1/60 Gbp

[VF-1Guy]

nice mod! i shall do that too....

but what is craft foam? got pic?

Sorry, I don't have a picture of the foam. It is a 2mm thick foam rubber sheet (approx. 9"x12"). One of the brand names is Foamies. I got mine for $0.33 in the Wal-Mart craft section.

[eyesonme78]

That is a great job, for the VF-1a... i am dying to get my one soon.......

[DrClay]

i heard they are selling the armor by itself (no valk) is that out yet? or is it still scheduled?

edit: I really like how it looks on the vf-1a.... I don't know why it makes such a difference to me, but it looks great! (if Blaine23 read that, I'm sorry, if you think something else please disregard. I wouldn't want to opress you )

Edited June 14, 2004 by DrClay

[sidearmsalpha]

The VF-1J on the box pictures looks really white. Can someone confirm if it's molded or painted the same color as the 1/60 Super VF-1J? I think that one was a light gray, right?

[Kamineko]

The VF-1J on the box pictures looks really white. Can someone confirm if it's molded or painted the same color as the 1/60 Super VF-1J? I think that one was a light gray, right?

The light gray plastic looks to be the same color as the Super -1j's. The shoulder parts and the "ACME" hands are light gray. But then its me looking at it at 1am in the morning with halogen spots shining and my eyelids drooping . . .

[The Teaser]

Just received mine - was done for customs charges plus some spurious courier handling charge glad i got it tho

[Qrusader]

Graham -

Much thanks on the review. You saved me many dollars...which I will put away until the Monster arrives...

Thanks again for taking the time given your hectic schedule and family priorities.

[jasonkimberson]

i heard they are selling the armor by itself (no valk) is that out yet? or is it still scheduled?

edit: I really like how it looks on the vf-1a.... I don't know why it makes such a difference to me, but it looks great! (if Blaine23 read that, I'm sorry, if you think something else please disregard. I wouldn't want to opress you )

armor by itself is out also

[eyesonme78]

Yo guys one question about the armour which valk you guys think it fits best? i mean has the best compatibilty with the armour ?

I prefer VF-1A with the armour , but i like the look of VF-1s and VF1J inside it.... what you guys think ? GBP armour is still on top of my list to get first ..... what about you guys?

[fifbeat]

Is this just a bad angle? Or does this thing look like a midget? The damn thing is almost perfectly square.

Now? How come Yamato didn't think of this?

You should get paid the big bucks, my friend.

Edited June 15, 2004 by fifbeat

[Blaine23]

i heard they are selling the armor by itself (no valk) is that out yet? or is it still scheduled?

edit: I really like how it looks on the vf-1a.... I don't know why it makes such a difference to me, but it looks great! (if Blaine23 read that, I'm sorry, if you think something else please disregard. I wouldn't want to opress you  )

Uh, no - I think it looks cool on the 1A too.

I have no idea why you'd drag me into this discussion, though.

I must be pretty important to you.

Edited June 15, 2004 by Blaine23

[Lynx7725]

Just got mine yesterday -- 2 set. Pictures forthcoming.

Just a quick opinion post. Overall feels quite solid, dislike a few things:

1. Very tight shoulder covers. It's also oversized, which makes the limited arm mobility even worse. On my modified CF, it's acceptable though.

2. The hinge pin for the pectoral missile launcher is visible.

3. Cod piece. This is a strange one. It fits well on my Strike-1S, but poorly on my CF; indicative that there had been slight modifications for post-Hikaru-1J 1/60s.

On my Strike 1S, it fits well and only occassionally falls out. I would just need to lengthen the top pins to make it fit better.

On my CF, it fits poorly and is prone to popping loose. It is going to take some extensive rework to make it stay, and I'm not really in the mood for it.

4. Hip armour. The design of the Hip Armour forces the pegs to disconnect quite often, but I suspect the cod piece to be the main culprit. My Strike 1S disconnect quite infrequently, whereas my CF pops loose very easily. Moreover, when I leave the cod piece off the CF, the legs stay on fine.

5. The backpack mount is very strange. I have concerns of its viability over the long term, but for now it works fine.

Overall, the GBP turns the sleek VF into a golem. It's very visually impressive, and I don't really have much regrets paying for the two sets. The limited posability is a given due to the original animation design, so I'm not too emotional about that.

[Anubis]

Got my set of armor yesterday from Tam. I like my set of armor a fair bit actually, with the exception two things.

1) The mickey mouse hands. Seriously, if they were going to include large fists with this they could have used used the 1/48 closed fists and saved themselved the cost of tooling these monstrosities. Way too big to look good at all. Reg. hands+gunpod for me.

2) The nosecone cover kept falling easily off of mine too. I used the clear nail polish trick and it fits nice and secure now.

As for the legs, I don't mind them too much. The pegs fit snugly enough for me, they are not really pushed that far out. Being able to do some form of dynamic pose would have been nice though of course, but again not unexpected that movement would be limited.

Posability isn't much, as expected, but the detail is very good. I also like the booster attachment sceme. Simple and effective.

