they re-release the entire squad, and only include the missing super packs with the re-release, so help me I will rip Bandai's tonsils out through the internet.

[Mommar]

10 hours ago, 68whiskey said:

I guess i was tyring to say that at least Arad got something , where Chuck got the short end of the stick.

We're in agreement.

[Mommar]

10 hours ago, jenius said:

Maybe this is just the first of the whole Delta gang getting reissues....

... maybe.  But I really don't want a third Arad and Chuck just for their Super Parts.

[HardlyNever]

I guess I'd be part of the target audience for this.  I only have 1 VF-31 (Arad) and he's usually suited up in his sumo suit armored parts.  I like the VF-31, and the super parts but... I don't know if I care to get this.  Maybe will get it if/when it goes on discount from a stateside retailer (like Amazon).

Is anyone else concerned on the number of reissues/"revivals" we're getting at this point?  I know Macross is niche, and we haven't gotten a truly new IP in... like 8 years, but is this like... the beginning of the end?  Macross collecting just seems flooded with reissues, where as 5-6 years ago we were getting actually new stuff pretty regularly.