One of the more interesting releases from Bandai as of late has been their DX Chogokin VF-19 Advance as seen very briefly in the second Macross Frontier movie. As there have been a fair few YF-19 toy releases already, and we reviewed Arcadia’s last attempt, this is the first time that Bandai has attempted the design to this degree of fidelity. As you might expect, Bandai have utterly nailed it.

As Arcadia seemingly own the Macross Plus license it seems that Bandai had an updated variant cheekily included in Macross Frontier. That way they could use different decals and claim it was a new design. Admittedly it uses the updated Frontier Super and FAST packs but the base figure is basically the same as the YF-19.

Now I’ve already gone about how much I love Macross Plus and the designwork in that series when I reviewed Arcadia’s YF-19 but suffice to say this new toy rekindles that joy once again.

Sold in rather limited numbers I was lucky to find one in a local shop near me and I am mightily glad I managed to pick this beauty up, as it’s entirely amazing.

Like with the recent YF-30 Chronos, Bandai have invested a lot of work into their DX Chogokin Macross toys as of late. This means the type of plastic they are using is now very durable and able to retain a lot of surface detailing. This toy also uses a lot of machined metal parts in the joints and as such the transformation is nigh-on invincible.

Like the Arcadia toy, the transformation is broadly the same but with a few changes and quite a lot of improvements. This is most noticeable in the legs as they collapse more intricately to allow the arms and other parts to be housed within them in fighter mode. The improved jointing makes the transformation very easy though and a lot less stressful.

The toy also comes with a set of stands and while you can stand the toy with full Super and FAST Packs equipped, if you want to do any cool poses then the stands definitely come in handy.

The only gripe I really have and it is a minor one is that the SMS insignia and lack of cockpit detailing bugs me somewhat. The green pin-point barrier punch effect more than makes up for that though.

Considering that this toy is at the same scale as Arcadia’s, comes with a lot more option parts and is considerably cheaper makes it an essential purchase. Doubly so as it pretty much supersedes Arcadia’s toy in almost every way.

If you can find one for a decent price then and are a fan of the YF-19 and Macross Plus then you owe it to yourself to get one of these. It’s pretty damn incredible what Bandai have managed to pull off here.