AcroRay

Wow - I'm REALLY happy with what I'm seeing there. Certainly, its a new product only made from repaint & redeco, but to see this toy still going strong after a couple of decades is just a joy for me. I like the box graphics as well, with the column of dates of past releases. I want that logo set on a T-shirt. "Since 1982 Origin of Valkyrie." Now THAT's a classic toy if there ever was one - classed right there with the Big Wheel, and the like.

Microman Watch-Robos - part of the line of toys Takara sold to Hasbro to make the earliest Transformers. They were knocked off quite a bit during that time period. Your pair there is an original, and a knockoff. The Micromen were 1/1 scale figures of tiny aliens and their mecha, which started back in 1974. Around '83, the Micromen developed companion robots which disguised themselves as household objects (Every household has a Walther p-38, right?) so the Micromen could hide their support unit strength from their enemies - the Acroyears.

I'd be up for a regular soldier as well!

Large scans of my old Imai Kamjin kit (1/100 "Armored Space Suit") box side, instruction back and box art - for color reference! If someone would like to make waterslide decals, I can provide a scan of the kit's decals as well. They'd need to be rescaled, of course, from 1/100 to 1/72. There's also a great picture of Kamjin in the Macross Mecha Portfolio (and also reproduced as cover art on part of ADV's Macross DVD releases), but its a bit stylized.

That I think we won't see. I think we'll have to wait for MACROSS FRONTIER - SECOND MISSION (or whatever they decide to call it) in about 6 months..........

I preferred her from the start. Leave the little loli signing idols home with the babysitter for the evening... Rowr...

My first Valk toy was a CONVERTORS repack VF-1S! I carefully added some stripes with electrical tape, and a little extra paint to the head guns & a couple other surfaces. Later on I bought a boxed knockoff of the same toy, and used some of the decals from it. I still have it, too! I actually have a whole squadron of those things - mostly knockoffs - which I've collected because of their odd little charm and as a momento of how common they were back then. I should take some pictures at some point.

D4mn!

Brake fluid. I've stripped and restored a lot of stuff - including model kits from the 60s. Pine Sol works, but will damage some plastics depending on exposure (which can be variable!). But brake fluid has worked best for me. It can be had cheap at discount stores like Big Lots. Just wash up well & dispose of carefully.

"Ornamental Design" is a legal term meaning a unique take on a common idea. IE: this is a toy robot, yes, but OUR toy robot looks uniquely like THIS, and has these distinct features ornamenting the otherwise non-unique concept. Otherwise, you'd simply be trying to patent a 'robot' (as a simplistic example), which probably would be rejected. Lucasfilm patented all of their Star Wars character designs as interpreted by Kenner into action figures, simply calling them 'action doll' or somesuch, but making the unique claim that the 'action doll' was ornamented - given distinctive design elements - into a unique ornamental design. Matsushiro may simply have patented the products they thought were most likely to be purchased, or they may have been in talks with Hasbro prior to that date. Patents are not necessarily filed at the point in time when their business interests start. There's a period of research and writing that goes into the filing.

The WAVE toy represents a different design of the Macross. I think the Takatoku design is light-years closer to the TV design. Its also MASSIVE, and FEELS like a toy of a mile-long space battleship. But, to each their own! Especially since there are a number of toys & kits of it.

For photography, the best method/tutorial I've found is HERE: http://www.happysoda.com/archives/88#more-88

I love it! But I'm going to pass in favor of one of the other variants. This looks just too much like a VF-1J to me, and my collection is overrun with 1Js & 1Ss already.

There were differences in the details on the outer, upper legs between the Phalanx, Defender & Tomahawk. Each had different box-like structures there. But apart from that, yeah, they were the same 'chassis'.

The one in the auction is missing 3 more small accessory planes (1 each of two different Valk styles, and the Lancer II). Someone also shaved off the tabs that attach the little planes to their catapults on the carriers. So, yeah. That's pretty overpriced. I wouldn't mind clean scans of the decals, though.

Thanks! Still, I may work on the adapter rather than mess with the hardpoint on the Valk itself. If I don't have any success with the adapter, I can always just cut a cheap new adapter from some sheet styrene. I'm a little more comfortable with that method!

Where did they break, if I might ask? I'm assuming in the adaptor plate, at the wider socket or the smaller sockets? I might widen the holes just slightly to reduce the strain, and save myself the potential headache.

The "old G1 Jetfire", yes. Jetfire was the same toy, with just slight changes in color & deco.

That one h3lluva kit! If you've got the cash to go for it, that'd be worth every penny. I think at the current exchange that's about $152 USD.

VERY Nice! I love seeing the old-school stuff, old-school f4rt that I am....

I got a set in the mail yesterday (About $11 after postage from an eBay dealer). Unfortunately my Valk is at the office, won't I won't be able to get them together for a day or so! But the pack of gear seems pretty nice. Lots of great detail, and they seem very sturdy. Good painting and decals (lots of little 'no step' decals as well). I spent a little while in the morning putting on decals and doing in some panel lines.

Humn - April of 1984 is the filing date. I don't quite recall when HG started advertising that first Macross dub VHS volume, although its copyright is 1984. (I don't have that comic around anymore, or any of the magazines with the ad for it, I don't think.)

I only have a toy-etic memory!

I don't know what link was provided, but the USPTO's records of Matsushiro's filing on the Valk toy don't involve hasbro. Click on "Images" button in the pages from the USPTO links below for the images of the actual filing paperwork, with extensive drawings.) 1/55 Valk: (Descriptive patent # D287,037 ) http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?...ushiro+AND+toy) also, their design for the 1/55 Dorvack Calibur [Roadbuster] (Descriptive patent # D285,589 ) http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?...ushiro+AND+toy) Couple of screen captures of the first pages, to save some time.... As I understand it, Kawamori needed to come up with a basic transformation for the Valk - a physical realization of it - to show toy companies to SELL them on the main robot concept for the show, and to secure their underwriting. He wondered what to do with the arms, and hit upon the idea of folding them under & between the legs to make for the main body of the plane. He then made a paper model in time for the meeting with Takatoku. Matushiro was Takatoku's contractor for the actual development of the toy (which they did for a number of companies at the time). Matsushiro then patented the design in the US, at least. I think the "wooden model" story quoted previously comes from Aramaki's experiences with the Mospeada Ride Armor toy, noted in several articles but also found in the booklet that comes with ADV's Mospeada DVD set. (Although similar wooden model prototype stories are probably shared by a lot of transforming toy products of the time!) Aramaki was unhappy with Gakken's shop's prototype, so he had a local designer make one from wood, which the toymaker then used as the pattern to have the toy designed.

Yep, Zira is the vendor to which I refer! I believe she may have had to change her account ID for some buggy eBay/Paypal reason, however. For Microman reference, the best place is www.microforever.com , although Paul hasn't had much opportunity for major updates since then. Good current linkage is also at my buddy MicroBry's site (provider of the MicroLady Klan information!) at rockettubes.livejournal.com I don't believe there's anything smaller than MicroSister right now, and I don't believe (although I may be wrong) that MicroSister was added to the Material collection. Takara has stopped development on Microman except for some Time Bokan and Wingman Micro-Action toys. There's rumor from the line manager that there'll be a relaunch sometime in the future, but that will probably require some major re-set in the product line. The current Microman line was more for adult figure collectors. To really expand the line, they'd have to go back to a more popular mainstream incarnation - like the MagnePower Microman line from the early 2ks. Nice to see another Microman hobbyest here, Wraith! You should consider joining my Microman collector group, or customizer-focused brother-group Generation Micro: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GenerationMicro/