There is something about toy and model collectors that when a manufacture reissues a product in chrome or clear, we just lose it. We could be perfectly content with our collection and be about our business but as soon as we glance at a chrome reissue of a toy we already have we are drooling fools.

Arii Metalized Custom VF-1D 1/100

(For my review of the building and scale issues with this kit please read my Arii 1/100 VF-1A review, as it is the same kit with a different head detail and without the chrome plating.

There is something about toy and model collectors that when a manufacture reissues a product in chrome or clear, we just lose it. We could be perfectly content with our collection and be about our business but as soon as we glance at a chrome reissue of a toy we already have we are drooling fools.

Arii picked five model kits from their 1/100 Super Dimensional Space Fortress Macross line and plated them in blue tinted chrome. These included A Battroid VF-1S, Destroids Defender, Destroid Spartan, Gerwalk VF-1J and this Fighter VF-1D. I do not know how limited edition these kits were but I do know the Valkyrie fighter was fairly common back in the 80’s and 90’s but the other four are quite rare as the only other kit I have managed to locate is the Spartan.

When building this kit remember that glue does not stick to plastic chrome plating well, so the main issue when building this kit is making sure you scrape off all the plating with an x-acto blade in the areas about to be glued before building as your model will fall apart if you don’t. Trust me I found out the hard way all those years ago when I originally built this kit when I was a kid in the 80’s and the kit kept falling apart! I am surprised I still have as many pieces of the kit as I do.

I purchased this kit on clearance at a great, but no longer in business, hobby shop called The Hobby Hut in Upland California for $6.00 in the 1980’s. The Hobby Hut stocked a lot of great anime, airplane and military kits at great prices and it was a huge loses when they closed down. Not only that the Hobby Hut has got to be the greatest hobby shop name ever!

I am not particularly fond of the box art of this series as its very boring and the picture of the model could have been framed better.

There are some details with this kit that work and others that do not. For one thing the one of the main themes in building model kits is filling the seems in and with the chrome plating one simply can not fill in and sand the seams as the unique chrome finish can not be duplicated. You could use Testors Metalizer or Alclad metal finish but it would not match the chrome finish of the kit. Metal finishes are the hardest paint finishes to duplicate on model kits and it would be much easier to just buy an unplated kit and spray it with Alclad or Metalizer, which kind of defeats the purpose of a chrome plated kit to begin with. So if you are going to build it understand the seams are going to be part of the kit when it is finished.

And because its chrome I’m sure you’ll get a lot of discussion and remarks from other collectors and casual fans about that shinny Chrome Valkyrie on your shelf.

Leonardo Flores “ModCineaste” Copyright 2008

It is odd to note that when Japanese model kit firm Arii was licensed to produce model kits for the 1982 series Super Dimension Space Fortress Macross that the worst scaled kits in the line would be the flagship vehicles of the show, The Valkyrie Fighters, Battroid and Gerwalk variations.

ARII VF-1A Valkyrie Fighter 1/100 #50

It is odd to note that when Japanese model kit firm Arii was licensed to produce model kits for the 1982 series Super Dimension Space Fortress Macross that the worst scaled kits in the line would be the flagship vehicles of the show, The Valkyrie Fighters, Battroid and Gerwalk variations.

Looking back all these years it’s good to note that most of the other kits produced by Arii of their 1/100 Macross model line still hold up quite well. Good examples are the Destroids and Regult battle pod lines, one of which I should have finished for a review shortly.

Most model airplanes plastic model kits are usually manufactured in four scales: 1/144, 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32. 1/144 is considered the airliner scale, as most all airline model kits would be much too large to fit on a shelf if they were produced in a larger scale. The second scale 1/72 is considered an international or standard scale as most all manufacturers worldwide still produce kits of this size. It is a great scale as it is just large enough to produce a decent scale kit of a small WWII airplane but just small enough to produce a large bomber kit such as Monogram’s B-36 Peacemaker kit.

I/48 and 1/32 are great scales for large high detailed kits and it is a good scale to mix armor and airplane kits with for same scale diorama scenes. Yes there are other scales but these four are the most popular in aviation plastic modeling.

