Robotech Masterpiece Edition

[Exhaust Port]

I just got my Rick Hunter Robotech Masterpiece Edition in the mail today. All I can say is it is AWESOME. The articulation is like nothing I've seen in this style of toy in either the original Robotech stuff or Transformers. The detail of paint and accessories (cockpit ladder, rocket packs, removable Rick Hunter) are also a step up from what I remember of the past toys.

I'm not a MIB collector and usually the door isn't even closed before I have the figures out of the box but this one has me rethinking that. The packaging allows one to totally remove the robot and most of the accesories without removing any tape or anything else that would damage the packaging. Even with that being true, all I can do is stare at the toy in the box. I did take it out once to give it a good once over but I can't bring myself to keep it free from it's plastic and cardboard tomb.

I recommend anyone who's a fan of Robotech or the Valkyrie fighter toys to pick this one up (and the next 4). My girlfriend, who's never watched Robotech, was absolutely amazed by this thing.

[pthfnder89]

Originally posted by Exhaust Port
I recommend anyone who's a fan of Robotech or the Valkyrie fighter toys to pick this one up (and the next 4). My girlfriend, who's never watched Robotech, was absolutely amazed by this thing.

I'm glad to hear it Exhaust Port. I preordered mine (wow, it's been 5 months now) and I'm eagerly awaiting it now that they are finally shipping. I've been waiting for new Valkyrie toys ever since Jetfire came out in the Transformers line. The original Valkyrie is still my absolute favorite Anime Mecha design ever. Far cooler than anything from Gundam or others like it.

When I heard Toynami was creating the Masterpiece line I got my preorder as fast as I could. Hopefully it will be here by next week!*drool* The Rick Hunter Valkyrie actually isn't even one of my favorites, but since it was the first one I had to go ahead and order it. I can't wait for Max!

[Exhaust Port]

I too sped to pre-order the first Masterpiece Valkyrie when I saw the announcement. I almost forgot about even ordering it until I got a missed delivery note from UPS on my door one day. Well worth the wait. Right after I opened it I turned on the computer to pre-order the Ben Dixon Valkyrie. They're saying August which is almost here. Wow, I can't wait.

Rick Hunters fighter isn't my favorite either. I personally like Max and Myria's (sp) fighters better. I'm going to try and scrap up some extra cash to get an extra so I can keep it out and play with.

I don't understand the hype over either the Gundam toys or cartoon. The newest Gundam figures are sub-par to even the earliest Robotech toys. They either don't transform or are extremely limited and don't look cool when done changing.

[JediTricks]

Do you really think it's worth the $80? I've seen a couple of these up close now and they really don't look that great, the plastic looks a bit low-grade (rough and translucent), the paint isn't that clean, the joints are gappy, and the promise of 30% die cast was not even close to met on Vol 1, I heard it was dropped down to like 5%. I want to be sure that's what mean, as so far, I've heard nothing great about it from others and haven't had good experiences myself.

Personally, I'm holding back for the Yamato sets which are gonna be sold here in the US soon thanks to Harmony Gold losing a huge court battle in Japan, but I would like to hear how Toynami did on theirs.

[pthfnder89]

Originally posted by JediTricks
Personally, I'm holding back for the Yamato sets which are gonna be sold here in the US soon thanks to Harmony Gold losing a huge court battle in Japan, but I would like to hear how Toynami did on theirs.

I'm also interested in the Yamato versions as they look very nice. I didn't even hear about those (or the Bandai reissues) until after I had ordered my Masterpiece. $80 is pretty expensive but from the description of the product I thought it was reasonable. A lot of work was going into them.

I still haven't recieved mine though so I can't make and educated opinion yet.

[JediTricks]

See, what I don't like most about the Masterpiece one was that I came SO close to ordering one, but held back mainly because I thought 30% die cast wasn't enough for my money and the limited edition nature was kinda sucky for a US release and the Super-Poseables looked pretty bad. Then, the day these things shipped to retailers (last week), that's the day when Toynami chose to "officially" disclose that the die cast content in volumes 1 and 2 of Masterpiece would be significantly lower than expected (from the original 30% all the way down to 5%, I've heard) - this means everybody who preordered had no advance knowledge and got shafted by a misleading description.

