Eazy D

If anyone still reads this thread for toy reviews of the MPC voltron then I'll throw my 2 cents in the rings having just recived my MPC Pros 1. Black lion is superb. I mean SUPERB. It is the best looking lion and acutally looks like a cat rather than a block. He's hella poseable and don't be decieved by some pics which make his legs out to be a bit skinny...when up close and personal with the toy they're not. 2. All the lions look nice and anime-ish as opposed to blocks 3. The combined voltron is surprisingly sturdy. Granted its not predaking-type study but for something that weighs so much it is quite stable 4. HELLA poseable. This thing kills any voltron toy when it comes to articulation. The arms are especially poseable allowing you to pull off some cool poses. The hip joints are ball jointed allowing an A-stance but aren't super mobile. The thighs can rotate allowing outward facing legs and the knee joints ratchet. Although the poseability in the legs is great the legs are so bulky that in practise you can't pull off very extreme poses and you should always have an eye on the toy's stability 5. Best QC toynami has come up with yet (still not perfect...see cons) and as usual lovely packaging and collectable-ness Cons 1. The die cast used is fine but the plastic used has a really cheap and breakable feel. 2. The connection pieces - stupidly enough for a mainly diecast toy - are made of the crappy plastic which puts them at risk of cracking if you drop the toy and its long term durability and tightness is questionable. Be especially careful with the arm connector pieces which are particularly shi**y. 3. Wings are too thin There's nothing I've said here that others haven't said before me but my own perspective is that this is a great collector's piece. Its not especially fragile but I wouldn't go playing with it a lot or try to leave it in uber-flexible poses for a long time. If you're looking for something that is anime accurate, poseable and has decent QC then toynami has clawed back some respectability with this toy. BTW - I never owned a Go lion but i've heard that it had a lot of cool lion gimmicks which the MPC is lacking. That's a con I suppose but the Go lion has a chunky monkey look to it that i don't like. The MPC is perfectly proportioned (which is what you'd expect from a 20 yr newer toy) except for the wings. Some people have called the combined form too slim but i don't think its skinny at all !

I don't see much point in comparing the flying characteristics of the legioss and the valkyrie. A transforming fighter is too complicated to get off the ground anyway. BUT having said that I like the fact that Kawamori tried to get the VF-1 to look as close as possible to a real military aircraft...hence I've got to say i like the valk more. As to which is better in fantasy combat.....I dunno BTW - the masterpiece voltron isn't bad at all. I hate toynami for the piece of crap alpha I ended up with but the voltron QC is much better. The plastic parts are still crappy and there are a few design flaws but it is surprisingly sturdy for a combiner and the articulation and individual lions are gorgeous.

I didn't know if this post should go under the toynami masterpiece thread or not so I just plonked it here.... Has anyone got their hands on the masterpiece voltron? If so could you do a small toy review mainly with regards to QC. Even if someone could point me towards a full toy review on the web that'd be great...I've tried searching google but no one seems to have done a proper review. I'm intrigued by the toy but I want to get a thorough idea of the quality control before I even entertain ideas of buying something from toynami these days. Thanks in advance for any info provided.

PM sent to you kensei dave

I like the look of that hybrid style G1 convoy but I can't help but feel the cab mode is a little short changed. The gap between his shoulders and the visible robot waist annoy me a bit. He seems more like a miniature masterpiece prime with a trailer (the trailer is hell cool tho) rather than a updated G1 prime. In early G1 and even in the Alt/Binaltech line the emphasis is on accurate alt modes whereas understandably in the masterpiece line its about anime accuracy for the bot mode. All things considered I like it and its quite cool for such a small toy but if its going to be more like MP prime than G1 prime why doesn't takara just make a fully sized transformable trailer for MP prime!?

This frame comes up in ep 5 (transformation) of robotech. I'm sure it's also in the macross tv series. Anyone got any idea what this fighter is? It looks like a valk but I've never seen that colour scheme before so i don't know if its transformable. Dave

Anyone got anymore pics of the new cannon fodder? I'm really keen to see how the shade of brown they've used holds up in battroid and gerwalk mode. (tnx 4 the pics hayao kakizaki - was the first one you posted the non-custom CF?)Someone should do a review on the thing with regards to fit and finish. I wonder if anyone knows for sure if this is a limited release or not?

