Great take on the Vanguard Mike. Like I said in another social media platform, love that your take is balanced and fair. I have watched multiple videos regarding the Vanguard and loved that your video is nuanced in it's assessment as well as acknowledging the negatives/criticisms while offering possible solutions. Great job overall.👍👌 In terms of the price point and what Bobby has brought us it's a cool toy definitely. I mean no toy is ever perfect and I think Bobby will take note of the deficiencies/critique as well as we'll be getting an upgrade kit/enhancements as well as multiple variants. As for my opinion, it's worth the price point and if I do have space I would buy one. And yes, the Reaper head sculpt looks squished and that double neck joint looks goofy and odd at certain angles. That neck gives a long profile that is noticeable when you change head sculpts.
@@VConley thank you v I tried to be as objective as possible, however it's impossible to be completely objective when you have a subjective viewpoint of things. I have some ideas for customizing a foot brace for the turret. Maybe it's something I'll share with our friend Sooka.
I’m with you on everything. I wish I could afford one right now. I know Bobby tried really hard on the first vehicle. But it sounds like he did everything he could to keep a decent price point. Each add like an engine and hood adds more…Yeah it would be nice, but for this vehicle there’s really no point IMO. Yeah the Turret systems for the machine guns have a couple minor misses, but shit nothing is perfect, but for a first go it looks awesome. The knit pickers forget Valaverse isn’t a multi billion dollar company and a large staff, but doing kick ass stuff.
creds: (don’t have one but don’t collect anymore) Honestly, I’m pretty impressed with your review. Upfront fan of the line but didn’t whip out the pom poms. That goes a long way. I follow Valaverse as a growing independent and like to see his design choices. The fact that the doors sit as flush as they do is a colossal achievement. The waffle in the gun mount may be a real world bracket (not sure on that). The winch UNDER the bumper is definitely not real world. Or gas cans stored inside. Design wise it feels like he did the best with a real subject/licensor. The real Vanguard isn’t as bad ass as it sounds. Google them now and they have a newer more aggressive “Vengeance” or something. Also some of the fans really pumped up internet expectations. In my opinion, it comes off a as a sold DIY base to customize. With a lot of “little things” in the design, it wouldn’t take much to upgrade. Honest question to an all-in fan: Realistically, how many “body bucks” or unique torsos were there until now? Guessing 5. I have a gut feeling that a lot of vehicle features were traded for the cost of an all new buck. Thank you for making this!
Great review my friend sorry you lost your original footage, I got my two Stealth grey ones and I'm more then happy with them. Yeah is it dissappointing that the twin 50's cant traverse, yes, but Sooka fixed that and I got a feeling Bobby will address it in the future. Honestly I never planned on using any of the turrets any way. I needed two armored limousines for the Presidential motorcade I'm building and thats what I got. Be safe and I'll see you in chat.
Great review! I subscribed and why have I been missing your channel? Perfect vehicle to customize in my opinion. I enjoyed adding my personalized mods to it and for the price of $184.99 with free shipping and free rocket launcher if you pre-ordered. Still offer free shipping if im correct? That's hard to beat! Awesome video and I'll check out more!
Great to have you on board! Loved what you have done with your Vanguards that you've shown on FB. Look forward to pick your brain on new tools and tricks on customizing.
Solid review. I have my Vanguard in hand, and I largely agree. Really the only fail point is the machine gun turret. Which is a complete mess in many ways. The Stealth Grey in particular works with almost any theme or collection. It goes great with Marvel Legends. Hopefully somebody makes some 1/12 scale SHIELD labels for it. One of the negatives to the GI Joe Classified vehicles is while great, they don’t adapt real well to other roles and themes.
I love your review. Yes there can be some improvements. I customize my Vanguard and repainted my missile attachments. I see a lot people done some cool customize to make their vanguards to their liking. I love my Stealth Grey Vanguard and I didn't like some of Vanguard reviews that were bagging on Bobby for his first Action Force vehicle. Thanks for being honest on your review and not complaining like other reviews have. Have a great Wednesday.
