An Introduction to 1:55 Scale VF1 Valkyrie Transforming Robot Toys

Right, its New Years Day, so its time for a special article. Today’s subject is very close to my heart, and I spent a bit of time on it. So.. probably no-one will read it… but I’m doing it anyway. 

 

The VF-1J in Battloid Mode

So, dear reader, I feel I need to stress some fundamental truths to you about the anime industry and the merchandising it feeds. All anime, but especially TV anime, is on some level about selling merchandise. Yes, all of it, including your absolute fave you feel is truly art and above such things. Including Cowboy Bebop. Where shows differ is the extent to which they are overt about this, and how well they judge their audience. Mecha animes tend to be very much about this, for reasons that are so self-evident I feel that it would be an insult to you to list them here. There is however a catch. Mecha merch is not necessarily about getting a flawless representation in miniature. That was something that Gundam and gunpla largely did, but it's not a universal rule. Rather they want to sell you something that more represents the idea of the giant robot or its pilot. Something you can get from a gatchapon machine and hang from a key chain. Think Funko Pops. Or possibly a hugging pillow if you have no self-respect. I can imagine a more serious -minded collector being repelled by what I just wrote, but it's how it is. There is a market for high end collectables, there most definitely is, but that's not THE market, it's merely A market. With transforming robots though, they kinda hit a catch 22. The idea of such a thing is that it changes shape, which presents design challenges. And what can happen, especially in the 80's, is that they take a toy and make it look rather better on screen than it is in plastic, or you end up with something that absolutely was not created with plastic in mind and there's some designer somewhere openly weeping into their coffee as they try to figure it out. It's something that can cause problems even today, and it's often easy to tell when a company is new to that whole transforming robot thing. It's also why you see collectables that advertise "perfect transformation" that cost serious money, or less commonly "simple change" that cost less and are an implicit admission how difficult such things are to make. However, in 1982, Takutoku went and made something that was ahead of its time. A toy that was, as near as it made no difference, an ideal representation of its source material: the 1:55 scale Valkyrie from the seminal series Super Dimension Fortress Macross. The gold standard of transforming jet toys from the 80’s. Arguably unmatched until the 90's. Still keeping pace with toys even now. Bootlegged to hell and back. The big chunky monkey. Known to Transformers fans as “That awesome toy that became Jetfire.”. Known to, <sigh> Robotech fans as the Veritech. The goddamn 1:55 scale VF-1 Valkyrie.

The 1984 Transformers Starscream toy

Now, a lot of the credit for that probably goes to mecha designer extraordinaire Shoji Kamamori, the main creative talent behind Macross. He was/is quite prolific in his field, working in toys as well as animation. Notably, he had a hand in Diaclone, working on a fair number of the cars that would become the Autobots. One thing he did not work on though was the F-14 jet toy that would become Starscream. The way I've heard it told, (Hi Karl,) he took a look at that and felt he could do better. This could easily be viewed as youthful hubris, or possibly a fandom legend. Except, as the rest of this article will demonstrate, he absolutely did. Kamamori is a massive aircraft nerd that likes to use papercraft and lego to perfect a transformation. As a result, the difference between the chunky monkey, Starscream, and the vast majority of contemporary Transformers toys is night and day. In fairness, it's a much larger thing than your average Transformers G1 toy, and it's size was probably dictated by the materials technology of the time, but, yeah. Today's article is going to feature two different versions of the mould, specifically the VF-11J (TV version, two head lasers, greyish) and the VF-1A (Do You Remember Love? version, one head laser, brighter white). These are later reissues by Bandai, circa 2001, bloody hell, these now count as retro themselves, whom had picked up the rights after Takutoku folded. While obviously not as ideal as an original, with some minor pieces missing, collecting Valkyries is not a task for the faint of heart or light of wallet, so I'm going to work with what I have. By coincidence, I obtained these within months of each other, both are the personal birds of the lead character Hikaru Ichijyo and both lack the clip for stowing the gun on one arm. I've declined to apply all of the stickers on the TV version, and I'm missing the swappable heatshield on the DYRL version. I have the missiles on their sprues however.

