07.06.08

Doyusha 1/144 Diecast Valkyrie Series (VF-1, YF-19, and YF-21)

Posted in 1/144, Doyusha, Macross Plus, Macross/Robotech TMS, VF-1, VT, VE Valkyrie, VF/YF-19 Valkyrie, YF-21 Valkyrie at 6:15 am by micronian

 

Review: For the Diecast Diehards 

Packaging & Extras (3.5/5)
There’s no doubt that these toys were meant to appear like high-end collectibles with their very sturdy, jewel-box-esque, containers. These toys were packaged with some extra care to make sure the paint doesn’t rub off too much on its journey to your home including little pieces of plastic strategically placed within the box. As great as all this is there really aren’t any extras to speak of. There are removeable landing gears (I think they’re removeable but I gave only a minor tug and the landing gear didn’t pop off so maybe they’re permanently affixed… if you know for sure leave a comment!) but that’s a out it and a display stand is sorely missed.

 

Charm & Collectability (3.5/5) (+1.5 for event exclusive)
Comprised mostly of diecast these toys definitely stand apart from gashapon figures of similar scale. As with any toy that involves repaints, some paint schemes are much more collectable than others. One thing to note: while a Hikaru 1J was advertised it was never released. There’s also one wildcard here, there was a bronze YF-19 (unpainted) produced for a toy show in Japan in very limited quantities. That toy in particulary should get a nearly perfect score in this category.  I will update this page when I can track down this show exclusive.

 

Sculpt, Detail, and Paint (8.5/10)
I was impressed by the level of detail in these figures. They’re not perfect but they do pretty well for themselves at this scale. The only more detailed VF-1 in this scale is the Charaworks series but those toys don’t have nearly the finish of these toys and not even a fraction of the painted on details. I think it would have been nicer if the canopy wasn’t so smoky but was instead clear and revealed a detailed cockpit.

Design (4/10)
There were modest intentions here and they were met. All the planes feature wings that can be manipulated but not much else. There are no opening cockpits here and I’m not sure how easily… if at all even, the landing gears could be removed (as mentioned earlier). They look like they’re just pegs installed but they are very well stuck into place. Definitely don’t buy these toys for their tricks… think of them simply as the Hot Wheels of the Macross universe.  One other thing to note, the YF-21 comes with its yellow antenna (or whatever the yellow fin on top is) attached to a sprue and needs to be installed separately; I did not do this.

 

Durability & Build (9/10)
The paint job on my samples is all impeccable and they’re all diecast so they’re built to last. You’ll want to be careful with the paint but there’s nothing about them that makes paint chipping a particularly prevalent problem. An adult handling these will not have to worry about having something suddenly break on them but don’t go tossing them about the house as you might really hurt someone if they were accidentally hit by one and I suppose something like the cockpit area might break.

 

Articulation (3/10)
Did I mention that the wings move? I did? Well then there’s really nothing more to add here.

 

Total Score (30.5/50)
These are definitely much higher quality pieces than the Chara-Works series but they’re also a lot tougher on the wallet.  I may be mistakend but I believe the original MSRP was in the $29.99 price range.  If you’re into models and don’t care for diecast you’re much better off buying the much cheaper CharaWorks figures, doing some clean-up work to them, and displaying those instead. If you’re into diecast collectibles then you’ll definitely enjoy these Doyushas. I’d be a lot happier if these came with little display stands and more easily removed landing gears.

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