Luclin999

Actually the two sets together could make a pretty nice addition to a 1/48th or 1/55th display. Now I may have to hunt down that set as well.

Well my VF-1S DYRL Max was shipped SAL from HLJ on Dec. 25th and I am still waiting on it. Usually it takes about ten - twelve days for a package shipped SAL to get from Japan to me here in Houston so hopefully it will arrive any day now.

This is the Hasegawa 1/48th scale set. Deck crew at HLJ I think with a decent paint job they look great with the 1/48 scale and even the 1/55th scale VFs. But they are just a bit too big to be hanging out with the 1/60th series.

Hasegawa makes 1/48th scale US Navy deck crew sets which I use with my Yamato 1/48th VFs but no 1/60th scale versions so something like that could really help on a display for that line of Yamatos.

I've seen these for the Yamato valkyries and was wondering what the appeal was for them. Do people get them just to see the internal details on the engines, are they purchased and custom painted or is there some other aspect that I am missing that makes them desirable?

More likely is that the American government is having customs tear into more packages it try to find more customs revenue.. :D I kid! It's probably just the combination of heightened security on packages + the holidays slowing things down.

It was a one day sale on that item for Dec. 29th only.

I've been looking as some of my older figures and was wondering if anyone had figured out which commercially available hobby paints and enamels as the best matches for some of the Bandai and Takatoku valkyries? Like the red color on the VF-1A Hikaru (and the Bandai/Hasbro jetfire)? Or the yellow on Roy's VF-1S? It would be great to have a match to touch up the scuffs and paint chips that these older toys are prone to.

After seeing the thread about modding these cases I would love to buy two to set up a display with however I honestly can't think of a place in my home where I could set that up which wouldn't be right in front of; or next to a window. And since sunlight is the bane of all toys I would never even consider putting them somewhere like that in a glass case.

Well I decided to pick up a couple of Macross Valks as a Christmas present to myself this year. One of them was a loose, vintage Takatoku VF-1J off of Ebay. While I have several other 1/55th chunkies, up to this point they have all been from Bandai along with a few from Joons that I got in the 90's and so this is my first Takatoku Valk! The figure is very clean for a 26+ year old toy and overall I'd grade it as a C8+. The only problems are a few of the stickers are peeling at the edges, the paint on the wings is scuffed in the usual places and the tail assembly doesn't hold itself upright when the valk is in Battroid mode (something I'll look into repairing) other than that everything else is extremely tight with zero discoloration. However for now I think that I am just going to enjoy just looking at it on my desk.

$2300 for that? And they sold how many of them??? I think I'll just stick with my 1/3000 scale SDF-1 from the 80's.

I've also started wondering about custom removable hands for a 1/55th VF-1. Is there a set of hands either custom made or from some other toy that people have used to make "custom posed hands" for the 1/55s similar to the ones on the Yamato valks?

I'm currently waiting on a loose vintage 1/55th VF-1J Hilaru Takatoku from Ebay which is supposed to be in C9 or better condition (I'm hoping that the condition wasn't exaggerated) and a Yamato ver.2 VF-1A DYRL Max from HLJ. Unfortunately neither are going to show up at the earliest until around the first.

Well I worked out my email issues with HLJ and should have my first ver.2 1/60th on it's way shortly. (VF-1S DYRL Max).

Yes, I read through that. Didn't really answer any of the questions I was asking though.

I've been playing around with customizing a 1/55th scale knock off over the past few days and of course I've been handling my other 1/55 scale valks as a reference which in turn reminded me why I love the things so much. They weigh a ton and are nearly indestructible. Looking at them has brought up some old questions I have had about the 1/55ths. ~ Regarding the Bandai reissues from 2002 - present, has there ever been an explanation as to why they made the new valks identical to the old ones in every way except for the forearms? It would be nice to be able to put the older Super and Strike armor on the newer releases without having to resort to either filing down their arms or swapping out the forearm pieces with parts salvaged from old Jetfires. ~ I don't currently own a Takatoku and am curious as to what differences there are in them versus the vintage Bandai pieces. Is there an easy way to tell the difference between say, an out of package Takatoku and a bandai reissue? I'd like to know in case I stumble across a loose mecha. ~ The Joons. Knock offs they may be but since my first Valkyries were a pair of Joons Max and Miriya VF-1Js They will always have a special place in my heart (and on my display shelf). Is there a list out there of all the variations that Joons managed to produce in the 90's? ~ Jetfire. Aside from the nosecone and paint scheme, is there any actual difference in this toy parts wise from a vintage VF-1S Skull Leader? ~ And isn't the nosecone on Jetfire actually made from the mold for the VT-1?

I placed my first order with HLJ yesterday morning and haven't received any email reply or confirmation at all. Is this normal? I tried looking up my account status to double check that the email information was correct but they have their account system down.

I'm afraid that I bought them a few months back off of Ebay. I was originally planning to modify the cheap boosters that came with the knock off with LEDs to add a thruster effect for my 1/55th VF-1J Max. Here are some pictures of the prototype I built. Hopefully I'll find the time to finish the mod someday soon. (Max wants the fast packs.)

Well I went ahead and ordered the VF-1S Movie Max from HLJ this afternoon. If the figure lives up to all the hype surrounding the ver.2 1/60s then I'll probably look at picking up those Plus series reissues of the Focker and Hikaru VF-1S valks as well. (and maybe the TV VF-1A Max)

In light of the fact that Yamato is coming out with the assemble/paint your own VF-1S mecha I decided to start practicing my customizing skills so as to be a bit better prepared for after they ship. However being a relative novice at customizing valkyries I decided against practicing on any of my "good" figures (Yamatos, Bandai, etc.) and started working on some cheap ($7) Chinese knock-offs of the Bandai 1/55th VF-1S series I found on the web. These things are absolute garbage but I figured that made them perfect to practice upon. Here are some before and after shots. I know that the figure isn't perfect but I don't think I did too badly for a first attempt. Also, I realize that the paint scheme isn't in line with the Yamatos but since it was a knock off of a 1/55th chunkie I decided to try to match it up with the design of the Takatoku/Bandai figures (it is just practice after all). What I would like though is any comments/criticism as to where people think I need to focus on improving before I move up to my next step, an old Bandai Jetfire. Fire away.

1/48: 3 1/60: 3 (Ver.1)

Thank you. It's good to know that and which ones I may have to avoid picking up. Pity though, as the VF-1S Focker and Hikaru were the other two I was considering. I guess I just have to hope that they reissue them further down the road with better QC on the parts.

Super/strike. Personally I've never liked the look of the GBP armor enough to want it. Here is a side question - I have heard that people say the first run of the Ver.2 VF-1S valks had quality issues. Does that extend to the VF-1S Max movie version that was released last April as well? Because this was the ver.2 I was interested in getting from HLJ before their sale ends. HLJ Max

Definitely not worth it then. I guess I'll have to shop around for at least a set or two of the ver.2s which come with the armor. (this is what I get for buying all of my 1/48th and 1/60th valks and then ignoring the market for a couple of years).

Sorry if this has been asked before but I have several of the v1 1/60 valks including the strike/super armor sets and was wondering if I purchase a v2 if the armor can be used on these as well.