{"id":3872,"date":"2016-04-13T03:20:01","date_gmt":"2016-04-13T03:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/?p=3872"},"modified":"2017-03-04T08:25:35","modified_gmt":"2017-03-04T08:25:35","slug":"kaiyodo-yamaguchi-vf-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/?p=3872","title":{"rendered":"Kaiyodo Yamaguchi Revoltech Transformable VF-1 Toys"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kaiyodo<\/a><\/p>\n

Review(updated): Haven\u2019t had your fill of fidgety small scale toys yet?
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Packaging & Extras:<\/strong> (4\/5)
\nThis toy comes with the following:
\n1)\u00a0Small instruction leaflet (all in Japanese)
\n2)\u00a0Head (removed from body for packaging purposes)
\n3)\u00a0Heat shield (needs to be swapped with canopy to complete transformation)
\n4)\u00a0Two \u201cfishing\u201d hooks to enable transformation (back to fighter mode from GERWALK or battroid)
\n5)\u00a0Three sets of fixed pose-hands (there are two mini hands on the toy that can swap with these hands)
\n6)\u00a010 Revoltech points coin
\n7)\u00a0Storage box or pepper shaker
\n8)\u00a0Gun (made from three parts, the middle section can be replaced with a ring to simulate the collapsed gun, the ring comes packaged already on the fighter mode toy)
\n9)\u00a0Advertisement leaflet
\n10)\u00a0Display stand (not pictured below as it is taped to the bottom of the tray
\n11)\u00a0Two Revoltech joints for attaching the display stand to the toy.
\nThe toy does not feature a fancy flip-top lid which shouldn\u2019t be expected at this price range.\u00a0 Okay, the Toynami toys have flip top lids and they are at this price point but Toynami has always had a penchant for excessively nice boxes.\u00a0 Also not included are missiles of any type, super parts, or landing gears.<\/p>\n

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Charm & Collectability:<\/strong> (2\/5)
\nWith the economy tanking the smaller scale toys saw a rebound in popularity.\u00a0 It became harder to justify a $200 Macross purchase but a $20 toy might offer the fix you needed.\u00a0 The problem with toys in that price range is that there\u2019s nothing all that desirable about them and ultimately they\u2019re completely disposable.\u00a0 Many Macross collectors turned their nose up at these toys and those that didn\u2019t played with them for a bit, broke them, and then either replaced them or moved on with their lives.\u00a0 Don\u2019t buy these toys out of some misplaced dreams that they\u2019ll become a hot collector\u2019s item; they won\u2019t. Releases were as follows:
\nVF-1A Hikaru Ichijo Custom (DYRL), 2,286 yen, January 2010
\nVF-1S Roy Focker Custom, 2,286 yen, January 2010
\nVF-1J Hikaru Ichijo Custom, 2,286 yen, February 2010
\nVF-1J Max Custom (Exclusive)
\nVF-1J Miria Custom \u00a0(Exclusive)<\/p>\n

\"Kaiyodo<\/a>\"Kaiyodo<\/a><\/p>\n

Sculpt, Detail, & Paint:<\/strong> (5\/10)
\nJust about the only angle this toy ever looks at all half decent is the bird\u2019s eye angle of fighter mode (as demonstrated in the line art comparison).\u00a0 From any other angle the awkward proportions stick out like a sore thumb.\u00a0 Is it clear that this is the VF-1 in all modes?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Is there a ton of great detail?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 There is no pilot or cockpit detail but the canopy is made of tinted blue clear plastic which is nicer than just a painted canopy.\u00a0 To put it simply, you\u2019re not going to buy this toy because it looks great.\u00a0 I measured this toy as being roughly 14CM long in fighter mode and roughly 13CM tall in battroid.\u00a0 Both of those numbers correlate to roughly 1\/100 scale.<\/p>\n

\"Kaiyodo<\/a>\"Kaiyodo<\/a><\/p>\n

Design:<\/strong> (5\/10)
\nI have to give Kaiyodo credit for finding ways to make a VF-1 toy with almost every joint being a Revoltech joint.\u00a0 Unfortunately, while several of the Revoltech joints seem perfectly suited for the task at hand there were a few others which felt gratuitous.\u00a0 The biggest fault of the toy is obviously the wing pegs which simply don\u2019t do enough to keep the wings attached to the toy.\u00a0 Other shortcomings include the inability for missiles to mount to the wings or attachments for landing gears or super parts.\u00a0 The real strength of the toy comes from the pegs and slots used to keep the whole thing tightly together once the user struggles through the fidgety transformation.\u00a0 I definitely question the logic of making two of the pegs flip behind the fists and then requiring the user to fish them out with little plastic grabbers but those pegs do help make fighter mode really solid.<\/p>\n

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Durability & Build:<\/strong> (6\/10)
\nThese toys do feel a bit rubbery and cheap.\u00a0 So far I\u2019ve managed to have mine fall apart in a few different ways but I\u2019ve always been able to put it back together again.\u00a0 The paint on the wing is showing wear already at the red stripe (probably from being pushed back on the tiny peg and wiggled to make sure it\u2019s on there tight).\u00a0 I\u2019m tempted to score this toy lower because of how easy it is to pull apart but pulling these apart can also be necessary if you\u2019d like to rotate a Revoltech joint into just the right position (or pull one out a bit to extend the joint\u2019s range of motion).<\/p>\n

\"Kaiyodo<\/a><\/p>\n

Articulation:<\/strong> (9\/10)
\nAs demonstrated in the video, this toy can really be tweaked and angled into some exciting positions.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the cartoonish look of the toy\u2019s posture makes some of the more standard poses look a bit odd.\u00a0 As mentioned in the durability section, if there\u2019s a sweet pose you can\u2019t quite make happen you should pull the toy apart a bit and modify the angle of the joints involved.\u00a0 The display stand helps free you from the confines of making the toy balance which is nice since the feet are so poseable they can create issues of their own.
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