Found Collection

Kind of surprised no one's mentioned this yet, as everywhere else is all abuzz
with the news.  Full info (and summary of other valks) at
http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/news/_news_n041.htm  but the big main news
is that Bandai is reissuing the Takatoku VF-1J (you know, 700-1000 bucks on
ebay) late this year/early next year---for 6800 yen.  :)   And with Banpresto's
recent MSIA-style entry we're looking at FOUR valkyrie toys to get next year.
:)  (Although I won't buy anything with Harmony Gold's association out of
principle)

David H.
(please remove "nospam" to reply via e-mail)

HLJ has been listing it for a while.  I got to see the original Takatoku
one at Jaf-Con today.  Bandai rep says, it's gonna be identical to
Takatoku Valkyrie, except that some markings are directly printed.  It's
due later December.
So, we will see three transformable VF-1?  Takatoku reissue, Harmony
Gold, and Yamato?

--
Hiroaki Fukuda
Sports and Race Car Modeling Page (has been moved to...)
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~xr2h-fkd/scalemodels/index.html

Knowing the recent trend in respect to pre-assembled merchandise however, I
suspect they will be manufactured  in China like BANDAI's line of Soul of
Chogokin products.

It surprise me somewhat that BANDAI is going through the expenses to reissue
the Takatoku Valkyries; I have heard that the molds were in bad shape and
will require substantial investment in repairs.

I care little about HG (I thought they looked horrible) What I would like to
see are the Yamato Valkyries; wondering if its details are no-par with the
old HCMs...

Replying to two posts here:

We will see 4, not 3 valks----Bandai's Taka reissue, Banpresto's new one,
Toynami/HG, and Yamato.

As for for detail---Yamato is blowing away everyone else.  The latest pics are
at

http://216.97.127.75/macross/toys/yamato_vf1/_yamato_vf1.htm   (top row are new
pics)

David H.
(please remove "nospam" to reply via e-mail)

Wha??

Jaf-Con is today!? How was it? It's hard to imagine the con without the one-day
Gundam license. You did take some pictures, right? right? :)

Jock
--
Church of the Machine:
http://j.parsons.edu/~virapat/the_church/

Some JefCon pics by BlackAces for MacrossWorld
http://www.geocities.com/jafcon01/

Sweet looking VF-1...

I honestly don't think Yamato is doing all that great of a job with their
Macross toys. All three of their previous releases had some basic engineering
problems. Things such as wrong use of materials, weak joints, & complicated
transformation are just too obvious to ignore. They are just not very good
"toys" over all. I wanted to get them before they came out, but after seeing &
played with all of them I didn't want one anymore. I actually wondered if they
can even get sold here in the US due to toy safety standards.

From what I've heard, the Yamato VF-1 needs to have its legs taken apart &
reattached during transformation.  That to me is just a huge engineering
problem which shouldn't exist. How can you build a transforming Valkyrie
nowadays & not be able to match up to a Takatoku one made almost twenty years
ago is beyond me.

I've heard of Yamato's own argument on how they are not supposed to be playable
toys, but that I think that is just pure bullshit. If that is the case then why
bother to release them with transformation capability or even bill them as
"toys". Yamato don't have the experiences to make it work properly, and they
should just admit it. For the price they are charging, the toys should've been
much better.

CHI/CWMODELS
<A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/cwmodels/">Electric Sheep</A>
http://members.fortunecity.com/cwmodels/

<< As for for detail---Yamato is blowing away everyone else.  The latest pics
are
at

http://216.97.127.75/macross/toys/yamato_vf1/_yamato_vf1.htm   (top row are new
pics) >>

which part of HLJ is it listed under?
couldn't anything under bandai and no takatoku under the manufacturers
listing...........

thanks in advance

Leslie

I think it's the obvious part would be posing part. The old Takatoku
VF-1's legs do not turn side way.....

<< I think it's the obvious part would be posing part. The old Takatoku
VF-1's legs do not turn side way..... >>

But I've never heard anyone complain about that in the past twenty years since
the Takatoku toys came out. It is still consider the best transfromation toy
ever.

The key point here is not the posing, its the transformation. That is the "real
appeal" of any Macross toy. If a Macross toy couldn't transform, I doubt anyone
would even care. I rather have the legs be fully transfromable than having to
take it apart for better posability.

CHI

It's really depend on each person's liking .....I cant say which is
better but personally I would like more posability than straight
legs.....

Responses to several posts here:

The "real" VF-1 REMOVES ITS LEGS TO TRANSFORM.  There.  Yamato's is much more
accurate than the Taka--no giant metal bars, as well as ball-joint
articulation.  Also doesn't have that raised gap for the chestplate, right
behind the***pit.  

 Secondly---the YF-19 has a hideously complex transformation because the "real"
YF-19 does as well.  The YF-21 is an even better and simpler toy due to it's
simpler transformation. The -11 is even more so.  The VF-1 will be really good,
as it has an even simpler transformation than the -11. Don't blame Yamato for
following Mr. Kawamori's transformation sequence sketches.  I personally
believe there will never be a VF-4 toy, as it's twice as complex as the -19.
It's simply insane.  

David H.
(please remove "nospam" to reply via e-mail)

I think you are missing the point here. I am not talking about how accurate or
"real" the transformation is for the Yamato Toys. I am talking about how good
or bad they are as just "Toys".
The Yamato Macross just don't stand up in terms of safety or durablity when you
compare it to ANY transformable toys from companies like Bandai or Takara.
There are obvious flaws with it.

Also, the "real" VF-1 (if they can ever exist) DOES NOT remove its legs in
transformation. The original design works by Kawamori Shoji never "clearly"
showed how the legs would swivel forward during Transfromation but it NEVER
showed that it would deteach itself from the main body.

I do blame Yamato instead of Kawamori Shoji because the problems with the toys
is not in its transformatiopn sequences, its in the toy engineering &
production.

CHI/CWMODELS

<< Responses to several posts here:

The "real" VF-1 REMOVES ITS LEGS TO TRANSFORM.  There.  Yamato's is much more
accurate than the Taka--no giant metal bars, as well as ball-joint
articulation.  Also doesn't have that raised gap for the chestplate, right
behind the***pit.  

 Secondly---the YF-19 has a hideously complex transformation because the "real"
YF-19 does as well.  The YF-21 is an even better and simpler toy due to it's
simpler transformation. The -11 is even more so.  The VF-1 will be really good,
as it has an even simpler transformation than the -11. Don't blame Yamato for
following Mr. Kawamori's transformation sequence sketches.  I personally
believe there will never be a VF-4 toy, as it's twice as complex as the -19.
It's simply insane.  

David H.
(please remove "nospam" to reply via e-mail)
 >>

Just chiming in with my two cents, I don't personally think that there is
any way to make a toy of a Valk that is both accurate AND a good toy. There
are just too many major differences between how the beast is drawn in its
different modes! The nosecone drastically changes proportion, the mounting
point on the leg slides all over the place, and there is flat out no room
for any sort of inner shoulder joint other than a simple swivel. Anyone
making a toy of this transforming abomination is going to have to make major
concessions. I do agree with you CW that the choices made on the Takatoku
Valks make for a more durable as well as playable toy, but I can certainly
understand the choices Yamato made as well. Personally, I think the HCM of
the Valk had the best all around balance, but I have always been a big HCM
fan.

I have a picture which shows how the legs swivel forward, detach and
re-attach
to the nose cone in battloid mode, anybody interested?

--
etsa
DIT98's resident acronym