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YAMATO 1/48 vs the TOYNAMI 1/55 VALKYRIE


zeo-mare

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(Correction they are 1/55 Toynamis not 1/60, thanks ewilen, hopefully a mod can fix the title) ok I just mentioned this in the auction of stupidity section and the more I think about it really am wondering why?, maybe you guys (and girls) have some answers (mods feel free to move if this is in the wrong section it has to do with the Yamatos and MPC but I know MPC is in the other Scifi section). My question is why are the prices when compared to the Yamatos so vastly different? I know it is each persons choice as to what to buy, but why are people grabbing these up so franticly when compared to the Yamatos, we are seeing 1/55 reaching record prices some getting close to the 1/48 Low Viz. I cannot figure out why? in terms of quailty, size detail the Yamatos win, do the fans who buys these know about the import market? some times I think the US ROBOTECH fans are so segregated ( thanks to HG brainwashing) from the Macross fans that they are not even aware of the rest of the merchandise or series that exists out there, most of which vastly superior than the US market. there was a MPC ROY just up on ebay it went for over $200.00 (and it did not even have strike parts) i mean for that price you could get a 1/48 Roy reissue and Strike Parts for it, heck Haterist just bought a Low Viz for about the same price. I still cannot figure why people keep paying these prices for these. i myself think people see pics of the 1/48 Yamatos and think it looks like a masterpeice (of work and qaulity), go on ebay to see if there are any up and find the Toynami ones with the title Masterpiece on the box and figure it must be it (Yamato toy that looks like a masterpeice + a Robotech box that say Masterpiece= stupid confused fan spending $300.00 on crap). I cannot believe the 1/55s toynamis are worth far more in some areas than the 1/48 Yamatos (some even rivaling with the Low Viz), someone clearly does not know the difference between quality and defective.

So what do you guys think? why are people spending so much on these, this thread is not about the techincal difference between the 2, i know those. just the reasons people are spending so much? do they know? more important do any of you know?

sorry if there has ben a thread like this before.

chris

Edited by zeo-mare
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eBay makes people stupid.

Long answer...

I bet a lot of those bidders have never hrard of Macross. They jumped on eBay, shoved in "robotech", saw the neat toy with the cool box, and started bidding. Without even researching the product. They pr'ly think it's vintage 80's merchandise.

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simply cause robotech is the american version that most of the people out there are familiar with. robotech is a household name in america, whereas, macross is the household name in japan.

if you were just starting to collect macross/robotech toys, what would you search under? robotech or macross? even when i first started out, i looked for robotech toys and was like, "WTF is this macross stuff? must be some bootleg BS, i'll stick with the robotech label" because thats what i knew best.

i didn't find out about macross/yamato until way later in the game and i'm sure most of us here have gone through the same thing when each of us started.

collectibility, sadly enough is on toynami side for this reason, hence the high ass prices on those POS MPC. even 10 years down the line the MPC will probably sell at a higher price than the yamato 1/48 simple cause of this reason.

if you're looking to resell to make a profit later down the road, pick up the MPCs...especially the ones with the cells.

if you want the best of the best and have no intention of ever reselling, stick with the yamato's.....personally, i'll be sticking with the yamatos. B))

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One small point: the MPC's are 1/55, not 1/60. Yamato makes (has made) 1/60 Valks in addition to their 1/48's, so referring to the MPC's as 1/60's is more than slightly confusing to the reader.

When I first started collecting Valks, I really had no idea which one to get. Fortunately I found this place and the Valkyrie Exchange forums, and I trusted the right people, because even with reviews it's possible to discount various comments as simply arising from bias.

Also, until you've been collecting for a little while and have developed an appreciation for the finer points, it's quite difficult to distinguish between several different VF-1 toys. Things that jump out at us now are extremely subtle to the newbie. So unless you have them side-by-side in person--not "side-by-side on the net", not "in person but not side by side"--it's easy to think it doesn't make a difference.

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One small point: the MPC's are 1/55, not 1/60. Yamato makes (has made) 1/60 Valks in addition to their 1/48's, so referring to the MPC's as 1/60's is more than slightly confusing to the reader.

thanks i do not have any of these I always heard they were crap, so i passed on them i thought they were 1/60 sacle thanks for the correction, i hope someone can fix the title Graham or Dangard Ace maybe? that would be nice if you guys can. :) has anyone here bought any of the MPC for more than what they would normally go for? if so why?

