A "safe" VF-1J?

[olemanmacross]

Hey everyone. I'm new to RJ and am having trouble finding some info. Was hoping for some tips. I really want a 1/60 VF-1J Hikaru but have heard it has shoulder issues. I've tried sifting through some stuff @ Scorched Earth, but am still having trouble with how to distinguish buying a "safe" 1J. I've heard the newest grey goggle version is good but isn't there another version before that is ok too? Can't seem to find how to tell what's good and what is not. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Btw, am really enjoying wandering around this place, I can get lost here for hours!

[Chen]

I'm not sure but I think the one that came bundled with the Armor pack has the new shoulder pins.

[Ben-Ohki]

Any 1/60 scale "Version 2" VF-1 that came out after April 2009 has the smooth shoulder pins replacing the knurled shoulder pins (the rough surface was the cause of the broken shoulders.

The one that's in question that was released during that period was the Armored VF-1 set. Some of those came with the smooth pins and some came with the knurled pins. Macross World's Graham got in touch with Yamato and they admitted that this was a factory mistake and those should NOT have had the knurled pins because the design change occurred before those were supposed to be manufactured.

What I like to do is browse HLJ since they post the "original release dates" on their product pages. I found this (it's unfortunately back-ordered). www.hlj.com/product/YMT00197
It is apparently from 2010 so it should be "safe."

[quinjester]

The real problem with the VF-1J's from the armor pack is that half of the Valks in the boxes were old stock, not newly manufactured items, which was why half ended up with busted shoulders. Unfortunately any Armor pack VF-1J you look at is going to be a gamble unless you actually have an opportunity to open and inspect it.

[olemanmacross]

Thank you for the info guys! Feel duncy for not noticing HLJ release dates to the side. Also found where yesasia shows dates. Together with pics of items listed with these dates and the info from you guys, I feel lots more confident in buying a "safe" VF-1J!