Post by *UltimateGaoJP* on Feb 17, 2010 18:36:39 GMT 8
A somewhat tribute to the past, the Hi-metal line was made popular in the 80's for the 1/55 Valkyries used in Macross DYRL line and years after its initial release, Bandai released another Valkyrie under the Hi-metal tag, The VF-19 Fire Valkyrie.
Boxed
Open the flap and you'll see some nifty artwork as well as a brief history of the Macross 7 storyline.
Aside from the actual valk itself, the set comes with 3 sets of hands, an extra face plate, head fins, as well as several panels which is needed for transformation (more on that later). The set also comes with a transparent stand which can be used with the Bandai act 3 base. Another marketing ploy on Bandai's part to not include a base for you to buy, buy buy.
Fighter Mode
I used a Stage 2 base for the stand which works well so if you guys have an extra stage 1 or stage 2 base these are compatible with the stand.
C-ockpit comes with a fixed Basara mini fig. Not much details on the fig though and its non removable.
Pretty sturdy in fighter mode IMHO. One of my complaints is there are no landing gears on the valk (Boooo!!!) so you really need to make use of the stand if you were to display it.
Gerwalk mode
Ok here comes one of my major complaints. As much as this valk is tagged as a perfect transformation valk there is some part swapping involved. First off is with the head part.
Take out the red panel...
Raise the head and attach the main head fin...
And voila!
Warning! Be careful with this part...
The flaps behind the shoulders are a bit fragile so be careful in handling it.
More part swapping?
Take out the vents to insert the hands. The vents are a pain to remove and unless you're really careful, more often than none the arm will pop out at least once. Its easy to reattach though since the arm connector to the shoulder is ball jointed.
One thing though among all the modern day released valks the Hi-metal fire valk has the sturdiest Gerwalk mode compared to the others.
And the reason for its stability?
Ridiculous as it sounds this is the only "hi-metal" part found in the valk. Other than the screws its pretty much hard plastic.
Batroid Mode
Ok I didn't bother taking step by step pics of the transformation process but basically it is perfect transformation in the sense that the major parts of the valk don't need to be removed or swapped. However....
The side antennas have to be attached during transformation. And yes, as with other Bandai toys, transformation from Gerwalk to Batroid was a bit of a pain. Thus is the price you have to pay for detail and modern engineering.
More parts attaching...
Since the hind legs have exposed holes, you need these...
to cover them up...
until finally...
VF-19 Fire Valk in action!!!
With optional "mask on" mode...
Size comparison with a dlx Transformer figure. Hmmm the toy is supposed to be 1/100 scale...Kinda lacking in the height category though.
Parting Shot
Overall comments:
1. I'm really not sure how this toy is classified whether its a DX chogokin or a high completion model but my guess is on the last one. If it were a DX mecha there should be little to no part swapping/attaching. But then again, there are some aspects like the perfect change feature which pretty much is similar it to the DX Macross Frontier valks which puts it a rank higher over model kits.
2. Fragile parts. Where to start? Arm joints, the panels behind the shoulder, the wing connectors, the side antennas...Maybe 'm just being anal here and it does need a certain amount of force to break these things off but one wrong move (say a 5 foot drop) can damge these parts severely.
3.Size. Size is everything in these cases!!!
4. Detail...well, the fire valk is pretty much as plain as it gets.Of all the Macross mecha aside from the stand-out Ferrari red color basically what you see is what you get. In person it does look like a DX chogokin so its still a worthy display pice.
5. Price is debatable. I got mine for 3k which is way lesser than the Yamato valks. Since I have loads of other lines under my collection (SOC's,Sentai, SIC's, TF's, Hottoys) I limited my Macross purchases to the DX Frontier line and basically anything Bandai produces for Macross. For 3k I would at least expect a bigger valk in the correct 1/100 scaling. (Unless Bandai churns out the other valks in the Macross 7 series then maybe I'd shut-up. ;D )
If you're on a budget and cant afford the upcoming Yamato Fire Valk get this. The only thing is if displayed between the Frontier valks and the 1/60's this thing dwarfs in comparison. Despite the flaws and nitpicks again its a good display piece. Recommendable, yes. But if its not you're line then you can definitely do without it.