The toys in Fighter Mode, Top: VF-1J, Bottom VF-1A

Let's start by talking about the Fighter mode, possibly the form which has aged best. There's lots of good planey detail going on, definitely pushing into scale modelling territory. It's an 80's fighter jet made in the 80's and it's fulfilling the brief nicely. The cockpit bubble is translucent, there's folding landing gear with some serious springs in them, the wings move, with either stickers or decals picking out details and markings. Aside from colours, the main difference between our two subjects is the Battloid head, which pokes out on the underside. This is maybe a little undignified, a big deviation from the lineart, but this isn't a Transformer with an expectation of disguise, rather it's a weapon of war, and having some lasers is arguably justifiable. The other deviation is the presence of big diecast swingbars to facilitate transformation, but that's somewhat more forgivable as more recent attempts have also struggled with that area. These have signifcant amounts of metal in them, with thick plastic, and the transformation is not based on tabbing together so much as big eff-off ratchets remaining tight. This means that these toys can suffer if a joint starts wearing out, but otherwise you'd have to seriously try to actually break something on one of these. Generally, the Fighter mode is pretty good today, and was all-but-ideal back in the 80's, but there is one missed opportunity: weapon storage. The Gunpod can't store on the underside, and the landing gear lacks the nessecary ground clearance even if it could. 

 

 

The toys in GERWALK Mode, Top: VF-1J, Bottom VF-1A

The Gerwalk mode is probably the most iconic of the three, a transitional step between the Fighter and Battloid forms. This makes the Valkyrie function a bit like an attack helicopter with arms, and if that doesn't sell it to you? Well, watch the first ever episode. This mode is maybe a touch awkward to achieve, you have to fudge the shoulder joints into a position that feels less than natural. Once there, we start to see features I'd more usually talk about in the robot mode section, I.e. articulation. The legs are jointed at the hips and knees, with simple but heavy duty ratchets for a total of 4 points. You aren't gonna get anything especially dynamic out of them in this or Battloid mode, but that's already more useful posability than entire Transformers toys of similar vintage. Starscream could only move his arms up and down, for smegsake. Speaking of arms, the arms on this do better. These are still big ratchets and swivels, but there's four points in each arm, and honestly that would be quite acceptable by modern standards, if unremarkable. A wrist swivel would have made it great, but, again, this is more useful articulation in one limb than ENTIRE G1 toys. There are some quirks relating to the Gunpod mind you. The hands are moulded with a distinct trigger grip for the right, but a closed fist for the left, which is a touch limiting. The Gunpod has a missile launching gimmick, the most obvious sign this was an actual toy as that's not how it worked on the show, but at least they disguised the trigger as a scoped sight. Also, as mentioned, I'm missing the clip that allows you to stow the gun on one arm. All in all though, you have the visual appeal of the Fighter mode, but with functional articulation, and a firing missile. 

 

 

The toys in Battloid Mode, Top: VF-1J, Bottom VF-1A

The Battloid mode, AKA battle-android, AKA robot form is also very good. It carries over the positives of the previous two forms, while still having its own character. A lot of that is to do with the head and how the top of the fuselage forms a chestplate. It's got a heroic build, perhaps more so than the source lineart, but basically no jet kibble. If you have a later reissue with an optional heatshield, another bit I'm sadly missing, you can conceal the cockpit bubble and push the effect further. Valkyries such as this edge ever-so slightly into that zone where the robot form is so convincing that the uninitiated might honestly not realise it transforms into something. Yes, there is the frontend of a jet there, but do you really want me to make another Transformers comparison? Kindly scroll back up to that stock image of Starscream again. See? Don't make me post a picture of Ironhide or something. On top of that, you get decent posability in the arms, a neck joint, with the lower body being limited, but joints are there. They did all this in 1982. I mean, 1982!

