Macross Toy Reviews

[pud333]

Yamato's 1/60 VF-19 Fire Valkyrie revisited:

The Yamato Fire Valk puts some people off due to its candy color and lack of tamp printing/details. It does come with an entire sticker sheet, but unlike other Yamato valks, there are no instructions as to where to put the stickers.



However, if you look at the Variable Fighter Master File for the VF-19 Excalibur, there are illustrations that show more detail. Those very details are provided in the sticker sheet, so I went ahead and applied them.



There aren't many, perhaps three or four you need to use, but I think it adds an extra flare to the valk. It's obviously not necessary, but it's the little details that make these toys very cool, so it's nice that you have the option to add extra details if you want. It does nothing for Battroid or Gerwalk, but it's still pretty minimalistic, and it makes the fighter mode a little sharper.











After I took these photos, I decided to ad the "no step" stickers to the wings and it looks great. Sorry, too lazy to take a photo. Bottom line is: you can add as much or as little detail as you want.

[pud333]

This is a review for Bandai's DX Alto in Ex Gear. Alto is the main character and hero for the Macross Frontier series. He pilots the VF-25F. The Ex Gear is armour for the pilot should he ever have to leave his valkyrie. It allows him to fly through space, and almost acts as the defacto emergency ejection system. When piloting the valkyrie, it opens up to allow the pilot to freely move about the cockpit, but once the cockpit blows open, it transforms and allows the pilot to fly out. Let's get to the review:

Packaging: Typical Bandai packaging. Small, compact, with a collector's viewing window to see the toy inside. Nothing special.





The toy comes with a stand, with several stand accessories. It also comes with an instruction book, the armoured parts, extra hands, a gun, and an extra head with the helmet on.



The figure itself:

Not a bad figure. Lots of articulation. I find the face sculpt lacking. It would be nice to see some emotion, and the overal build isn't as great as something like a Figma, but it does the job, and it represents Alto nicely. Lots of use of swivel joints and ball joints. The sculpt itself does look dated though. Again, nothing like the quality and coolness of a toy from the Figma line, which I think are the best anime toys in the 5"-6" scale you can get.









Geared up:

The Ex Gear is very cool. Easy to assemble, though the chest piece is quite tight to get on and off. The big problem with the Ex Gear though, is the limitation of articulation. You lose a lot of the range of the shoulders and legs, so really, this is the only pose you can do. You can do variations on this static stance, but you can't pull off the dynamic poses shown in the previous picture.







The second head has some great detail here. Instead of cheaping out and just doing a black visor, Bandai bothers to do the facial features inside, behind the tinted visor. Very cool of Bandai to go that extra mile. I wouldn't have complained if it was just a solid black visor with no interior details. So to get interior details is a huge plus.

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The stand:

I was attempting to set up the stand for some flight poses, and guess what? The base split apart. It looks like the peg where the screw goes in sheered off, and because the spring forces the two pieces apart, and the screw is needed to hold things together, I would have to bind it to fix it. Like this, it won't hold any weight what so ever. I managed to tape it together for the purposes of the review, but it is pretty much useless for flying poses.



Flight:

Once I got the stand taped together enough, it allowed me to do some of these poses. As mentioned before, even though articulation was greatly hindered by the armour, when in flight, it looks pretty cool.







Pilot mode:

When piloting the valkyrie, this is what the suit looks like. Everything has been opened up and there are some nice details here, like the joysticks that are used by Alto to pilot his valk.













Overall, I like this toy. It's a nice interpretation of Alto, and the gear is very cool.

Pros: lots of stuff to like here, from the little details to the look of the toy. It displays really well, and if you're an Alto fan, it's probably on your list of stuff to buy.

Cons: I know the stand breaking was a fluke occurrence, and I really never planned on using the oversized stand anyway in my display, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Other negatives involve the armour and how some parts don't stay on that well, like the codpiece, which kept falling off whenever I touched the toy. I understand why the armour was done the way it was, and I expect some articulation to be hindered, but it really turns a decent multi-articulated toy into one that has only a handful of articulation points. Kind of defeats the purpose of bothering to put in so much articulation in the main sculpt to begin with.

Another con is the original MSRP. It was released a couple years ago at 7,500 yen. That's nearly $100. If I had paid that much for this toy, I would be extremely unimpressed. That is way too much. However, you can find these for about $30 these days, which is what I paid for mine. Got mine off Angolz.com, which has since sold out, but I saw a few on eBay for around the same amount. Do I recommend it? At the orignal MSRP, heck no. It's not really a toy... more like a model, since whenever you try to play with it, pieces fall off. But for $30? Yes. But ONLY if you're a big Alto fan or Macross Frontier fan. It's really not a necessary piece to have. The stand breaking I don't think was a widespread thing. Maybe I forced it too much - even though I really didn't.

