RTShark

Looks best in fighter or gerwalk modes. 1/60's got it beat for battroid proportions, especially for the arms and chest.

Agree here. I think the 1/48 still wins a close match here simply because it's more stable and more poseable, but as far as proportions you are dead on.

Of course, either the 1/60 or 1/48 are vastly ahead of pretty much anything else for overall proportions in all three modes.

Re: price. They're getting harder to come by so that price doesn't seem to be too bad. I only have one of them, and I'd love to get another but I don't think I can justify it... oh well. I'll also echo the sentiments that the Valkyrie Exchange is a great place to do business with.

Ido...

They're definitely not the Toynami models... but thanks anyways.

Valkfactory... Yeah that seems more likely. Thanks for the links. I just wanted to confirm that that's what they likely were. Like I said I hadn't actually seen them myself yet.

Are the Matchbox versions at all valuable/collectible? (I know that's the next question I'm going to get, might as well post it now).

Anyone have any info on these. My friend found two of them. Hikaru and Max.

They appear to be the same as (or similar to) these:

http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/toys/_bandai_hcmaxj.htm

But have Robotech boxes and were released in the US by Matchbox, presumably in the 80s when Robotech was on the air.

I have not laid eyes on them myself yet, but my friend tells me they match the picture in the link.

Anyone have any more detail on these?

I bought a Masterpiece Series Max Sterling (Toyami) piece last week and was very disappointed by it.  Not only are some of the pieces assembled poorly, but the model has several smudges in the paint and several fingerprint marks, in glue, apparently where the builder has too much glue on his/her fingers during assembly.

I am not afraid of spending money for a good product.  What I am worried about is wasting money on a crappy piece.

You sound exactly like me, a year ago. I also had a MPC Sterling that I was disapointed with... Still wanted to get something along those lines, but was a little gunshy about dropping a lot of money for something like that again...

To echo the sentiments you've seen elsewhere in this thread... You will absolutely not be disapointed in a 1/48. I bought a Hikaru 1J and absolutely love it. Now, I'm not as crazy as most of the guys here, I only have the one... Hoping to pick up another one sometime next year if I can do it without spending an arm and a leg...

The 1/60s are nice too and I have a soft spot for them. They're especially good for the cost now as they've gotten cheaper with the 1/48s being available. Some people dislike the removable legs part of it, but IMO they definitely compare very favorably to an MPC (I'd rather have removable legs on a line-art accurate sculpt than ugly ass swing bars attaching out of proportion legs to an out of proportion fuselage)...

In short, you can't go wrong with any Yamato Valk, IMO. Go for the 1/48 if you've got the money, but if not the 1/60s are pretty nice, too.

Can a RT fan even talk about other brands of toys other than Toynami? I thought RT.com haws a naziish style of repressing information and sterilizing everything.

No. No discussion of any Robotech (or related) products of any kind are allowed there unless the products are Harmony Gold's.

I got warnings and account freezes for even the barest hint or mention that other stuff was available. I basically just started e-mailing people whenever they'd ask questions like that.

If that is the case that would be your answer to people paying for sub par products cause they are just not aware and remain ignorant

Quite a few.

The ones that make me sad are the ones who talk about getting an MPC as if it's the greates thing ever and will be the crown jewel of their collections.

Heck, I used to be that person before I actually saw an MPC... <sigh>

I even remember the old FASA game which totally ripped off all designs for destroids and battloids and made a game called "Battletech" and played religiously in 88-90.

And the ensuing lawsuit which totally changed the game to "Mechwarrior" and drastically changed the 'Mechs.

OK for the record... FASA did *not* "rip off" the designs. They licensed them from one of the Japanese companies that were involved with Macross (I'm not certain if it was Tatsunoko or Studio Nue). The lawsuit, ironically enough was from Harmony Gold and *not* from any of the original Japanese companies that were involved. (I've been told from those in the know, but do not know for certain myself that FASA was actually in the right in this lawsuit, but gave in simply because they couldn't afford to fight HG in court).

Battletech and MechWarrior originally ran side by side, for a long time, Battletech focused solely on the Mechs and combat whereas MechWarrior was an RPG set in the same world.

FASA eventually went under, which had *nothing* to do with Battletech or Mechwarrior, but rather to do with other lines it made being unsuccessful and dragging the company down. BT and MW were the only really strong lines FASA had going.

Another company, called WizKids, which was founded by Jordan Weisman (a former employee of FASA) bought the rights to Battetech and Crimson Skies from whoever held them after FASA went under and proceeded to make completely new games based on these properties based on it's own system that they designed for MageKnight (figures sat atop a rotateable dial which had a window showing the stats and could be clicked in different directions to show the effects of damage or healing/repair).