NINETEEN.

EIGHTY.

TWO.

Conclusion

There is probably a better timeline where the Macross franchise isn't in a legal quagmire, and wasn't imported piecemeal into the West, to be used in other franchises. Maybe we got these as actual, proper, Macross toys. Maybe Harmony Gold imploded. It couldn’t happen to people more deserving. It seems a tragedy that this wasn't better known and more widespread, even with its acknowledged status as a classic. When it comes to likeness and posability, these toys and their basic design outperform the majority of their contemporaries, and while transforming with the most minor of cheating. While obviously showing its age, it has aged gracefully, like some kind of metallic George Clooney or Carol Vorderman. If you like giant robots and/or 80's toys, consider tracking one down. 

 

 

 

The Intro to SDF Macross

Remembering Transformers Energon

A while back, I wrote an article about Transformers: Armada. That is to say my memories of the toys, its reception at the time, and its legacy. I like Armada a lot. It followed that I had to write about its sequel series, Energon. As you can see from the date tags, this took a while. Part of that is is the thing that biases me, I sell toys professionally these days, part of its the nature of Energon itself. Transformers Energon, known as Superlink in Japan, was following a legitimate success, granting it a big budget and a host of new fans awaiting for new toys. As it was also the 20^th Anniversary series, long term fans also saw tributes and homages. It was a fine position to start. Energon would however suffer from two problems, one stemming from the other. The first was that its play pattern wasn't as financially successful as Armada's, while the supporting media was notably bad. Or to paraphrase a mate of mine: the cartoon was pants, and half the Autobots turned into pants. Did the series deserve such a burn? Read on to find out.

The Energon Cartoon

Putting aside that Japanese exclusive series that cannot be mentioned in polite conversation, few things united the fandom in hatred like the English language version of the Energon cartoon. Every conceivable flaw was present that could be in a show broadcast on Cartoon Network. Make no mistake, the Japanese original was not good, with some major conceptual problems and wasted opportunities, but the localisation pushed it over the edge. Characters were computer animated, but had only 2 frames of facial animation. Character development was ignored. The interesting set-up Armada had provided, such as it was, was quickly dumped. Spelling errors in the titles cards, it goes on, I do recommend you watch it while drunk. The comic? Well, Dreamwave went bankrupt. The net result of this all was that the G1 collector crowd got G1 tributes, but handled badly so they weren't happy, while actual new ideas it did have suffered too.

Sourced from the wiki, the many moods of Ironhide 

Now, I'm not gonna bang on about production values, as that is self-evident. Nor will I mock Kicker Jones, his name does that for me. I will however summarise the good start Energon wasted. Armada, not a good series to be fair, ended with an Autobot/Decepticon alliance. Megatron was dead, but had left orders affirming that alliance, and none of the surviving named Decepticons were of the power hungry type, so it stuck. If you are wondering why Starscream wasn't all over that, well he'd died in a heroic manner, forcing that very alliance. The reason for this union was Unicron, whom was defeated at great cost, but a decade of peace followed. Then one of Unicron's minions, Alpha Quintesson, started taking actions to repair his master and generally started shit-stirring. He resurrected Starscream with amnesia, while Megatron basically rebuilt himself through sheer will. This resulted in conflicted loyalties all round, with some Autobot infighting too, and the potential for interesting character development.

None of this goes anywhere after the first 20 episodes. The series just devolves into repeated ploys to resurrect Unicron or find new Energon supplies. Star Trek: Voyager made a better use of its set up.

The Toyline in General

When writing about Energon toys, I realise that A) they are a minority in my collection, B) I tend towards the negative, and C) those might be connected. A big part of that's the fiction, but its also a matter of the design philosophy, and the first toys we saw. Energon shifted more towards actual articulation and the aforementioned fan-pleasing homage, which was good. It also had a lot in the way of Visible Head Syndrome, bulky electronics, and articulation was inconsistent, which was bad. It did have new ideas, which is good. Executing them? Eeeh, I don't want to say it was bad, but here's some pics of Optimus Prime.