EDIT: I was wrong. It has been alerted to me that several people have had the stand break in the same place mine broke and some even had the crotch piece snap since it's on a tiny peg that it connects to, as well as one of the chest pieces. So be careful when messing with this toy. In light of this, because of the QC problems, it does diminish the fun factor of this toy. I cannot recommend it. But, if you are dying for one, I highly recommend you do not pay more than $30 for this toy if you buy it. Tell you the truth, I am a bit clumsy with my toys, so at first I thought it was just me, but after hearing three other people and how they broke theirs within minutes of taking it out of the box, I know now it is a widespread QC problem. Unfortunate.

[pud333]

This review is for Yamato's 1/60 scale VF-11C from Macross 7. Not to be confused with the VF-11B, from Macross Plus that the main character Isamu flew. That version was gray and orange. This one is the cannon fodder valkyrie from the all-round ridiculous rock symphony, Macross 7. The VF-11 is, I believe, the official successor to the VF-1. And judging from the looks of it, you can really see the VF-1 influence.

Packaging:

Typical Yamato packaging. Generic box with generic art work.





The toy comes with a Super packs, a pilot, gun pod, and extra stand pieces to be used with the Yamato stand. Not pictured here but included, are the sticker sheet and instruction booklet.




Fighter mode:

See? What'd I say? The VF-11 is heavily influenced by the VF-1. It is the in-between model between that and the VF-19 valkyries. You can clearly see the evolution. The wings sweep back just like the VF-1. The stark white is excellent. I love white robots, especially jets, as it invokes images of NASA's white shuttle to me. Pristine and steril. Some people think it is too plain, but I love the matte white colour.









With Super packs:

The Super packs clip on easily to the back plate. The leg armour is actually magnetic, like the armour for the VF-0S (previously reviewed). They slide on with a satisfying magnetic grip. I love the magnets idea. Much better than plastic clip pieces that can wear away over time, as well as potentially break.









Gerwalk mode:

Gerwalk mode is excellent. You can easily pull off the aggressive A-stance, and the valk can sit back pretty far on its heels. Very nicely balanced, and probably one of the best Gerwalk modes around.

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Gerwalk with Super packs:

It's a bit gappy in Gerwalk mode, but it is unfortunately a byproduct of the valkyrie design that really can't be helped.





Battroid mode:

Very nice looking Battroid mode. Articulation is okay. Nothing amazing like the VF-19 Fire Valkyrie's articulation. The legs are actually limited due to where the hips meet the main torso. Still, a sharp looking valkyrie, where it's simplicity works for it.







Battroid with Super packs:

I honestly don't know if the Super packs add anything to the valk besides some colour contrast, but they do look nice.







Details:

Gun pod doesn't transform, but the top compartment comes off to reveal some nice detail inside.



The head sculpt is fantastic, reminiscent of the VF-1A. I like the fact that there is a clear plastic green faceplate, instead of just painting it.



Vent covers come off to reveal the turbines.



Super pack details:





Probably the coolest feature of the toy is the removable cockpit. The VF-11C is cannon fodder in Macross 7. So virtually every episode shows these things getting blown up. However, the escape pod allows the pilot to get away safely. It's really cool they made it possible to remove here. Definitely the coolest feature.



Transformation is a breeze. Took me a few minutes to get the hang of it, but it's really easy to do, much like the VF-1 toys. You basically have a plane that folds in half. The cockpit actually sinks in and the heat shield comes over it.



Pros: It looks very nice. Very clean and simple. Transformation is easy, but intricate enough to keep you interested. The removable cockpit is just wicked. Probably one of the best features on any Yamato valkyrie. They really added to the fun factor with that. Also, the magnetic armour parts is huge. You are not fumbling with plastic clips, unlike the VF-1 valkyries.

Cons: It's a bit on the light side. I can't even remember if there is any diecast, but after feeling the heft of other valkyries, this one felt like half the materials. Granted, it's a simpler design, much like the VF-1. Price. When this was released, it was 18,800 yen. That's like $240, and way too much for this. I got this during HLJ's most recent Macross sale for 13,160 yen (approx: $145) which is what I feel is about right. The fact that you get the Super parts with the toy at that price is good. Don't pay any more than that.

Final thoughts:

I really like this valkyrie, but I don't LOVE it the way some others do. The problem is not with the valk, but most likely due to how I have collected these toys. I have jumped around from the awesome VF-1's, to the beautiful VF-25 messiah valks, to the crazy good VF-19 and everything in between. So I am sort of going backwards. You can really tell the difference in quality and build between this and the VF-19. Yamato has come a long way in just a year or two. Still, it's great to have as part of the collection. The cockpit ejection alone is worth getting one of these.