WizKids new game is called MechWarrior. They also licensed out the rights to produce Battletech to a German company called FanPro (who originally got work from FASA translating their books into German) who is now producing the full line of Battletech books and miniatures and producing new material for the game under the name Classic Battletech.

Presumably it's an autocannon that fires in pulses.

Point is... name doesn't make sense at all. Autocannon already implies that it's a type of automatic gun so the fact that it can fire in bursts is implicit. And who calls the bursts of an automatic weapon pulses?

Pulse tends to imply an energy weapon... and the description of the gun sounds like an energy weapon, so why call it an autocannon at all?

Either word by itself would have been fine. They just don't make anything resembling sense together at all.

The animation error is on this page, along with a version of the "concept art" we've been talking about:

Interesting that they're showing the two side by side.

I suppose showing the animation error gives them credence to say "look here, it's canon!" but it's pretty easy to tell that the head in the animation error is significantly different than the Y/VF-1R head...

I like the caption also... "A VF-1R *appears* to be dishing out some discipline to a Zentraedi rebel." (Emphasis mine)...

Wonder how many have fallen for it?

EDIT: And what the $#**& is a "pulse autocannon" anyway?!?

Sounds like they were looking at Battletech and used it's weapon charts to come up with something 'cool' and new. Hmmm.... Pulse lasers... Autocannons... Pulse Autocannon... Yeah! That's the ticket!

(And for the record, I like Battletech, and you can add FASA to the list of companies that Harmony Gold has screwed over).

veritech  back in the day and how it would be nice to own one...you know, just for shits and giggles.  it started with one, now i have 30+ valks.    but i think a lot of that had to do with looking at pics of other peoples collections and coming to this site way too often.     

30? <sigh> I have 3. (1 Bandai, one Yammie 1/60 and 1 Yammie 1/48)...

I'm hoping to have the spare cash to pick up one of the 1/48 Roy reissues that's coming out...

I can't really complain. I would have the resources to build up a sizable collection of these, but I tend to diversify my interests. I'm currently collecting comics, toys, gaming stuff (cards, miniatures), and taking weekly music lessons.

This on top of normal family expenses...

Anyway... I was just discovering Tam's TMPanime page around the same time discovered Yamato and there was (probably still there) a long thread there detailing different Valkyrie toys that were available nd that helped a lot.

That was an awesome resource and was the primary factor in my deciding to get a 1/48 (I was a little gunshy about dropping a lot of money on a 'boutique' toy after my Toynami experience)... Too bad it's not more accessible to the layperson...

I'll chime in here as well...

As a kid I started out with Robotech, like many others. In the early 90s when I became interested again (Sci-Fi Channel was showing Robotech) I became aware of Macross and the differences between it and Robotech (It wasn't until I started coming here that I got the whole story, but anyway)...

Even though I was aware of Macross I was not aware that anybody was making toys based on it, except for Toynami. As an American I was aware of Toynami through their marketing efforts here in the states...

Ending up buying an MPC (Max 1J) and was pretty disapointed with it, but settled thinking it was the only game in town.

I had heard tell of the 1/60s a little after that, but didn't bother getting one because all of the reviews I found made it sound like it wasn't worth getting (I must have found all the ones written by Perfect Transformation nuts )...

Anyway. Luckily for me a friend of mine bought me one as a gift and despite it's flaws it was such a huge jump over the MPC that I began to do some more research.

I found TMPanime first and through them found this place and between both sites heard about the beauty that was the 1/48 (I bought a Hikaru 1J, btw).

So anyway... to sum up, I think most people buying MPCs do so because they don't know what else is out there. Even though they were flawed, if they were the only thing you could find, they'd have to be good enough.

Having said that, I still would not have bought another one at any price more than 1/4 of SRP after seeing up close the one I did buy... Let alone the inflated collectors value...

No accounting for taste I suppose.

Which reminds me... the game won't let you assassinate Minmay in the next level(when "Rick Hunter" orders you to fly her to her concert). She's $#@%ing bullet-proof.

I thought I was the only one who tried that...

Did people have quality issues with the Jack Archer YF-1, or did Toynami have all the QC bugs fixed by the time of that release?  I'm thinking of maybe getting one, just for the hell of it, and because I want a real valkyrie toy I can play with (unlike the fast pack 1/48 VF-1s, which explodes with flying missile parts every time I sneeze gently)

My 1/48 is very playable... Of course I don't have a Fast Pack on it yet... Are the FPs really this unstable or is this an exaggeration?

Regarding the MPC... I didn't have an Archer, I had a Sterling, which was Vol. 4 (I think, I don't have it anymore, so can't check)... Supposedly all the major bugs in the design had been worked out by then, but I was very dissatisfied with mine...

