{"id":13242,"date":"2019-06-23T19:58:52","date_gmt":"2019-06-23T19:58:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/?p=13242"},"modified":"2024-03-01T06:13:18","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T06:13:18","slug":"accessories-for-bandai-dx-vf-1-toys-missile-set","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/?p=13242","title":{"rendered":"Accessories for Bandai DX VF-1 Toys: Missile Set"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Observations & Critique: Nickels & Dimes<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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As with other Tamashii Web Exclusives (TWE), the missile set comes in a brown shipper box that houses the retail box within. While many TWE \u201cretail\u201d boxes are two-tone and fairly simple, the box for this set is colorful and artistic and looks like it could be a normal release item. A disclaimer before we dive in, I\u2019m not an expert at military aircraft terminology so if I mess something up, leave a comment and I\u2019ll be happy to make a correction. Inside the box is a plastic tray that contains:
12 x TV style missiles (AMM-1 guided multi-purpose missile)
4 x AMM-1 pylons\/racks
6 x reaction missiles (RMS-1 anti-ship missiles with DYRL yellow tips)
2 x dual reaction weapon pylons\/racks
2 x single reaction weapon pylons
4 x DYRL style missiles (UUM-7 micro-missile pods)
Instructions
Is this a good time to address the elephant in the room? This accessory makes ZERO sense. At the bare minimum, Bandai should have included the AMM-1 with TV releases, UUM-7 with DYRL releases, and reaction missiles with the fast packs (yellow tips with DYRL Strike parts, red tips with TV Super parts). So why didn\u2019t they do that? My only guess is that they have a mark-up mandate on their toys and they are very uncomfortable with MSRPs exceeding certain psychological thresholds. The DX VF-1 toys retail for 18,000\u00a5 before tax which puts it at 19,600 after tax. If the addition of missiles would have added just 500\u00a5 to the cost of the toy, then the after-tax cost would have exceeded the 20K mark. Now that is me completely making up some sort of possible justification BUT Bandai has sold Macross toys for more than 20K AND they just sold a Gundam for like 100K\u00a5 so\u2026 it really feels like they\u2019re just nickel and diming the fan base. What makes that really aggravating is that they should have done SOMETHING to make this set more exciting. What about a ground crew? Give us some diorama equipment. Give us an extra set of reaction missile tips so we can make them red or yellow (or give us another six reaction missiles with red tips). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bandai really put fans of their DX VF-1 toys in a lurch when they decided to release this accessory in May 2019 for 3,996\u5186 as a TWE. With Bandai\u2019s terrible track record of not reissuing TWE items, people who wanted missiles for the one DX VF-1 that had been released up until that point (the Hikaru VF-1J Launch Edition) had to contemplate how many to purchase so that they would not over-spend but also not find themselves wanting more missiles down the road. At the time, Bandai hadn\u2019t signaled when a second release would happen and, when it did, what VF-1 scheme it would be. So, if you only wanted to own Vermilion or Skull squadrons, but you had no idea if Kakizaki or Max would be made, would you buy missiles for them? As one might have reasonably expected, when preorders subsequently went live for the Max TV VF-1A and Hikaru DYRL VF-1S, demand for the missiles went up and upon release they were already selling at a premium. As of writing this, it\u2019s hard to find this accessory set, which seem like the should sell for about 1,000\u00a5, selling for less than 8,000\u00a5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They\u2019re incredibly expensive for what you get but at least they look good. The missiles have markings painted on them and the proportions seem right. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if real world missiles typically have a few markings not present here but you do get the missile type painted on which is a nice touch we haven\u2019t seen on previous VF-1 toys. Another positive we haven\u2019t seen before is the aerodynamic leading edge on the included pylons. I did see someone more familiar with real-life ordinance than myself point out that the weaponry attaches too tightly to the wing, so, if you\u2019re a real-world fighter plane buff, that might be something that annoys you. In Bandai\u2019s defense, most the line art I could find had the missiles very close to the wing and tucking them in so tight lets the AMM-1 and RMS-1 missiles stay on the toy in battroid mode with the wings mostly closed (you\u2019ll need to leave a gap in the wings since the missiles extend past wing\u2019s edge). Speaking of line art accuracy, Bandai is the first company to give us the correct rack for the dual reaction missiles. The missiles mount to the sides of the missiles rather than the top. The downside to this type of attachment is that you need to double check you\u2019re putting the right missile on as to not get the reaction weapon logo or \u201cRMS-1\u201d writing upside down. Some folks may miss the red stripe that Yamato has been painting on the front of the RMS-1 for a while but I watched a few seconds of DYRL to refresh my memory and never saw the red stripe so I understand why Bandai left it off. The UMM-7s are tri-toned rather than just being solid black so they have a bit more pop than previous Yamato efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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