KO Transforming SDF-1

[VenomMacbeth]

http://www.toyarchive.com/Robotech/st7/sdfj.html

It seems like a really interesting little figure, but is it very rare? How big is it? Is it made of plastic or diecast?

[isa_o]

http://www.toyarchive.com/Robotech/st7/sdfj.html

It seems like a really interesting little figure, but is it very rare? How big is it? Is it made of plastic or diecast?

I had one of these when I was a kid. from whatI can recall it's all plastic and didn't have a complicated transformation process it was like rotate the body and rotate the guns. the arms couldn't move much and could not bend at the elbows neighter did the main guns drop down. it was a cool toy for a little kid though.

[Cyclone Trooper]

I had one of these as a kid too. I got this at a flea market back in '85 when Robotech had just started its initial TV run (yes, I got hooked on Macross from that bastardization). It was around this same time that I realized that my "Jetfire" from Transformers was just a repainted VF-1S...and the rest was history. This knock-off SDF-1 was pretty straightforward in its transformation...even it if wasn't completely anime-accurate. The proportions are a little off, but strangely gives it a nice "beefy" look in Storm Attacker mode. Hell, I wish that the $150 WAVE SDF-1 had the same completely transformable arms that this $5.00 knock off has! The only real glaring transformation "defect" was where the main cannon booms are concerned. The front tips of each boom was just molded plastic, so you couldn't rotate them...and the back of each boom was hollow, so if you looked at the SDF-1 from the back, the main cannons looked kind of cheap. In SA mode, each boom attached to a peg on each side of the bridge via a small hole. The plastic itself, if memory serves, was very sturdy and the main body actually pulled out to elongate the overall height of the SDF-1 in SA mode...just like the larger Takatoku/Matchbox version could.

Edited March 2, 2009 by Cyclone Trooper

[Kelsain]

Yeah, me too. I found the Prometheus at the bottom of one of my TF boxes recently. No sign of the rest, though...

[Batou]

Holy crap, I had one of those too ... spotted it at a Sears, I think, and made my mother buy it. I thought it was sold in a Matchbox box here in the states, definitely a bubble pack package, at least ... maybe they licensed it over here?

[AcroRay]

Funny, this subject just popped up at ToyboxDX...

This was originally a Takatoku toy. Overstock of it was sold in CONVERTORS packaging in the mid-1980s when Transformers toys were flooding the market. There were also a couple of multi-colored knockoffs of it in two different box styles - one box which was cheap, and another which was essentially a translation of the original Takatoku box, and included additional foil decals which weren't included in the CONVERTORS Takatoku overstock version.

Here's mine from the 80s, which is a combination of the Convertors version, with red waterline parts on the carriers pulled from one of the Multi-colored knockoffs. It includes a Takatoku-style box from one of the knockoffs, the additional foil decals, and some additional painting on the bow cannons and the bridge.

About 5 inches tall. Transformation is much like the big Takatoku version, except you take the cannons off, and the tips don't rotate for accurate crusier configuration. Big pegs behind the bridge hold the cannons in Storm Attacker mode. There's no elbow joints, but the carriers do rotate. The upper legs collapse into the lower torso area just as seen on the show. It does have a generally accurate profile and proportions. I bought the CONVERTORS version at a Spencers Gifts, and the knockoff portion at a little variety store that stocked a lot of knockoffs at the time.

Its a nice little toy and a treasure from my youth - if outclassed by more modern things and Matchbox's 1980s domestic release of Takatoku's more elaborate toys. But at the time it was quite a treasure for me when other things simply weren't available.

Edited March 3, 2009 by AcroRay

[VenomMacbeth]

Great, thanks guys! I'm wondering, though...where might one acquire such a figure? See, I own the Matchbox mini-SDF-1, but the little bugger doesn't transform! Also, I most DEFINITELY don't have the money to spend on a WAVE version.

[Cyclone Trooper]

No idea where you'd find one in any kind of half-decent condition in this day and age. However, now that Yamato has announced that it will be releasing the 1/2000 DYRL SDF-1 next spring, you'll probably find the WAVE version (original and movie paint schemes) going down in price somewhat. We Macross fans are notorious for dumping a current favorite for "the next big thing," causing prices to tank a bit on the older or "inferior" stuff. Incidentally, this version of the SDF-1 featured a darker paint scheme that looked better than the nearly primary blue that the 1/3000 Takatoku/Matchbox version had. The first release version of the WAVE SDF-1 has a similar paint scheme as this old toy (bluish arms and main cannon booms), so I sometimes wonder if this was one of the inspirations for that odd choice of colors.

Edited March 4, 2009 by Cyclone Trooper

[AcroRay]

I see the CONVERTORS version usually in lots of Transformers items from the 80s. Since it has no markings, it usually remains unidentified by sellers.

There was one of the multi-colored knockoffs of it offered on eBay last week. It may surface again, but the seller wanted $25 or so for it, which was way overpriced unless you're a completest.

Attached are pics of the original Takatoku version, pulled from a YahooJP auction a few weeks back. I see very few of these cheapie Takatoku pieces these days. This is the edition repackaged by Select as a CONVERTORS toy back in the 1980s.

Edited March 4, 2009 by AcroRay