01.21.07

Yamato 1/60 VF-0S (First Edition)

Posted in 1/60, Macross ZERO, VF-0 Zero, Yamato at 5:50 am by micronian

 

Review: I feel pretty, oh so pretty

 

Packaging & Extras: (4.5/5)
First off, yes it’s a Yamato package and yes, the packaging is a little too large and the cardboard’s a little thin. Fortunately the box itself is good if the layout isn’t still a bit awkward (inserts behind the tray the toy comes in, not quite a perfect square so you need to be conscious which way you put things back in the box, that sort of thing). What really shines here are the extras. You get a gun that collapses (in 2 ways), missiles that can be individually removed from their trees, missiles that are pre-painted and gorgeous, a little Focker pilot figure, armor attachments for the legs that attach via magnets (that actually work!), and a Launch Arm connector for either fighter (gray) or GERWALK (white) modes.

 

Charm & Collectibility: (2.5/5)
It’s a little tough to judge this early in the toy’s life cycle but given so many complaints about slight build problems this toy still has managed to keep its collectibility (and price) up. MacrossZero is obviously no where near as popular as the original Macross series but it seems Yamato has worked well to avoid excess supply. That said, Yamato also significantly upgraded the durability of the toy with their second release (The VF-0A Unknown Soldier – a 1.5 edition) so many collector’s are (wisely) waiting for a second edition of the 0S. Should one be released (and I fully anticipate it will be) with all the improvements then I would expect demand for this first edition to tank WAY off. Update 10/30, Yamato has officially released a VF-0S Second Edition and word on the street is that it’s a TRUE Second Edition of the toy featuring all the upgrades from the 1.5 Editions (Shin and Unknown Soldier) as well as new arms that supposedly don’t dissolve! Expect the value of this first edition to tank through the floor as the new score indicates.

 

Sculpt, Detail, and Paint: (9.5/10)
This toy is gorgeous in a lot of ways.  First, the canopy isn’t as bubbly as it is on the 1/48 VF-1.  Second, there are a ton of pre-painted details on the toy which is something I think everyone will love.  There are lots of gadgets on the toy to help with transformation and they’re all seamlessly molded into the toy itself.  Paint (other than details) is sparse but what is there appears very well done.  The head visor does not reveal the method of construction (like the peg on the 1/48 VF-1J) and is just the right hue that it almost makes you feel that it’s lit-up sometimes.  How crazy did Yamato go with detail?  If you open the landing gear and look inside the gear-well you’ll see little lines protruding from the plastic emulating hydraulic lines… that is truly impressive.  The cockpit is so nicely detailed it’s nearly stunning featuring a clear plastic piece to emulate the HUD and graphics for various screens.  There are more examples of greatness in detail but I’ll touch on them more in the design section.

 

Design: (8/10)
The design job on this toy is absolutley top-notch in many ways but with a few glaring issues that take it down a peg.  As noted previously, Yamato worked hard to correct those issues on the VF-0A toy they released subsequently.  First, the good: The landing gears have been revised so they swing downward and then outward to emulate the angled outward appearance in the anime.  Don’t worry though, the landing gears actually hold their position quite well if you want to roll the fighter across your desk.  While you’re admiring the landing gears also admire the detail inside the jet and that the afterburner ring doesn’t need to separate with the feet as it transforms.  Next, the pilot’s seat actually reclines backward so that he’d be sitting nearly level when the fighter turns to battroid.  It’s an absolutely gratuitous touch you can skip all together if you like and you’ll never see it once the heatshield comes down (or the cockpit moves up) but hey, it’s neat!  Also note the nifty hook for aircraft carrier landings that also doubles as the antenna in GERWALK mode.  The transformation is smooth as butter (okay, some times it takes a bit of force) and the transformation mechanisms are hidden perfectly within the toy (and there are lots of ‘em).  If everything operated on this toy exactly as it was intended to I might be very tempted to give it a perfect score… unfortunately all is not perfect here.  First, the feet don’t lock into position in any mode.  While this isn’t nearly the insanely annoying problem I expected it can be a bit of a nuisance to get the vehicle to be completely level in GERWALK or battroid.  Also, I imagine if the sliding mechanism within the feet ever got loose it could prove to be a huge hassle.  The next area of concern is the bicep.  There doesn’t really seem to be anything stopping the bicep from just spinning around… and it tries to do just that in many positions.  The final huge issue that jumped out at me is the toy’s tendency to sag in the mid-section primarily in fighter but also in GERWALK (pic below).  The toy isn’t rigid enough around the mid section so it bows downward a bit causing the gun to scrape the ground and the intakes to come unseated and drop down a bit from the body of the plane.  You may also note in some of the other pictures in fighter mode that near the nose of the fighter the spot where the legs attach in battroid is a little sloppy and loose (you can push it up and get it to look just right but some minor handling may shake it down a bit again).  Much more minor issues include a backpack system that doesn’t seem to hold the backpack tight enough to the battroid (although if you press with all your might you may find it would stick… but after the 1/48 backpacks everyone is too caustious to try that) and a piece for the Launch Arm that faces the screws forward instead of to the aft of the plane.  Yes, Yamato still prefers chicken hands.  One last element I’ll include here, the hole in the gun’s handle that is supposed to attach the gun to the arms is too small for the peg it needs to fit into… a major error that takes some real effort to not look entirely sloppy (or you could just shave the hole in the handle out a bit more).

