07.25.07
CharaWorks 1/144 VF-1 Valkyries (Series 1)
Review: More Model than Toy
Packaging & Extras: (3/5)
These items are sold in a modern gashapon style where a person buys a box that contains several toys but no guarantee that you will get one of each toy in the series. The art on the boxes (both the larger box and the individual boxes) are nice, the packaging is efficient, and as a bonus these little guys come with their own stands. I was pretty impressed by the range of movement I was able to achieve with the stands (mostly attributable to the fact the toys themselves are so light). The big bummer here is that the parts for the landing gears (closed or open) all come attached on sprues that you have to then break free. I did find that everything broke away from the sprue quite easily with minimal flash but I absolutely hate having to be the one that does that. In fact, for that very reason, I have only pictured one example of the regular VF-1 and one example of the Strike VF-1 in this review (sorry). One thing that is kind of cool to note is that both the decal sheet and the instruction/information leaflet are personalized to the contents of the box as demonstrated below.
Charm & Collectibility: (3.5/5)
It’s a little too early to give a definitive score in this section. The “Chase” toy (chase: a limited production toy randomly placed in some boxes and not others) is Max’s VF-1A robed in a Zentraedi outfit which is really original (pictured in the lower left-hand corner of the first photo below). Since the chase is limited there’s a good likelihood that it might some day be a hot ticket item. It also seems like there weren’t very large numbers of these produced as they quickly sold out in most locations. If you think you may want these some day then now is definitely the time for you to buy. Since they did sell so well it also seems likely we’ll see a Series 2… feel free to speculate on what valks would be in that set. Before spending too much on these remember that there’s no diecast here, no transformation, and the scale is ridiculously small. This is probably a good time to dispell some misinformation as well. When these toys were in pre-release preorder form there was a lot of information out there that just didn’t seem to pan out, or if it has it’s in some way that is not at all apparent to me. Originally these toys were said to be in production by Bandai, that was then changed to Popy, and finally they came out under the CharaWorks name. Also, these toys were said to feature “Magnet Action” or have some diecast content, they have neither.
Sculpt, Detail, and Paint: (8.5/10)
WHOA, these things are tiny but BEAUTIFUL. The benefit of having no transformation and essentially no poseable parts is that this toy is really not a toy at all, it’s a model, and models can be made with much more detail. Look at the picture below comparing Banpresto’s supposedly 1/144 transformable Valkyrie next to the CharaWorks piece. Now check out the pics below to see the real weakness here. The pieces made to conceal the landing gear bays aren’t really a perfect fit and I suppose that’s necessary to prevent them from getting lodged permanently but it just doesn’t look quite right. When the landing gears are attached instead things look much better but the plane does have a bit of a hot rod stance with the nose angled too far down when resting on those landing gears (pictured in the articulation section). One thing that stands out as very odd to me is that the non-super VF-1Js all come with Reflex Weaponry which just looks odd without the all the armor bulking up the vehicle.
Design: (4/10)
No transformation, no articulation, what’s really here to judge? Well, they did make it so this toy can hook up to a display stand with minimal intrusion to the aesthetic of the craft. The other area this “toy” gets points for is for featuring the ability to be displayed on its landing gears or with gear bays closed for flight. They Really did go the extra mile with the landing gears and all the doors which connect easily and look good in place. Pictured below is an example of the toy with landing gear bays closed (and the somewhat sloppy look they have) and then with landing gears opened.
Durability & Build: (6/10)
These toys are little, light, and sometimes look like they were built in a bit of a hurry. In fact, the reason this toy is scoring below average here is for the occasional slop that can be noted upon closer inspection. Shown below are two paint smears I found on the only two examples I examined closely. It seems that all the complaints I’ve read on the Internet stem from similar build-quality issues. Add questionable build quality to a toy that is tiny and it’s a pretty safe assumption that this toy isn’t going to hold up to a real thrashing but since it’s essentially a model it’s doubtful it’d be subjected to too much trauma.
Articulation: (1/10)
The display stand can be pivoted. The wings do not move, the cockpit does not open, there is no airbrake, no adjustment to the tailfins, no angling of the burners, nothing. The wheels on the landing gears don’t move, the landing gears don’t open and close, they are removed and replaced. It seems a little rough to give a plane such a low score though so if you’re doing your own weighting definitely take into consideration how important this would be for you on a gashapon-style fighter jet anyway.
Total Score: (26/50)
Note my little disclaimer at the end of the articulation section, you might not find articulation at all important for judging this vehicle. If that’s the case, the score rises to a 25/40 and if you’re not expecting anything brilliant in the design then the score jumps again to 21/30 which brings it all the way up to an average score. I think that’s probably about right if you go into this product knowing what it is and what to expect then I think you’ll find it performs relatively well. The most important factor here has got to be its level of detail and it does very well there, it’s just a shame that the production quality isn’t good enough to make satisfaction more assured. Now, if you’re looking for something fun to own, especially with the price of these continuing to rise, you would probably do better to pay attention to the true total score given here and actually shop around and find a real TOY to buy.
Hiriyu said,
September 28, 2007 at 5:28 am
A slight addition/correction I’d like to point out:
In the articulation section, it should be noted that any of the units without missiles do in fact have a geared wing-sweep. The models with wing-mounted weapons have fixed wings.
micronian said,
September 28, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Thanks! See, that’s what I get for only using two of these guys to do a review of the entire set. That helps make these guys more comparable to the Doyushas… an angle I’ll certainly have to take up in my review of series 2 when that becomes available.