[antilles]

Another nice looking valk. I bought the Vf-11b myself a couple of weeks back (I also like the clean look of the white fighters but as I now have several vf-1s and no greyish fighters yet, I figured I go for a change) but haven't taken it out of the box (the shipping box actually) as I'm out of room for display. So for an extra layer of protection in the basement alot of my stuff is still sitting in shipping packaging. Nice to get a look at what to expect when I finally do crack the thing open.
Thanks for the info on the fire valk as well. I'm always torn in situations like this at choosing between source books and actual anime look but have to admit the extra detailing does look nice (not enough to change my mind about semi-permanent robot mode but that's more a testament to the sound booster's greatness in that configuration than anything else)

[pud333]

Originally Posted by antilles

Thanks for the info on the fire valk as well. I'm always torn in situations like this at choosing between source books and actual anime look but have to admit the extra detailing does look nice (not enough to change my mind about semi-permanent robot mode but that's more a testament to the sound booster's greatness in that configuration than anything else)

QFT. This is exactly how I feel. That was probably the last time I transform it back to Fighter. My VF-19 is sitting on the top shelf next to the 11C in battroid mode, and that's pretty much how it'll stay I guess.

[pud333]

This review is for Yamato's 1/60 VF-17S from the anime, Macross 7, piloted by none other than Gamlin Kizaki. Let's get right to it:

The packaging:

Much like the the VF-19, the packaging is smaller and slimmer than previous Yamato packaging, which is a good thing.





The toy comes with a gunpod, Gamlin, a couple Yamato stand attachments, and a couple vent covers which will be covered later.



Before we go any further, this also was included in the packaging along with the instruction booklet and sticker sheet: An announcement for Yamato's next valkyrie release, the VF-4G, which appeared for a mere few seconds piloted by Hikaru in the 2012 Flashback movie. I guess it makes sense considering it is now 2012, and the 30th anniversary of the original SDF anime. This is a very complicated valk, so I am interested to see how Yamato pulls it off. A few things to note: It's a Yamato web exclusive, but the good news is that most places will cary Yamato's web exclusives, unlike Bandai's. Also, be prepared to pay an arm for this. I expect this to be $300+.



Figher mode:

My favorite mode. This sculpt is just awesome. Totally killer matte black finish, everything is tight and the valkyrie has some serious weight, thanks to all the diecast in the internal structure. Like a house, the most important parts are those you cannot see. It is probably one of Yamato's heavier valks to date.









When I first saw photos of this toy, the purple canopy bothered me. It reminded me of a deluxe Transformer toy. But in person, it looks much better.





(Purists - aka: Giant Nerdlingers - have told me that the Diamond Force logo is only supposed to be on the left side of the chest, and the cannons on the top, while they are used in fighter once or twice, normally they are pushed in. Just goes to show you how much I have seen of Macross 7. Apparently, watching only half an episode isn't enough.)

Gerwalk mode:

The VF-17 has a unique armless gerwalk mode. As you can see, the cannons are displayed in this mode. It's a great gerwalk, with a very aggressive stance.







Of course, you can have the traditional gerwalk mode with the arms out and the gunpod in hand.



A big problem with gerwalk, however, are the large gaps. Yamato didn't utilize the sliding panels to cover the gaps like they did in the VF-11. My guess is that it would add more to the cost of a valkyrie that was already hitting the $300 mark. The back of the valk is suppose to be even more gappy, but I pressed the side panels together so that it would cover the gaps in the back where the wings are.

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Battroid mode:

This thing is built like a linebacker. He is huge, and menacing, but ultimately kind of stiff looking at first. I wasn't sure how the cannon boobs would look in person, but they don't bother me that much. Not my favorite Battroid mode, but it's different and unique.







To be honest, I wasn't the biggest fan of battroid mode, but once I realized how well articulated this toy was, it suddenly looked more dynamic and fun.





Features:

The head sculpt is great. Looks a bit like a cross between Frankenstein and KITT from The Knight Rider. Still, the visor is a clear red plastic, not painted, which makes it that much cooler.



The chest piece can be pushed up to reveal Gamlin! It's a very cool feature. I know there are other valks like the VF-11B and YF-21 that do similar things, but the difference here isn't a simple opening of the canopy or heat shield; the whole front chest piece can move up and down.



The gunpod: Like many other valkyrie guns, the gunpod transforms, but it can also come apart.



It comes apart because the gunpod cannot be attached in fighter mode. Instead, there are compartments in the legs where the guns can be stowed for when it is in fighter mode. Apparently this is from the anime, but since I hate Macross 7, I have never seen the feature in action.



When not stowed, vent covers are hidden inside that can be pulled out. Too bad the covers cannot go over when the gunpod is stowed in the legs, but that would mean compromising on the length of the gunpod, or making the legs on the battroid mode freakishly long; either way, a lose/lose, so this was a nice compromise by Yamato.