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One scale that has seemed to have died in military modeling is 1/100 scale. In the 60’s and 70’s there were quite a few companies producing 1/100 scale model kits, but over the last couple of decades 1/100 scale has seemed to disappear from the model shelves for aviation modeling. The huge exception of course is if you build anime robot model kits.

Most Gundam model kits are produced in 1/144 and 1/100 scale and those two scales are the most popular in anime robot modeling, with 1/100 scale being reserved for Gundam High Grade model kits. I personally build model airplanes in 1/72 scale and having these Arii Valkyrie kits produced in such a small scale that is out of scale with all my other airplane model kits, the VF-1A just does not look right sitting on the shelf next to my other airplanes.

Is it really not too much to ask to produce a 1/72 scale or even a 1/48 or 1/32 scale Valkyrie kit? The Grumman F-14 Tomcat, which is slightly larger than a Valkyrie, has been produced in 1/48 and even 1/32 scale by a few manufactures. So I ask, “When is our large scale Valkyrie model kit going to be produced?”

The VF-1A was the standard and most numerous fighters in the Macross TV show. Usually they were the cannon fodder in the series and most of the pilots on Macross seemed to have started with the VF-1A.

If you are going to build it out of the box, one fault is the clear window is molded distorted and thick and is out of scale. If you have the ability it would be best to vacumform a new window with thinner clear material. Also there is sparse detail in the cockpit and landing well areas of the kit.

I painted my VF-1A with Testors Model Master Flat Military Brown and flat white, they appear to be a great match to the colors on the instruction sheet. The model was painted with a Badger 350 airbrush. After spraying a gloss coat I applied the decals, which were a bit thick but went on and set well with Microset and Microsol decal setter. After a flat coat to seal the paint I applied a thin wash of paint thinner and black paint although these days I do not apply washes that way (I use oil paint now). I built the kit around 11 years ago, and although I have lost a few pieces over the years it still looks nice.

Now lets talk about Arii scale issues with the entire kit and entire Valkyrie line. If this model kit were to transform it would look nothing like the Arii 1/100 scale Battroid. The body of the aircraft is too thin and long and the arms would be too long and small. The heads are too completely different sizes as well. The Battroid is shorter looking and stocky and the legs and arms are fat. The Gerwalk and fighter bodies are two different bodies. It seems there was no continuity in designing the Valkyrie series, which is too bad as the Valkyrie was the main icon of the series. But of the three the Valkyrie Fighter looks the best and still looks in proportion even though it is out of proportion.

Since these poor kits were manufactured a few other Valkyrie kits were produced. Soon after this kit was released one of the other Macross model kit licensee Imai would produce an excellent 1/72 scale Variable Valkyrie model kit that 20 years later still hold up beautifully. Also Arii will scale down the Imai molds to 1/100 scale and release their own variable Valkyrie kit that also still holds up well.

Most important and recently, the model industries most innovative and important model aviation manufacturer Hasagawa started producing Macross Valkyrie kits. Of what I have seen they look beautiful and better yet they are manufactured in 1/72! It appears the designer of the new Hasagawa Valkyrie kit approached the kit as if it was a real aircraft, something Arii should have done all those years ago. I am looking forward to building one these Hasagawa kits soon; their Strike Valkyrie Fighter is a beauty!

Leonardo Flores “Mod Cineaste”

The Regult is the long-awaited enemy mecha from Macross, otherwise known as Robotech! With Video!

The bad guys never get any love in toy form. Take for example, Batman. In any assortment of Batman figures, there are like 17 versions of the Batman and only one Joker. the same goes for many other toy lines but here we are talking about Macross A.K.A. Robotech in the states.

See, for years we have gotten valkyrie after valkyrie, in all kinds of scales and variations. There must be HUNDREDS of different valkyrie toys made but only a handful of enemy mecha. Can you imagine, the primary enemy mecha of one of the most influential anime of all time, and almost no toys of it?