Edited by zeo-mare
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has anyone here bought any of the MPC for more than what they would normally go for? if so why?

not me personally but i've witnessed many of boneheads that have. the first valk i got(outside of being a kid) was the MPC 1J hikkie(paid $80)....man what a mistake. i search far a wide looking to pick up 1 single valk(veritech back then) just to relive my youth. unfortunately, i didn't know of yamato or macross and saw the words "master piece collection" and thought it would be the best, the top of the line. i was quickly proven wrong the day i receive it in the mail. i came to bitch about it on the RT forums when someone was nice enough to point me to MW before a mod deleted it and that was the beginning of the end for me. :lol:

now to actually answer your question....on word....

VALK-O-HOLISM. :lol:

you quickly discover theres no reason to have just one, when you can have them all. :p also, some folks are the crazy completists and have no choice but to buy anything thats robotech/macross...i think its something in the genes. :D

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I'm gonna have to agree with the guys on this one. I believe it is the familiarity with robotech that leads most americans to buy MPC's instead. I'm glad to be one of the fortunate ones to be exposed to MACROSS first ,having lived half of my life in MANILA back in the days. Another factor, as EWILEN, pointed out, is the fact that you don't really find out about the "pros and cons" of each of the different valks, until you already have it in your hands. I found this out the hard way when I took a chance on buying an MPC ROY, and only finding out about the flaws when I took the damn valk out of it's box. I'm glad that we have places like MW.com where noobs can find out anything and everything about MACROSS related toys and collectibles. :)

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thankfully i found out about macross about the same time i found out about robotech, and have been collecting on and off for many years, maybe that is my problem as to why i cannot understand since i have ben exposed to both series from the begining and am alittle more informed as to what is on the market, it just seem so ridiculous spending that kind of money on such a toy. I have no problem spending $200.00 on some vintage valk or musha gundam, but for a newer toy like this is just plain silly. man maybe we should go around to their houses and start preaching to loyal robotech followers about he wonders of the Macross series and the real merchandise, we can hand out little macross bibles like a bunch of Jehova Witness and try to start converting people , or is that what macrossworld is for ;):lol::lol:

Edited by zeo-mare
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thankfully i found out about macross about the same time i found out about robotech, and have been collecting on and off for many years, maybe that is my problem as to why i cannot understand since i have ben exposed to both series from the begining and am alittle more informed as to what is on the market, it just seem so ridiculous spending that kind of money on such a toy. I have no problem spending $200.00 on some vintage valk or musha gundam, but for a newer toy like this is just plain silly. man maybe we should go around to their houses and start preaching to loyal robotech followers about he wonders of the Macross series and the real merchandise, we can hand out little macross bibles like a bunch of Jehova Witness and try to start converting people , or is that what macrossworld is for ;):lol::lol:

If the message is true and serves as a warning, then that is a really good idea. (I'm ignoring the obvious sarcasm and answering with obliviousness.)

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If the message is true and serves as a warning, then that is a really good idea. (I'm ignoring the obvious sarcasm and answering with obliviousness.)

yup i am serious, we should start converting people down the right path today .and start showing people the the crimes commited against Macross by Lucife....I mean Harmony Gold. Serious though, has anyone here (if you do not want to be known you can just PM me) spent that kinda money on a toynami valk? if so why? maybe i should ask this question at robotech.com <_<

Edited by zeo-mare
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now to actually answer your question....on word....

VALK-O-HOLISM.  :lol:

you quickly discover theres no reason to have just one, when you can have them all.  :p  also, some folks are the crazy completists and have no choice but to buy anything thats robotech/macross...i think its something in the genes.  :D

Would not a Yamato 1/48 be like drinking a fine bottle of liquor while the 1/55 of Toynami be like drinking paint remover :huh:

Let's add a little more:

About the paint remover thing, well just like the Toynami it will make you feel kind of good for a while, but in the end you end with crap :lol:

Edited by RichterX
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now to actually answer your question....on word....

VALK-O-HOLISM.  :lol:

you quickly discover theres no reason to have just one, when you can have them all.  :p  also, some folks are the crazy completists and have no choice but to buy anything thats robotech/macross...i think its something in the genes.  :D

Would not a Yamato 1/48 be like drinking a fine bottle of liquor while the 1/55 of Toynami be like drinking paint remover :huh:

My friend, it is a little extreme but I like your point. The MPCs are not bad mind you but they are not worth $80. Still the 1/48s are way better.