Aside from the issues that'd be issues no matter what, like the proportion problems in the legs and fuselage/chest piece it was just very 'loose' in general. The biggest annoyance was that if I set it on it's landing gear in fighter mode the legs would push upwards and if I picked it up in fighter mode they would sag downwards. This wasn't like a tiny bend this was a noticeable 5 or 10 degree off from straight difference...

As to the FPs, they looked nice, but were only marginally cool. One of the leg pieces would literally not stay together until I glued it together, and even then had problems staying attached to the leg...

I started hateing disney when they stopped showing all the old school cartoons that had all the crazy violence, like Goofy as Mr. Wheeler running people over and putting tally marks on his car.

I started hateing disney when they stopped showing all the old school cartoons that had all the crazy violence, like Goofy as Mr. Wheeler running people over and putting tally marks on his car.

I think the oddest thing I've ever seen in Disney animation, which was simultaneously the funniest and most horrifying thing I've seen in Disney animation was a short clip from the 40s of war propaganda.

VERY anti-German (and not just anti-Nazi)... Wish I knew where to find the clip online... I saw it at a friends house. I was more than a little shocked... This was Disney?

Anyway...

I could scarcely believe it myself.  In all, I think Battroid is the MPC's best mode.  I have it guarding my PC at work.

I actually thought that Gerwalk was the best form for the MPC. The one I had pretty much stayed in Gerwalk all the time, because that was the only one of the three modes that didn't make me want to throw it across the room and break it into hundreds of pieces.

Seriously, it actually looked pretty good in Gerwalk. Better than the 1/60 (the ONLY area where I'll say this) but not as nice as the 1/48. I think this was because the odd angle made the out of proportion fuselage and legs less noticeable whereas in fighter the fuselage was very noticeable and in Battroid the legs were very noticeable.

Of course I don't own it any longer so it's all moot, but there you go.

(depressed about the US elections and so trying to find something else to worry about)...

I think most of us can see that the playset is not the most accurate representation of SDF-1.  However, for those few that are willing to pay large some of moeny for the playset are buying for nostalgic reason.

Heh. That's fair. Of course, nostalgia has tricked me before. What the $%&(! I used to like THIS!?! What the $%() was I thinking?!?

1 set tinted, please...

No idea, but my interest is piqued.

MegaMan (almost any)

Street Fighter 2/Street Fighter Alpha (almost any)

Castlevania Symphony

Final Fantasy (4, 6 and Tactics were the best, 7 was so-so and none of the ones after that have managed to hold my interest, blasphemy I know, but there you have it)

Silent Hill

Tetris

I think the person above (Cory) and I were just pointing that exactly that point (Both companies have + and -)

And I was pointing out that while they've both had similar low points, Yamato's high points are quite a bit higher.

"Slagging"???  I think you are just taking it personally.

Not at all. Maybe that word was too strong, but he was attacking the weaknesses of the 1/60 and therefore I felt it appropriate to point out it's strengths, especially as compared to Toynami's offering. You'll note that I did not defend the VF-11 problems, because I felt that was justified.

Hmmmm, some how t became 1/48 verses Toynami.....

Again just pointing out that Yamato's high point is so much higher.

I think this statments were more of an offer for cheap Alphas.  "I am willing to buy it for $20 or so, please let me know"

Nope. If I had meant to say that, then that's what I would have said. I'm not in the market for an Alpha right now. If I were I think I could find a better place to look than this particular thread for a potential seller.

Yes, I am making crack at tyour post, not because I have vendetta or trying to be hostile.  I just wanted to post that, when ever members are making comments about Toynami, it all boils down to prefer "taste".  I, myself, like all of them. As for others, some people hate Yamato and love Bandai, some like Yamato and do not care for others, etc. 

The joys of differences of opinion. You know, that's why we come here. If we all thought the same way about everything, then there wouldn't be much point in discussing it now would there?

Its already getting old, making fun of QC problem about Toynami and etc.  When I view posting on MPC, I am viewing it to see new problem relating to alpha or some + aspects about the toy, not a smart comments by some meber comparing it to Yammi stand, thinking :Let me get a crack at Toynami once more.

Well I'm sorry if you don't like sentiments about Toynami's QC issues. I for one am glad that they're here as they've now saved me $80. I would just tell you to check out RT.com if you wanted to read more favorable Toynami comments, but from what I hear there are quite a few upset consumers there as well.

