08.31.09
Yamato 1/60 SV-51 Nora (and Mass Production)
Observations & Critique: You have to earn gold trim
Relatively hot on the heels of the August 07 Ivanov SV-51 release were the Nora (November,2007) and Cannon Fodder (February 2008) releases. Both toys came packaged just as the original Ivanov toy so check out that review here. One thing I didn’t note then, the accessories included with the SV-51 toys fit on both the VF-0 and VF-1 (1/48 & 1/60V2).
Convincing myself to purchase a maroon fighter with gold trim was actually pretty tough and I don’t think I’ll keep it for long. They say enemy fighters have poor sales to begin with and I’d guess that the Cannon Fodder and Nora paint schemes will do even worse than Ivanov’s despite the fact that the CF and Nora seem to have improved production qualities. These toys are probably as cheap as you’ll be able to find them over at Overdrive so if you have any interest in these paint schemes now is probably the time to pick them up. The fact they’re being liquidated bodes poorly for future reissues any time soon.
I skipped the cannon fodder paint scheme so I can’t comment too much on it. The Nora paint scheme is extremely impressive. There was some initial backlash to the choice of a metallic paint for her trim but it looks quite nice in hand. The intricacy and consistency of the paint work is beyond impressive and Ivanov definitely does seem a little dull in comparison. Of course all the SV-51 toys have fantastic attention to detail right down to the Nora pilot figure actually being anatomically correct.
Obviously with the quick succession of releases there were no design tweaks from one to the next. These are all the exact same toy but with different paint schemes.
Durabilty & build quality of the Nora and CF releases were pretty highly praised with almost none of the complaints that had been levied at the initial batch of Ivanov toys. These toys are generally tight out of the box, my Nora was so tight she could actually stand on one leg and re-enact the kicking scene from Macross Zero. Yeah, how many other toys do you have that can pull that off? Probably not too many. Unfortunately, as many people handled these the familiar complaints about looseness developing became fairly common and with such a large gangly toy a little looseness can really diminish the pleasure of it.
As mentioned before, this toy can actually kick and stay standing… a pretty huge feat for a toy that Yamato was afraid might not be able to stand on its own. I loved posing this toy… loved it.
If I were going to give this toy (and the CF) a full review like I did the Ivanov released I would probably shave half a point off the charm section and add two points to the durability and build section. These are stellar toys and if you’re a Macross Zero fan (or just a fan of big, menacingly looking transformable planes) you owe it to yourself to buy at least one variant.
