The toy was released in Japan on 31st July and became available in Hong Kong on the evening of 1st August. During my lunch break on 2nd August I took a trip to the branch of 'Animate', on Nelson Road in Mong Kok and bought two of the 1/48 VF-1A Low Visibility. They cost me HK$748 each (approx. US$95.90 each). This is more expensive than the 1/48 Max type which is still available for HK$599. I should also note, that I picked up the last two pieces from this shop, although other branches still have stock at the time of this review.

The toy has full painted panel-lining, which is mostly grey, but some black (a first for Yamato). Nice thin lines as well. It also comes covered in grey air-brushed smudges to simulate weathering. Interestingly, the UN Spacy 'Kit' emblem on the wing appears to be spray painted on, rather than the Tampo printing of other 1/48 VF-1 toys. There are also no numbers printed on the wing. Instead, two sticker sheets of numbers are provided to allow you to designate your own number.

The pilot figure which has the pilot wearing flight suits and helmets worn in the new Macross Zero OVA is an excellent sculpt. The pilot seems to be made of some type of rubber-like material, unlike the hard ABS of the DYRL pilots.

Moving onto the accessories, this toy comes with the same as all other Valkyries. However, the AMM-missiles, the gunpod and the tips of the micro-missiles in the UMM-7 pods are sort of a greyish-white rather than the bright white of the DYRL toys, which looks great.

A nice touch IMO, is that the inside of the landing gear well and the inside of the landing gear doors have been painted white.

The VF-1A itself, features the improved nosecone and flap design first introduced with the VF-1A Max type, which stay on very firmly.

The box is beautiful, as is the toy. I have not found any QC issues at all on this toy. I'm happy to report that the canopy stayed up and the Skull Squadron emblems on the tails were straight, so no repeat of the VF-1S problems.

Same sticker sheet as other DYRL Valks, except the color of most of the stickers has been changed to grey.

These are great toys. If you love the look of modern military jets and Valkyries, this is a 'must-have' toy. The exact quantity of Low Visibility VF-1A is not known, although my sources advise me it is quite limited, so buy it while you have the chance, otherwise you will regret it later.

As a side note, I would like to mention that the excellent display stand used in this review is available from Macrossworld forum member 'Sithlord'.

Highly recommended for displaying Valks of 1/72, 1/60 and 1/48 scale.

Graham