08.14.06

Banpresto 1/144 VF-1 (Series 2)

Posted in 1/144, Banpresto, Macross/Robotech TMS, VF-1, VT, VE Valkyrie at 6:53 am by micronian

 

REVIEW: Napoleon complex in toy form

Packaging & Extras (3/5)

I kind of got into the Banpresto thing completely backward. I started with one of the super releases and those actually come with quite a nice array of accessories. Starting there and then getting one of the original releases is a good way to be set up for all sorts of let down. The packaging is nice enough but it’s almost humorous when you pull the blue plastic tray out of the box and find that every single thing has been positioned to be prominently displayed in the box’s window and the remainder of the packaging only serves to mislead potential buyers. You do get the nifty optional heads so if you’ve ever wanted to see what Hikaru’s plane would have looked like had he not jumped to a 1J initially (starting in a 1A instead) or had he made skull leader (1S) in his original TV plane than you can do so. I do commend Banpresto for this and wish we’d see more companies do that. You get a gun and some hands also. You do not get a swappable heatshield, landing gears, missiles, or any other frill.

Charm & Collectibility (2/5)

However they may rank as a toy, these things can make a fine addition to a display case if you’re not a stickler for scales (I can’t really say that these things fit any particular scale really although they’re commonly referred to as being 1/144). If you need a small valk to fill in the recesses of your display then there’s a Banpresto available to meet your need. Lacking diecast, size, a limited status, and/or rave reviews pretty much guarantees these things will never demand a hefty premium or be extremely sought after.

 

Sculpt, Detail, & Paint (5.5/10)

As you might expect, with a reduction in scale comes concessions in the look of the product. For the most part these still do a good job looking like the valks you know and love… but there are definitely some departures. The way the canopy sinks into the cockpit immediately uglifies the fighter mode. The arms of the figure feature either a recess or a large protrusion (depending which side you’re looking at) meant to enable the figure to carry the gun in fighter mode obviously at the expense of all other modes. Sadly, once the gun is in position in fighter mode it hangs down ridiculously low anyway. The way the fins attach to the rear backpack is also a travesty of both design and aesthetics… yuck. So, overall, it has some pretty big flaws but once you look beyond them it does seem like a fair represenation that certainly could have been much worse. There is some detail but nothing substantial and the paint on my samples seems average at best.

 

Design (6/10)

For the most part this toy just features the good ol’ fashioned Takatoku design that is actually enhanced through the inclusion of ball-joints. Unfortunately, it has some pretty major issues that keep it from being executed as nice as one would think when hearing it’s an upgraded Takatoku design. The manner in which the arms lock together as to ruin the sculpt is sloppy at best. A piece with this little mass needs to be brought together in a manner that solidifies its form and while some effort is present in the form of tabs that hold the intakes and back of the knees to the belly of the plane it’s clear that more effort would have helped. While this will be expounded upon in the build section, the toy is also sorely lacking in design as something should have been done to make up for its clear deficiencies in stability, rigidity, and durability. Have I mentioned how lame the backpack is?

 

Durability & Build (3/10)

Approach this toy with more than a fair amount of patience… it is, at all times, only moments away from falling apart like generic Legos (c). I would rank this thing even lower in this category if it weren’t for the fact that the extreme meltdowns it is prone to don’t leave any lasting damage… most of the time you just have to invest some time and effort into putting it back together. The materials used feel really cheap and are easily broken so you should be aware a catastrophic meltdown may just be a tweak away. To this day I don’t know if the lasers on the heads turn because when I apply pressure to them everything just bends but I would presume all the heads lasers are supposed to move because that’s what it shows in the instructions. On some samples the hands don’t really seem to stay in their sockets, on others it seems really difficult to get them in or pull them out. As you might expect on a toy this small, tolerances are a clear problem in any mode and do detract from the overall look of the product. Also don’t be surprised if some of the joints are so loose it ruins the “pose-ability” of the toy.

 

Articulation (8/10)

 Albeit an extremely frustrating effort, these toys are quite poseable. Whatever you do, don’t pull on anything or rotate anything carelessly or you’ll end up with a limb in your hand and collapsed rubble on your shelf. With some patience and a rebuild or two you can eventually pull off some pretty nifty moves. The only joint really lacking here is a rotation point at the knee… but seeing as fragile and sloppy this toy is without it it’s probably a good thing that that joint was omitted. In battloid mode this joint actually isn’t that sorely missed though as you can actually rotate the hip so far out that it points away from the body. Unfortunately, when the intakes are locked in place for GERWALK mode being able to rotate the hip doesn’t help anymore leaving GERWALK to look pretty stiff.  It has been pointed out to me that you can compensate for this by simply disconnecting the intakes, you can see the compromise in the pics below.  The shoulders of this product are also a bit problematic as they don’t offer enough resistance to have the valk actually lifting the gun above its head and limit the arm’s overall mobility.

 

Total Score (27.5/50)

They’re cheap! If you actually took some time and modified these things to be stiffer and better built then they might prove quite fun. Honestly though, do yourself a favor and get the super version. It’s true the super/strike parts that Banpresto made are complete after-thoughts that work horribly with the toys themselves but at least that way there you’ll get landing gears and a swappable heatshield. I also seemed to think my super version of the toy held together ever-so-slightly better but that may just be a build difference between the samples. I did score the super/strike version 2 points higher than this, 1 point for extras and 1 point for collectibility but hindsight leads me to believe I scored the first too high in collectibility… but I still think the super is 2 points better than this version. Anyway, if you see these on sale somewhere for like $5 and you have a void in your display case then go ahead and pick one up. Once you start getting around the $15 mark for these things then you’re really much better suited getting a Toynami 1/100 or saving up $30-$40 to buy a bargain priced Yamato 1/60 or Toynami 1/55 MPC.

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