09.11.08

Toynami 1/55 Masterpiece VF-1 (Volumes 1-5)

Posted in 1/55, Macross/Robotech TMS, Toynami, VF-1, VT, VE Valkyrie at 9:15 am by micronian

Review (Updated): No, it’s still not Jetfire

 

Packaging & Extras (5/5)
Toynami does packaging well, very well.  A little too well if you ask me.  I don’t like knowing that I paid for a box.  I like it even less when I can see that I paid for an overly extravagant box.  This is purely a personal preference I suppose as clearly some people must display their toys within the boxes.  Volumes 1 & 2, were shipped in pure white shipping boxes that have absolutely no indication of what is inside (left in picture above).  This oversight was corrected by upgrading to a box that included a portrait of the character within and a build number located (usually) on the top fold.  By the time Toynami made it to their 4th MPC (Max) they had upgraded to what is now their standard shiny white box (no longer a matte finish) with the portrait on the side and the build number on top.  Extras are nice but with these newer toys they’re exactly what should be expected.  A pilot is provided for the cockpit (pictured below).  This pilot figure is a major pain to actually get seated properly but he’s painted to match the show and detailed nicely.  Missiles are provided for the wings in three-group clusters.  An antenna attachment is provided for the backpack of the vehicle for when it’s transformed to “Guardian” mode.  The little ladder provided goes beyond where most companies would probably stop and is a cute addition for those who plan on dressing the veritech up in a display.  The gun supplied has an expanding stock and looks detailed and decent (pictured below).  Overall, a pretty nice package with plenty of options.  I’m giving it a perfect score but there are a few areas I would nitpick.  For one, it’d be very nice to have a gunstrap.  For another, the toy sometimes comes with loose pieces of plastic (part of the manufacture process) within the tray that holds the toy.  I initially panicked thinking my toy was broken but the pieces of plastic I have found in two different trays didn’t belong to the toy and I have no idea why they were there (small little white circles… they almost look like they could be use to conceal screws).  Those who purchased directly from Robotech.com received an mock animation cell to go with their purchase (limited to 3,000 if I’m not mistaken).  The picture below shows the inner tray of the book with the accessories.  EDIT – Note that the instructions and decals are taped to the back of the box so if you’re buying one in the secondary market you should ask if they have ever been removed (it often tears the box).

Charm & Collectability (3/5) +1 Rick, +1 Roy
This does vary from make to make and it will only vary more as the years go by.  It’s a pretty safe bet that Rick and Roy will always have the most collectable versions.  Toynami already caused an artificial spike in demand for Roy’s when they failed to distribute the full 15,000.  At one point the price for one of these was nearly 4x MSRP!  Then toynami flooded the market with the remaining several thousand dropping the price down to a much more respectable click.  Just the same, it’s pretty universally accepted that the MSRP on these things causes unrealistic expectations for what the toy should deliver and has driven down both the toy’s charm and its collectability.  As it is, retailers seem nearly completely unable to move Ben Dixon and Miriya Sterling pieces at almost a quarter of original MSRP with many others still not selling for the original price.  Even the two most demanded versions, several years after their initial release, still demand only the slightest of premiums.  Time will tell how things develop here.  In the meantime, all of these are limited in quantity, contain diecast, and transform so the potential for collectibility is certainly there.  It’ll be interesting to see how much the very strong competition does to affect that potential.  On a side note, those animation cells people received with their Robotech.com orders seem to be developing their own secondary market.  EDIT – With Yamato’s new 1/60 2.0 on the market, being vastly superior and similarly priced to the Toynami MPC’s original MSRP, I’ve gone ahead and shaved down the score here half a point.  Bandai’s release of the Origin-of-Valkyrie toys will further dillute the VF-1 market.  I’m not bashing the score down here too low since all of these figures are numbered and there are so many completists out there.

 

Sculpt, Detail, and Paint (7/10)
If you’re familiar with the Bandai High Complete Model released in the 1980s then the Toynami MPC should seem immediately familiar to you.  For the most part Toynami just took the HCM and increased its scale from 1/72 to 1/55.  Some minor tweaks were made.  The original HCMs had exagerrated head lasers that looked almost like bunny ears and a bit more squat in the mid-section.  Of course, the HCM was also only offered in three variants and I would be remiss to not mention that Toynami has doubled that effort.  The paint jobs here are all animation accurate and there are a fair amount of panel lines and details to please the eye.  There are a few places though where the toy shows some significant flaws.  First, following the HCM’s poor lead, the leg intakes look terrible in every mode except battloid.  In fact, that section, and the section directly above it, make the fighter mode look terribly cheap with gaps abounding. The landing gears are very nice but the doors concealing them could have been handled better in terms of matching the animation.  That said, this thing looks fantastic in Guardian mode.  The hands are top notch and hold the gun well and look good on their own.  The battloid mode is pretty well proportioned but the head does appear to be slightly shrunk… undoubtedly done to prevent it from looking so bulbous and out of place in fighter mode.  All in all, it’s a decent representation but not a great one by any means.  The first pic below shows the extra effort they managed on the trap door, the third pic shows the detail in the feet for burners.