Well, thats what happened with the Regult. This enemy battlepod of the Zentradi had a few kits made and only two toys - one of which made in America. Kaiyodo must have sensed this injustice when they decided to produce the Revoltech Regult. The same sculptor Katsuhisa Yamaguchi made a gashapon Regult a few years earlier and now he has had the opportunity to see it in toy form.

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The Revoltech Regult is a great figure - not just because it is a long-anticipated design, but it is executed so well.

At 6" tall, the Regult is taller than most other Revoltech releases, and it towers over the existing Macross Revoltech releases. Although not to scale, it does give the impression of being larger.

There are 9 Revoltech joints throughout the figure to give it a wide range of motion. Despite having spindly legs, the Regult can take on a number of difficult poses. Aside from that, there is little articulation. The waist has a Revoltech joint, as do the cannons on the head.

The back antennae can be removed and replaced with a cluster of missiles that pivot on a dual Revoltech joint.

Those white things on the side of the head - those move too.

In addition to all that, you have the stand, which is pretty much the same as all the other Revoltech stands.

So yeah - it's one that people have been waiting for for a long time so what are you waiting for - go to HobbyLink Japan and get yours today!

http://www.hlj.com/product/KYD01201

When Shoji Kawamori designed VF-1J Valkyrie, do you think he had this in mind?

When Shoji Kawamori designed VF-1J Valkyrie, do you think he had this in mind?

These little soft vinyl renditions of the Macross mechs are far from anime accurate, but somehow they manage to capture the feel of the series fantastically.

The blue version VF-1J valkyrie is the tv version of Maximilian Jenius iconic fighter.

In 1983, these came bagged with a header card and cost about $10. Talk about toy crack! The amazing thing is that these can be had today for about the same price!

The VF-1J Armored Valkyrie is one of my favorite designs from Macoss, and here it is rendered in dog chew toy vinyl.

The VF-1J Armored Valkyrie is one of my favorite designs from Macross, and here it is rendered in dog chew toy vinyl. Of course, it is so homely I can't help but to love it.

Typical of the time, this is one of a bunch of cheap soft vinyl renditions of mecha from the Macross TV series. Made in 1983, these toys came bagged with a header card and were a much cheaper alternative to the expensive transforming toys.

The Armored Valkyrie is far from anime accurate, but it has a folk-art appeal to it. There is an increasing appreciation for these vintage mecha vinyls in the Japanese toy collecting community and I can see why. These things are funky as hell, and come from a time where not everything had to be anime accurate.

Bask in the glory of sofubi mecha!

You can't deny the charm of these soft vinyl representations of classic mecha.

You can't deny the charm of these soft vinyl representations of classic mecha. The Regult is the standard tactical battlepod of the Zentradi army as seen in the Macross TV series (Or Robotech, for those of you in the states). it's a design that has almost no toys made of it. In fact, the best toy of this design came from a US toymaker of all places - The Matchbox battlepod.

This vinyl comes from Takatoku and was sold bagged with a header card. Its a cheap little toy that is not in the least bit anime accurate, and that is its charm i think. I've really warmed up to these small cheap Japanese vinyls.

If you haven’t broken down and tried a Revoltech figure yet you are officially not a cool kid. I just got my hands on the Hikaru VF-1A Super Valkyrie and to be honest, it’s pretty sweet.

I’ll cut to the chase; I think Revoltech’s lines of super poseable figures are a no-brainer for fans of Japanese robots. If you haven’t tried one; you owe it to your self to do just that. This fine VF-1A Super Valkyrie came courtesy of HobbyLink Japan.

Revoltech started doing Macross Valkyrie figures a few months back, but this is my first chance to get some quality hands on time with one. This is Hikaru’s (Rick Hunter for Robotech fans) VF-1A from the film version of Macross: Do You Remember Love decked out like he appears at the beginning of the film with Super Armor.

Despite their diminutive size these guys are hands down the most poseable Valkyrie to ever be made….Period. The unique Revoltech joints combined with the excellent stand allow you to pose the Battroid in action poses NEVER before possible.

