09.13.08
Toynami 1/55 VF-1 Appendices A, B, & C
Review(Updated): Mo’ Missiles, Mo’ Boosters, Mo’ Armor
Packaging & Extras (4/5)
Originally I gave this toy a perfect score since the box is so darned nice. I’m dropping that score down by one. Everything here is great but it’s not like Toynami included anything not absolutely necessary to the fast packs and a perfect score should be reserved for companies that do manage to throw in some bonus items. That said, this toy’s packaging is still a good bit above average as it comes in an only slightly smaller bookcase (width-wise only) than the MPCs. The Rick Hunter appendix A has been reissued once. You can tell the difference from an original and a reissue in that the original has the picture of Rick on the outter white box (see picture above). Reissues came in a box that was completely devoid of that picture.
Charm & Collectability (4/5)
This score is definitely subject to change as this accessory is NOT a limited edition item. Toynami has made absolutely no promise that they won’t flood the market at some future date with more releases of any of these products. Having already reissued Rick’s, I think it’s a pretty safe bet that Max, if not Max AND Miriya, will be seeing another release as the secondary market is now demanding five times MSRP. It has now gotten to the point that all three appendices are either sold out everywhere or will be soon and I still anticipate a re-release at some future date.
Sculpt, Detail, and Paint (8/10)
Overall, the sculpt and detail on this toy are phenomenal. There are only two major issues I can really see in this field. First, Max & Miriya’s appendices both come with blue/gray leg armor instead of armor color matched to their veritechs. In the show, the leg armor matched the color of the vehicle so why wouldn’t they here? Second, the missile booms ride too high above the vehicle and don’t follow its natural slope well enough. The intrictate detail pieces also could have been painted a bit to bring out all the detail better if Toynami was really striving for perfection. Below are some close-ups to give you a better idea of the level of detail.
Design (6.5/10)
First, I want to penalize this product for the way the missile booms attach to the backpack but I think that flaw is equally to blame on the original design of the MPC vehicle it attaches to. Yamato’s method of attachment is clearly superior with tabs on the booms fitting in slots on the backpack. Toynami took another route that involves attaching pieces around the backpack. Once again, Toynami has made a slight improvement on the original design but hasn’t taken the giant stride that was certainly possible. Anyway, I’m only going to partially hold that design element against this product. The most major flaw here comes with the leg armors. Some credit is due Toynami in their excellent use of magnets but, unfortunately, they came up short of what is necessary. The magnets just aren’t strong enough to really keep the parts together through any movement that isn’t very gentle. Also, the pegs that hold the base of the leg armor to the back of the leg armor appear to not be long enough or strong enough as it’s not unusual for the entire assembly on the outside of the leg to pop right off. It would have also been nice to see Toynami implement some sort of fix that would have allowed the hands to be slid forward with the arm armor attached. In its current form a user must remove the armors during the transformation from fighter mode and replace them once the fists are out. Add that to the fact the missile booms must be removed so that their locking contraption doesn’t prohibit transformation from Guardian to Battloid and the experience can get a bit time-consuming. The final negative I found was the tops of the missile booms. These peices don’t seem to lock into place as well as they should and can easily be knocked off, especially during transformation. On the positive side, the removable parts with detail underneath is quite nice and the adjustable booster nozzles are an excellent touch. The pictures below demonstrates just how lame the backpack piece that attaches to the fast packs actually looks.
Durability & Build (7/10)
Nothing here seems particularly fragile but the fit of some of the pieces occasionally seems a bit off. For example, the two removable covers on the missile booms can sometimes snap so well into place they involve a tremendous amount of force to remove. If a little adjustable booster nozzle gets in the way it can also be knocked off while trying to force that cover free. Don’t fear, should a booster be knocked off it seems to clip right back in. The biggest problem with fit appears to be the missiles that attach to the wing. As with most peg and hole parts, occasionally you will get parts that either have too big of a peg or too big of a hole. All in all, this product is just average in this category. Be careful how hard you press when trying to get the legs to keep from drooping down (it’s a lost cause anyway) in fighter mode or you might find your armor with these gashes.
Articulation (7/10)
How do you justify an articulation score for something like an accessory? Here’s how I’m doing it: To get a perfect score the accessory will not impede the articulation of the original toy, it will feature nozzles that can be repositioned, it will feature other removable parts. This accessory meets some of the requirements. It features individually removable reflex weaponry, removable armor parts, and, for the most part, does not impede the articulation of the original toy (with the exception of the backpack).
Total Score (36.5/50)
A fine accessory that really does greatly improve the look of the original MPC toys. The smooth finish to the plastic is something I prefer and wish the Japanese manufacturers would emulate. It’s too bad Toynami didn’t think further ahead when developing the original toy to better accomodate this accessory. It used to be not so hard to find these things for $19.99 and at that price they were a no-brainer addition to any MPC. Since they are such a welcomed addition to the overall look of the MPC it’s no wonder they’re so demanded. Below are some sample pics of how Ben, Rick, and Jack look in the Rick Appendix (although none of these veritechs ever featured them in the show). Edit – I mentioned in this review originally that the Yamato 1/60 (version 1) had a superior design. Now that Yamato has it’s new 1/60 V2 super/strike parts for sale their victory of Toynami is even more complete. These super/strike parts are still much better than Bandai’s 1/55 parts.
NOTE: This review has been updated – cleaned up existing pictures and added a lot more of them
This review was updated a second time – I combined some pictures to decrease load time and did a lot more clean up to existing pictures. Summary now mentions the Yamato version 2 super/strike armor.
Original post date: May 29, 2006
First Update: January 7, 2007
robodragonsdf1 said,
January 7, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Another nice touch that Toynami could have added would have been the strike parts. It would have been cheep for the to do and make the collectability that much more. To me that’s just another example of Toynami’s short mindedness.
micronian said,
January 7, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Honestly, a strike cannon would have only worked with Rick’s appendix though and since it’s being sold under the Robotech name it might just really confuse a lot of people. Also, the DYRL strike set has different arm armors so if they wanted to make this an interchangeable set that’s two more parts they’d also have to include. At that point they might want to raise the cost of the appendix and that may have upset RT fans since MANY don’t even know what DYRL is. If they were really cool they could have done a Toynami.com website exclusive DYRL conversion kit for like 1/4 of the cost of the original appendix. THAT would have been cool… and collectible. I’m still waiting for my Toynami MPC GBP
jimbo913 said,
February 16, 2007 at 9:51 pm
My biggest problem was the price. When they first came out, I couldn’t imagine paying $90 plus shipping for three sets of fast packs. I knew the trend that many of the MPCs went, going down in price dramatically after a short amount of time. So I waited and waited. Then something odd happened… they sold out at the original price. Suffice it to say, I wound up paying about 50-75% more for these that I would have had to pay had I got them when they came out. Plus, to add insult to injury, I didn’t get the background cell from the RT.com store to match all my other animation cells. I am still a bit bitter about it all.