02.15.08

Yamato 1/72 YF-19 First Edition

Posted in 1/72, Macross Plus, VF/YF-19 Valkyrie, Yamato at 9:16 pm by micronian

 

Review: Each version will now get its own review

Packaging & Extras (3/5)
The first version of this toy is, to my knowledge, Yamato’s first Macross production.  It comes in a large, flimsy box with a large window (Yamato’s now standard packaging usually fits that description).  The first edition is housed in a plastic tray that does nothing to keep the pointy chest from destroying the plastic window in front of it so it’s not uncommon to find some pretty banged up windows for toys that are still MISB (pic of the defective tray below).  Included is a nicely detailed gun and a hand that can be swapped out with the stock to show a more realistic holding of the weapon.  Unfortunately the gun didn’t really fit the hand.  The decals packaged with the 1st edition are also uncut which isn’t a big deal for a guy like me who never applies decals but you might feel otherwise.  Also included is an advertisement of some sort (pictured below) and some decent instructions.

 

Charm & Collectability (3/5)
When I originally produced a review that was for both the original 1/72 scale YF-19 and the improved second edition I noted that Yamato had announced its intentions to build a 1/60 version of the toy and that would likely cripple this toys charm and collectability.  Well, that’s pretty much exactly what happened (comparison pictures from the 1/60 review also provided below).  It used to be hard to find this toy for $150 and now you can easily find it for as little as $100 in perfect condition.  That’s quite the precipitous drop.  Of the two 1/72 editions I still would think the first edition is the most collectible due to its having slightly more diecast (shoulders) and it being EXTREMELY easy to break or otherwise damage which ought to nicely reduce supply.

 

Sculpt, Detail, & Paint (6.5/10)
I do love the YF-19 and I am, and was initially, thrilled to get a perfect transformation version of the toy that looks this good.  That said, it’s still a long ways off from where it should be.  The most notable issue this toy suffers from are unsightly gaps.  When viewing the toy in fighter mode from a bird’s eye view you can actually see straight through to the ground beneath in the area where the arms are tucked beneath the shield (pictures will be provided in the review of the second edition, also note that this was minimized somewhat in the release of the VF-19A.  In battroid mode the toys knees completely expose the internals.  There really is a fair amount of detail here and the paint application is decent.  I’ve dropped half a point in this section from when I first reviewed the toy because the diecast does clash with the plastic as the plastic has a somewhat dull finish and the diecast is extremely shiny.  The closest thing you’ll get in this review to pictures of the toy transformed are these from the side of the box:

 

Design (6/10)
Hey, it was Yamato’s first attempt at a transforming valkyrie, we should cut them some slack.  That’s the same attitude I take to Toynami’s MPC VF-1 veritechs and a lot of blog viewers probably think I’m too generous.  In the YF-19 we see a relatively complex (although I still find it fairly easy) transformation that is supported by tabs that break or otherwise don’t fit.  This first edition also includes tailfins that fold in the wrong direction (kind of inexplicably).  The toy has issues in GERWALK mode which Kawamori himself is partially to blame for (I strongly dislike the 19’s GERWALK).  In that mode the arms of the toy are positioned above the wings, I’m sure you can imagine the problems this causes.  In the end the toy feels a bit sloppy in all modes (although still very enjoyable).  Much of the design of this toy is taken directly from Toycom’s friends at model maker Studio Half Eye (the same is true of the other Mac+ toys Yamato released).  Here are the flaws as pictured below that Yamato acknowledged by fixing them in the second edition: the tabs used in transformation are reinforced and the slots those tabs fit into were slightly expanded, the diecast was replaced by plastic in the shoulders in what seems to be an effort to reduce chipping, similarly, the wingroots on the second edition are no longer painted, not pictured are the tailfins were made to fold the proper direction and the second hand to grip the gun was given a slightly larger hole so the gun can actually be removed. 

 

Durability & Build (3/10)
A darn shame that this toy is so prone to self-destruction.  Yamato’s paint application process either involved no primer at all or is simply inferior.  The paint seems eager to leave the toy and a single transformation could mar it irreparably (hence my not transforming the one I own).  Add to that the poor fit and easily broken tabs and playing with this toy is tantamount to Russian roulette on the toy level.  If you need to transform it take extreme caution…  Since I’m too afraid to risk damaging this toy, below are a couple more scale comparison pics:

 

Articulation (6/10)
As one might expect, this toy has the usual valkyrie shortcomings.  Sadly, no effort was made to get the legs to swivel adequatley which should have been deemed absolutely necessary somewhere in the mid 90s when the engineering of such joints became pretty standard fair.  One of the biggest problem area for many poses is the lack of articulation in the feet but with a figure of this scale that really has to be expected.  There’s no ability for the waist to swivel and many of the joints seem to want to rest at positions just off from where you might like them to be for certain poses.  The arms do have great mobility (as required for transformation) but that’s about the one bright spot.  It is a neat looking toy though and it’s pretty easy to get it into a static position that looks good enough on a shelf even if it’s far from dynamic.

 

Total Score (27.5/50)
It’s important to remember that this toy was made when Yamato still had training wheels on the bike.  There’s actually a lot more to it than that and the history is pretty cool and even involves the creation of Toynami and the dissolution of Toycom (or inception into Yamato if you prefer).  I’m far from an expert here but many people out there have some very heated opinions on the subject.  I’ll stick to the toy itself and let me say that I’d love to see the pre-production version of this toy and see how Yamato or anyone else determine it worked well enough in this state.  I highly suspect that they were working more off the “It looks really cool” factor rather than the “You could play with this thing all day” factor.  Either way, they listened to the people who purchased it, corrected many issues, and re-released it in the better form.  If you’re looking for the ultimate in collectibility stick with the 1st edition as they have got to be pretty rare in primo condition, if you’re looking for a toy you can transform and have a bit more fun with than seek out a 2nd edition. 

NOTE: This is a completely revamped review of a review on both the 1st and 2nd editions.  Revisions include a decrease in score as the newer Yamato 1/60 showed just how much better this toy could have been, exclusion of comments specific to the 2nd edition as it will now have its own review, and many more improved pictures.

Original Post date: July 18, 2006

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