Now if Kaiyodo will just do some Zentrand and Meltrand mecha you could really get some cool action scenes going! Are you reading this Kaiyodo? There’s a REAL opportunity there to cash in on mecha that has not been beat into the ground…PRETTY PLEASE? While there at it I’d like to see them tackle some Character figures as well.

The sculpt detail is fantastic. They went with capturing the “anime” feel of the Battroid (robot mode) instead of going with “line-art accurate” which works very well for this scale. Paint detail is sharp with very little over spray.

Speaking of scale these guys are smaller, standing at about 5 inches tall. Which works considering once you buy one Revoltech you have a hard time stopping and they fill the shelves quick. I mean for around $20 bucks you get some great robot goodness, it’s hard to say no.

The figure features 40 points of articulation (yes I said 40), 7 Swappable Hands, a Gunpod, 4 Missile Pods, a full set of Super Armor and a Stand with two arms to hold the Valkyrie in mid flight. The missile pods and armor are of course removable.

I have only one complaint, the antenna on the head doesn’t rotate forward and back. It is sculpted to always be forward. As soon as I was done shooting video and taking pictures for this review I bumped it the wrong way and the antenna broke. A little crazy glue and its all better but this would have been avoided if they had made it an actual piece that rotated forward and back.

To show off what a quality product these guys are I have included a video review as well. Click the video to hear the nice, tight, clicky sound of the Revoltech joints...

This is a fantastic value for the price and if you’re the slightest bit a Macross/Robotech fan you need to get one for yourself. You can get yours at HobbyLink Japan.

Yamato has been known to make some very fine, anime accurate collectibles over the last few years and in that time I have wanted a 1/48th scale Valkyrie from Macross. Can you believe the hype or is it overrated? Read on to find out. VIDEO included.

Yamato has been known to make some very fine, anime accurate collectibles over the last few years and in that time I have wanted a 1/48th scale Valkyrie from Macross. Thanks to a trade with Sanjeev I finally got my hands on one. Can you believe the hype or is it overrated? Read on to find out.

So the 1/48th scale Valkyries have been out for a few years and finally broke down and got my hands on one this summer.

This is the Max Genius (or Max Sterling for you Robotech fans) Macross: Do You Remember Love version of the VF-1A.

At 1/48th scale this guy is big. In Fighter mode from tip to tail it measures just over 12 inches long, in Battroid mode it stands just over 10 inches tall. The figure comes with some nice accessories. There is no denying its impressive scale on the self.

Included in the package are:

• 1 Removable seated pilot (this one is painted like Max of course)
• 1 Gunpod
• 4 Larger Missle pods
• 4 Smaller scale missle pods
• 2 Vent covers
• 1 Sticker sheet

The Valkyrie fully transforms between all three modes, Fighter, Gerwalk and Battroid and looks great in all those modes. This toy doesn’t favor one mode over the other as far as proportions go. It looks great no matter which mode you choose to display it in.

The toy is almost all plastic, with the exceptions of the landing gear doors under the nose, shoulder joints, swing bar underneath for the legs. Those are all die cast.

But it is the transformation that ends up being the downside to this toy. You see being as accurate to the show and design as it is makes for a fairly complex transformation and when you’re about midway thru from Gerwalk to Battroid it becomes quite a floppy mess. If you are not careful you could easily break things off if you’re not aware of the whole toy the entire time you are transforming it. This has been the downside to having it, as much as I like it, I rarely feel the urge to pick it up and transform it, not like my old classic Bandai Valkyrie.

I have two other complaints for this toy. First the stickers are pretty shabby. Any sticker that goes over a curved piece on the toy has already started to roll off. Any sticker on a flat surface has stayed put. To be honest Yamato has addressed this issue with some of it’s newer Macross Zero Valkyries by printing most of the major details right on the toy. Second, my Valkyrie has loose knees in Battloid mode, it still poses fine but there is about half an inch of slack there. This doesn’t appear to be a common complaint for most and seems I just got the luck of the draw.

At $125 to $150 I shouldn’t be afraid to transform it and for that price I shouldn’t run the risk of getting a bum one (Loose knee joints). So this is a mixed bag to recommend to our readers.

