The Skull squadron leader returns with his heavily armed armored Messiah to finish off all the vajra.
In the Japanese anime, Macross Frontier, a space colony hoping to find a new world to settle is attacked by a little known alien species called Vajra. Leading the famed Skull squadron into battle is veteran Ozma piloting his armored VF-25F fighter/battroid blasting vajra with all its micro missiles.
The armored VF-25S is part of the third wave of Bandai's successful line of 1/60 scale Macross VF-25 toys. Also included with the third wave is the re-issue of VF-25F Alto custom. In this release, Bandai has addressed many complaints from their first two waves such as bent antennas from the first wave VF-25S and the loose engine intake super parts introduced in the second wave. For those of you who skipped out on picking up Ozma in the first wave, this is your chance to pick up a better version along with the very good looking armor pack.
Front of box:
Back of box:
Top of box:
It's about the same thickness as the Yamato 1/60 scale VF-1S v2 with super/strike parts box.
Bottom of box:
Armored VF-25S box compared to the VF-25F
The armored VF-25S box is about 1/3rd taller, less than 1/5th wider, but twice as thick.
Fighter front:
Fighter Top:
A couple added holes around the skull, not found on wave 1 and 2 VF-25, help the armor piece with the radar fit.
Fighter Bottom:
Fighter right:
The VF-25G design is the same as Alto's VF-25F so the minor gripes about the huge chunky legs/engines are still there. Only the paint scheme and head scalp are different.
Fighter left:
Two extra holes on the wing section just above the jet intakes were added for the armor part to connect.
Fighter back:
Battroid front:
The antennas are now straight and the extra neck piece makes the VF-25S look a lot better.
Battroid right:
The crouch peg connecting the cockpit area holding the two halves of the battroid together is, thankfully, tight on my VF-25S.
Battriod left:
Unlike the VF-25F and VF-25G, the visor of the VF-25G is still painted on.
Battriod back:
Not the best view of the VF-25 but the skull insignia keeps it interesting.
Armor parts:
There's a lot more parts this time around.
Armored fighter front:
Imagine this menacing fighter chasing you down.
Armored fighter right:
You can definitely see the bulk added to the rear by the armor parts compared to the sleek naked nose area.
Armored fighter left:
The downward facing turrents on the wing armor can rotate the top half and pivot up and down giving the turrent good free movement.
Armored fighter rear:
The boosters look really good from this view.
Armored fighter top:
VF5SS from CollectionDX mentioned this looking like a fighter from Raiden X space shooter and I would definitely agree.
Armored fighter bottom:
Asthetically it's odd to have missiles facing downward but in space it probably doesn't matter if it's up or down.
Booster detail:
What are those red dots for? I wish they were more missiles.
Engine nozzles:
The booster nozzles are on ball joints so they can rotate in all directions
The radar:
This reminds of me of a silly propeller hat. It's not my favorite part of the armored VF-25S.
The extra landing gear:
The armor is so thick that Bandai included another set of landing gears to use when armored. I think it's really neat how there are two panels of plastic that slide out to reveal the landing gear and how it neatly fits in the leg armor.
Close to the ground:
The panels that slide open to reveal the landing gear can't be fully opened or they'll drag along the ground since the landing gear doesn't create a lot of clearance.
Closeup of Ozma:
The same blob for a pilot as used in wave 1 and 2.
Comparison of the wing booster:
The top is the super booster while the bottom is the armored booster. It's a large size difference. The armor booster snaps onto the VF-25 much sturdier than the super part.
VF-25 front comparison:
Foreground to background: Super VF-25G, Armored VF-25S, and VF-25F.
VF-25 top comparison:
Top to bottom: Super VF-25G, Armored VF-25S, and VF-25F. The armored VF-25S is a lot larger and looks unique because its booster armor covers the wings.
Converting between battroid and fighter mode with the armor parts was so frustrating with various armor parts falling off while I tugged on the wings pegs.
Armored:
Armored opened:
The impressive array of missiles make this Macross valkarie one of the most impressve
Armored Left:
The boosters add a lot of weight to the back of the VF-25S, making it hard to balance.
Armored Right:
Armored Back:
The booster armor actually make the back of this VF-25 the most interesting to look at.
The neck extender:
A little nipple that snaps between the head and existing joint extend the head so it can look over the armor. It is a much needed addition but sadly has to be removed and added each time to transform between battroid and fighter as his head won't fit under the chest piece with the extender on in fighter mode.
Chest insignia:
I always thought this loose piece of plastic was awkward looking and serves no real functional use.
Chest missiles:
Impressive array of missiles. It's nicely colored but sadly it's also red between the missiles. The chest hinge is at the center so it opens inware while the anime shows the hinge at the outside opening outward.
Shoulder missiles:
Unlike the super parts, these missiles come from a single piece of red plastic as opposed to the grey colored plastic with red painted super parts.
Leg Missiles:
Thse blocks of missiles help hold the front and back pieces of the leg armor together so you need to pop these off each time you want to remove the armor. However the little tab that snaps in the blocks in is small so I'm personally worried it'll break after a couple or removals
Leg part:
The opening for the legs of the back leg armor is too narrow to fit the leg in with the ankle guards so you have to pop off the ankle guards each time you remove the armor or put it back on.
Arm:
The armor for the arm is very loose and easily falls off. I frequently had the hand nudge the armor part off that holds on by a small tab close to the hands.
VF-25 front comparison (Super VF-25G, Armored VF-25S, VF-25F):
The armored VF-25S makes his presence felt.
VF-25 top comparison (VF-25F, Armored VF-25S, Super VF-25G):
The armor adds a lot of back weight to the battroid making the armored VF-25S a challenge to pose as it tends to fall backwards.
Bandai did a really good job improving the quality of the VF-25 line. A lot of the complaints about the loose super parts, such as on the VF-25G and short neck from the wave 1 VF-25S, are addressed. I really like the look of the armored parts on the VF-25S. It gives the VF-25 a more menacing look not seen in the stock VF-25 or super parts VF-25. The armor parts also hide some of the complaints about the anime inaccuracies of the stock VF-25 such as the high leg mounting point. There were still some quality issues with paint scratched off. The armored VF-25S is just a few dollars more than the super VF-25G or super RVF-25 but it gives you a much more substantial toy. It's not a fun toy to transform anymore but it looks really really good in armored battroid mode on any desk or shelf.
1/60 Armored VF-25S with a 1/55 VF-1S (Jetfire):
Toy technology has improved a lot since Macross first appeared. I'm happy to have both of these toys in my collection.
Not quite anime accurate but close.
Eric Toy Score: 4 out of 5
Publisher: Bandai
Year: 2009
Price: $219 (approx)
2 comments:
Nice review and great pictures. Thanks.
Spiff
Very nice review. Your pics are a very good. Very sharp. Thanks for the info as it gives me something to think about when it comes to buying this Valk.
Post a Comment