The hands are a brand new sculpt and they grip the gunpod really well. Unfortunately, you need these vent covers when the hands are inside during fighter mode. Not a deal breaker, but at the price you pay for this thing, I'd have liked it to not involve any parts forming. For something so important, if you lose a vent, it ruins the look of fighter mode from behind. I wish they did something similar to the vent covers in the legs instead of giving you separate parts; or at least give you extra pieces just in case you lose one.



Finally, while almost everything is hidden very well, you do still see the diecast knee joints. They attempt to cover up part of it by installing these sliding covers on the sides. Not a huge deal, but it does stick out for me. Nice painted white diecast landing gear, which is a staple of Yamato valks.



Beautiful diecast ankle joints.



Transformation:



Final thoughts:

Overall, I like this valk. Not my favorite, but it's still a solid toy. The fighter mode is bitchin', and the gerwalk mode is really cool. While normally I don't care for gerwalk modes, the armless, cannon gerwalk is really one of the best parts of this toy.

The cons involve the separate vent parts for the hands, the exposed diecast knees, the moderately difficult transformation back to fighter mode from battroid. And the lack of tampo prints. There are exactly 0 tampo prints. You get a giant sticker sheet, but in the anime, there are only a few designs that need to be tampo printed on there. Instead, Yamato does absolutely none. Rumor is, the head designer did not like the anime look of some of the designs on it, so they decided to not tampo anything on. This seems really weak to me, but it's the rumor right now.

Price: HLJ is selling this for 22,320 yen, which is about $290 CDN. Honestly, as cool as this toy is, it does feel like a step back from the amazing VF-19 Yamato released earlier in 2011. My recommendation: unless you are a huge Macross 7 fan, wait for a sale. Personally, I am all about diversity in my Macross collection. For the longest time I only had VF-1 valkyries, and so I am now looking to make my Macross collection as different as possible. The VF-17 is unique looking, and for that alone it was worth me having it.

EDIT: One more thing I forgot: be VERY careful when transforming to battroid. The clearance between the head and a diecast support bar is very, very tight. So tight, the bar ended up scratching the front of the face on mine. One way to help avoid scratching is by tilting the forehead forward, thereby tilting the chin back away from the bar, and then turning the head slightly to the side. Do this before you full-on transform to battroid. This will help avoid any scratching.



Next review: Bandai's renewal VF-25S Ozma Lee custom. I should have it by the end of the week, and hopefully the review will be up shortly thereafter.

AMMENDMENT (January 27, 2012): I changed my mind. I've had this toy for almost two weeks now, and I've completely changed my opinion on this. I don't do this often, since my first impression is usually correct, but I love this toy now. It's really grown on me. At first I was like, "Yeah, it's nice, but it's no VF-19 Kai or VF-25F renewal." But now I'm like, "THIS IS AWESOME!" I finally figured out how to make the gunpod not rattle around when inside the leg in fighter mode. (There's a tab inside the leg itself that the gunpod tabs into, thus preventing it from rattling inside the leg whenever you try to swoosh it around. Yeah, I said it; I swoosh my toys. Whatcha gonna do about it? SAY SOMEFIN!?!?) The fighter mode is so sleek looking and so tight, I just love it. I still have problems with the exposed knee joints and the metal bar scraping the face if you're not careful, but I've changed my opinion on this toy, and I consider it right up there with the 19 Kai and the 25F/25S renewals. In fact, it's seen more off-shelf time than my 25F renewal. It sits on my coffee table every day, all day, ready for me to pick it up whenever I feel like it. It drives my gf nuts, since she has to move it every time she wants to eat breakfast.

I've just upgraded this from "Buy it if you can find a bit of a discount," to "But it now. You owe it to yourself to own such an awesome toy."

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Wow. It's finally here! This review is for Bandai's DX Chogokin Macross Frontier VF-25S Messiah Valkyrie (Ozma Lee Custom) Renewal Version. Man, that's a mouthful. - That's what she said.

This review will be slightly different. Since I already reviewed Alto's VF-25F, and since this is a repaint with a few different bits of new tooling, this review will focus on what is different about this valk. I'm really not going to try to comment on most of the basic stuff. If you want to see the Alto review, it's a couple pages back. Instead, this review will be picture heavy since this bird is so gorgeous. Let's dive right into it:

Packaging.

Nice little 30th anniversary sticker on the front of the box. I'm going to try and salvage it before I recycle the box.









Fighter mode:







As you can see, the paint is just amazing on this valk. Unlike the Alto where I had some paint chipping, there are no problems with this. The paint is crisp and detailed and overall just really well done. They have gone with a bit darker gray than in the anime. I know some people complained about the coloring and cancelled their preorders, but I think that's a mistake, since this toy is just awesome. I'm still not a fan of the overall skull design - I much prefer the SDF designs, but that's not Bandai's fault.