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Origin of Valkyrie VF-1A Super Valkyrie (Hikaru Ichijyo ver.)

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14 comments posted
Great Valkyrie Review

EVA,

First off I am going to be purchasing this toy as this is my favorite Valkyrie since I was a kid and its great to see Bandai reissue this toy.

Thanks for getting an updated review of this release, but one thing completely bugs me about this release.

Why for the life of me did Bandai not include the Strike Valkyrie booster pack!!!!!???? And to add insult in injury they molded the booster pack it did come with in Green!!!!

I can go on and on about this one but I won't but I will say Bandai not including the DYRL Strike booster pack was a major oversight by Bandai. They ought to know better than that.

Regardless I'll be picking this one up for the Valkyrie alone.
Leonardo Flores
CollectionDX Staff Writer-West Coast Bureau

Showapop's picture
Posted by Showapop on 22 April, 2009 - 12:57
Re: Great Valkyrie Review

"Thanks for getting an updated review of this release..."

My pleasure. :D These were all great fun to work on.

You guys have vinyl and Gokin, this is my old-school. (These things were first made the year I was born! I have never known the world without Macross.)

. . .

One thing that completely slipped my mind in writing/shooting all of these was covering how the shoulders transform. While where they come from isn't as big a secret as the hip hydraulic pistons, they too have a unique joint system to them that is different from the TTs, and all of Yamato's 1/60 and 1/40 releases!

D-ohh!

. . .

As to the coloring, yeah that's really the most puzzling thing for me. I do a general recap for the whole OoV line at the end of the VF-1A Max ver., and I mention coloring there. (In the VF-1A Hikaru vid, it was about the poor integrity in the torso of them all; I tried to cover at least one issue uniquely in each video.)
As I said, there are a few other 1/55s I would like to see colored up.

I would also like to have seen the Strike Pack, but I think they need to have a line run for longer than a few months for that to happen. The 2002-reissues didn't go very far, and one of the reasons for that was Yamato was releasing their own versions around that time, and sapped the energy away from the TT versions. While the 1/60-scale 2.0s were coming out in 2008 as well at the same time, I don't have enough information about marketing to tell you if these worked out or not.
We must remain patient. I heard a rumor that more 1/55s may be coming out soon (as part of the OoV line as well, I don't know), and so they may change up both the colorings back to white (grrrr!), and give us the Strike Pack.
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 22 April, 2009 - 16:45
I can't believe I just

I can't believe I just watched two 30 minute long reviews of the same toy, heh. Even so, it's great to see you go over almost every single bit and detail about these pieces. I can really tell that you feel very passionate about this line. I don't know if I'd ever be able to pick up this piece what with its price point and what not, since I have little nostalgic value to it, and 9000 yen isn't cheap. Even so I think this is a very important piece in terms of the development of Macross valkyrie toys and I love it for that.

I certainly wouldn't mind picking up a Max Jenius one though, it looks really nice.

Dkun's picture
Posted by Dkun on 22 April, 2009 - 17:11
Yeah- I, too, questioned

Yeah- I, too, questioned the length of the reviews once the final editing had been done. There were two options: make two 30 minute videos about two toys, or four 15 minute videos about two toys.
For me, 30min seemed ridiculously long, and perhaps having the smaller vids like I did with the 1990-reissue's might have been the way to go.

I find that I can express a lot more in the video as I'm changing something, rather than typing it all out with uncomfortable & awkward phrasing which you then have to spend a lot of time reading.
It's funny- as much as I try to trim out of the videos, I seem to make up all those cut-out chunks of seconds with credits and clever editing! ^^;

Either way, I just wasted an hour of your life. >:)
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 22 April, 2009 - 19:33
Great overview/ Storyline issues?

I love these Bandai reissues. The nostalgia factor is working for me in full effect! The only problem is the price point; here in the mid-west we can turn up vintage Takatoku for comparable prices, if you don't mind a little jiggle here and there. Otherwise, it's hard to tell the difference.

Also, not to be a nag, but every time I see M:DYRL? mentioned anywhere on the internet, it's always placed in an alternate universe. I wonder if there are old heads out there who recall the "Movie Version" element of this film. In other words, back in the day ('84) the film was understood as a movie version of actual events, and said theatrical production took place in the actual Macross universe. In other words, we (you and I) are watching this flick alongside the characters it portrays (Hikaru is in theater with us watching a theatrical version of his exploits.) Therefore "Macross: Do You Remember Love" does not take place in an alternate universe, per se.

This might be the most articulate case I've ever made made for the CFO understanding of this installment of the Macross saga. Perhaps the internet has enabled a better translation of it's intended place within canon, and I'm coming from way out in left field. For added consideration I would note that "Macross II: Lovers Again" was considered a "theatrical sequel," rather than an actual sequel, such as "Plus" or "7". I've seen the alternate universe perspective of the film in many forums, so I would love it if somebody would chime in and bring me up to speed on this. Tell me I'm nuts if I'm pissing you off, please.

In any case, my crappy old VHS Australian dubbed bootleg is looking better and better each passing year.

Materialist Zen's picture
Posted by Materialist Zen on 23 April, 2009 - 15:45
DYRL's place in the cosmos

As far as I know, the whole "alternate universe"-thing came about because Macross II was based on the movie's version of the story rather than the series'. Additionally, M-II was not produced by any of the big names from either the series or first movie, and this reinforces this view.