Yeah.....So his altmode doesn't convince, he had no faceplate in early runs, and he's fatter than me on boxing day. These flaws largely arise from his pay pattern, and this sort of set the tone for early releases. Energon had a lot of scifi vehicles with exposed robot heads or other problems arising from gimmickry.

What gimmick was this? Well, it was not just one. Getting right down it, Armada had only really one gimmick, the Mini-Con. How each toy used that play pattern of course varied, and some toys suffered, but it was straightforward, and worked. Energon retained some of the Mini-Con functions, but added 5 gimmicks more, depending on how ya count, split between factions and size classes. This did mean play value was high, if a messy affair. A smaller, but perhaps more successful part of the line were the Energon Chips and Weapons, as carried by the scout-sized Omnibot and Terrorcon subgroups. These were modular translucent parts, usually offering a mix of choppy and shooty weapons which bigger toys could borrow. Said bigger toys had their own versions of this, but did something rather different as their selling point. Most Autobots got the Powerlinx gimmick where they combined as pairs, something to this day I'm not overly fond of. Combination of various forms was the biggest thing in Energon, but as Combiner Wars was a decade in the future, the execution here wasn't brilliant. The binary style was limited to the Autobots, with the combinations being under-articulated and not attractive, while leaving the Decepticons with faintly unconvincing “Hyper Modes”. This brings us back to the failings of the cartoon; it never made the 2 robot combinations look good, and it certainly didn't sell the Decepticon thing or anything else. And when you can't sell the toys, you've missed the point of the exercise.

Sourced from TFU.info, Energon Ironhide and Clifjumper combined.

Sorry, got on the cartoon again.

Meanwhile, there was a bit of a repaint thing going on. Yes kiddies, repaints in Transformers is not a new phenomenon, although with one very notable exception, Energon did simple reskins. Following a trend set by Armada, Energon was in the habit of redoing toys in different colour schemes, often intended to be new characters by Hasbro, but largely treated by Takara as upgrades. This fictional disagreement would come to a head later on, but this didn't do the perception of the line much good either, if only for the fact Armada toys were thrown in, and the showstopping Supreme class was 2/3s repaint. This probably played a big part in Energon's other big problem, shelfwarming. Stores just brought too many after Armada, so unpopular toys tended to stick around Eventually, the five bot “Maximus” combiner teams appeared, thus answering many fanboy prayers, but they suffered from the repaint thing too. Coming out at the tail end of the line, there were 3 teams, but only 9 distinct moulds, and no real hands/feet for the combined mode. These toys were sufficiently well-received that they were getting re-releases circa 2009, but some of the first unofficial add-on kits I ever saw were for these toys, addressing these issues. And yes, the cartoon was so incompetent as to ignore that these were combined teams.

The Highlights

So what did Energon do well? Actually quite a lot, its just Middle Child Syndrome given what Armada and Cybertron managed to do. The style of binary combination basically makes the Autobots exponentially fun if you can get over the look. Dozens of combinations were possible. Maybe hundreds, I can't be arsed to do the sums. Optimus even got Wingsaber to balance him out, in a notable example of 2 wrongs making a right. Deceptions were varied, and still hold up for the most part. The smaller toys of both factions featured some great pocket money transformers. So, lets pick out some interesting ones.

Energon Startscream

For the Combat class, what we would recognise as today as deluxes, an early front runner was Starscream, and probably my favourite iteration of the character. In terms of engineering, he bears a striking resemblance to G2 Smokescreen, so much so people cried retool. No, its a new mould, and while it copies a lot, its copying from a damn good source. He's also got this lovely undead/wraith/ghost/ethereal motif going on, and the option to combine his weapons into a sword as big as he. On the Autobot side there is Tow-Line, a mishmash of Autobot vanformers, whom does something unusual with the binary combination thing. He can, in a gift to adolescent sniggering, powerlinx with himself, or two other Autobots at the same time. A pretty solid toy overall, good for customising. Other noteworthy Combats include: Snowcat, a tubby robot with skis whom copied his altmode from G.I. Joe, and Roadblock, a fairly involved retool of Inferno.

