jvmacross

Do you have an example of the packaging for a KO that actually came with a correct gundpod? The only KOs that reached my neck of the woods (Chicago) during that time all came with the Sasuraiger gun...in fact the plastic packaging was actually molded to accommodate the shape of the VF-1 battroid form and the shape of the Sasuraiger gun....there must have been multiple KO shops churning these out in the mid-80's...based on my own experience...the "Robotic Jet" versions were harder to come by and I think I only saw them for a few weeks in 1985 or 1986...personally, it was my favorite due to being a "VF-1S"....I no longer have it and can't recall what type of gun it had, but I want to say it was a Sasuraiger because I think I would have kept the "gunpod" for my KO VF-1J (which I still have) that came with a Sasuraiger gun...Also, never saw KO VF-1A's at any of the places I used to look for these KOs...

It could be that you had an early release Strike Valkyrie....the first batch were actually Takatoku VF-1S repaints....the paint jobs on these were kind of sloppy....you can tell you have a Takatoku branded version if it has the T.T. logo underneath the Bandai sticker behind the chest plate....like this...

I already told you I am not reviewing these for you in terms of how they stack up to the competition....go else where if you want to debate their pros/cons against other brands.... LOL

Here is info on another similar Takatoku "Made in Taiwan" that likely was another "non-Japanese" market export.... https://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/topic/38997-takatoku-outsourced-to-taiwan/#comment-1056282

Yeah, they are legit Takatoku...but not exactly sure of the intent...was this done to try and increase sales by expanding outside Japan...in some attempt to help TT's bottom line? I always like how you sneak in your customs into many of your pics....you definitely took the "Super Real...Diecast/Plastic Scale Model & High Technology" to heart!

Just for size comparison....

I know I still have at least one other 1/100 Takatoku VF-1J, so now I'll need to locate it to see if it has the dark brown or light brown canopy.... I'm thinking the dark brown came after the light brown.......the dark brown is what was used for many of the KOs and also with the semi-legit Matsushiro....assuming there weren't any light brown canopy Matsushiro variants as well! LOL

I did not want to turn this into a 1/100 discussion....but I think the dark canopy version was a variant that was produced in Taiwan for European consumption....or maybe just for the Italian market...I forget...I think boxed versions would have that "Transformabli" sticker attached to them...maybe there is a mention of it in that Italian TT book? Not to further derail the thread....but I think Takatoku may have produced several of their toys towards their end in Taiwan for export....not just their Macross line...I mentioned before on another thread that it is probably how the whole KO thing got quickly out of hand once Takatoku went BK...

You know I draw the line on variants.....sometimes....occasionally....from time to time....

Are you intentionally trying to start a "run" on available stock of Bandai 1/100 DYRL VF-1A's?

Well, there you have it......and apparently it was an issue with more than the 1/100 VF-1J Max.......the Japanese mag also presents some "proof" of this problem with some of the Takatoku Toys 1/100 VF-1's...it's not hard proof, but why mount the gun on the 1/55 and not the 1/100?

There's nothing to "wonder" about....unless you think what you said, "none of them were good" was a fact that applies to everyone's opinion? If so, I can assure you that your statement is 100% wrong....just look at the "limited" God of Fire" as an example....started at some low prod number and ballooned to whatever ridiculous "limited" amount it is at now....if folks thought it was not "good" it would have not sold out the initial PO....there is enough info out there to point out the "issues" with this toy, yet still people buy them.... But just to satiate your curiosity....I'll say it again...."NO", as I already explained....the releases starting from V 1.0 have steadily improved....once again...I am not comparing these to any other VF-1 PT toys produced by anyone else....I made no such claim in my original post....like I said before and now say for the third time...I was just comparing improvements within KC's own line...which logically includes everything from V 1.0 to the current 2.X...again, in my opinion, the Valk was "good" and the V 2.0 made it "better"...but that changed as of the recent V 2.X, which began with the release of the VF-1S Roy Focker....in my opinion it was a big step backwards.... This is nothing new...every company that produces valks has to start somewhere and then, hopefully, improve something about their product....but they usually do not deliberately make things worse....it usually is some production error that is either fixed through part swaps or corrected on the next release... BTW, which version are you summing up your opinion about the KC 1/72 VF? It sounds like you have only one...if it's the V1, then yeah...the average collector would have cut their losses and not continued on the KC journey

I have heard this before....is there any remarks made about this in articles originating from Japanese toy mags? I probably have intentionally avoided any samples that were not complete, so can't confirm if that's how they came or if gunpods were "borrowed" from other 1/100 "donor" toys...but guessing that wouldn't happen unless taken from a "parts" toy.... But now that you mention the gunpods...back in the day, I found it kind of odd that the KOs came with, what I later learned, a Sasuraiger Batrain gun...lol Maybe the KO guy in HK or Taiwan got a hold of a gunpod-less VF-1J Max...lol

I'm surprised that anyone at this stage and after several previous "repackagings" would think that Toynami would either want to or be capable of improving their 1/100 toy....it's been about re-boxing for years...the "retro" re-packs were the best idea they've had for a long time....hope they can bring it back....I have more money to burn! LOL

For me...good or bad...they were all still only worth one watch...

I'm not interested in trying to sell you or anyone else on anything....I was simply stating that they were an improvement over their own previous releases...I even said so in my post... I liked where KC was going with their VF-1, but for me that has now changed....I'm sure some folks disagree and think they are still on a path of improvement....and that's ok....people can like or dislike whatever they want...they are free to spend their money as they see fit....more importantly, no one needs to provide you or anyone else with their reasons for why they buy or like something....unless they are a reviewer? I am not, so you will need to remain "genuinely curious"....lol

I've noticed the sigs...but just thought they were "made up" for each character....your theory sounds more interesting...

