Macross - 1/60 VF-1J Transformable Super Valkyrie "Hikaru Ichijo"

Series	Macross
Title	1/60 VF-1J Transformable Super Valkyrie "Hikaru Ichijo"
Release Date	June 2002
Manufacturer	Yamato
Suggested Price (JPY)	9,800
Scale	1/60
Height (cm)	Fighter Mode: ? Cm (L) x ? Cm (W) Gerwalk Mode: 18.5 cm (L) x 23.5 cm (W) x 17.2 cm (H) Battroid Mode: ? Cm (H)
No. of Parts	1 valkyrie fighter + 1 gunpod + 1 cockpit canopy shield + 2 twin missile pod + 2 single missile pod + 2 additional hands + 2 antennae + 2 fast pack thruster + 2 piece arm armor + 4 piece leg armor + 1 pilot + 2 decal sheets + 1 18-pages manual
My Rating	Very Good

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Comment
Beautifully engineered fully transformable version of the VF-1J as flown by Macross hero Hikaru Ichijo, issued for Macross 15th anniversary by Yamato Japan. Allows you to transform it from Fighter to Gerwalk to Battroid mode, and of course, it comes with the very cool, removable armor and backpack booster engines of the "Super Valkyrie". This particular configuration of a VF-1J equipped with a Super FAST Pack exists neither in the Macross TV series nor in the "Macross-Do You Remember Love?" movie.

We can trust Yamato to produce a very detailed Valkyrie fighter meant for serious Macross fans. The overall quality is superb and the basic marking provided out of the box is ample enough for display. However, Yamato does not stop just there but provided 2 decal sheets for those collectors, such as me, who crave for a more militaristic marking. Panel line is not inked out-of-the-box but the lining could be penned using a Gundam marker. It comes with welcome detail accessories such as missile pods and pilots thus making this more of a beautiful collector's items rather than a toy.

As in most transformation figure, the figure proportion is usually not very well balance in between transformation mode. Moreover, Macross Valkyrie Fighter features 3 modes of transformation, which quite stress out the designer capability in producing an anime perfect proportion. I will like to compliment Yamato as they produce the most well made Valkyrie as of to date in the market (omitting Yamato's newer 1/48 scale Valkyrie, of course). The proportion in all three mode is well balance and I could not spot any flaw in this department comparing to the other 1/55 scale Bandai's Valkyrie that I owned. In short, it looks good in all 3 modes; fighter, gerwalk and battroid.

Articulation of this figure is superb as this is fully articulated; arms, legs, waist and head. Compared to Bandai's 1/55, this is a much better figure in this department in term of posing. Moreover, this comes with additional hands for this purpose.

However, this well proportionate and articulated figure does come with setback. During transformation in between modes, the legs have to be detached and then reattached. This is a small price to pay, judging in term of the 'look and feel' and posabilty of this figure. The transformation process is much more complicated compared to Bandai's 1/55 Valkyrie. It presents a much fragile feel, which lowered the playability factor.

This is purchased during HLJ’s Inventory Clearance at 40% off the regular price of 9800 yen.

Gimmicks

- Exposable thruster pack to display engine, 4 ordinance slots for missile, retractable landing gears, detailed cockpit w/ pilot, fast pack thruster and additional armors, 2 decal sheets for detail markings, gunpod attachable in fighter mode.