Yamato 1/3000 SDF-1 Macross

[UN Spacy]

More Toysdaily galleries showing off the intricate detailing.

http://www.toysdaily.com/discuz/thread-144194-1-1.html

http://www.toysdaily.com/discuz/thread-144184-1-1.html

[eugimon]

The Wave toy has huge gaps in other places though. Ugly massive holes on the side.

That's because the Wave toy is massively ugly.

[SpaceCowboy]

Sometimes I feel like Yamato is slow boiling its fans. We started at $100 toys. Then came $150 and $200. We were all shocked, and dismayed by the price, but we grew to accept it. Now we see these "toys" pushing close to $400, and I have to wonder if this will be some sort of new normalization price point.

With some of the previous toys, I could rationalize the cost away as extremely complicated transformations that took a long time to develop, were expensive to put together, and had limited runs (geared to this small niche fanbase). With the SDF-1 - the detailing is awesome, but the transformation basically consists of standing it up (I exaggerate, but compare this to the YF-21 or SV-51, and the difference in complexity is an order of magnitude).

I think I'll stick with my 1/3000 Takatoku. I'm more into the TV version and I might be swayed to get a movie version for $200, but double that is too much.

[MacrossJunkie]

Sometimes I feel like Yamato is slow boiling its fans. We started at $100 toys. Then came $150 and $200. We were all shocked, and dismayed by the price, but we grew to accept it. Now we see these "toys" pushing close to $400, and I have to wonder if this will be some sort of new normalization price point.

With some of the previous toys, I could rationalize the cost away as extremely complicated transformations that took a long time to develop, were expensive to put together, and had limited runs (geared to this small niche fanbase). With the SDF-1 - the detailing is awesome, but the transformation basically consists of standing it up (I exaggerate, but compare this to the YF-21 or SV-51, and the difference in complexity is an order of magnitude).

I think I'll stick with my 1/3000 Takatoku. I'm more into the TV version and I might be swayed to get a movie version for $200, but double that is too much.

Sadly, I think you're right in some respects. I used to be all "wtf" with price tags over $100, then I started collecting the 1/48s when they came out which were around $120 at the time for me (back when the exchange rate used to be pretty awesome). Then prices slowly climbed up to the $200 range for things like the original release of the 1/60 YF-21 and SV-51. Now I'm paying almost $400 for a frickin toy... A TOY. I need to get my head checked. I tell myself that this will be the one and only toy I will ever buy at this price since this is the titular ship of the Macross franchise and granddaddy of all that came after it (TV series version notwithstanding but basically supposed to be the same ship). But then I think what if Bandai came out with a same scale NMC Frontier or Galaxy (sans city)? Ok $300 for that probably... but no more than that!

[BlueMax]

I remember grousing about pretty much the same thing a while back.

Basically, as Yamato moves on to more niche products (Lets face it, the most popular VF til date has to be the VF-1, of all the valks released by yamato so far), prices will get higher and higher, as only the correspondingly more hardcore fans will get those items.

[Tking22]

My roommate just texted me, apparently he got one of these and has at on the way to our apartment already, from HLJ no less, I didn't even know he knew about that site let alone shopped there. Now I don't even have to buy one, our toy displays are mixed against one wall, nice!

[ff95gj]

My view about how we get used to paying more and more for toys:

The first reason, being apparent, is the high Yen.

The second one, is that toy companies manufacture more and more limited products these days. This becomes a common practice that whenever something is not a hot-cake product, it will go to the limited sales channel. We foreigners have to pay extra to get those. Most of us have fallen to some limited goods we would have died for.

The third reason, IMHO, is small companies producing niche products. The product runs are small, so they have to sell at a higher price to justify the cost. Yamato falls in this category I believe, so is CMS and WAVE, etc. Some of the items are so niched that you won't see it in another product line in another 20 years, if ever. So people would curse and then bite the bullet.

So for us toy collectors, we have got used to paying more than before to get the same quality of products. It was difficult for me to justify buying an inflated price SHF in early 2010; these days I don't even blink. Also on the contrary, I find those non-inflated-priced, mass-produced goods cheap to buy.

The fourth: big companies are not stupid. They know you've lowered your expectation after you have bought several high-priced, lower quality product (CMS comes into mind, and the bad QC of certain Yamato valks too). They know it when you would accept some medicore work and pay a hefty price and they still can get away. This forms a feedback loop that next time a lame product is released, it is more or less on par with such products. The cycle continues.

P.S. At least I think the Yamato works are nice and worth my support.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Sometimes I feel like Yamato is slow boiling its fans. We started at $100 toys. Then came $150 and $200. We were all shocked, and dismayed by the price, but we grew to accept it. Now we see these "toys" pushing close to $400, and I have to wonder if this will be some sort of new normalization price point.

