This review is for the VF-27 Lucifer, which is the enemy valkyrie in Macross Frontier, piloted by Brera Sterne. This is in the 1/60 scale from the chogokin line from Bandai. Besides the obvious fact that this toy comes from a different Macross Series as the other valks I've reviewed, there are some specific tooling that makes this stand apart from the Yamato valks.
It comes with three sets of spare hands, a rifle, a pair of vent covers (which are pretty useless), an attachment for the fold booster (which you have to buy separately) and an instruction booklet.
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The first difference you see between Bandai's product and the Yamato ones is the plastic itself. This valk is pretty shiny, whereas Yamato tends to use a muted plastic. This bird is gorgeous. Everything is super tight and fit together incredibly well. Nothing flops, nothing falls off. Right off the bat the qc is much better. The gun is huge, almost as long as the toy itself, and can attach beneath the fighter.
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The detail in the cockpit is nowhere near the quality of the Yamato valks. This toy comes with two rubbery figures - one Brera, one Ranka (one of the female leads). They can be removed.
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Gerwalk mode. Typical A-stance you see with other valks. What's great is the amount of diecast in the toy. The Yamato valks tend to have diecast on hip joints, landing gear, and the center T bar that helps with the transformation. This valk has plenty of diecast in the most important places. The shoulder joints are diecast (unlike Yamato which has plastic joints that are more prone to breaking), the hip joints, the landing gear, and the feet (which will be shown later). Overall, it gives the toy a nice weight. The VF-1S feels like a featherweight next to this thing. You definitely can tell where your money went.
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The battroid mode is awesome. Just awesome. The transformation is pretty easy, but there are so many sharp bits, I basically stabbed myself a dozen times during the transformation. The articulation is great, and the diecast in the feet helps anchor the toy, preventing it from falling.
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The huge gun transforms by splitting in half down the middle, where the beam cannon seen in the anime fires.
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Here are the diecast feet. The detail is excellent. The small boosters on the wings are articulated and you can move them in any direction.
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Overall, I really love this figure. The design, the weight, the playability... it's great. Second only to the VF-1S. It's pricey though. When this came out, it was well over $220. There are deals to be had though, and you could probably find this for about $150, which is what I paid for it.
Note: there are reports of the paint on the nose cone rubbing off, so when handling, be careful with that area. The paint on mine seems okay, and I've probably transformed it a dozen times now with no issues of paint removal. The only thing I encountered was the little wings by the cockpit that can fall off every now and then when transforming.
