GrampaStump

When Bandai remolded every single part, which was shortly after they acquired the rights, they switched the tail key from black to white. So all the Matsushiro and Bandai undated have a white tail key, and all the Bandai 1984 and 1985 have a black tail key. If there are any oddballs out there that do not conform to that distribution, I have never seen or heard of them. The only exception - and I would not really count it as an exception - is that the gray market Jetfire's that were sold carded without armor in Asia were clearly made from a hodgepodge of parts old and new, so you might get genuine Takatoku style head lasers with a neck near the base of each cannon, with Bandai style metal legs with the detail lines that wrap around to the front and back. But those are probably best thought of as something other than Jetfire. And let me reiterate, when Bandai took over, they remolded every single part. There are also differences even within the early Matsushiro branded version (and the undated Bandai version). For example, the thighs in the early Matsushiros did not have any support pegs internally, but the undated Bandai version did have support pegs. The internal structure of the head lasers - no supports in some/most Matsushiro, and 4 support structures in a few of the Matsushiro and undated Bandai (and in the later 1984 and 1985 Bandai, 5 supports). It is not clear to me whether these very minor early redesigns took place under the stewardship of Takatoku (and/or Matsushiro), or if they were designed and implemented by Bandai. I'm sure somewhere there are aging Japanese former toy company employees who know the answers to these questions, but I don't know if the wider world will ever find out. On this side of the ocean, the Hasbro people who are still around to talk about it don't even always remember the details correctly. Someone asked Henry Orenstein (or maybe it was a Hasbro guy, I can't look up the interview right now) if they ever had a contract with Takatoku Toys, or did they first start dealing with Matsushiro, and his answer was that he didn't really know, but as far as he could remember, Hasbro only ever dealt with Bandai. I don't know if timing-wise that makes sense that they would have originally been dealing with Bandai... But it isn't impossible, especially if Takatoku was sort of spiraling the drain and was already in talks with Bandai to buy them out. I have all these parts and more in organizer drawers right now, so soon, very soon, I will take side-by-side comparison pictures of all these minute details I'm talking about.

Old topic, but I've been working on this. It is pretty clear when you take them apart that literally every single part was remolded between the original Matsushiro version and the final Baindai versions. Many of the differences are only on the inside; mold or cavity marks, ejection pin mark locations, sprue mark locations, additional supports around bosses, and some marks - I assume they are ejection pin marks, but I don't really understand - that are "innies" on one version but "outies" on others (I say I'm unsure what they are because I don't understand how an ejection pin mark can be an outie, but they are far too neat and clean to be sprue marks). I don't have any special knowledge, just taking apart all the junker Jetfires I have bought over the last few years and looking closely at the parts. The most obvious differences are between the {Matsushiro and undated Bandai} versions and the {1984 and 1985 Bandai} versions. But there are very subtle differences even between the Matsushiro and the undated Bandai, where additional supports were added over time. So I'm sure reading about this is pretty uninteresting to 99% of Jetfire fans, but I'm not ready to put out pictures. Still taking pictures and making side by side comparisons. But SOMEDAY in the not too distant future, I plan to have a catalog / database / list / pictures of literally every difference in every piece, and which pieces tended to go together. After-market Frankensteining of course makes this last part challenging, but I'm trying. One thing I have not done is take apart my Takatoku Valkyries to see what they look like on the inside, although I assume they will incredibly similar to Matsushiro Jetfires. Anyway, my hope is that after I put out a list of all the mold marks and variations I've found with pictures, people can submit pictures of any different versions they find.

I lurk on quite a few FB forums where G1 Jetfires are sold, and a trend I've noticed over the last year is "perfect paint job" Jetfires suddenly being found. Even though they are known to often have paint rubs on the nose before being removed from the box for the first time, the same crowd that a few years ago figured out there are variations between different molds and which version parts don't mix and match very well, and then publicly discussed and eventually mastered bleaching them, are now "finding" them with no paint rubs, no fading, no thin spots or chipping anywhere, etc. I guess if they are done with care and end up looking like the real thing, I can't complain too much. But no one is admitting to repainting them, so just on principle I don't like the dishonesty. I'm sure some of these people shelling out $150-$200 for a [touched up] Jetfire with no accessories are going to also shell out to get them graded. I wonder if the scammer leech price fixing grading companies catch the paint touch ups and ding them for it?

Any advice on how to crack open a VF-1 tail section when the seams between the "back shell" and the "tail plate" are glued down really solidly? I've done it many times, and the advice I have given people is that I soak the joints in Goo Gone - even though I'm not sure if that actually accomplishes anything - and then carefully, slowly, attack it with a sharp hobby knife. The thing is, I haven't done it in a couple of years, and I have a few that I'd like to get apart... and I'm very nervous! I'm not great with the hobby knife, so sometimes I make unpleasant gouges (that probably only I notice), and sometimes flakes of plastic from the tail plate break come off, stiuk to the back shell, when it finally breaks apart. I have found some that with age and wear have naturally popped apart beautifully... I've also found some that seem to have escaped being glued in the first place at the factory. But for the rest of the cases, I just don't know how to approach it with confidence, and would be thrilled if one of you had a "OMG THIS IS SO EASY ONCE YOU KNOW THE TRICK!" technique to offer.

