READER REVIEW: Macross 1/100 Scale Series

Ride of the Valkyries: Toynami lets out a toy battle-cry.

Certain properties capture the imagination and have such iconic characters that they stay in the public consciousness and retain their popularity for decades. This is nowhere more true than in Japan, where a single movie can spawn hundreds of toys. One such classic is the show Super Dimension Fortress Macross, part of the amalgamation released in the US as Robotech.

Released last year and available exclusively through Robotech.com, Toynami’s 1/100 scale transformable action figures will hopefully revitalize the Macross/Robotech toy world again. Set one features Roy Focker’s VF-1S and Hikaru Ichijo and Max Jenius’ VF-1As from the Macross movie "Do You Remember Love". Set two consists of Hikaru Ichijo’s VF-1J, Max Jenius’ VF-1J, and Milia’s VF-1J. With incredible detail and transformation scheme, these small Valkyries pack quite a punch.

Packaging: For such small toys the box is pretty substantial. The boxes are very colorful, mainly representing the dominant color of the Valkyrie inside. The back of each box shows the three Valkyries in its own set, and a standard box of “specifications,” including transformation to three modes, over 30 points of articulation, and adjustable display stand.

Within the box the Valkyrie rests sandwiched into a large plastic tray, along with its gear. Retrieval is simple; cut the tape holding the top and bottom plastic trays together and lift off the top! Best of all, every piece can be put back in the tray for easy storage and display.

Sculpting: Derived from real life F-14 Tomcats, the mecha are human-built jet fighters that transform into giant robots. As such, there are lots of line and grooves, but little texture differences. However, this is entirely show-accurate, and always reinforces the functional and clean military look of the Valkyries.

The most important function of the sculpting of Valkyries is to make every piece fit together where it’s supposed to go across three different modes. Toynami has had great success in this challenge. Of particular note is the excellent fit of the Valkyries’ heads in Gerwalk and Fighter modes. Additionally, most of the joints in the arms and legs have at their center a simple post in hole, and so can be taken (or accidentally forced) apart. This is a life-saving feature in a small toy with such complicated transformations.

Paint Application: Again, Valkyries by design are not amazingly painted masterpieces. In the anime, these vehicles are constantly being shot down and blown to bits; the survival rate is frighteningly low. As such, they are not overly decorated or adorned, and what color differences there are serve to differentiate squadrons and individuals. The toys follow this pattern. Most of the figures are white with trim in black, yellow, red, and blue. Only Max and Milia’s VF-1Js are more colorful, being mostly blue and red respectively. The paint is very clean and crisp, following along molded lines. There is very little slop.

Included for extra detail are sticker sheets, consisting mainly of numbers, squad and RDF logos, and “U.N. Spacy” gun lettering. As I have never had very good luck in applying stickers well, I did not put them on for this review.

Articulation: The articulation on these toys is absolutely amazing. The highlight is of course Battroid mode, in which the Valkyrie has a near-full range of movement. The head is on a ball joint, the arms feature multiple-articulation joints in shoulders, upper arms, elbows, and forearms, and ball-jointed hands. There is no finger articulation, but that’s why additional hands are included. There is no waist joint, but that has always been a point of contention on Valkyrie toys, and only a few have had it. The legs are also extremely poseable, with articulation at hips, upper legs, knees, and feet. There are even articulated knee-pads to cover up the somewhat unsightly joint, and provide extra stability in some poses! The ball-jointed hips allow the legs to be spread for great stability.

Transformation: Anyone who has ever transformed any non-Yamato Valkyrie, from the very first Takatoku to the Robotech Masterpieces, will instantly be able to transform this one. The scheme is nearly identical to that used by Takatoku, Bandai, Hasbro’s Jetfire, Banpresto’s Perfect Transformation, and Toynami’s Masterpiece.

Accessories: Optional accessories vary from mode to mode. For Battroid and Gerwalk modes there is the standard gunpod. It is a two-piece affair, with the handle and trigger guard (just for show) piece unused in Fighter mode. Unfortunately, the gun does not attach very well to its own handle, and requires some careful posing. Otherwise, the gun looks great and is well-scaled. The gunpod can also be attached to the outside of the forearm in a storage capacity. To go along with the gun are several optional hands. The Valkyries come standard with closed fists, ready to slug it out with some Zentraedi. There is one additional gunpod-holding right hand, and two lefts: one open to hold the barrel of the gun and one spread out in a “stop” gesture. (Weren’t there ever any left-handed Valkyrie pilots?)

For Gerwalk and Fighter modes there are missiles. Toynami wasn’t stingy, including four triple missile clusters and four boxed short range missile launchers. This means that you can not only mix and match (two and two), but also have your fighters with one type of ordinance. The missiles have small posts that fit into holes (two per) on the bottom of the wings, exactly like the Masterpieces. (Note: I tried to put the missiles on outstretched wings in Battroid modes, but it just didn’t work. Sorry to those who like that look.)

The most important, largest, and most complicated accessory is the stand. The stand consists of many pieces, including the base, stand, stand extension (for Battroid mode), cup socket, ball-mounted pin (for Gerwalk mode), ball-mounted bracket (for Battroid mode), and ball-mounted cradle (for Fighter mode). While it is fairly complicated and the soft plastic of the socket make for some drooping, the functionality and variety of poses possible in every mode is well worth the hassle.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Only two drops of blood were spilt during this review, when a particularly ornery VF-1J heat shield wouldn’t come off without stabbing under a fingernail.

The more difficult and frustrating aspects of the 1/100 series include some minor stability issues, some weak plastic, especially on the stand components, and getting all the right pieces fitting together at all times (having to move VF-1J and VF-1S heads out of the way for the legs to fold over or risk bending the head lasers, etc.)

Three pieces suffered damage during the course of writing this review: Hikaru’s VF-1J lost a piece of a shoulder joint (not reparable, but can still perform and transform into all three modes… carefully), a base stand cup socket broke after three uses (very soft plastic), and one of the T-bar attachments that connect the gunpod to the bottom of the Fighter mode lost a peg. (Note: Toynami has addressed the weak cup socket plastic and will send replacements: customerservice@toynami.com.)

Overall, these toys are great, pure and simple. Whether you’re a Macross or Robotech fan, jet fighter or giant robot collector, these Valkyries will look great on your shelves. They aren’t the most sturdy, and so won’t hold up to a lot of play and forceful transformations, but their display value is very high, especially with all of the possible variations in accessories, pose, and stand.

The cost breaks down to $20 per toy, which is amazing considering that’s for a fully transformable, detailed, articulated, and accurate Valkyrie/Veritech. Highly recommended for fans.

Follow the link below for TONS of new imagery (40+ ON EACH Valkyrie alone!)

Review and Images Courtesy of: Scott Rubin

Toynami's Macross 1/100 Scale Image Gallery