Hiriyu

Right, but wouldn't BW still legally be able to release their own subbed versions (or dubs contracted to a UK production house), along with allowing say, Bandai, to legally sell their Macross toys in the UK market? My question is not really so much about how these things are usually handled in terms of distribution as it is about the basic legal distinction.

I'm not very knowledgeable on the subject, but would the recent development of BW having registered trademark for Macross in the UK potentially open the door to western market (UK) releases of the sequels? I understand that SDFM would probably be off the table given the BW/Tatsunoko agreement, but nothing should be stopping marketing of the sequels and related merchandise in that market, right?

That's not what really happened though. Ford had international racing aspirations and sought to buy Ferrari for their technical expertise in motorsport, as well as for the sales potential and cachet of the Ferrari brand. Enzo was fully on board with the idea of a sale, however he wanted to keep the racing arm of the company as that was his true passion. Selling Ferrari road cars was just an expedient for Enzo's ability to go racing, and he made no secret of it. Sale of the road car brand to Ford would bootstrap his racing business. During negotiation for the sale to Ford, it developed that both Enzo and the Ford execs had arrived at very different conclusions regarding the terms of sale. The lines of communication had obviously been crossed in the lead-up to the sale. What was to become the GT40 was an inevitability when Ford had determined to go sportscar racing. If they weren't going to be doing it with Ferrari, then it was going to be someone else instead. Ford partnered with Lola in the UK, and the rest is history. Now, while there were definitely feelings on both sides of the Ford-Ferrari debacle that either party had been snubbed, those did not really bear into the basic motivation for Ford to go racing. It was no doubt icing on the cake for Ford however to ultimately be able to contest and beat Ferrari at its own game.

Although the Miracle Productions VV was a little hit-and-miss on QC and execution, it had some really innovative design features that I kind of wish Bandai had incorporated for this SOC. The forward pivots in the chest for the shoulder connections, the unique stowage and connection features of the thigh subs, and the flip-over roof panel interlocks for the foot vehicles were all really nice updates to Dairugger XV toy design in my opinion. I have no doubt that the SOC will be leagues above in terms of solidity and finish quality. Really not sure what they're thinking with those front bumpers on the foot cars. It's the Voltron aesthetic equivalent to the micro-sized intakes on the CMs Legioss.

In favor of the v1, it was the first "premium" toy to feature the flush-closing backplate and flush-fitted backpack hinge, along with a lack of external swing bars for the legs. Those were some pretty revolutionary features back in the day. I did always like the weighty feel of those due to their diecast content too. That said, I'd give them a hard pass in this day and age. All of the v1's (good) features have been adopted and refined considerably by subsequent lines. This specific example is probably worth no more than $20 as a parts valk. I sold all of my v1s several years ago and had sold the Super-equipped valks for $65 a piece, boxed and complete in good condition. $50 for a broken one is wack.