Hello all of you!
I am new to the MW Forums and now, after some lurking around mostly on the models section, my very first posting seems to be slighty off topic considering that Zamac is of course not Macross.
Being from Germany, my first encounter with Macross was in the form of about 20 or so model kits (all Imai, no Arii) our biggest toy store here in Cologne sold in- well 1983 or ´84, I don´t remember exactly. There were 1/100 and 1/72 kits labeled "Macross" and 1/144 kits labeled "Zamac". I loved them all and bought most of them but had absolutely no idea about their origin.
Well over the years I learned lots about Macross but virtually nothing about "Megaro Zamac". I always regarded this as the most obscure show ever but a few months ago I learned that Zamac was no series/OVA at all! There is a Japanese site about "fake Gundams" (lost the link, just google these words and you will find it) that mentions Zamac along with a few small box art photos. Although I do not understand japanese this thing was pretty self-explanatory:
Zamac is a model series created by Imai just to cash in on the Gundam craze - the license holder for Gundam was of course Bandai so Imai just made similar ooking mechas and sold them under their own made up "Zamac"label.
The first five kits were produced in 1982 (so probably before Imai had a license to make Macross stuff). They all resembled Gundam or Xabungle Designs with a little Dougram flavour added to taste. All were two-legged, no Gerwalks then!
In ´83 or ´84 they added four more models to the range - and these are a good proof that Zamac was just an exploitation of other show´s designs : The two Gerwalks Phantom and Harrier in 1/100 scale - sold with a sprue of Imai´s Anime figures (the same that come with the 1/100 Macross Factory kits), a 1/144 three-legged design called Run-Valam and the 1/720 (!) Da-Gards which is actually a slightly altered AT-AT!
Over the years I have collected some of them (rarely found on eBay but mostly quite cheap with the exception of the Da-Gards) and I must say the ones I have are really cheapos! They look great on the box art but all the details are somewhat simplified and the finished models look very "flattened" especially when viewed from the side. The Gerwalk Harrier looks really toylike and the canopy is not even clear!! Just a solid windscreen, the rest of the cockpit simply has no cover to reveal the pilot. I fear the Phantom will have the same "feature".
STILL I have a soft spot for these guys and hope to someday finish some of them. And I REALLY regret blowing up a few of them when making a "special effects"-movie on 8mm back in 1985.
Zamac kits may not be regarded as collectables but with Imai gone and no anniversaries or DVD releases to celebrate it seems unlikely they will ever see a reissue.
Now I hope I will get the image of the ugly little harrier posted!