 

Design (7/10)
How do you improve upon a 15+ year old design besides making it larger?  Toynami answered this question by adding a swivel joint to the leg, an antenna to the Guardian mode (removable), a light in the visor (gimmick pictured below), and diecast in the legs.  These are nice additions but they’re far short of what could have been done.  The diecast in the legs make the legs heavier and more prone to swinging down in fighter mode.  There are a couple of pegs added (second picture below) to help prevent this but their implementation is done horribly and seldom fixes the problem.  As mentioned previously, the fighter mode of the vehicle is riddled with problem areas that keep it from achieving an aggressive fighter stance/look. This was Toynami’s first stab at a real quality product and I think their effort here really shows that.  The designers took the easy way out the entire route… but the hands are nice (check the third pic).

 

Durability & Build (6.5/10)
This is a little tough for me to judge because I’ve heard a world of complaints.  I’ve seen first hand some pretty minor items.  The most annoying to me are the head lasers on my VF-1S.  I’ve owned two and the second one features one laser that’s a bit crooked as seen in the third pic below (both Max & Miriya show a bit of warping as well).  Beyond that I’ve seen some oily finger smudges and a few paint flaws.  The heads on the Ben Dixon’s just don’t look right to me either.  Most of them look like the very front eye piece is a little skewed one direction or another.  Sometimes the missles don’t lock into the wings very well.  I’ve heard some complaints that the head light didn’t work for any number of reasons.  Honestly though, while the toy does feel a little cheap, and no where near as sturdy as the Takatoku, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to break apart in your hand.  The joints don’t quite seem to click like they should but all of mine are sturdy enough to hold poses.  Lots of improvements could have been made but, for the most part, these toys will hold up.  I should probably note here that the original Rick Hunter MPC contains less diecast (in the calf area) than the subsequent releases and supposedly has the worst track record of all the MPCs.  I have owned more Rick Hunters than any of the others though and I would say it is no more prone to flaw than the ones that followed it.  One thing to watch for, the backs of the legs are painted diecast and are supposed to attach to a metal area above in fighter mode.. this can easily cause chipping as shown in the first picture below.

 

Articulation (7/10)
There are two major points of articulation that are sorely missing from this product.  The first, impossible due to the swingbar style of transformation, is a swivel point at the waist.  It seems standard operating procedure that toys that were created in the 1980s without twisting waists are reproduced in today’s era with this ability.  Unfortunately, Toynami was unable to find some way to make this happen.  The second major point of articulation missing on this toy, more important than the first, are the hips. Had the hips been capable of establishing a wide stance this toy would be hugely improved.  Once the legs can point outward the ankles probably would need some more articulation as well.  The inclusion of a swivel point above the knee is a huge advance over the original Bandai HCM design (and its Takatoku predecessors) but this toy stops just short of being very fun to pose (see pics above, that’s about as crazy as you’ll get).

 

Total Score (35.5/50)
This isn’t a particularly bad or great representation of the classic Robotech Veritech.  Had this toy initially been sold at a $59.99 price point I think it would have received a much warmer welcome to collectors near and far.  Really, there just isn’t quite enough there to warrant the $79.99 price tag it originally had especially when one considers the likelihood of receiving a bent head laser or paint smudge.  I know it has been a resounding failure but I would also like to commend Toynami for giving the Ben Dixon MPC a shot.  It would be nice to see other companies give that paint variation a shot, if not just as a Limited Edition.
 

 

You may know some people that hate this toy and you might not understand why so perhaps a little history lesson is in order.  Some people will hate this toy because it’s a licensed Harmony Gold product and HG is often viewed as the villain that has kept the original Macross series and merchandise locked out of the US and other markets.  Other people will hate this toy because they don’t like Toynami due to some drama involved in the company’s creation and the demise of another company, Toycom.  Many people dislike Toynami because of how eager they are to create hype well before they have a solid product.  The VF-1 MPC is an excellent example of this.  At the 2001 San Diego Comic Convention (07/01) Toynami showed off a 1/65 scale “MPC” that they were planning on producing.  At the time they had no idea how many they were going to make, if the scale was final, or what features the toy would include.  In 11/01 Toynami finally revealed the finished product and RT.com started taking preorders in the following month.  Those preorders were not delivered until nearly SEVEN months later AND after preorders had been taken, Toynami increased their production numbers effectively decreasing the value of the toy people had already purchased.

NOTE: This review has been updated – many more pictures were added and existed pictures were cleaned up. 

This review has been updated again, some pictures were combined for ease of viewing, other pictures were cleaned up, and the intro picture is new.  Content has also been added due to the release of Yamato’s 1/60 version 2 and Bandai’s Origin of Valkyrie series.

Original Post Date: May 29, 2006

First update: January 13, 2007

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