The grappling hooks are used in the anime to quickly tether Michael to a solid surface, like an asteroid, so he can get the kill shot. They are individually articulated at the end. A really, really nice touch by Bandai. They really didn't need to have the grappling hooks, but it is awesome they did it anyway.
The kill shot. Michael never misses... well, almost never.
Final thoughts: This is just an awesome toy. The sniper gun and grappling hooks really set this toy apart from the other VF-25s. The quality control on this toy is much better than previous Bandai releases. The paint is perfect, the joints are nice and tight, but not too tight; nothing is bent or broken or warped, no loose wings, etc.
My only real issue with the toy are the vents. They're not painted. This is really strange. You can see in fighter mode the white vents and it makes no sense why they wouldn't paint them, when on previous valks they did. Eh. A small quibble on an otherwise amazing looking toy. Oh, and also, the canopy is way more purple than Alto's or Ozma's valks. I wish Bandai would keep these things a little more consistant. Alto's canopy was a plain canopy and he had a purple gunpod, Ozma's was slightly purple with a black gunpod, and now Michael's is a bright purple canopy. Again, small things. Really, the sniper rifle and grappling hooks give this toy an added dimension of fun.
Buy it if you can find it. I paid about $170 for this. Unfortunately, this is already going for over $300 on ebay now. As with previous Bandai Macross valks,t he preorder window lasted mere minutes before selling out on every site.
One thing I did want to end on, is the beauty of these toys. I truly look at each valkyrie as a piece of transforming art. They've changed my view on what transforming robots can be like. Which is why it is so disappointing sometimes to see how much trouble Hasbro has creating transforming planes that look good (eg: Transformers). Meh. It is what it is, I guess.
