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Exclusive 1/55 Scale Battle Damaged Strike Valkyrie

Comments

13 comments posted
Thanks For this Great article

Been a big fan of your website. This is truly a touching story. Many Thanks for sharing. Truly, a Battle Damaged toy that has a meaning and a story to tell.

TheFallen's picture
Posted by TheFallen on 26 September, 2007 - 19:30
I remember getting this from

I remember getting this from you. I also vividly remember the pain of finding out that you had sold all your other valkyries and alpha fighters to the comic store for next to nothing. "WHy didn't you ask me?" I cried....

I got the consolation prize, your fire damaged valkyrie. It did sort of jump-start the collecting though, and I kept it all these years. I even cleaned it at one point...

But I am glad it found its way home - thanks for the loaner!

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CollectionDX Admin

JoshB's picture
Posted by JoshB on 27 September, 2007 - 08:56
I had fire in my room around

I had fire in my room around the age of 13 or so and lost a few things like my officers battle pod. My Matchbox SDF-1 was pretty badly mangled the towers were warped. It similarly plays the roll of "battle damaged."

I've got a roughed up Cyclone as well.
--
http://www.shadowsend.com

Shadow27's picture
Posted by Shadow27 on 27 September, 2007 - 11:30
In a comment left elsewhere

In a comment left elsewhere on CDX, a 1/55 VS-1S Super Valkyrie (in Roy's colors) was one of the early beginnings of my own collection, and remains one of my most treasured pieces. (I think that my DX Draias character from "Brave of the Sun Fighbird" (1991) is the only surviving piece to predate the Valkyrie, by a few years.)

One thing I'd like to ask, though, about the one seen here. You say that you got this in 1986? That's from before I got mine in 1990. But the head sculpt and paint apps are different on yours; also, the cockpit shield seems to be painted on, while mine has an accessory that fits over the transparent cockpit. Only other place I've seen those is in the recent reissues in the last few years. How is this possible?
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 27 September, 2007 - 13:28
bandai reissued it in the

bandai reissued it in the 90s with a new head sculpt.

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CollectionDX Admin

JoshB's picture
Posted by JoshB on 27 September, 2007 - 14:00
Re: bandai reissued it in the

JoshB said:
"bandai reissued it in the 90s with a new head sculpt."

Wait a minute... Technically I got mine on a time-lag of a few years, after 1990. The visor and mouth shield on mine are more on-screen-accurate because they're curved, but this one and the reissues from the 2000s are more angular. Yet Atom's is from before the '90s. Who's is the resculpt, mine or Atom's? The 2005(?) reissues use the sculpt from the pre-90s, but not the ones from the '90s; is that right?
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 27 September, 2007 - 14:51
Re: Eva

HA! I didn't even notice that the heat shield was in place (instead of the canopy) in your fighter and GERWALK shots!

Details, schmetails!

--
Sanjeev

Sanjeev's picture
Posted by Sanjeev on 27 September, 2007 - 18:29
a little

a little clarification:

Takatoku VF-1s

http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/toys/super_vf-1s.jpg

bandai HI-Metal VF-1s (1983)

http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/toys/bandstrike_2.jpg

Bandai VF-1s fokker (1990)

http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/toys/bandsuper_3.jpg

Bandai VF-1s 2002 reissue

http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/toys/bandai-reissue-1s-super/box-1.JPG

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CollectionDX Admin

JoshB's picture
Posted by JoshB on 27 September, 2007 - 19:13
Re: a little

Ah-ha! The third link down exactly matches mine- the one with the box that is enclosed with the Valkyrie artwork reaching for you, but contains the Super Pack along with the basic yellow VF-1S. (I think I still have the box...!)
It says "Hi-Metal" on the box; does that have any significance?

The most noticeable differences aside from the resculpt and cockpit cover I can find on mine are some new paint apps-

  • sensors on both wrists were added/painted (mine has none)
  • circles on both inside/outside of ankle are painted red (mine are blank)
  • thin black lines painted across legs just below knee joint/landing gear door (mine has no stripe)
  • red/blue triangles above landing gear (mine has none)
  • knee joints are painted black (mine have no paint)
  • black stripe painted across backpack between the thrusters (mine has no stripe)

-and a few decals-

  • 'warning labels' across backpack, chest, back of hands, and above hip joints & knees, and on toes (mine has none)
  • small red squares on outside of legs (mine has none)
  • red circles on gunpod (mine came with only the UN Spacy label and a single yellow 'caution' square)
  • pilot name below cockpit (mine had none)

(Uhhh... Josh? How come your links didn't change into links? I had to copy/paste them to open them. O.o?)
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 27 September, 2007 - 22:14
A great story, no doubt...

Yeah, always good to hear that tale, Atom! And now, with pictures!

I don't think I have too many of such stories. I mean, I only have a small handful of toys actually from my childhood. Sure, they're precious to me, but not exactly news-worthy like this, y'knowmsayin?

Instead, I've been lucky enough to retain other collectors from my childhood! For me, the passion of collecting isn't so much about the toys, themselves--it's about sharing that passion with people. Just like Josh's involvement in Atom's story is a big part of what makes it so great, all my truly "great" toy moments have been ones where I've shared an otherwise fine toy experience with one or more of my buddies. In particular, Dennis "Doc" B. (who comments here every now and then) and I have had countless adventures since we met on the playground of our local elementary school back in '91. At first, we weren't into toys at all; as mature junior high school students, toys were *far* too childish for our refined tastes! Indeed, most of our time (and dollars) were spent towards the much more adult pursuit of comic books!

Still, it didn't take long for us to start sharing nostalgic stories of old cartoons we used to watch when we were little. We would pool our memories of silly old PSA commercials, cheesey shows of American properties like Centurions or Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, and, of course dubbed anime like Tranzor Z, Starblazers, and Grandizer and the rest of the Force Five gang.

Just an aside: one of the biggest bones of contention between us was my assertion that there existed a cartoon about 3 dudes who piloted a cowboy-themed super robot! Doc refused to believe me...for years...until I finally found evidence of the show (thanks, interweb!): Saber Rider and the Star Sherrifs!

Anyway, the main focus of our collecting was still comics. We started going regularly to Primate Productions' comic conventions (then at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel...now, renamed the Radisson). There, we met many fan-subbed anime dealers (yeah, remember umpteenth-generation vhs???) and, of course, dealers in old US cartoons. We eventually found actual tapes of Force Five...and spent endless hours wearing them (and our VCRs) out! Good times!

Of course, I eventually lost interest in comics, and by the time I was in college, a whole new market of nostalgia-based collectors' toys was emerging in Japan. Thanks again to the internets and cash from working part-time, toys quickly started to become my thing...and the rest is history...

And even though nowadays Doc will tell ya that I have way too many toys, he still likes coming over and checking out my latest scores and engaging in some good toyetic conversation!

...

By the way, Atom, if I'd known you were gonna put that Yamato Max's -1A alongside your Bandai Strike -1S, I woulda lit it on fire before giving it to ya! ;)

--
Sanjeev

Sanjeev's picture
Posted by Sanjeev on 27 September, 2007 - 14:15