Up until 1995, this was the standard. Then Macross 7 came out, and did two big things:

  • it mish-mashed scenes and settings from both DYRL and the first series (ex: all Zentradi & Meltrandi retain their DYRL designs/war-of-the-sexes back story, and the Supervision Army does not exist) but places those designs within the continuity of the series (which explains why Milia still had her red VF-1J, rather than Max being 'macronized')
  • M-7 was what then established DYRL- not as an alternate universe- but as a movie-within-a-TV series about itself

(I have not seen Macross Frontier yet, so I don't know how it handles the continuity.)

Now, as far as you and I are concerned, yes, DYRL is still a movie version of the first series, and thus an alternate universe; Macross 7 wasn't even being considered until a decade later, so one would not be related to the other as far as continuity. I don't know the Macross fan base's opinion, but personally I tread DYRL like that rather than as a "movie-within-a-TV series". (Since I've seen Macross 7 recently, however, I may have to change my opinion on this!)

And now I'll step aside so that Atom and DAPDX can have their say since they are some of our resident Macross experts on CDX. ;D
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 23 April, 2009 - 18:35
Eh

The Supervision Army exists in Macross 7 and the war of the sexes does not. Macross 7 takes the STORY of the original TV show as the official version, but the visuals are a mish-mash of DYRL and TV show, leaning towards DYRL.

Previous to Macross Plus, the DYRL version of the story was the "real" one, or the one Big West, the owners of Macross, considered the "real" one. SOME of the creators of the original Macross and DYRL worked on Macross II, namely character designer Mikimoto and the writer of DYRL (and several episodes of the TV show), Tomita. Keep in mind though that Mikimoto had left Studio Nue (designers/creators of Macross) for Studio Artland (directors/animators of Macross) before the original show was even completed. Nue was not involved in Macross II or any of the video games and crap that take place in the DYRL universe prior to Macross II (Macross 2036, Macross: Eternal Love Song, et cetera).

For Macross Plus, Nue and Kawamori were brought back into the picture and the DYRL-verse was quietly swept under the rug. There's still DRYL crap in the later shows for show, and even some Macross II crap (recycled music mostly), but Macross has kind of shaky continuity. It helps that the official timeline thing was worked out AFTERWARDS, not before the show started.

Another thing to note is that the DYRL movie-in-the-series that people watch within Macross 7 is not the same as the actual DYRL we watch here in the real world.

-Jeremy

Destroy All Podcasts DX's picture
Posted by Destroy All Pod... on 23 April, 2009 - 19:41
"...Another thing to note

"...Another thing to note is that the DYRL movie-in-the-series that people watch within Macross 7 is not the same as the actual DYRL we watch here in the real world."

Right- that was all new animation which imitated the DYRL stuff.
Example "A": within that new animation, they had Max & Milia fighting against each other in their [blue-striped] VF-1S and [red] Queadluun Roe(sp?) in space (which didn't happen in either the series or DYRL.) There wasn't much new footage made, so don't worry too much- it was treated documentary-style in Macross 7.
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 23 April, 2009 - 21:54
This is making my head explode

I have NOT seen Macross 7, but it sounds like I should take the time. I've always assumed the design elements of DYRL that permeate Macross continuity were strictly creative license, and not to be adequately explained by any plot point. Thanks for the insight.

Materialist Zen's picture
Posted by Materialist Zen on 23 April, 2009 - 21:59
I crammed both subbed

I crammed both subbed "Macross 7" and the OVA "Macross 7 Encore" off of YouTube in three days. 8D

Of course, had I heard the DAPDX podcast before then warning against doing exactly that... -_-;
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 23 April, 2009 - 22:19
Macross 7

I love Macross 7, but keep in mind it's pretty different in tone from the other Macross stuff. I think on the podcast I said something like, "It's about a rock band that flies around in robots that turn into jets rockin' space aliens so hard they orgasm." It's a gleefully ludicrous concept.

-Jeremy

Destroy All Podcasts DX's picture
Posted by Destroy All Pod... on 24 April, 2009 - 15:34
RAWK!

Yes, that particular podcast cracked me up. I plan to delve into Macross 7 this weekend. Wish me luck.

Materialist Zen's picture
Posted by Materialist Zen on 24 April, 2009 - 21:26
Have fun!

Enjoy! But like I said, I really don't recommend watching Macross 7 marathon style or it will tire you out and feel repetetive. It's a pretty long show and they intended you to watch an episode a day (or week) for a while and not just swallowing it whole!

-Jeremy

Destroy All Podcasts DX's picture
Posted by Destroy All Pod... on 25 April, 2009 - 15:28
Origins Of The Valkyrie VF-1A

This was the month of picking ups items that I never have got around to picking up which includes this OOTV VF-1A, Very Nice! Believe it or not I have never owned a 1/55 Valkyrie as I never had a Jet Fire because I knew I could get the real Macross version from Japan but I couldn't afford a real version back in the 1980's!

But its nice to finally have one sitting in my display case. My only complaint is the color of the booster pack Super Accessories. The color is an ugly dark green color that doesn't look good at all. But overall a great figure. I need to pick up a VF-1J and a Armored set.

Thanks for the review!
LF

Showapop's picture
Posted by Showapop on 22 March, 2011 - 11:20