I hope the folks that get the Masterpiece ones from Toynami are happy with theirs, but I've only heard 2 really "happy" reports from those who received them so far.


Personally, I'm saving up my money for the 1/48th-scale Yamato piece, that's gonna change the face of transforming Valkyrie toys forever IMO. http://209.197.117.27/databases/acti...show_article=3

[Exhaust Port]

I don't know what percent of the Masterpiece editions are metal so I'm not going to comment on that. JediTricks, you weren't impressed with the low metal amount in the ME but you'd rather pay more for a PVC model with metal hinges? The large scale is exciting but I think it should provide large amounts of detail as well. From what I've seen the detail isn't there. The one exciting detail of the Yamato valkyries are the articulated ailerons and speed brake (but no rudder). Other than that, the pre-production paint and accessories (that are extra) are lacking and even look cartoonish in scale. Also in an attempt to allow for an articulated pilot figure to fit in the cockpit it seems from the pictures I've seen that the scale of the fighter has been compromised to adjust for it.

I still think the dream Valkyrie is still ellusive. I truly hope that the final Yamato product lives up to the possiblities of a larger scale. For now I think the ME versions are the best thing going. The price is a bit higher than the $60-70 I was hoping for but it's still a great value for a nice toy.

[pthfnder89]

Originally posted by JediTricks
Personally, I'm saving up my money for the 1/48th-scale Yamato piece, that's gonna change the face of transforming Valkyrie toys forever IMO. http://209.197.117.27/databases/acti...show_article=3

I was tremendously excited to read about Yamatos upcoming line also JediTricks, but I'm with Exhaust Port on this one. I just don't see an enormous improvement from the ME pieces. It certainly looks to be on par with them but since the Yamatos are only going to have diecast hinges, with the rest of the plane constructed soley out of PVC, it seems like a big jump considering the $40 price difference from Toynamis MEs. Now having diecast parts is not the be-all, end-all of making a good Valkyrie figure, but Yamatos other features seem comparable to what Toynamis has. (although I realize Yamatos are also a bit larger.)

One thing that DOES really excite me though is the addition of seperate armor packs, something I PRAY Toynami will consider in the future.

[JediTricks]

Exhaust Port, it's not that I wasn't impressed with low amount of metal, it's that it's $80 and part of that was a statement of a significant amount of die cast in the product. When they originally said "30%", I wasn't terribly impressed with the comparison to their original claims of die cast usage, but when they reached only a 10th of that statement, I was a bit incensed. I'd rather pay for a larger toy with what I perceive as a higher-quality design and execution. I already know Yamato's materials have been better than Toynami's for my tastes in the past, so I believe that will be the case on the 1/48th. Not only that, the 1/48th is a larger scale than the ME, has more stuff going on, and looks to have a more satisfying and unique transformation to Battroid mode.

Basically, I'm really not that impressed by the ME design (metal or not), it looks a bit sloppy and gappy in places that weren't 15 years ago with the Bandai ones. When Yamato raised the bar on design about a year ago with their model, I really expected the line to get better, but the ME one feels like a big step way back.

Also, considering all the crap Harmony Gold has put the US through in getting Robotech/Macross product here without huge import prices, I really expected the first "official US" products of the past 15 years to be of higher caliber AND/OR of lower price, and certainly not this "limited edition" stuff - I thought toy-buyers of all ages would finally get a crack at having good Valkyrie toys, but Toynami and Harmony Gold shot that down. For the same price as the US-released Masterpiece Edition, you could get an imported Bandai re-release (which I'm told the ME borrows heavily from) or an imported Yamato 1/60th one - and that's not counting the fact that Yamato's products will soon be distrbuted in the US legally and without import markup.

Originally posted by Exhaust Port
the pre-production paint and accessories (that are extra) are lacking and even look cartoonish in scale.

If you're referring to the fastpacks, it's not as if they came with the ME either. And while I don't think it looks "cartoonish" in scale, it is based on a cartoon.

I don't believe the pilot figures are meant to be articulated, only removable; and I don't think the pics figures.com has of it makes the cockpit look out of scale or misshapen.