3 1/2 out of 5 for me. Hi-metal? Seriously.....
Boxed
Open the flap and you'll see some nifty artwork as well as a brief history of the Macross 7 storyline.
Aside from the actual valk itself, the set comes with 3 sets of hands, an extra face plate, head fins, as well as several panels which is needed for transformation (more on that later). The set also comes with a transparent stand which can be used with the Bandai act 3 base. Another marketing ploy on Bandai's part to not include a base for you to buy, buy buy.
Fighter Mode
I used a Stage 2 base for the stand which works well so if you guys have an extra stage 1 or stage 2 base these are compatible with the stand.
C-ockpit comes with a fixed Basara mini fig. Not much details on the fig though and its non removable.
Pretty sturdy in fighter mode IMHO. One of my complaints is there are no landing gears on the valk (Boooo!!!) so you really need to make use of the stand if you were to display it.
Gerwalk mode
Ok here comes one of my major complaints. As much as this valk is tagged as a perfect transformation valk there is some part swapping involved. First off is with the head part.
Take out the red panel...
Raise the head and attach the main head fin...
And voila!
Warning! Be careful with this part...
The flaps behind the shoulders are a bit fragile so be careful in handling it.
More part swapping?
Take out the vents to insert the hands. The vents are a pain to remove and unless you're really careful, more often than none the arm will pop out at least once. Its easy to reattach though since the arm connector to the shoulder is ball jointed.
One thing though among all the modern day released valks the Hi-metal fire valk has the sturdiest Gerwalk mode compared to the others.
And the reason for its stability?
Ridiculous as it sounds this is the only "hi-metal" part found in the valk. Other than the screws its pretty much hard plastic.
Batroid Mode
Ok I didn't bother taking step by step pics of the transformation process but basically it is perfect transformation in the sense that the major parts of the valk don't need to be removed or swapped. However....
The side antennas have to be attached during transformation. And yes, as with other Bandai toys, transformation from Gerwalk to Batroid was a bit of a pain. Thus is the price you have to pay for detail and modern engineering.
More parts attaching...
Since the hind legs have exposed holes, you need these...
to cover them up...
until finally...
VF-19 Fire Valk in action!!!
With optional "mask on" mode...
Size comparison with a dlx Transformer figure. Hmmm the toy is supposed to be 1/100 scale...Kinda lacking in the height category though.
Parting Shot
Overall comments:
1. I'm really not sure how this toy is classified whether its a DX chogokin or a high completion model but my guess is on the last one. If it were a DX mecha there should be little to no part swapping/attaching. But then again, there are some aspects like the perfect change feature which pretty much is similar it to the DX Macross Frontier valks which puts it a rank higher over model kits.
2. Fragile parts. Where to start? Arm joints, the panels behind the shoulder, the wing connectors, the side antennas...Maybe 'm just being anal here and it does need a certain amount of force to break these things off but one wrong move (say a 5 foot drop) can damge these parts severely.
3.Size. Size is everything in these cases!!!
4. Detail...well, the fire valk is pretty much as plain as it gets.Of all the Macross mecha aside from the stand-out Ferrari red color basically what you see is what you get. In person it does look like a DX chogokin so its still a worthy display pice.
5. Price is debatable. I got mine for 3k which is way lesser than the Yamato valks. Since I have loads of other lines under my collection (SOC's,Sentai, SIC's, TF's, Hottoys) I limited my Macross purchases to the DX Frontier line and basically anything Bandai produces for Macross. For 3k I would at least expect a bigger valk in the correct 1/100 scaling. (Unless Bandai churns out the other valks in the Macross 7 series then maybe I'd shut-up. ;D )
If you're on a budget and cant afford the upcoming Yamato Fire Valk get this. The only thing is if displayed between the Frontier valks and the 1/60's this thing dwarfs in comparison. Despite the flaws and nitpicks again its a good display piece. Recommendable, yes. But if its not you're line then you can definitely do without it.
3 1/2 out of 5 for me. Hi-metal? Seriously.....
keeping the site active as a place to dump info for easier backtracking.