Durability & Build: (4/10)
Oh what a sad existence this toy has when it comes to durability and build.  First off, fresh out of the case you should immediately inspect the tailfins as something somewhere along the line has caused several toys to have had their tail-spikes broken in the box.  Next, you should try to attach the leg armors to the plane as rumors initially abounded that some toys came with reversed polarity magnets that would actually try to push the armors away from the leg rather than sucking them in (on one or both legs).  Next you should transform the toy and be careful not to break the backpack.  The flap behind the backpack does not come up to cover the jet nozzles, it just stays pointed outward (this isn’t a flaw with the toy, that’s how it should be).  Once you have the toy in GERWALK mode here’s a helpful hint, the reverse-knee actually rolls out a bit from the leg to get the more angled stance shown in pictures here and the instruction manual (although the instruction manual doesn’t seem to mention that).  Now that your toy is in GERWALK you can check for two more problems.  First, make sure neither one of the shoulders has the screws facing toward the front of the valk.  Now, unscrew the shoulder covers and check the joint underneath.  Apparently Yamato over-tightened the screws (or engaged in some other manufacturing SNAFU) and as a result the slightest movements of the arms may lead to the shoulder joints cracking.  Once you’ve got the covers off you are highly recommended to immediately loosen the screws.  There’s no guarantee this will keep the shoulders from breaking but it certainly can’t hurt. Now go ahead and transform the toy into battroid mode.  Don’t do this while sitting down on the couch, it’s recommended you do it over a table just in case any little tidbits fall out as there were some scattered reports of pins becoming unseated.  Now, if nothing has fallen off up until this point and you’ve loosened the shoulders you might just end up loving this toy… now if you can only remember where you put the pitot tube (tube off the front of the vehicle) after you removed it to transform the toy.

 

Articulation: (9/10)
I was honestly a little bit skeptical at first about how manageable this toy would be.  The toy has no locking feet, a reputation for loose fit, and what looks like a very thick waistline very close to the hips; all attributes that would bode poorly for shelf exhibitionists.  Fortunately, none of those problems seem to hamper poseability at all.  In fact, the looseness of fit makes the GERWALK a bit more fun… I found it easier to pose than the 1/48 VF-1 in that mode.  There’s no twisting point at the waist on this toy which is a bit of a bummer but really it’s barely noticeable due ot the excellent range of motion in the hips.  No, you’re not going to be able to make this toy do the spilts but you can certainly pool off some very aggressive stances.  The non-locking feet can also actually be used for a benefit as well.  The only real bummer I found were the big chest pieces that come up above the shoulder line… they make it difficult to have the toy stand off-center since those chest pieces will obscure the toy’s face.  Obviously this is an issue to take up with Kawamori (the mech’s designer) more so than Yamato. 

 

Total Score: (37.5/50)
Despite all its flaws I really do like this toy a lot… much more so than I expected. Still, I have to imagine Yamato will re-release it further down the road and after a few more Zero releases the next 0S will likely be an absolutely stellar toy. Of course, there’s no guarantee they’ll ever re-release it but remember that the 1/48 VF-1S Focker has been reissued five times. With upcoming releases of the 1/60 Ghost and Shin/Ghost Giftset it seems likely Yamato will want to get more Zero toys out to go with the accessory kit. Please also note that the 0A has very fragile shoulders also. Now some of you will look at your 1/48 VF-1S next to your 1/60 VF-0S and become confused about the scales since the toys stand approximately the same size next to each other. This is because most objects in Macross would be comparatively very large in real life sitting next to a VF-1 valkyrie. The VF-1 is an absolute midget in comparison and a 1/60 VF-1 and a 1/60 VF-0S reflect this and are properly in scale… even if the 1/48 VF-1 looks more natural next to the 1/60 VF-0S on your bookshelf. Below are some pics to prove my point. In the first pic note that the cockpits of the two planes are about the same size even though the VF-0S is an absolute whale next to the VF-1. In the next pic, I have demonstrated how well the pilots of the two planes actually swap. Note that the swapping pilots doesn’t quite work because of the fact the VF-1 pilot has a shrunken torso and no lower body so that it could fit in the VF-1 toy but its’ not hard to imagine them actually working. Finally there’s a picture of the two 1/60 pilots next to a 1/48 pilot, look at how big the head of the 1/48 pilot and the fists are in comparison to the 1/60 pilots. Update 10/30/07 – The Second Edition is upon us so try to avoid scooping up a First Edition and look for one of the newer releases!.

 

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