Yamato’s 1/48 scale VF-1S Transformable Valkyrie Roy Focker

Yamato just re-issued the 1/48 scale VF-1S, both Roy Focker’s and Hikaru’s! Since I like Roy’s black/yellow paint scheme more than Hikaru’s black/red paint scheme, I got Roy’s VF-1S.

Today, we’re all about comparisons with the 1/60 scale VF-1S.

The 1/48 box is of course slightly taller than a 1/60

And it's wider

Here’s what the 1/48 comes with:

Valkryie, two missile sets, gun pod, Roy Focker pilot figure. Not pictured: decal sheet and instruction book

But no display stand mounts, like you’ll find with every 1/60 scale valkyrie!

1/48 on the left, 1/60 VF-1S TV Type on the right

See the missiles? The 1/48's are all white, no black tips like on the 1/60

Better tampo printing on the 1/60. The "001" and RDF logo on the side of the nosecone are not pre-painted on the 1/48, but are decals

Okay, okay.  I’m biased towards the 1/60, even though the 1/48 has a few more gimmicks, like the antenna on the backpack and the radar in the nosecone.  The 1/60 just feels and looks tighter (especially between adjacent parts), and is pre-painted with more emblems.

But if bigger is what you like, the 1/48 is for you!

 

Yamato’s Macross Zero VF-0S 1/60 Scale

Yamato recently re-released the Macross Zero VF-0S 1/60 scale valkyrie!

The box is bigger than the newer generation VF-1’s in 1/60 scale.

The box has a nice inner flap that shows the VF-0s in its 3 modes.  When I first saw the toy, I thought it looks more like Yamato’s 1/48 valkyries than the 1/60’s, primarily because of its larger size and also because the line identations are thicker.

The toy comes with the VF-0S, two display stand attachments, four 3-missile packs, two pieces of calf armor, a gunpod, and a Roy Focker pilot figure.  There’s also an instruction book and stickers.

The fighter looks very nice.  I like the big wings and tall tailfins.  There’s also an antenna (radar?) sticking out from the nosecose.

The fighter is very close to the line art.

Nice, big engines.

Let’s get an idea of the VF-0S’s size relative to the VF-1S 1/60 scale.

The VF-0S is quite bigger than the VF-1S 1/60 scale!  Holding the VF-0S, I noticed that parts are more loose-fitting than the 1/60 VF-1S.  For example, the engines are a little wobbly.

The gunpod is bigger, too.

You’ll also notice a bar connecting the back of the gunpod with the front.  The 1/60 gunpod doesn’t have the bar, but the VF-0S gunpod bar is accurate with the line art.

The Roy Focker pilot figure is made of a softer plastic than the pilot figures in the newest 1/60 valkyries.

On to gerwalk mode!

See the backpack boosters?  They actually slide out, and don’t hold in place that well when you tilt the toy.  Another difference from the 1/60’s is that the hands are recessed into the forearm, and you have to pull the hands out.  In contrast, in the newest 1/60 scale valkyries, you rotate the hand outward from the forearm.

Missiles and leg armor!

Similar to the VF-11C, the leg armor is held to the calf by a magnet.

Each missile pack comes with 3 missiles, and uses the same mount as in the 1/60 scale valkyries.  However, the VF-0S’s missiles have pointy tips and triangular fins, whereas the VF-1S 1/60 scale’s missiles have barrel-like tips and smaller, rectangular fins.

On to battloid mode!

See the compartments that house the leg landing gear?  Those doors have more space between them and the legs than the doors on the VF-1S 1/60 scale.  In general, I feel that the newer 1/60 scale valkyries don’t rattle as much because their small movable parts fit tighter.

The toy’s battloid mode is pretty close to the line art.

One really neat gimmick when transforming to battloid mode is that the pilot seat actually reclines!

See the instrumentation panel?  It also tilts back.  You don’t find this gimmick with the 1/60’s.

The nosecone radar antenna comes off pretty easily–it’s held in place by only a round peg.

On my VF-0s, the right laser on the head was quite floppy.

In battloid mode, the wings fold down and meet in the back, but unlike the 1/60’s where the wings do not overlap, in the VF-0s, they overlap!

Overall, a very nice toy.  I got it from AmiAmi, because it was cheaper there (13720 yen, excluding shipping) than on HobbyLink Japan (16800 yen)!

http://www.amiami.jp/shop/?set=english&vgForm=ProductInfo&sku=GDS-3588&template=default/product/e_display.html

The Nifty Macross Keychain

Thinking about getting the 1/60 VF-1S Hikaru or Roy valkyrie with Super and Strike Parts “Plus”?  The “Plus” refers to a nifty Macross keychain that comes taped to the underside of the plastic that encloses the toy.  If you really want to be reminded of Macross every day, now you can carry this keychain with you!

Nifty!

Keychain with its four small batteries

About three inches long, the keychain comes with 4 very small AG3 “button cell” batteries, which stack on top of each other in the back of the keychain, the part with the key ring.  The other end of the keychain twists off, revealing a piece of plastic with a skull emblem inside.  When you press the small button above the “AC” in “MACROSS” (the white plastic to the right is to cover the button to prevent pushing it), you see a cool image:

Skull emblem image from VF-1S Roy Focker

As you can see, the image is not clearly in focus because the plastic lens isn’t of high quality.

Later, I’ll take a look at the valkyrie itself!