Can anyone post up a few pics of the CF in battroid mode. I'm a bit disappointed about the colour. I was hoping it'd be a slightly darker shade of brown. Also, Is UN SPACY preprinted on the legs or does it have to applied as a decal? BTW - thanks for getting those pics out Neova and Blackaces A review of the toy from one of you guys would be great. Dave

Thanks jenius for the pics and to everyone else who replied for their info This is the impression I've got so far 1. The bandai 1/55 vs yamato 1/60 analogy seems to stand up 2. I think I agree that the toynami is better but its no "masterpiece". It may have better proportions and articulation but 20 years of toy technology should have produced better. Admittedly the legioss/alpha is not a good looking fighter even in the anime but I really hate the crab feet, arching back, and miniscule clearance of toynami. 3. How dare toynami even call the thing a masterpiece when the build quality is so bad. I know there are some good alphas out there but the proportion of "lemons" is ridiculous. I bet no one will disagree if I make the generalisation that whenever anyone opens an alpha for the first time the first thing they do is pray they didn't get a dud. Damage control is not what should be going through your head the first time you open a new toy 4. The toynami alpha may be all we have right now but there is scope for improvement . look at the Yamato 1/48 valk. The thing is pretty durable if transformed correctly, QC is good and it looks stunning in all three modes. I feel unworthy of touching that toy so i've put it back in its box If that can be done to a valk then it means we have the toy tech to do that to an alpha. BTW - I've got a q about scale. The gakken is 1/35 and the toynami is 1/55 but they don't look so far apart in actual toy sizes. Which one got the wrong scaling?

Thanks for the info jenius I can't help but think that although toynami's alpha affort is supposed to be a masterpiece (and as such has more detailing and articulation than a gakken) It may not really be that much better than a gakken even though its nearly 20 years newer. I don't have a gakken myself but i've seen a few pictures of it and it seems pretty solid and playable. It reminds me a lot of the bandai and takatoku valks in terms of the chunky monkey styling. I was hoping anyone with a gakken could tell me how solid and durable the toy actually is. Better still, if anyone has pictures of their gakken i'd love to see them. Does it suffer from the huge crab legs in fighter mode that plagues the toynami alpha? BTW - a word of warning to new alpha owners. The toynami hands are CRAP. They look good admittedly (like real human fists) but my alpha had a left thumb on the right hand and the hand fell to pieces when I tried to articulate it a bit.

Has anyone had problems with their blue alpha MPCs having inverted heelspurs? Mine had one inverted heelspur straight out of the box. I bought it MISB off ebay about a year back. Would toynami help me out or is it just a lost cause? Dave

Thanks very much for the info VF19. Appreciate it!! Dave

Hi, I'm a newbie and I'm thinking of pre-ordering the cannon fodder. I've got a few q's I was hoping someone could help me with. 1. Will this thing come with a pilot figure (I don't really care whether its TV or DYRL - I just want a pilot!) 2. I don't understand this thing about TV and DYRL hands. I've seen box pics of the 1/48 VF-1J Max and Miriya Super valks and I can see two sets of non articulated hands. Are those extras? Do the Max and miriya valks still have articulated built-in hands and more importantly will the cannon fodder have built in hands? Dave

MY MPC alpha was No. 1652. I picked it up on ebay MISB. I can almost deal with loose joints but I really want to know if anyone has had the problem of mismatched heelspurs and two left thumbs. I'm not a great fan of the Yamato 1/60s but they still beat the hell out of toynami when it comes to QC.

Hi, I just got my MPC alpha today and I've already managed to pick several REALLY big F Ups in it. 1. - One of the diecast heels has been attached inverted. It doesn't affect stability a helluva lot but it looks terrible especially becuase the feet don't fold in symmetrically in fighter mode 2. The ratchet joint in the left leg is loose and the leg keeps telescoping on itself when in battloid mode. Makes for a rather lopsided battloid and guardian 3. The right hand came with a left thumb so the right fist won't fold up properly has any of this happened to any of you guys. If so, any ideas to fix them? Even though I want to kill toynami right now I must say though that the sculpt is rather nice. Dave

Thanks Heaps Sorry to be anally retentive about this but is the heatshield in the re-issue black with the skull leader insignia? I just want to be sure the thing is what I expect becuase I'm planning on buying one. Cheers

Does anyone know if the bandai VF-1S 1/55 Roy Focker (not the super valk) re-issue comes with the skull leader heat shield canopy? Thanks Dave