Slugworth Posted March 17, 2005 Posted March 17, 2005 You know, seeing all the knock off versions in one of the other threads, I'm just amazed at the staying power of the Valkyrie design. 23 years and its still being ripped off? Its really a testament to how elegant and wonderfully executed it is. How often does a triple-changing robot toy look great in all three forms? I mean, there were three companies (Bandai, Yamato, Toynami) literally flooding the market with Valkyries of various scales. The 1/55 scale gets bootlegged constantly. It has to be the most recognized transforming robot in japanese animation. It really is timeless. Quote
kanata67 Posted March 17, 2005 Posted March 17, 2005 like pokemon... gotta catch 'em all. I'm getting closer but some of these bot boots are a bugger to track down Quote
F-ZeroOne Posted March 17, 2005 Posted March 17, 2005 There is a timelessness about great aviation design (and even fictional) that pretty much transcends current fashions. The X-Wing, the Blackbird, Concorde, the Valkyrie, and of course, the Supermarine Spitfire... Quote
yman1437 Posted March 17, 2005 Posted March 17, 2005 I am not sure if I would mention MACROSS and pokemon in the same sentence ..... Quote
jasonkimberson Posted March 17, 2005 Posted March 17, 2005 I am not sure if I would mention MACROSS and pokemon in the same sentence ..... you just did Quote
Dat Pinche Haro! Posted March 17, 2005 Posted March 17, 2005 I think the VF-1 is automatically a favorite of any Macross fan. It truely is a timeless design. Even from the begining it was designed to look like a jet fighter that happend to transform into a robot. It's still very much a beautiful and modern design. Just as Gundam has the RX-78, we have the VF-1; a big reminder of where it all started. Quote
MGREXX Posted March 17, 2005 Posted March 17, 2005 Yes, this is truly a great design for the ages. Does it belong to kawamori or miyatake? Quote
Gabe Q Posted March 17, 2005 Posted March 17, 2005 Does it belong to kawamori or miyatake? It's Kawamori's design. Hence his god-like status around here. Quote
AlphaHX Posted March 17, 2005 Posted March 17, 2005 God-like? I thought he was a God? Awww maaaan... time to take down my Kawamori shrine. I've always loved the VF-1 design. The "design" in terms of tranformation were used in Macross Zero with the VF-0 and imo it still looks like it fits right in today. No offense to the VF-1 but I think YF-19 has an equally timeless design. But then again I could just be a biased bastard since the YF-19 is also one of my favorite designs. Quote
Dat Pinche Haro! Posted March 18, 2005 Posted March 18, 2005 technically isn't it both kawamori and miyatake since both of them worked on the VF-1? i think miyatake drew the internals and did clean up for the VF-1 Quote
Godzilla Posted March 18, 2005 Posted March 18, 2005 The designs are great. Nothing more can be said about it. On an unrelated note: Dat Pinche Haro, who is that chick in your avatar. Why? Because she is driving me crazy! It has to be the red hair. Quote
kaiotheforsaken Posted March 19, 2005 Posted March 19, 2005 the VF-1 is truely a great design, and while it definately is most recognizable transforming mecha, i think Optimus Prime is at least if not more iconic. not to say that macross is one of the best and its designs aren't great, i just see way more shirts and stickers for cars with optimus then a valk. Quote
Retracting Head Ter Ter Posted March 19, 2005 Posted March 19, 2005 (edited) the VF-1 is truely a great design, and while it definately is most recognizable transforming mecha, i think Optimus Prime is at least if not more iconic. not to say that macross is one of the best and its designs aren't great, i just see way more shirts and stickers for cars with optimus then a valk. Optimus Prime is definitely more famous but thats not because he has a better design. He just got more airtime. And maybe because OP was a singular entity in the 'superrobot' sense while the VF-1 was a mass production machine. The VF-1 is a REAL TRANSFORMER. TF's are just MORPHERS. Edited March 19, 2005 by Retracting Head Ter Ter Quote
kaiotheforsaken Posted March 19, 2005 Posted March 19, 2005 very true, while i still think transformers are just as valid a transforming mecha as a valk. stickin them in a morpher category seems a bit harsh. but in reality who can deny a jet that has 3 forms? Quote
orguss01 Posted March 19, 2005 Posted March 19, 2005 TheTransformers just had a better/ memmorable transforming sound ........ Quote
kanata67 Posted March 19, 2005 Posted March 19, 2005 TheTransformers just had a better/ memmorable transforming sound ........ I think your right come to think of it... just like the law and order duh-duh sound, youv'e heard it so often it it's like pavlov's dogs... you hear it and automatically have the mental association. The vf is definately the most widely copied, resized, revamped, recolored, and redetailed of any transforming mecha I can think of. The original 1/55 is the most widely re-issued, bootlegged, and loved whether because of macross, robotech, or TF. oh yeah...and battletech That doesn't mean there weren't other designs that weren't as cool. Take the TF whirl [also never seen in the tf cartoon] also known from ovelon I believe. Very cool and accurate design. PRobably becuase they were the same designer I believe. Now go-bots, who were apparently designed by school kids in some type of contest, completely sucked ass. "ha ha... you live in the ghetto... you got go-bots for x-mas..." Granted wasn't the original cyclone based off mospeada? OR was it the other way around? I know I have[or did have] a cykill model that was a varible cyclone kit. doesn't matter... Nothing has seen near the saturation level of the vf-1 as far as transforming things go. 1/55,1/60,1/48,1/100,1/72,1/144,1/200 in assorted colors and flavors, not to mention the variety of kits and customs out there. And just how many prime varients are there... especially ones that look like the g1 and not whatever the current thing is [excluding the masterpiece of course]. Even including ultra-magnus it just don't come close. Quote