When Bobby bags on Hasbro for missing the mark on some things, or not including features (like a working steering wheel) on the Vamp, it should be no surprise that folks are going to bag on Bobby when he misses the mark in numerous areas on the Vanguard. My biggest gripe with the Vanguard (yes, I ordered one) is that it looks cheap. Basic things like neither of the machine gun mounts allow you to move the gun up or down. There is no platform for the top gunner to stand on - you have to seat the figure on the lip of the opening and have the feet dangling down inside. The dash panel is almost devoid of any detail. The hood doesn’t open to show an engine. The plug or hatch for the top looks very cheap and is completely devoid of any features (he could have made it an actual working hatch). The Reaper figure is complete shit. It’s the most non-descript, generic cheap looking figure that I have seen in quite awhile. It includes very few accessories. This looks like a toy you’d find at the dollar store, not a premium $185 toy. The VAMP blows the Vanguard out of the water in almost every respect. Great vehicle design, great detailing, great accessories and features, and a great included figure. And it’s $85 less. Bobby completely missed the mark with the Vanguard. I get it’s the first vehicle he produced, but as a former designer at Hasbro, with his experience in the industry, he has NO EXCUSE. If he is going to bash Hasbro, then he needs to make products that are actually better than theirs. He hasn’t.
@@zombiesmith5735 Wow! it sounds like you more a Hasbro collector, which is fine. But you just bashed Bobby like no other. I think Bobby did a great job on the Vanguard. It doesn't look cheap to me at all. But that's your opinion. All I know is that love the Vanguard. Well good luck to you and your Vamp. How you have fun with it. Also those upgrades on Vamp didn't come from Hasbro, Gridiron saved Hasbro on those upgrades, Hasbro didn't do that for you guys. Have a great day.
@@CutThroatComics I do collect G.I. Joe, and I have a fairly decent size Star Wars collection (unfortunately, that line has gone stale). I ordered the Vanguard and a couple of Action Force figures - I’m just waiting for UPS to deliver them. I give praise and criticism where it’s due. Hasbro has had their own share of problems with their toy lines. No doubt about that at all. I wasn’t referring to the VAMP with any upgrades or third party parts added at all. I’m talking about the VAMP straight out of the box. I own one. Comparing it with all of the videos I’ve seen of the Vanguard, it just beats the hell out of the Vanguard and it’s far less expensive. For a $185 toy, I expect more. I’m regretting purchasing it, and I wish I watched some of these reviews before it shipped. I would have cancelled my order. There is nothing about the Vanguard that justifies its price tag. Look at things like the HasLab Dragonfly, for example. Look at the detailing that went into it - including working lights. Look at the massive amount of accessories it comes with. Look at the number of figures included. Look at the art of the included decal sheet included. At less than $100 more than the Vanguard, it has an exceptional amount more to offer. If you exclude the figures from the Dragonfly, that brings the price down to about $175 (given that figures average about $25 each). That’s a price comparable to the Vanguard, yet you still get soooo much more bang for the buck. If Bobby is going to crap on Hasbro, then his product line needs to be not just better, it needs to excel. It doesn’t. There are a few unique figures, but most of the figures are repaints and kit bashes. Looking at the base Action Force figures without any accessories and the only thing that is unique are the head sculpts. For a product line as young as Action Force, there is far too much repainting and kit bashing going on. I mean, how many versions of a Steel Brigade figure do we need? I give Bobby major kudos for starting his own toy line in a very overcrowded market filled with finicky collectors. He really should just focus on making his products great. If his toy line is quality and can stand on its own, then there is no need to bash other toy makers. In the other hand, if his products are kinda crappy…..
Solid, solid review, I am on the same page as you and love this vehicle, while acknowledging it needs a couple of tweaks, but is a solid win in my books as is. Really the only things I want to fix are the .50 cal turret which that beautiful human being known as Sookah did and the Reaper driver to have a holster for the side arm, again, easy fix. I appreciate your level headed review and the photography you did for this vehicle is awesome! Take care my friend and see you in the chats! One ❤️.
Great video and breakdown! I have to say that this looks like a solid first effort from Valaverse. Speaking out of a budgetary limitation, I'm eager to see what they can do at a lower price point. Thanks for sharing!
The Reaper driver after a head swap using the head pack was a slight improvement. Probably use it as flight crew for my Rattler whenever that arrives in 2025.
