Vintage Bandai 1/55 Macross Strike Valkyrie
Manuals and booklets. I’m not sure but I can’t find anywhere in the manual that properly illustrates how to attach the Strike/ Super parts. Are they on a separate, lost sheet? Or was there really none included to begin with?
These items were packed together in a single baggie.
I didn’t know the vintage set came with an unpainted Lynn Minmei figure? Cool.
Valkyrie mode
Sadly, unlike in the Anime and in the modern Macross toys, the Gunpod cannot be mounted on the underside of the Valkyrie mode.
I don’t know, but for some reason, I really, really love the design for the Valkyrie. It takes inspiration from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter jet designs. The newer “reverse wing” aircraft in the Macross series just don’t give me the same feeling.
Gerwalk mode
I was never comfortable with the Gerwalk mode even back in the day, you can clearly see the strain the plastic is undergoing because of the awkward placement of the entire shoulder section.
The GU-11 55mm Three-Barrel Gatling Gun Pod can be easily equipped on the Gerwalk mode.
Battroid Mode
The variant Valkyrie command unit assigned to squadron leaders in the U.N. Spacy during the events of Space War I. The call sign “Skull Leader” was designated to the ones in charge of the elite “Skull Squadron”.
To replace the canopy cover with the “Jolly Roger” blast shield will take a lot of work. You will need to remove the screw from underneath. This will also result in the front landing gear’s spring coming undone. It’s a bit of a hassle and somehow feels poorly designed. Also note that the pilot’s seat will also come undone when the screw is removed. Good grief…
The 4 × Fixed “RÖV-20 Anti-Aircraft Laser Cannons” mounted on the side of its head can be rotated forward.
Lol… in the old days, things didn’t really hold well together. Certain positions with regards to the arms can easily shift the weight of the back half of the Battroid, resulting it in becoming undone and drooping downwards like so.
Due to the aging plastic, you can see which parts are diecast (still white thanks to the paint applications) and which parts are plastic with regards to the legs. The lower halves of the landing gear covers also tend to flop out easily for some reason, not sure if this is just on my copy or if it applies to all vintage 1/55 Valkyries. I didn’t encounter this issue with the early 2000s reissues
The Battroid comes with its GU-11 55mm Three-Barrel Gatling Gun Pod rifle.
For the vintage 1/55 figure, the set comes with an optional attachment that allows the Battroid to “mount” the Gunpod onto its forearm when not in use.
Sigh… as cool as the blast shield is for the canopy, the color is all wrong. It’s supposed to be red, as seen in the movie. The black color is designated for Roy Fokker’s Skull Leader unit.
FAST pack add-on parts for the VF-1S.
FAST is an acronym that stands for “Fuel Armor Sensor Tactical”. Aside from the added armor and bigger weapons payload, the FAST pack also offers additional sensors for earlier enemy detection and increased speed due to added verniers and propellant and coolant tanks.
FATAL FLAW ALERT!
Note that the FAST Pack’s HMMP-02 micro-missile launcher pod can be swapped out for the Mauler RO-X2A high-powered double-action beam cannon. The Micro-Missile pods are mounted by default instead of the Mauler Cannon. Be careful when swapping the parts around! I recommend unscrewing the halves of the pylon instead of yanking the parts off to prevent damaging the toy.
The engine covers for the vernier can come off. I don’t recommend doing that too often though, to prevent mishaps.
Valkyrie mode
Optional missile racks can be clipped onto the wings for the Strike Valkyrie. One for each wing.
Gerwalk mode
Battroid Mode
Piloted by Hikaru Ichijo in the final battle scene of “Super Dimension Fortress Macross movie : Do You Remember Love?”, this custom colored variation of the VF-1S now includes the FAST Pack system, which is used to augment the VF-1 for space operations. The new parts grant the VF-1 a greatly increased weapons payload as well as greater fuel and thrust. Also, this custom variation for Hikaru sports a unique “Mauler Cannon” placement on the right weapons system instead of the default Micro-Missile Pod.
-1/55 Macross Valkyrie weighs 345 Grams and stands roughly 9.75 inches (447 Grams and 11.25 inches with the Strike Parts equipped)
Diecast parts include
–Battroid chest plate
–Sections of the shoulder joint
–Sections of the main leg structure joint
–Sections of the lower legs
–Landing gears.
Due to the new forearm armor, the Gunpod’s attachment can now no longer be mounted on the forearms. Bummer.
The Mauler Cannon just really makes this mech look so much cooler than the regular Micro-Missile Pods.
Forearm-mounted “NP-AR-01 Micro-Missile Launcher Pods”, each housing 3 micro-missiles per arm.
Overall, I am so happy! This was one of my original “Holy Grails” as a kid. I only saw it once in a store and I lost the chance to buy it after it was sold the next day. Thanks to a very good friend (you know who you are 🙂 ) who managed to score a complete, near mint figure (with box to boot!) at a reasonable price for me via Japan online auctions very recently, it’s finally here! I can’t believe I’m finally a proud owner of this iconic figure!
For further technical data on this legendary machine:
https://www.macross2.net/m3/sdfmacross/vf-1s-fastpack.htm
Gold