A few dumb flaws keep this from a high score, but it's a decent effort, and makes a solid display piece. A good deal for under 40 bucks. This satisfies my need for a GBP armored valk.

[Mechafan]

I got mine today and that hip piece is really loose. So far I have it taped. For some reason I liking the K & M armor valk better.

[bandit29]

After saying I 'd never buy a 1/60 again I decided to buy the VF-1J with the armor...

Got mine today from the Valkyrie Exchange. Overall not bad. The armor stays on fairly well. This armor makes the 1/60 kinda wobbly. Just like the the Super Armor did. I really don't like the oversized hands. They are bigger than 1/48 TV hands..why?

[treatment]

finally received my armor-only set yesterday and overall, they're cool. no pics since the cam is not available.

few thoughts:

[*] as everyone else had reported, the nosecone armor is kinda loose. you might want to use some tissue-scrap to secure them better than the default. or Glue them together permanently.

[*] The right-fist peg was too big for my super-1J. So, instead of dyrl-pose, i have the tv-pose where it's holding the gunpod.

[*] The whole thing can still do a wide-stance, but kinda barely. Be aware that the vf-1j leg-pegs are shorter because the hip-armor takes alot of space. I don't know if the VF-1J that came with the GBP-set have longer leg-pegs.

[*] the toy just looks damn good as a posed-toy. can't play with it that much because of the looseness of the nosecone-armor and the legs/hip-armor.

it's still all good.

[Geissler]

I finally got my 1-J + armor set (didn't have the 1-J before).

I'm under the impression that the hip pegs are longer. I had real difficulties transforming it to fighter mode and keeping the legs aligned.

I haven't compared the pegs to my other 1/60s yet, but I don't remember having this problem with fighter and gerwalk modes on my other 1/60s.

BTW, it seems no one mentioned that the chest armor clicks into a new heatshield piece. Now with the old heatshield and the laughable new hands I've got even more loose parts to keep track of (zip lock bags help).

I was surprised to see the missile launcher on the back of the legs opening. The launcher covers on the side of the legs seem to be oversized, though.

[fifbeat]

A few seconds after this photo was taken, the damn thing fell on its ass. Back in the box the armour went; as well as the VF-1A....

(before you compliment on my professional lighting; it's nothing but pure talent)

Edited June 20, 2004 by fifbeat

[calvin]

just got the armor. just gave it to my nephew! I told myself I wouldn't buy anymore 1/60's...so this was A give it another try thing! overall well done for the price, but I'll wait on the 1/48 version...I'm betting it will be out before x-mas Q-4 and I'm pretty sure it'll be a better design? after seeing them(yamato)do armor,enemy mecha,video game mecha ect.. how about destroids? 1/48th scale? those would be very welcome

[BoBe-Patt]

anybody have a pix of the back of the toy? I'm wondering if the calf/back leg armor part opens up to review missles too?

[Toonz]

I'm wondering if the calf/back leg armor part opens up to review missles too?

yes

[Toonz]

A few seconds after this photo was taken, the damn thing fell on its ass.

he was badly hit by your flash

nice shot!

[treatment]

here's one of mine.

[Fat_Bot]

Would the chest piece of the GBP fit a VF-1D if a modified "D" heat shield was used or it would not be able to fit the chest plate for its difference in design.

Also in the Playstation DYRL game there was this mission where Skull Squad lauch into an enemy ship in armors GBP I think that the red parts of the GBP were painted acording to the Valk, Roy's was yellow, Max's blue, Kakizaki... was it green?

any way I would like to know if any one knew what were the numbers of the GBPs they used?

Just started playing the game through to find out,

Hopeet when I get to that level the numbers aren't too small to read .

[MyClone]

I'm quite happy with the GPB Armor set. I purchased it to outfit the only 1/60 Valk in my collection, the VF-1A Hikaru. As Fifbeat's picture illustrates, the "anime" fists are far too big to use with VF-1A, as they make the Valk's small head look tiny. Using the "action pose" hands included with the Valk restores the right proportions; the retractible hands seem too small to me. Some of the armor pieces are a bit loose, but the menacing appearance of the toy and its combined heft (thick plastic over the diecast in the 1/60 legs) are quite satisfying. Well worth the $40.

Best,

--MyClone.

[fifbeat]

I think it was worth it, but frakk...

MAKE THE crap SNAP TIGHTLY, damnit.

Yeah, most of it DOES snap on pretty good, but then you got that other 1% that doesn't stay on -- so it screws up the whole show. So, what's the use?

And most of the "loose" crap has to do with the crappy 1/60, itself. I don't know how any body can stand those things. :/

If toy companies did it in the 80s, then they should be able to do it NOW. I don't care if it's supposed to be a display piece OR a toy.

Now, a  1/48 Gbp! THAT, I want to see. But make it right, man!

[Uxi]

I've been too busy to post as often as I used to... but wanted to toss my mini review...

Overall I like it. Not as nice as the little mini fig, but it does go on a transformable valk. My main beef is that Yamato had no imagination with such a large version. If the tiny ass 3 inch version can have opening missile doors, etc I expect more out of a much larger (and 10 times more expensive version). For example, no reason why would we couldn't have removable missiles ala the 1/48 FP. But I guess none of them would fit right anyways without elmers glue or something...

