Post by tasuke on Nov 16, 2015 11:07:53 GMT -5
yep, you heard right, that infamously frail POS right here as you live and breathe.
this was my first YAMATO product, picked it up for around $85.00USD as it was released at a Japanese toy import specialist shop in PORTLAND, OR.
that went by "JUST BE DISTRIBUTION/JUST BE TOYS" at the time.
of course, it was just about the most disappointing Mecha toy i had ever gotten to that date.
somehow, it had actually lasted me a good month, with several transformations, before those infamous hips failed.
i guess i must have been especially ginger in my handling.
naturally angry and disappointed, back into it's box it went, and into storage for about ten years or more.
recently, after a move, i unearthed all that stuff, and decided to take a trip down memory lane.
i got to fooling around with the husk of that 11B, and came up with effective repairs for all it's ills.
firstly, i fashioned up metal hip joints with nuts and bolts. limited in range of motion compared to ball joints,
Crude, to be sure, but pretty well effectively indestructible.
i inverted all click joints, using electrician's tape wrapped around the pegs to provide friction tightness.
again, Crude, this allows joints to be set at proper angles for FIGHTER mode that the detent joints would simply not allow.
bad design on YAMATO's part.
finally, hands and shield were glued into place, and neck joint slide track was lengthened,
so head could be slid farther forward to meet the shoulder line and provide a more natural humanoid silhouette.
don't get me wrong, this is still a godawful interpretation of the VF-11B. still, it does go way back with me,
and now, way belated, i at least have a badly outmoded toy that can actually be transformed and handled
and actually remain in one piece...
this was my first YAMATO product, picked it up for around $85.00USD as it was released at a Japanese toy import specialist shop in PORTLAND, OR.
that went by "JUST BE DISTRIBUTION/JUST BE TOYS" at the time.
of course, it was just about the most disappointing Mecha toy i had ever gotten to that date.
somehow, it had actually lasted me a good month, with several transformations, before those infamous hips failed.
i guess i must have been especially ginger in my handling.
naturally angry and disappointed, back into it's box it went, and into storage for about ten years or more.
recently, after a move, i unearthed all that stuff, and decided to take a trip down memory lane.
i got to fooling around with the husk of that 11B, and came up with effective repairs for all it's ills.
firstly, i fashioned up metal hip joints with nuts and bolts. limited in range of motion compared to ball joints,
Crude, to be sure, but pretty well effectively indestructible.
i inverted all click joints, using electrician's tape wrapped around the pegs to provide friction tightness.
again, Crude, this allows joints to be set at proper angles for FIGHTER mode that the detent joints would simply not allow.
bad design on YAMATO's part.
finally, hands and shield were glued into place, and neck joint slide track was lengthened,
so head could be slid farther forward to meet the shoulder line and provide a more natural humanoid silhouette.
don't get me wrong, this is still a godawful interpretation of the VF-11B. still, it does go way back with me,
and now, way belated, i at least have a badly outmoded toy that can actually be transformed and handled
and actually remain in one piece...