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ugh, the MPC's shouldn't even be used in the same sentence with yamato's 1/48! :p:D:lol: Anyway, from what I've seen, the robotech people don't know about yamato 1/48's and they think that only toynami's valk are the only way to go. I'm pretty sure they know about the 1/60 yamato line. I say this because a bunch of people that came to the Macross panel at the anime expo were like drooling over Golden boy's max super vf-1j 1/48. Most of those people I saw earlier at the robotech panel. :p

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I actually grew up with Robotech first. I didn't learn about Macross till several years later. I had learned Robotech was a butchered up version of three cartoons, but it had exposed me to two that really like, Macross and Mospeda. In the past my brothers and I refered to the cartoons as Robotech. Now, that word has'nt been said in years. The only things that say that are the Macross comic books I have in my display case that say robotech on them. :p

I really don't care for the MPC's. I like the boxes. I feel the 1/48's are worth the money for the detail. As far as the 1/55's the prices are good because they are vintage. If you think the prices are high for them now, you should have tried to buy one four or five years ago.

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As far as the 1/55's the prices are good because they are vintage. If you think the prices are high for them now, you should have tried to buy one four or five years ago.

actually that is not what i am talking about i mean the new Master Piece collections (MPC) from Toynami. about 4 or 5 years ago they were nothing in price but now they have gone up considerbly, the other 1/55 are ok because most are vintage but the new Toynami ones have gone up way to much and i cannot figure why people are paying so much.

edited: for errors

Edited by zeo-mare
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Hmm.. I think in this category, I lucked out majorly. I never did manage to see Robotech on tv, my first exposure to the VF-1 was one of those midget 1/200 scale models that Testors put out in the 80's. I thought it was a Tomcat. :p I left it at that (I was about 3 after all) and then bought a Millia JM at a toy store when I was about 6. Honestly, took me a few years before I realized they were the same plane. I saw the word Robotech on the package, but it didn't mean anything to me, since I had never seen the show.

Now, years later, while browsing on ebay, while looking for models, I started coming across the old transforming 1/72 Bandai valk kits. They were purely Macross, so I started looking up the word Macross, and my head nearly exploded when I first found a few of the Taka 1/55ths up for around $1000. I gave up right then and there on ever getting a decent sized one...Then, a friend of mine bought me Mac+ for Christmas. Watched it, loved it, and fell in love with the YF-19. So, I started browsing for those on ebay and various search engines, looking for info on the plane. In the end, I found both Yamato and MW right as the 1/48th debuted. Best timing ever. :D

Really though, the thing that drew me most to the Yamato valks was the emphasis on the aircraft design. I always thought the Chunky Monkey would be a cool toy, but didn't look at ALL like it would actually fly. The MPC is better, but not much.. I always hated the swing-bar design for the legs. I'm an aircraft nut first, Macross fan second, and I went for the one that looked like an actual plane, instead of a clunky collection of aircraft parts that transformed. That's partially why I got sick of the old aircraft transformers really fast... they always seemed to have some robot part sticking out that ruined the shape of the aircraft. The VF-1 was the first transformer I'd ever seen that managed to fit all the robot parts in a believable aircraft form, and still deliver a decent robot.

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Definately the name factor is the biggest reason I think. Robotech is just the known name of Macross in the USA. You'd think with the internet these days (They have the internet on computers now :lol: ) people would do some more research, especially since alot of auctions on ebay use robotech and macross synonymously.

I remember seeing Robotech on TV in my youth and I owned a Jetfire. Years later, I end up on ebay looking up Jetfires and find Bandai Macross Valks going for insane prices (this was around the whole Toycom deal, during the tough times of Macross collecting). DL entire Robotech series, just an awful mess, bleeding ears from Reba West singing, etc. On a whim decide to look into this "Macross" people keep metioning in some auctions for valks. Find the old MacrossWorld Forum, discover Mac+ and the rest is history.

Toynami Veritech is okay, but definately not worth retail $80. I'm tempted to get the Jack Archer YF-1R cuz of the color scheme and its animation error head. Plus its going for $30-$40 on ebay, not a bad price.