I'm very happy with my Gray and Tan Vanguard's. I'd buy more but both my wife and limited shelf space prevent me from processing with that purchase. 10/10 IMO
Cool look at this awesome vehicle. I know what you mean about the computer, I generally have multiple vids I am working on (because my brain is like a shotgun LOL) and my computer crashed too. Got a few bits of footage back but lost a lot too. Anyway I got the Grey Vanguard and really love it. I am thinking of taking the turret and possibly incorporating it into a bunker/outpost. I was never a fan of how it looked but really like the rocket launcher so when that was added for free I was sold.
Great review. I have the tan version. Outside of the issues with both guns and a few minor nitpicks, I’m fine with it. I display it with the missile system as I like that look better. Looking forward to getting the upgrade packs that were shown at dfw. That will address some of my personal nitpicks.
Thank you so much for the comment and that you're enjoying the Vanguard!! Are you doing any mods or customs on yours or are you happy with it as is? Did you See Bobby's video on social media about sending out a free turrent weapon that elevates?
What's the "buzz" about........ Valaverse.........Swarm........ I see what you did there sir....😊 I'm a bit jealous, UPS "misplaced" my Vanguard 😡 but I'm living vicariously through videos like yours. I think the attention to detail is great with a few short comings. A non-opening top hatch and the lack of articulation in the weapons is a miss. Personally I would have preferred engine detail over the steering gimmick but that is incredibly minor. Overall this looks fantastic and if UPS could get there (sh!#!#..) logistics worked out I'm sure to love this. Excellent review, sensing a certain amount of sarcasm at times (which is not a criticism, I liked it). I hit you up on Discord, unfortunately my only social media. If you have an email address for your channel I can hit you up there.
And that's fine by me. Their overpriced most of the time..I've had some of their products for the Vamp...Though I do have a question...are you OK with addon's that nearly double the cost of the base toy? IF the Vamp is such a fantastic vehicle and Classified is "Miles ahead" It should be "perfect" just the way it is yes? So why buy all the accessories?
The number one reason Vala gets the backlash is because of the owner. He conducts himself like a petulant child. Professional toy companies Mattel, neca, gridiron, Hasbro Jada toys, ramen toys talk about their company their products they are professional and focused. While other companies spend time developing character’s and coherent lore Vala only has 17 named main characters. Only 3 named villains every figure in his line is the same height and built off the same buck. Atlas is the first figure on a bigger buck. Five series in and they are just now getting a vehicle at 185$. Five series in they are just updating the necks pegs. The line has a bad reputation because the owner classless. If he had once of professionalism it would have helped to make the line better.
Funny you say professional cause when has Mattel, Hasbro, Neca, ever had any good customer support. They had way to many issues with there products and each had their own kickstarters which is unacceptable for billion dollar companies they are. You only hate him cause he speaks honestly and you keep on speaking out about him but all your doing is helping out his product by commenting on videos. For a guy who hates negativity and drama you sure like to engage within it.
@@junkioncraftsandbuilds he’s a very narcissistic person and he’s been doing this since day 1. Always contradicting himself throughout multiple videos.
Sorry I am being so negative, I just dont see how any of you are happy with this, I guess its just the line for me, because none of the figures do much for me either. GI Joe Classified is miles ahead of Valaverse.
SO that is somewhat telling...you add in the either to your statement about how this line is viewed for you and your collecting habits...So your dislike is more than just the toys I guess yes?
You got mad earlier when someone else you admired said that the Vanguard is on par with the Hisstank. And that’s coming from a Classified collector you loved (now formaly) so I see where your biases are.
184 dollars? Are you joking? You can almost get a Vamp and a Stringer or a Vamp with 2 or 3 of the great addons. I wouldnt even be happy if this was gifted to me, Id rather have 184 dollar gift card from Gridiron Studios.
You claimed to have spent $420 on 3D printed upgrades alone and you have the audacity to say that this $185 quality vehicle, which you probably will never hold, is not worth it. You clearly don’t know quality if all you buy is 3D printed stuff to improve on a mediocre vehicle that cost $200 on the aftermarket.
@rokkieteller5421 Wow, $400 in add-ons is a lot. I opted to buy the 1/10 scale RC HG Hummer and sell the Tan versions of Vanguard (Muddy & Standard) and keep the Stealth Gray.