 Tow-Line

The tiny wee toys of the Energon probably are the ones that hold up to the test of time. There's some duffers of course, but the partnership of balljoints and good accessories ages well, many ended up being reissued/repainted at length. The first ACTUAL GODDAMN ARCEE figure came from this price bracket, as did most of the combiner teams, and provided you don't pick one with compromised articulation like Insecticon, you are probably in for a good time. Battle Ravage and Strongarm are two of my favourites here, good allrounders.

 Battle Ravage

On the larger side of things, there's Landmine, one of the rare completely new characters. Transforming into an armoured snowplough, he is notable for his "brute mode", which, well, LOOK AT IT!

An awesome toy I which I regret not having any more. On the decepticon side, well, we got a second boatformer, Mirage. And Megatron carries a weapon seemingly made from his own corpse, which is almost as awesome as Landmine.

 Mega-Dinobot

Because Hasbro was flush with money, we got some unusual side merch. Alpha Quintession got a toy, Kicker got 2 toys, couple of roleplay toys, and we got a Dinobot combiner featuring Grimlock and Swoop. Not hugely good by reputation, that set is notable for being designed by Takara employees, which might explain things.

And finally, the toy that prompted this article, Omega Supreme. The big dude suffered in that he was following Unicron, and is quite uncomplicated,  while giving prioity to an unconvincing optimus combination. That however is not the same as saying he is boring, not by a long, long way. Omega Supreme is assemetrical, splitting into an alledged train and an awesome battleship.  Omega was also a titanmaster before it was cool, and features a tiny reserve head as an adorible back up. He is a bit more Armada than Energon, and has an immense presence. 

Wrapping Things Up

In many respects, Energon can be viewed as a reaction to criticism of Armada from the collectors side of the fanbase. This is evident from the generally improved articulation of these toys, although not quite pre-armada levels, and the sheer number of G1 homages evident. As it was the 20^th Anniversary series, some pandering was inevitable, but legitimately new characters are in the minority, and the vast majority of the returning ones were retrofitted into tributes. It wasn't entirely that way of course; the new form of combination had promise, and perhaps should have found more success with kids. The reason it didn't? I dunno, the cartoon was bad, but there's been plenty of successful Transformers toylines with objectively terrible media, i.e. most of them. But, the cartoon never really made the gimmick look cool, I suppose. And, lets be honest here, if you do a direct sequel to something and largely dump everything that made the original special, it doesn't end well. Just ask Beast Wars fans.

The toys though? Those were good, and that's what matters.

Images are largely sourced from the wiki, and remain the property of their respective holders. Let me know if you want them removed.

A Review of Saban's Power Rangers (2017), Without Spoilers

Against all rational expectation, this film does not suck. I don't wish to oversell it. There's legitimate reasons to dislike the movie, like product placement, and it hovers around competency rather than greatness, but it does not suck. We certainly had every reason to think it would suck in the run up to its release. It seemed to be aping the Michael Bay Transformers films, which suck. It seemed to be a dark and gritty reboot of children's TV show, which tend to suck. Its another movie that assumes a sequel, which is cheeky and usually sucks. It was was gonna be an origin story, which don't automatically suck, are so over done as a concept it often results in suck anyway. And its source material, while I would not say it sucks, its not exactly starting from a position of high art. The Power Rangers brand, long-story-short, is a toy advert cobbled together from Japanese stock footage, which equates to suck in most formal review styles. There was no reason to assume that the result would be tolerable, and despite the content of this blog, I have no nostalgia goggles to apply. However, the film ends up working, to the point where I was honestly surprised at the amount of fun I was having with it.

I say again, Power Rangers, somehow, does not suck.