With some of the previous toys, I could rationalize the cost away as extremely complicated transformations that took a long time to develop, were expensive to put together, and had limited runs (geared to this small niche fanbase). With the SDF-1 - the detailing is awesome, but the transformation basically consists of standing it up (I exaggerate, but compare this to the YF-21 or SV-51, and the difference in complexity is an order of magnitude).

I think I'll stick with my 1/3000 Takatoku. I'm more into the TV version and I might be swayed to get a movie version for $200, but double that is too much.

While I think the bigger items Yamato is making are promising, I don't think the high end $400+ items are going to be the norm, in fact, I wouldn't expect more than 1 per year. I mean what else are they going to release? Maybe a TV SDF-1, then what? The Megaroad? They want something that has a lot of appeal and will sell, and recognizability amongst most fans is key. They can't release something like Macross Galaxy. Maybe we'll finally see the Monster, but aside from that and possibly the TV SDF-1, I see little else beyond a 1/60 Monster repaint. They know fans want the 1/60 Monster and at this point, perhaps their engineering has advanced to the point where the cannons will not sag unlike the original prototype from years back.

Also while the SDF-1 has a simple transformation, a more telling indicator of price is how many parts it's made of. The more parts to cut tools for, the higher the price. Looks like it's got a lot of small parts to me. To reduce the price, some of the bigger parts could be simplified and molded in less parts, but Yamato probably wouldn't go that route because that would mean sacrificing the very level of detail they are known for.

I won't be buying the SDF-1 because honestly, the VF's always appealed more to me. The Macross is important and I understand its relevance, but I like VF's better. I do hope that this recent experience in incorporating a good amount of ratchets on the SDF-1 is a sign that Yamato will use them more in future releases, like the VF-19(s).

A pet peeve of mine is when joints get loose!

Edited December 29, 2010 by Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0

[Hayao Kakizaki]

STILL HAVEN'T PUT ON THE SMALL PARTS...

[Dangard Ace]

Amiami has shipped mine. Now to feverishly hit f5 on the tracking websites until it gets here.

[derex3592]

Got my shipping confirmation from AmiAmi this morning!!!

[Arthurius]

haha, nice pic Hayao.

[Snail00]

Sadly, I think you're right in some respects. I used to be all "wtf" with price tags over $100, then I started collecting the 1/48s when they came out which were around $120 at the time for me (back when the exchange rate used to be pretty awesome). Then prices slowly climbed up to the $200 range for things like the original release of the 1/60 YF-21 and SV-51. Now I'm paying almost $400 for a frickin toy... A TOY. I need to get my head checked. I tell myself that this will be the one and only toy I will ever buy at this price since this is the titular ship of the Macross franchise and granddaddy of all that came after it (TV series version notwithstanding but basically supposed to be the same ship). But then I think what if Bandai came out with a same scale NMC Frontier or Galaxy (sans city)? Ok $300 for that probably... but no more than that!

no need to fret. Lots of people on your side of the Camp. I Paid 400 for the SOC Aquarion because of the complexity and metal. But Now throwing HARD earned 400 bucks on a toy i cant justify unless you really have that kind of disposable income. Last year I threw 300 on the PG 00 Raiser. Not worth it. 250 is the absolute max for a single toy for me. This SDF-1 one is a beautiful Toy no doubt, but it may be in our collections yet. HLJ has a new Macross Sale and the SOC Quarter is now 50% off! We could see this ship reduced in some crazy sale. And im happy with my Wave. For those of you that hate your wave now that you have your Yammy please, feel free to ship to me I will gladly take your ugly SDF off your hands

[Valk009]

Picked mine up today and must give Yamato two thumbs up! They really went all the way for this and it is just plain awesome, very well built and super sturdy, way up there with the VF-1 v2.0.

Btw, for those living in Hong Kong, the shop owner selling all the Yamato toys in In's Point told me that wholesaler are all out of stock on the SDF-1, so better get your hands on one before it is too late! Sad news also is that he will be closing shop in March, due to his day job he has no time looking after the shop

[m0n5t3r]

Btw, for those living in Hong Kong, the shop owner selling all the Yamato toys in In's Point told me that wholesaler are all out of stock on the SDF-1, so better get your hands on one before it is too late! Sad news also is that he will be closing shop in March, due to his day job he has no time looking after the shop

i know that shop... i bought, like, 80-90% of my Yamatos from him... i kinda guessed he was going to close shop... guess his dad doesn't want to watch his shop anymore.

i'm still torn... still can't decide... i was planning to get this when i go to Japan this March... but now i'm not so sure if this will still be available by then. anybody got some inside info on how many units Yamato are producing?