kaiotheforsaken Posted March 19, 2005 Posted March 19, 2005 the transforming sound was always cool. i always thought prime was more iconic but perhaps its cause i grew up and transformers and became a macross fan later in life. Quote
HWR MKII Posted March 19, 2005 Posted March 19, 2005 (edited) The sound that reminds me of the VF series acft is the sound of an F15 JFS (jet fuel starter) spinning up the motors. You hear that sound in Macross every time a VF starts up. Edited March 19, 2005 by HWR MKII Quote
MGREXX Posted March 19, 2005 Posted March 19, 2005 hmmm........ If he was made a god for designing the VF1, what is he now for creating the train wreck also known as Macross Zero? Quote
Vespaeda Posted March 19, 2005 Posted March 19, 2005 Ahhh, Variable Fighter Heaven= When D.C. opens a VF-History wing in the Udvar-Hazy Aerospace Museum, including fullscale aerospace mechs! If this is too far-fetched, I'd settle for a cooperative venture w/'Hollywood'; all the famous SF/fantasy aircraft in full mock-up. Each genre gets its own wing! [Quote: The sound that reminds me of the VF series acft is the sound of an F15 JFS (jet fuel starter) spinning up the motors. You hear that sound in Macross every time a VF starts up. This post has been edited by HWR MKII on Mar 19 2005, 10:56 AM ] I've always imagined a very subtle, slightly hollow version of the hydraulic press "whine & slam!" and ratcheted "chain/gear chatter" that has been used in SF movies like Terminator and then Power Loader in 'Aliens'. Mix in several 'jackscrew-drive' whines(the kind you can hear from actuating flaps/slats of an airliner wing at take-off ) at the same time, only louder and that is my impression of an inflight VF transforming! Vesp Quote
Gabe Q Posted March 19, 2005 Posted March 19, 2005 hmmm........If he was made a god for designing the VF1, what is he now for creating the train wreck also known as Macross Zero? His creation of the VF-1 absolves him from any sin he may have commited since then or may commit in the future. Quote
eugimon Posted March 19, 2005 Posted March 19, 2005 hmmm........If he was made a god for designing the VF1, what is he now for creating the train wreck also known as Macross Zero? IMO, the mecha designs in the Zero are very sweet, the SV-51 is one of my all time favorite mechs not just valk designs and I love the look of the Vf-0. Still love his work. Quote
1/1 LowViz Lurker Posted March 19, 2005 Posted March 19, 2005 (edited) I think the timelessness of the design comes also from why it is beneficial for it to transform with the show. You always got the sense that each mode has a functional purpose in the tv series and visually you can see what advantage the modular vehicle has beyond just being a fancy disguise. Also all the parts of the vehicle are used in each mode so there is no wastage. Not all transformers had designs that were perfect. Even the binaltech toys have interior parts of the car exposed when in bot mode. Bits of the vehicle weren't neatly sealed off from the outside compared to the valk which hid parts carefully. One thing I couldn't get over was how things shrunk and grew in transformers. Star scream should by rights be tougher than megatron because he transforms into a jet. Megatron shouldn't be the size of prime in bot mode because prime is a truck. All this growing and shrinking is hard to imagine the transformers being a truly realistic design with a useful function. (apart from the vehicles that didn't undergo the resizing during transforms) If they were to ever remake the transformers they should limit the number of designs and characters in the show and up the realism and quality of each one. For eg what's the point of having a flying shark? Or, why do some robots fly in robot mode and others can't? In the G1 cartoon: Decepticons could fly away whenever they wanted to but not autobots. If they created a world a little closer to the movie version (ie giant robots transporting the bots to the location) it would be cooler. Prime's appearance and entrance in the movie has far more impact than the tv version because we all see him as an elite amoungst the crowd. (all the others becomes cannon fodder) This portrayal of prime as the guy who would turn the tide ofthe battle made the character iconic. (not so much because he has the superior design - its a nostalgiac thing more than a cool design thing) Edited March 21, 2005 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker Quote
Bloodcat Posted March 22, 2005 Posted March 22, 2005 I would say the Valk is far more classic than the RX 78 Gundam. It pretty much hasn't been redrawn/modified since the original design. To be sure there have been tweaks, but you really have to look hard. The RX 78 has been tweaked and upgraded a lot to the point even a casual fan can see it had some work done with the Mecha Botox... (Well they would if there weren't so many Gundams that look so similar..) Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.