1/55's revisited

[jenius]

1 hour ago, nightmareB4macross said:

The VT-1 and VE-1 both have such allure for collectors. Even though a DX is available, buyers are stilling willing to pay top dollar for a nice 1/55.

I don’t think I will ever sell mine. Too much wrapped in nostalgia to even consider it.

I sold mine once.... then spent nearly twice as much to get it again (though the second one is in better condition). I think it will now be one of the last collectibles I ever sell. 

[GrampaStump]

On 10/23/2024 at 9:19 AM, Skull Leader said:

Switching gears back to Jetfires for a moment...

Can anyone hip me to exactly when they switched from the white backpack hinge clip to the black one? Were we well into the Bandai releases by that point, or are there some Matsushiros floating around with the black hinge clip? And has anyone ever printed 3d replacements for worn out ones?

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.

 

 

[nightmareB4macross]

1 hour ago, GrampaStump said:

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.

 

 

Looking forward to all your pics and findings.

[Kyrie]

On 1/9/2025 at 11:32 PM, GrampaStump said:

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.

 

 

I am an avid collector of variants, specially with jetfire. All contribution is much appretiated. Thank you

[nightmareB4macross]

11 hours ago, Kyrie said:

I am an avid collector of variants, specially with jetfire. All contribution is much appretiated. Thank you

How many actual variants of Jetfire are there? Will this include bagged and reboxed variants?

[Spark-O-Matic]

On 1/21/2025 at 2:45 AM, nightmareB4macross said:

How many actual variants of Jetfire are there? Will this include bagged and reboxed variants?

10 or more

1984 Matsushiro Painted

1984 Matsushiro Sticker

1984 Matsushiro No Logos/ Looks almost like 85 but box and details still 84 besides wing sticker and sticker sheet changes/ misc changes - mold changes

1984 Hasbro USA Jetfire

1985 Hasbro USA Jetfire

1985 Milton Bradley European Jetfire  in 4 different languages box (Very Rare) 

1985 French Canadian Jetfire (Very Rare)

1985 IGA Mexican Jetfire -  IGA rumored to have imported in 500 from Bandai and packaged Spanish language boxed versions and sold in Mexico city the last few months before they closed- Former employee claims it came with a poncho and sombrero for Jetfire to wear.( Any examples or even pictures.. zero. examples unknown or discovered)

1986 Hasbro USA Jetfire ( no way to distinguish from 1985, but stores still sold them new in 1986)

1986 Hasbro European Jetfire in 4 different languages box. 

1987 Hasbro USA Jetfire ( no way to distinguish from 1985, but stores still sold them new in early1987 until the supply channel fully cleared from the prior year)

Bagged and reboxed variants? = Unknown 

 

[Spark-O-Matic]

4 minutes ago, Spark-O-Matic said:

10 or more

1984 Matsushiro Painted

1984 Matsushiro Sticker

1984 Matsushiro No Logos/ Looks almost like 85 but box and details still 84 besides wing sticker and sticker sheet changes/ misc changes - mold changes

1984 Hasbro USA Jetfire

1985 Hasbro USA Jetfire

1985 Milton Bradley European Jetfire  in 4 different languages box (Very Rare) 

1985 French Canadian Jetfire (Very Rare)

1985 IGA Mexican Jetfire -  IGA rumored to have imported in 500 from Bandai and packaged Spanish language boxed versions and sold in Mexico city the last few months before they closed- Former employee claims it came with a poncho and sombrero for Jetfire to wear.( Any examples or even pictures.. zero. examples unknown or discovered)

1986 Hasbro USA Jetfire ( no way to distinguish from 1985, but stores still sold them new in 1986)

1986 Hasbro European Jetfire in 4 different languages box. 

1987 Hasbro USA Jetfire ( no way to distinguish from 1985, but stores still sold them new in early1987 until the supply channel fully cleared from the prior year)

Bagged and reboxed variants? = Unknown 

 

Possible some early Jetfires even had Takatoku Stamps by mistake or main mold was being repaired and the old mold was put in temporary in ..so you could have 1984 Takatoku Painted Jetfire, but not something I've ever seen. 

[nightmareB4macross]

On 1/23/2025 at 9:38 PM, Spark-O-Matic said:

Possible some early Jetfires even had Takatoku Stamps by mistake or main mold was being repaired and the old mold was put in temporary in ..so you could have 1984 Takatoku Painted Jetfire, but not something I've ever seen. 

As a prototype, yes, it may be possible.

As a mass production toy, that maybe highly unlikely. But until proven I just don’t see this sold as a standard production toy. 

[optimuspint]

On 1/5/2025 at 4:01 PM, jenius said:

I sold mine once.... then spent nearly twice as much to get it again (though the second one is in better condition). I think it will now be one of the last collectibles I ever sell. 

I decided I am not selling any of my Macross toys about a month ago.  I doubled down by throwing the boxes out.  I know that might upset some collectors.  But if Im not selling, those boxes take up a lot of storage space.  

[nightmareB4macross]

1 hour ago, optimuspint said:

I decided I am not selling any of my Macross toys about a month ago.  I doubled down by throwing the boxes out.  I know that might upset some collectors.  But if Im not selling, those boxes take up a lot of storage space.  

You should have posted the boxes in the “For Sale” thread. I know for a fact many of us would have snatched them up.

[Radioguy]

5 hours ago, optimuspint said:

I decided I am not selling any of my Macross toys about a month ago.  I doubled down by throwing the boxes out.  I know that might upset some collectors.  But if Im not selling, those boxes take up a lot of storage space.  

4 hours ago, nightmareB4macross said:

You should have posted the boxes in the “For Sale” thread. I know for a fact many of us would have snatched them up.

Tragic Macross loss, here.

 

[optimuspint]

7 hours ago, Radioguy said:

Tragic Macross loss, here.

 

It was all modern stuff.  Nothing 1/55. 

[Radioguy]

1 hour ago, optimuspint said:

It was all modern stuff.  Nothing 1/55. 

Still.