Are you are saying that part of the reason you pay for grading is because they put it in acrylic and that reduces yellowing? You can reduce yellowing without paying a grading company for an acrylic box. You can keep it out of heat and sun light, you can put it behind glass (plain old glass is pretty decent at blocking UV), you could maybe even put a sealant on it. There are options that don't involve joining the grading game!

That is amazing. I always knew that Matsushiro sold them out the backdoor on the gray market, and that many of the high quality vintage bootlegs were so high quality because they were literally the real authentic product, but I never before realized they actually did it with their name on the box! That's great. And the TT sticker sheet is not a surprise; Matsushiro was contracted by TT to manufacture them, so all of their sticker sheets would probably have been from TT (unless they manufactured their own stickers?). Great pictures!

Transistor Robots Mr. Hard Hat series. I believe the red head came in the "giftset" and the blue head came in the individually sold Excavator-Man (or I might have that backwards, or perhaps it was random, I'm not really sure). Edit: Sorry, I see it was already answered. But I knew it right off the top of my head, if that counts for anything!

Actually of the 3 on the left, the one with no number comes from a Jetfire based on the original Takatoku VF-1J mold. The two with numbers come from Jetfire based on the newer (but still from 1985) Bandai created molds.

If nobody knows, or nobody is interested, that is fine, but if my message above isn't clear, or if you can't see what is different in the picture about the one cockpit piece I'm asking about, just let me know and I'll try to provide better details. (If only Bandai would dig out the original wooden VF-1 prototype!)

Speaking of Jetfire cockpits, I received a big batch of Jetfire parts, and I noticed 1 cockpit that does not look like the others. Can anyone identify this one? It might be from a KO I am thinking, because it has a different shape than all the other Bandai versions I've seen. The difference may be subtle, but it is pronounced - a rounder front with different angles than the others. See the pictures. Thanks.

Often the thruster shell is glued to the tail plate. Sometimes it cracks loose easily, other times it doesn't. I have more than one that someone else broke trying to disassemble. Has anyone perfected a method for separating them? I have soaked the seam in goo gone, reapplying every once in a while for a day or two, and then used a very sharp razor blade to get them apart. I've also managed it without any tools, just being a little forceful with it, but that seemed awfully risky. I haven't done it enough times to really get a sense for whether the goo gone actually helped. It isn't easy, any way you slice it (pun always intended). Very easy to cut into the plastic with the razor, or break the shell if you rush it. If the goo gone actually works, I'm thinking that the best way to do it would be to build a little jig to put the whole assembly into, soak it with goo gone for longer than I have ever done it (patience!), then tap it apart with a soft mallet - no knife involved. Am I reinventing the wheel? Has someone out there already perfected this? Also, secondary question, is there rhyme or reason to which ones are glued and which ones are not? Possibly early ones / Takatoku had no glue, but Bandai do? Not sure...

Very interesting. Those drawings could be very useful. In this case, I don't think I'm going to call that part "FC" because I'd rather use a word, but its a good starting place. I looked at the schematics of an F-14 Tomcat (which I believe is the primary inspiration for the Valkyrie in fighter mode) and found something that looks very similar on the rear vertical stabilizers that are called the electronic countermeasure aerials (or ECM aerials, for short). So think I've got my name!

Initially I wasn't going to bother giving names to these parts, because they aren't particularly prone to breaking, but then I just found one today broken off and figured what the hell, might as well have a name for it. (The little points that stick off the back of the tail plate, circled in the picture below!)

Here is one I never thought about before. What do you call the roundy thing on the back that pokes out on the original models, and in on some of the newer ones?

I'm not trying to give the BOM a 5 year old comprehension level, but I do want it to be a common language we can all communicate in clearly. Maybe more like 18 years / no college required. Simplicity is a factor, but not the only factor. Sometimes a clear and simple word will be a good stand-in for a more technically accurate phrase that is uncommon and/or long. I appreciate the input, though. And maybe I'm wrong, but perhaps you were subtly teasing me ("...already in your notes"), in which case, bonus points! I totally love it. (But if you were being earnest, that is fine too!) So back to the "shell" piece. You're right that shell doesn't give any clue as to where it goes or what it is. I had been using both backpack and jetpack, but the reason I want to get away from both of those terms is that they seem kind of childish. One makes me think of a kid wearing a backpack walking to school, and the other a rocket pack that a sci-fi nerd would build in his garage to fly around and bounce off the walls with. Maybe back shell? Or jet shell? I've got the overall BOM finished now, all parts listed out, the most commonly broken components of the parts also given their own names. I'm just working out a few details, like renaming the backpack, and figuring out if the landing latches for the front landing gear are identical to the ones on the back (I think so, but want to confirm), and a few other details like that. Once I get it all sorted out, maybe I'll post it here for anyone who is interested to give feedback... or start using if/when they discuss parts of a 1/55 Valkyrie!