If you are a HUGE Macross/Robotech fan I do feel you owe it to yourself to get at least one, it looks great on the shelf and really is the nicest “looking” Valkyrie made to date, it just fails the “toy” aspect in my opinion. If you want your stuff to be highly playable and “sturdy” this is a pass for anyone that is not enamored by the transforming jet.

If any of our readers know how to “fix” the loose knees (I can’t find how to un-attach the lower part of the lower leg. I can get the top screw out at the knee that is it.) Please feel free to drop a comment here or send me an email.

And for those that really want to go deep diving on the transformation on the toy be sure to check the videos below. These are only for the highly nerdy… you have been warned.

You knew it would happen. Once Kaiyodo released a Revoltech Valkyrie, there would be another and another.

It has begun… But at least they are cool toys!

You knew it would happen. Once Kaiyodo released a Revoltech Valkyrie, there would be another and another. It has begun… At least they are cool toys!

I am ashamed to admit that I didn’t own any incarnation of the Strike Valkyrie until now. From HobbyLink Japan comes the 36th release from the regular Revoltech line, the VF-1S Strike Valkyrie.

The Strike Valkyrie is a variable fighter, capable of changing into three modes – Fighter, Gerwalk and Battroid. The Revoltech toy is in Battroid mode, and CANNOT transform.

This Valkyrie comes from the landmark movie “Macross: Do You Remember love?”, a movie set inside the fictional Macross universe. It’s piloted by ace pilot Roy Focker.

The toy features 37 points of articulation including 11 Revoltech joints. The toy uses a lot of swivel joints but they don’t detract from the coolness of the toy.

The main draw of the Strike Valk is of course the Strike Armor. The armor can be attached to the legs, arm and back. The cannon booster on the back has a Revoltech joint inside of it to allow you to position it over the shoulder. In addition, there are four wing missile pods that can be attached.

The Revoltech VF-1S also comes with your standard Revoltech Stand, enabling it to pull off some terrific poses.

The sculpt is excellent as always, but I found some of the paint work to be sloppy. I guess you can’t expect perfection on a $20 mass produced toy.

Kaiyodo made a good choice with releasing the VF-1S rather than re-cycle the previous design over and over, but I have to wonder how far they are going to go with this.

Roy Focker’s VF-1S Strike Valkyrie is available now at HobbyLink Japan.

Roy Focker’s VF-1S Strike Valkyrie is available now at HobbyLink Japan

What a horrible mess this is, but I’m not sure who to blame.

I’ve always loved the armored Valkyrie but somehow never got my hands on one. At this years summit someone was getting rid of a Yamato set. Now, I don’t really like my 1/60 Yamato, and I was ready to get rid of it, but I thought maybe I could dress it up with some armor.

What a terrible mistake.

The Armor comes sold separately and has to be installed onto a 1/60 Yamato Valkyrie. None of the armor connects how I think it should have. Some parts are passable, some are just horrible.

The good parts

The shoulders, arm armor and lower leg armor are all well done. I don’t know if I like the big anime fists or not, but it doesn’t totally ruin it for me. The feet seem small with the armor on, so why didn’t they give anime sized feet? The chest isn’t also too bad, although it just clips on. The front door on the chest and the doors on the shoulder units open to reveal missile banks that don’t fire.

The bad parts

Everything else is bad. The booster pack on the back attach with a really flimsy bracket, and I have no idea if I’m even doing it right. It just seems half assed.

The crotch piece is actually 2 parts that connect together by incredibly small pegs. The thing comes apart just by looking at it.

Probably the biggest annoyance is the hips. We all know how these 1/60 valks attached at the hips – pegs that go into the nosecone. Well, when you add the hip armor, it adds thickness to the hip, meaning less peg to hook into the nose. Therefore, every time you pick it up, the legs fall off.

Seriously guys, come on.

Now, part of the fault here could be mine, as the valk I used is the very first 1/60 made, and may not have been tooled to be compatible with the armor. But still, there are just too many things wrong here. Yamato has made great strides since this toy came out, but I can’t recommend this armor set to anyone.