I don't think anybody is 'making fun' of Toynami's QC issues. For me, the opposite. I would love it if they'd put out better products. A product I could buy and actually say, yes, this is worth the $80 I spent on it. They failed miserably on that front with their VF-1 line and when the strongest positives I see in this thread are "yeah it has some issues, but I like it anyway" and the strongest negatives make the Alpha MPC sound even worse than the VF-1 MPC then you'll have to excuse me not jumping up and down to praise Toynami.

The point is that any enmity towards Toynami that exists on this board exists because Toynami earned it. Saying that we only 'make fun' of Toynami or are just making cracks minimizes the fact that consumers who buy an expensive product deserve to expect that product to be of a quality commensurate to it's cost. Some people are happy with the Alpha MPCs (and some were with the VF MPCs) and some aren't. We both have a right to talk about it. Don't belittle those opinions because they differ from yours.

The silly comments on Toynami will continue and what can I do. 

I don't think that they're silly. Consumers have a right to expect a quality product for their money. If they don't get that then it's perfectly justified for them to complain about said product. Especially on a message board dedicated to the discussion of said product. I for one, am thankful.

RTShark, flame away, if you want.

I wasn't flaming before, and I'm not now. Sorry to disappoint...

[EDIT - Minor grammar corrections]

I have one of each at the moment and I love them both.

I definitely plan to get at least one or two more 1/60s in the future as they're cheap enough now that I can't really resist.

I'd like to get another 1/48, but I can't say for sure that I will as the higher price point makes it difficult.

Anyway, I love them both!

Tab B, VF-11 exploding out of the box, 1/60 legs-don't-want-to-stay-on...

Sure Yamato has had some flubs, so has Toynami... But I think Yamato's record is a heck of a lot better.

Firstly the 1/60 which you're slagging here. I've seen two of them up close and neither has any problems with the legs staying on (except in Guardian if you make it fly around the room ). Both were far superior to the one Masterpiece VF I've seen.

Even in trade for this dubious weakness you get (in comparison to the Masterpiece VF-1) something that's more accurate to the line art in all 3 modes. You get a fighter mode where the engines don't sag down when you pick it up and push up when you put it down on it's landing gear. You get more poseability. You get hands that can hold the gun. You get twice as many missiles and different kinds for fighter mode. You get a Valkyrie that's *more* accurate than the (according to Toynami) most accurate sculpt of a Veritech Fighter ever made.

And let's not even mention the 1/48. The true Masterpiece that nothing Toynami has done can even come close to touching.

As to the Alpha... Well I've seen enough negative reviews here that I won't be buying one at anything close to SRP. If I can find one for $30 or under I'll get it. If I can't, then I don't need it. Toynami fooled me once, but won't again.

I also feel the need to point out, since you like to claim that all the posters here are Macross Zombies with a blind hatred for everything Robotech... That's not me. I grew up on Robotech. I still have a soft spot for it. I own some of the DVDs, I bought Battlecry and I bought a Masterpiece VF (which I've since sold). After having seen some episodes of the original Macross series, I definitely prefer that, but nowhere in my heart is there a blind hatred for Robotech. (Harmony Gold and Toynami on the other hand, but they've earned that enmity through their actions and products, respectively).

I gave Toynami a chance. They wasted it. I was not going to give them a chance this time unless I saw pretty strong evidence that I should and I'm not seeing that evidence.

No Alpha for me until I find it super cheap and maybe not even then.

Much nicer than the old chicken hands, but they are no longer 'perfect transformers' and I can see why some people who are fanatic about such things could prefer the chicken hands which can fold into the arms.

I am decidedly *not* fanatic about perfect transformation and I prefer the 'chicken hands' because I think they look better.

They would be ideally a little larger, but I like the angular more robotic look of those over the Mickey Mouse glove look of the TV hands.

Of course, if the other poster comes through with his set of larger sculpted DYRL style hands I'll probably move over to those. Best of both worlds and all.

yea mine has a little bit of chipped paint on it already as well. it is bound to happen to most at some point

Mine doesn't, but does it really matter? The bar isn't really visible at all.

It is visible from the underside in fighter and gerwalk modes, but it certainly doesn't stand out.

I've only gone to one BotCon so far. Way back in 1997 when it was in Rochester, New York.

*That* was a good con. Good guests and lots of them (Stan Bush, Vince DiCola, Peter Cullen, Simon Furman and others) and a lot of events going on besides just the dealer room.

There was even a live concert put on by Bush and DiCola.

Sounds like it's gone downhill since then.

  I also thought about making one out of cast aluminum, but  the process of casting a wax piece, investing it, and then vac casting the metal is sort of complex and time consuming. Maybe someday. . .

I used to work in a dental lab and had access to all the equipment necessary for that sort of thing.

Alas, no more, though. I guess creating the original out of wax would probably be the hardest and most time consuming part.