It has a shaky start. There's some obnoxious camera-work, and a red flag in the form of a“bull milking” joke. Fortunately this is brief, as the film moves into teen drama territory. It does not rush into morphing time, and a majority of the movie is characterisation first. This bears unexpected yet admirable fruit in that one ranger is autistic and another of the LGBT persuasion, facts which are treated as just part of life with little fanfare. Its not the earth-shattering leap forward that some have made this out to be, but diversity matters, so have a brownie point. The tone is initially serious, but lightens into a sense of wonder and fun by the films end when the rangers armour up and start promoting toys. While the design aesthetic is butt ugly, seeing the Zords in action is an undeniable high point, with a sprinkling of fan service and being easy to follow. Even the alien designs for Zordon and Alpha 5 grow on you, something undoubtedly help by a subplot involving Zordon's actual existence, and Bill Hader's vocal performance. The plot has its contrivances, and its influences are worn on its sleeve, but Power Rangers earns its high points and doesn't make any overt mistakes. That's faint praise I know, but the film does seem to have been made by people whom took pride in their work and weren't embarrassed by what they were adapting. As long as Batman V Superman exists, and Michael Bay keeps doing Transformers films(1), that's something.

Perhaps the nicest thing about the film however is Elisabeth Bank's depiction of Rita Replusa. While another visual departure from the TV series in that she looks like something Elven out of Warcraft, Rita matches the changing tone of this film. After being made a definite threat by killing people personally, not being at full power and scrabbling for resources, she becomes increasingly flamboyant as the story progresses in her favour. The result is an actress wallowing in the ham a role provides her, going full panto by the end of it, chewing the scenery like she hasn't ate in days. Whatever you feel about the film, you will remember this performance. Especially, if you have a phobia about teeth.

All-in-all, Saban's Power Rangers is not a film that will stand out in the crowd, but one that as a pleasant surprise. Low expectations probably play a big part with this, but its nice to be wrong about something. Its not great, but it doesn't mess things up either. It is what it is. If you end up watching this with your kids, you won't have a bad time.

As mentioned, it does not suck.

Foot notes

1) The creators seem to have been of a similar mind, there's a joke/FU in this film worth the price of entry.

Image Copyright Saban, used under fair use provisions.

NEWS: Introducing My New Project: The Nottingham Robot Company

Right, lets talk about this side project I was talking about. Its taken a while, as I slowly crawl to my objective, but the first step has been made. I now sell toys on the internet. My hobby is now an attempt at a profession.

Now, lets answer some questions.

What do you sell?

Transformers. As you might expect. Maybe other stuff by the time you read this. Or less.

Where do you sell these toys?

On eBay, see here.

You don't seem to have much, do you?

First off, thanks for looking. Second: hey, baby steps. Baby steps. Got a lot on order.

Are you going beyond being an eBay trader?

That's the plan. Just now, I'm doing what I can between shifts, so its taking time.

What does this mean for this blog?

In the short term? A hiatus. I started this blog to fill free time, and despite my early optimism, I have less of that. This is on top of the family matter, too.

So, after the hiatus?

If I sell Transformers, I feel I can't really review Transformers any more. The potential for bias, or accusations thereof, is not something I want. So, I'm going to rework the blog away from such things into more general discussions.

What happens to the existing reviews?

The internet forgets nothing, so as they are up, they stay up. I stand by my previous work though.

When will you post here again?

I'm not doing a regular schedule, but maybe in a month, all being well.

Thanks to all my readers, hope to see you all back with a new format soon.

Announcing Botcon 2016 Coverage: Tweets, Pics, Probable Jet Lag

Right then, dear readers, I know I've not been updating much lately. Real life, though hopefully easing now, is still making many demands on me. On the plus side: I'm flying to America this week. I have a selection of  consumer electronics. I'm going to what is probably the last Botcon, the official Transformers convention. And I have a twitter account, @Urluck_UR. So I'm gonna attempt some live reporting, and hopefully get a few months of review material to work on.


Click here, to get my twitter feed.