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Toynami Veritech is okay, but definately not worth retail $80. I'm tempted to get the Jack Archer YF-1R cuz of the color scheme and its animation error head. Plus its going for $30-$40 on ebay, not a bad price.

interesting artwork for an animation error... :blink:

its in japanese too. :ph34r:

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Maybe there's a really rich Macross fan out there buying up all the crappy MPCs and blowing them up or melting them down. If I had millions of dollars, that's what I'd do just for fun. Then, after I have them melted down, I'd pour the melted plastic into a square mold, and send it back to Toynami for a refund.

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Toynami Veritech is okay, but definately not worth retail $80.  I'm tempted to get the Jack Archer YF-1R cuz of the color scheme and its animation error head.  Plus its going for $30-$40 on ebay, not a bad price.

interesting artwork for an animation error... :blink:

its in japanese too. :ph34r:

Whats this from? Fan made?:huh:

In the anime in very clear that is an error, cause the 2 side cannons are something behind the vf-1A head and in the scenes before and after it's a normal Vf-1A.

Yamato 1/48 > MPC of crap

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i've been here befor the MPC and even the yamato 1/60 line cames out.

in fact, like robodog562000, i first news robotech, in 85 ... then i 've seen macross plus on tv and, searching about macross stuff, i've found the yamato 1/72 YF-19 on HLJ, macrossworld and robotech.com.

On RT.com i've been bannish 'cause i'm talking about macross stuff and not RT.

I've descover the 1/60 yamato line here, long before toynami launch his 1/55 line. Then yamato launch his 1/48 line (thanks god).

So, for me, it's impossible to take a MPC 1/55 for a 1/48 .... And i'm surprise when i'm reading such things. How could you take a piece of crap for a real master piece like the 1/48 .

The only explanation is that it's the Robotech label.

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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.

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My opinion is that there are alot of casual Robotech fans that are now finding out that these toys were released. They just jumped on the boat a little late. The only thing they have ever associated with Robotech is HG, hence the buying up of the MPC's. Now if they had some insight into how these thing compared to other offerings and true Macross. I'm sure they wouldn't be spending there money on them.

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some really good points here. but as i said, i think its mostly to do with the robotech name and the fact(as ewilen pointed out) that theres no way to compare a toy by looking at pictures on the internet. you see yamato, you see master piece collection....what would you get just based on description?

now as sad as this sounds, i think robotech battlecry for PS2 also had something to do with the rise in numbers of new collectors out there. hey, i'll admit it, i played battlecry for a while, started reminiscing about having a, dare i say it, veritech :p 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. :blink: 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. :p:D:lol:

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veritech  :p 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.  :blink:  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.  :p  :D  :lol:

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...

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At the current limited units that Yamato are commited to produce, I rather that people who only knew Robotech, stay with the MPC toys. Let those who know and will appreciate what's good have the Yamato 1/48s. Either that, or somebody install some boot prints on Yamato's arse so they make more.

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At the current limited units that Yamato are commited to produce, I rather that people who only knew Robotech, stay with the MPC toys. Let those who know and will appreciate what's good have the Yamato 1/48s. Either that, or somebody install some boot prints on Yamato's arse so they make more.

Well said BoB!!! ;)

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Ignacio Ocamica Posted on Nov 20 2004, 06:03 PM

QUOTE (Beware of Blast @ Nov 20 2004, 06:39 PM)

At the current limited units that Yamato are commited to produce, I rather that people who only knew Robotech, stay with the MPC toys. Let those who know and will appreciate what's good have the Yamato 1/48s. Either that, or somebody install some boot prints on Yamato's arse so they make more.

Well said BoB!!!

Yeah, but hasn't it been said that one of the ways we can have companies like YAMATO produce more of the stuff that we love is to have more people buy those stuff?

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Yeah, but hasn't it been said that one of the ways we can have companies like YAMATO produce more of the stuff that we love is to have more people buy those stuff?

True, but ya gotta look at the amount of 1/48 valks they're making each time they miscalculated a demand. If they are REALLY catering for the people who knows Robotech as well, the numbers would have been several times more than that.

Each time a 1/48 is remade, the multiple buying Macross fans would overkill Yamato's numbers. Yamato would like to have more people buying their Macross products, but they lack the balls to help themselves. :lol:

Edited by Beware of Blast
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Nope, Yamato only need to produce the valks. The only people that Harmony Gold would go after are the retailers in the US, I'm sure you already know that. But as long as Yamato continues to churn out the goods, the US retailers will continue to carry them no matter how wrong it is to HG's own interpretation of the selling rights.

Short of over-flooding the collectors market, Yamato have absolutely nothing to loose so long as their products continue to sell.

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