But moreso than removable missiles (which would be kinda useless except for those who want to show partially fired GBP) I would ratehr have seen something like spring opening doors (at least for the shoulders)... anything that they could have added but the easiest would have been removable missiles (or at least missile clusters).

A more minor beef is how this loses one of the best assets of the 1/60... the posability. It gives the incredibly posable armorless version articulation of a Chunky Monkey, without the sturdiness inherent in that crudely simplistic design.

The codpiece? It does seem to be an issue for the older (non FP) valkyries, but there should be a very small tab on the side or something, if not made the cod piece 4 pieces so it would have reinforcement ala the hip with the side missiles or the legs with the knee guard.

The Hips should either have separate hip connectors for the GBP hip covers or a special mod of the 1/60 VF-1 hip that telescopes out slightly. Could maybe even be the same piece as would be hypothetically quite useful for the shoulders!

I like the shoulder slip covers. They're nice and tight. 1/60 shoulder articulation has long been screwed up due to the design... but all it needs is a telescoping (just a little bit!) shoulder joint to let the shoulder clear the chest plate...

What I don't like is the shoulder missle launchers. They need a indented depression on the front/back of the shoulder slip covers and a corresponding detent/knob on the inside of the launcher covers to make them not want to rotate when opening the doors.

Overall, I like the armor, but won't be buying another set unless Yamato pulls their head out of their ass.

[JsARCLIGHT]

I got mine today from Valk Exchange... It's a nice piece... a bit loose and chunky but nice. I do have two observations/questions that I'll ask the other owners:

- did anyone else notice that the designation "GBP" is nowhere to be found on the package, toy, stickers or booklet? The Takatoku has GBP plastered all over the box, the toy and the stickers... I wonder what gives?

- I also like how the armor seems to come apart at the seams like it does in the anime... does anyone know if the armor's attachment and breakup closely mirror the anime or does it just "look right" but not actually be right?

For my money it is a nice addition to the Hikaru 1J... beefy but cute. Looks like a linebacker swallowed a hippo.

[Jawjaw]

My friend got the GBP a few days ago. It didn't seem to have any problems staying together. The legs also stayed on just fine but I can see where they might fall off if you try to spread the legs apart too much. Overall, I thought it looked great except for the hands. They are bigger than the valks head!

I forgot I had a little money in my paypal account so I used it to buy myself a set from ve.com. I think this is the only chance we are going to see the GBP. A 1/48 version would require a lot of designing and would be very heavy. It would be very expensive as well and there are no variants to increase sells. However, it would be pretty cool to have a huge, fully armored valkyrie with tons of details.

[Fat_Bot]

Would the chest piece of the GBP fit a VF-1D if a modified "D" heat shield was used or it would not be able to fit the chest plate for its difference in design.

Also in the Playstation DYRL game there was this mission where Skull Squad lauch into an enemy ship in armors GBP I think that the red parts of the GBP were painted acording to the Valk,  Roy's was yellow, Max's blue, Kakizaki... was it green?

any way I would like to know if any one knew what were the numbers of the GBPs they used?

Well got to the level with the GBP's and the only number you see is a 7 on a cannon fodder.

So unless anyone's got an artbook for the game then your guess is as good as mine.

You're right about the red sections being painted blue and yellow for Max and Roy BTW.

On a different note I don't know why so many people are being negative about the armour, after all Yamato could have just released it with the VF1J and not separetly, and then they wouldn't of had to go to the effort of making it compatible with the older valks.

[Rabidweezil]

Just a question that may have been answered before..

Does the VF-1J that comes in the set use the newer collapsible gunpod or the old non-collapsible style?

Thanks

James

[Graham]

It comes with the new style collapsible grip gunpod and small arm cut-outs with no covers, as first seen on the VF-1S Strike IIRC.

And while this is generally a good thing, it does unfortunately mean that if you want to put on the arm FAST packs from the older VF-1J super onto the newer VF-1J, you won't be able to fit either the old or new gunpod in fighter mode due to the difference in shape of the arm cut-outs. However, there should be no problem with fitting the arm FAST packs from the VF-1S Strike onto the new VF-1J and using them with the collapsible stock gunpod.

Graham

[Rabidweezil]

Cool...thanks Graham.

[Jawjaw]

I got my own gbp yesterday (thx for fast shipping kev) and do like it. However, the crotch piece doesn't even come close to staying together and it kind of pisses me off. It seems like Yamato just has to do one annoying qc flaw to each toy to avoid perfection like it's some kind of sin. Everything else fits like a charm. The legs do come out easily but only if you are trying to do a spread eagle so I don't mind that.

Since I used my older Super VF-1J, I was left with an extra set of fastpacks. I decided to finally modify my VF-1A CF for fastpacks. It wasn't as easy as I thought to drill square holes into the backpack. I didn't get the alignment as good as I would like but it looks good enough. Now I need to do something about the loose joints.

[Chowser]

finally got around to sticking it on my max 1s.

thanks, kev.