The VF-25G is one of the "hero" valks from the Macross Frontier anime series. Piloted by Mikhail (or Michael/Michel). In the anime, he carries a sniper rifle along with the typical rifle. This is not part of UN SPACEY, but rather a private military force called SMS.
The figure is built similarly to the VF-27, only with some shortfalls. The VF-27 was done after the VF-25's, and rumor is it was a completely different design team. I will go through the faults of this figure later. It comes with a stand, two guns (one is the sniper rifle), armor pieces and fast packs, along with multiple different hands (not pictured. I forgot), a knife (don't ask me why a robot needs to bring a knife to a space gun fight), and attachment pieces to connect the guns to the bottom of the plane in fighter mode.
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The fighter mode is very nice, with wings that fold back like the VF-1S. I personally really love the Macross Frontier designs. I've included a size comparison to the VF-27. As far as diecast content, it is pretty much exactly like the VF-27. Here you see the first fault: the landing gear is stubby. This is fine for how it looks, but you can't have the gun attached underneath like the other fighters while it has its landing gear on, which is really silly, and something that should have been considered. This is the first major fault with the figure. Ultimately I intend on displaying it with the stand, but still, it would be nice to have that feature. Also, while the cockpit opens, the figure inside is not removable, and looks nothing like Mikhail.
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Here it is all armored up on the stand. Most of the armor pieces attach easily and they stay on, but the hip pieces tend to fall off easily. And transforming the figure with the armor is annoying since the hip pieces fall off, but it's not anything that is so bad it diminishes the figure.
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Gerwalk mode. This is where the second major problem with the figure lies. There are no swivel joints in the thighs, so you can't have the typical A-stance. Major fail in this regard, and Gerwalk is clearly the worst mode. In order to get the A-stance, you need to unhook the hips, which looks fine, but again, this is something of a no-brainer and should have been done right from the beginning.
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Battroid mode. The toy looks so much better in battroid mode with the armor, while in fighter mode I generally prefer the sleeker, non armored look. As you can see, the figure has shoulder missiles that open up. The articulation is limited in the legs due to the armor pieces, which is again, unfortunate, but nothing that is too terrible. The gun splits open at various points for when Mikhail needs to sharp-shoot. I don't see what purpose this has except to look cool. (Tell you the truth, this is why I bought this toy over the other VF-25s) Here is also a final pic without the armor. Aesthetically, I love the design. My only gripe is the fact that unlike the VF-27, there are no shin guards, which means it looks like the VF-25 has flood pants on.
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Final thoughts: I really like this toy, but it is nowhere in the class of the VF-27. If the rumors of Bandai changing the design team for the VF-27 are true, then it was a wise decision. While the VF-25G is a very nice toy, it's not as good as the VF-27, and not as playable with all the armor parts. In the future, I pretty much plan on tossing the armor parts into a bin in my closet. When this toy first came out, it was well over $220 due to the import and currency exchange. I got mine for about $150 off Ebay, which is the most I would pay for one of these VF-25 toys. Since Gerwalk is not a mode I particularly care for, it's not as big an issue that it doesn't have thigh swivels, but that just seems like something that should have been done, and could have easily been done. I knew full well the problems of this toy before I bought it. But I didn't care, cause I wanted a 1/60 scale VF-25 from Macross Frontier. The anime is very good. I would only recommend the VF-25 if a) you don't give a shit about gerwalk mode, and b) you're a pretty big macross fan. If you're just a casual fan, better to stick to the VF-1S.