Finally got around to pulling out my Takatoku 1/100 VF-1's to take a group shot with the Toynami "retro" box 1/100 VF-1's.... ..and a pic of all the "retro" Toynami sets released to date.... These Toynami "retro" releases are probably the only toys I ever bought "just for the boxes"...lol I think they really do capture the essence of part of what made the old Takatoku Toys Macross collection (and vintage Macross merch in general) awesome....the amazing boxart! That is one of the reasons why the recent HMR Macross releases are so great...they capture the nostalgia of toy boxart illustrations...however, these days, the boxart is mostly not needed to sell the collectible inside the box anymore...we now expect to find the toy inside the box to be as close to the original lineart as can be done, thus the added expense of commissioning art from top illustrators to "sell" the collectible is not as important anymore.... However, we are speaking of Toynami, which is still stuck in the "boxart better than actual toy" phase....for decades now.... So the idea to go with an homage to the vintage Takatoku Toys boxes was marketing genius.....so I give them credit for that..... Since apparently HG still has a strangle hold on the SDFM and DYRL license outside of Japan...I hope they extend this "retro" boxart gimmick into the next year or so and release some "retro" boxed VF's from DYRL.....I think they had teased an Elint Seeker and Super Ostrich at some point...so would be nice to see those released as part of their "retro" series.......and release retro-boxed Strike Valkyries and VF-1A's while they are at it too!

Takatoku Toys 1/100 Macross VF-1 Collection.... These are the only 1/100 SDFM TV VF-1 PT toys released during the original SDF-1 era by Takatoku Toys.... Note that although pictured in the back of the box, a 1/100 VF-1J Milia was never released and neither was a 1/100 Super VF-1J....I think if Takatoku would not have went out of business, I am sure we would have seen them produce both the Milia and Super VF-1, as well as a VF-1D for both the 1/100 and 1/55 line.... The only other 1/100 VF-1 released using this mold was by Bandai to capitalize on the acquisition of Takatoku's molds (both 1/55 and 1/100) and release some merch tied to the release of the Macross film, DYRL...unfortunately, Bandai did next to nothing with the 1/100 molds, releasing only Hikaru's movie version VF-1A....even today, the only re-releases based on the old Takatoku molds have been of 1/55 VF-1's....a nice retro line using these 1/100 molds would be cool...assuming the molds still exist.... Of course, anyone who lived through the original release of Robotech in 1985 will probably have tales of encountering and perhaps purchasing many a 1/100 KO at their local flea markets or other local shopping venues...I personally recall seeing KO VF-1S and VF-1J 1/100, which actually had more diecast content that the original Takatoku Toys releases! The original Takatoku Toys 1/100 versions have seemingly had a resurgence in interest and have for several years now, climbed in value...at times selling for as much or more than their 1/55 counterparts.....I do not have any production data, but I do not think, based on their frequency of listings, etc...that the 1/100's saw anywhere near the production numbers that the 1/55 versions seemed to have had...if you have the Takatoku 1/55 toys, I recommend getting at least one of these 1/100 for comparison and display purposes...they are pretty well constructed, but in no way as rugged as the legendary 1/55 VF-1....however, the 1/100 is basically a "mini" version of the 1/55 VF-1 toy....including the awesome boxart!

ARII/IMAI Macross info booklet....41,001 JPY https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/j1076774475 Per the latest issue of HL Mechanics (#14)...this booklet was published in August 1982, that would likely make this among the first Macross publications made available for public consumption... For a while, these would never show up anywhere for sale or auction, now they come up somewhat regularly, but usually never sell for more than 100-150...guessing the HJ Mechanics book helped the seller exchange their nostalgia into cold hard cash! Congrats!

Matchbox 1/3000 SDF-1..........275,000 JPY https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m1076713710 Normally, you would expect something like this as the asking price for a post on the Auctions of Great Absurdity thread....but for this one, I'll just say it's crazy.... And with that said, I have a minty white Matchbox SDF-1 that I'd be willing to let go for $1,999.99 shipped!...LOL

No...the VF-1J actually was a step in the right direction...at that point they just needed to address the shape of the intakes and extend their landing gear so the gunpod doesn't drag....for some reason they thought the positioning of the rear tail was "off"...they adjusted the mold and that ruined fighter mode completely....they sadly double-downed on the "fix" to something that did not need fixing instead of fixing something easy like extend the landing gears...oh well....up to that point they were improving their 1/72 with each release...without going back to V 2.0 VF-1J...in terms of the rear tail/leg tabs....even if they fixed the landing gears and re-tooled the intakes...it would still be a mess

Makes no sense to compare to Toynami as those are a different scale....if you are new to collecting valks at a smaller scale than 1/60 or 1/48...it would make sense to wait and see what ThreeZero does with their 1/72 scale VF-1.... https://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/topic/49682-threezero-robotech-macross-toys/#comment-1603591 However, if the KC would be your first foray into collecting VF-1 PT toys, then they may not disappoint too badly...sadly, as someone who has added each KC 1/72 VF-1 into their collection, the worst part about them is knowing that they were better just before the most recent V2.5 version

Didn't care for The Batman or Joker....so I hope the "DC-verse" under Gunn's leadership stays away from that "style".....I did enjoy the Suicide Squad reboot and the TV spinoff....GotG are my favorite Marvel movies.....I'll give James Gunn the benefit of the doubt, but it's quite possible that at this point, the DC Cinematic Universe is beyond salvation regardless of who the show runners are...

Nice...this is what it will look like without painting? If so, glad I picked one up....mainly bought it as a stand in until a possible HMR Y/VF-19 is released...