09.29.06

Bandai 1/65 VF-17D/S (Including 17S Reissue)

Posted in 1/65, Bandai, Macross 7, VF-17 Valkyrie at 5:39 am by micronian

 

Review: Would you be in Emerald Force or the Pink Peckers?

 

 

Packaging & Extras (2.5/5)
Just like the VF-19 renditions, Bandai’s original release of the 17 came in appropriately-sized boxes packaged in battloid mode.  Unlike the 19, the 17 comes with its gun already assembled and not on a sprue.  Also unlike the 19, the 17 does not appear to have a huge problem with being bootlegged.  Stickers are included as are straight-forward instructions but nothing else.  The 17 doesn’t have a big pointy protrusion on its chest so it’s not packaged with a clear plastic shield or additional Styrofoam inserts to cover the torso portion of the Styrofoam tray.  The reissue is more of the same except it’s packaged in fighter mode.

 

Charm & Collectibility (1.5/5) Reissue, (2/5) Original 17S, (2.5/5) 17D
The VF-17S has been reissued once effectively reducing its collectibility.  It benefits from being a large perfectly transformable toy but there’s no metal here and it’s not a particularly good toy and it doesn’t have a particular strong following.  As a result, these toys, especially the reissues, can typically be found for dirt cheap.

 

Sculpt, Detail, & Paint (6.5/10) Reissue, (6/10) D & S Original
Bandai certainly kept up the chunky tradition with the 17.  This is especially evident in fighter mode which looks like what would happen if a stealth fighter went on a Snickers bar diet.  The front end of the plane is stubby, the mid-section is thick, and overall it looks only slightly more aero-dynamic than a brick.  I may have my standards set a little high for the 17 though since I am a big fan of the craft.  That said, I am not a fan of the VF-17’s GERWALK mode which eschews one of the primary benefits of GERWALK mode (arms and the ability to point your weapon away from the direction the craft is facing) but I think, of all the modes, that is the one mode this toy pulls off most faithfully.  If you’re wondering why the VF-17 has an abnormal-looking GERWALK mode, I believe it’s because the craft’s means of foward propulsion are the sleeves of the arms… which would mean they’d have to be pointed toward the rear of the vehicle; otherwise, in GERWALK it would only be able to fly backward.  There’s practically no paint on this toy and the panel lines provided are thick but present.  The gun doesn’t really have anywhere to go except in battroid mode as the toy does not attempt to emulate the storage system in the vehicle’s leg.  Also note that the landing gears for this toy are hideous and non-functional.  The reissue gets an extra half a point because the paint applied really brightens up the craft overall.  For pics of the reissue, please scroll to the very bottom of the review for a look at my customized (for articulation purposes) toy.

 

Design (6.5/10)
Designed with simplicity and durability in mind, this toy transforms to each mode quickly and efficiently.  One terrible design flaw is the knee joint of the figure in battloid mode, it only bends in the wrong direction (which is necessary to accomplish GERWALK mode).  The kicker is, there is only a very thin piece of plastic on the leg that is limiting the range of motion and could easily have been removed at the expense of only a minor detriment to aesthetics.  Had the knees offered better range of movement this toy would be much, much more user friendly.  To demonstrate this, I took a reissue of the VF-17S (they’re available quite cheap) and hacked off some plastic in a few areas to make the toy more fun.  Now, this is a completely unprofessional hack job done by someone experimenting with snips but the result was a toy whose range of movement improved drastically with extremely minimal effort (scroll to the bottom of the page for pics).  Bandai should have incorporated these slight changes into their design.  The toy’s inability to accomodate the gun in fighter and GERWALK modes is also a bit of a let down.

 

Durability & Build (9/10)
While it is light the VF-17 doesn’t appear to lack structural rigidity, in fact, the lack of bulk probably adds to the toy’s overall durability.  My VF-17D hasn’t been played with in any way, although it has been transformed and posed a few times, and it does feel a bit loose.  The beauty of this toy is that it is entirely assembled with screws so if it does start getting a little sloppy it only takes a few seconds with a screwdriver to correct it.  Overall, this thing is super solid without any clear indications that any particular part may be susceptible to accidental breaking.

Articulation (5.5/10)
Why??  Why don’t the knees bend the proper direction?  The resulting stiffness severely hampers the excellent mobility of the toy’s shoulders and arms.  A twist point at the waist would have been a little bit difficult to engineer but certainly possible.  This is the only toy I’ve ever owned that had a lack of articulation so frustrating to me that I actually took snips to it to correct it (again, pics provided below).   You do get very mobile arms and shoulders, a head that swivels left and right, hips (forward or backward motion only), feet that offer a minimal range of motioin, and lasers on the head you can point independently of each other.

 

Total Score (31.5/50) Reissue 17S, (31.5/50) Original 17S, (32/50) 17D
Fans of the VF-17 don’t have a lot of choices… well, they actually only have one as of yet.  The good news is that a VF-17 DOES appear in the VF-X video game to which Yamato has the rights.  This leaves a very slim chance that Yamato will some day venture to make a 1/60 VF-17 toy a reality.  Don’t laugh it off as impossible just yet, they did make the 1/100 scale Koenig Monster toy and I can’t imagine fan demand was significantly greater for that toy than it is for the VF-17.  That said, without a Macross7 license (which features the 17D, 17S, and Miria’s 17S) it seems unlikely a Yamato VF-17 will see the light of day. 

So, without further ado, here are some pics of the Reissue that I’ve customized.  Here’s what I did:  First, I trimmed some excess plastic from around the knee so that it could actually function like a human’s knee.  Second, I trimmed some exess plastic from the front of the upper thigh so that the leg could extend forward independent of the hip (like it does on a VF-1).  Third, to perfect the joint below the hip, I trimmed some plastic away from the hip.  This last part is tricky as the legs won’t be able to stay in attached to the hip joint if you don’t do some additional work… I cut a piece of excess plastic and affixed it back into the hip.  The result is a toy that can bust some insane poses… even a traditional GERWALK mode… so what if the VF-17 isn’t supposed to do that… it looks cool!

Permalink