[Major Focker]

I love the slight assembly, it will make painting that much easier! Thanks Graham for the wonderful review, I for one am so glad that I pre-ordered this and the review comfirms it! This is definitely one that I will clean up the seams and detail and paint up with tiny panels and details to give it even more scale that such a wonderful toy deserves. Of course I will try to post up a step-by-step thread on these boards as a foray back into this world again - maybe we can make it a group (not necessarily a build) improvement thread!

Eagerly anticipating your build-up, er..., paint-up thread. Hopefully I'll be able to follow along. This SDF really needs a proper paint job to complement the fine detail. Wave had the right idea with painted panel details, but really, the contrast is too much for the scale. So I'm contemplating using filters instead of paint shades, but perhaps the effect will be too subtle? Or maybe, paint shades for major panels and filters for smaller ones, or should it be the other way around? Looking to you for inspiration my man!

[Mechamaniac]

I love the slight assembly, it will make painting that much easier! Thanks Graham for the wonderful review, I for one am so glad that I pre-ordered this and the review comfirms it! This is definitely one that I will clean up the seams and detail and paint up with tiny panels and details to give it even more scale that such a wonderful toy deserves. Of course I will try to post up a step-by-step thread on these boards as a foray back into this world again - maybe we can make it a group (not necessarily a build) improvement thread!

Eagerly anticipating your build-up, er..., paint-up thread. Hopefully I'll be able to follow along. This SDF really needs a proper paint job to complement the fine detail. Wave had the right idea with painted panel details, but really, the contrast is too much for the scale. So I'm contemplating using filters instead of paint shades, but perhaps the effect will be too subtle? Or maybe, paint shades for major panels and filters for smaller ones, or should it be the other way around? Looking to you for inspiration my man!

What he said. I too will be eagerly anticipating this!

[eugimon]

Sweet, shipped and on the way, can't wait till it gets here!

[Radd]

Got my shipping notice this morning, placing me in the ranks of those rapidly rocking back and forth in giddy anticipation, hitting F5 over and over again for days on end.

[MacrossJunkie]

Eagerly anticipating your build-up, er..., paint-up thread. Hopefully I'll be able to follow along. This SDF really needs a proper paint job to complement the fine detail. Wave had the right idea with painted panel details, but really, the contrast is too much for the scale. So I'm contemplating using filters instead of paint shades, but perhaps the effect will be too subtle? Or maybe, paint shades for major panels and filters for smaller ones, or should it be the other way around? Looking to you for inspiration my man!

I had been searching around ideas for how I should detail it and thought the movie color edition of wave's sdf-1 was neat as well if not unsubtle.

I've already been grabbing screenshots from DYRL and the macross plus movie for extra reference in anticipation.

Got my shipping notice this morning, placing me in the ranks of those rapidly rocking back and forth in giddy anticipation, hitting F5 over and over again for days on end.

Haha, I think the shipment tracking sites will be thinking someone is doing a DDoS attack on them with all the people hitting F5 repeatedly.

Edited December 29, 2010 by MacrossJunkie

[UN Spacy]

Is it too much to ask for a Saturday delivery?

That'd just MAKE my New Years.

[logos]

Mine shipped from AmiAmi this morning! Based on my past experience from AmiAmi I bet it comes in a box the size of a washer!

[Mommar]

Btw, for those living in Hong Kong, the shop owner selling all the Yamato toys in In's Point told me that wholesaler are all out of stock on the SDF-1, so better get your hands on one before it is too late!

I'm hoping this news means Yamato will realize there's a huge market for the TV version as well and do a new mold from the ground up for us TV fans who have been waiting to sell a first born to get one.

[Radd]

Also, regarding the increase in prices, I think it's also fair to point out the increase in prices also corresponds with larger, more intricate and more detailed toys in addition to the other points people brought up. After all, do you really expect a 1/3000 scale SDF-1 to cost the same as a naked 1/60 VF-1?

I doubt Yamato is looking at the sales of this toy as an excuse to ramp up prices on smaller, less detailed pieces. Especially not in this economic climate.

However, for those who do want a tv style Macross, I hope they do look at it and see a market for ships.

On the other side of the token, does anyone know how well Bandai's Quarter sold? I remember it really tanked in price right away which made me worried it sold poorly. Also, I haven't been around much lately but I don't recall Bandai releasing a movie colours version. I'm still hoping against all odds that we eventually see a New Macross class ship like Battle Frontier get the toy treatment.

[MacrossJunkie]

Also, regarding the increase in prices, I think it's also fair to point out the increase in prices also corresponds with larger, more intricate and more detailed toys in addition to the other points people brought up. After all, do you really expect a 1/3000 scale SDF-1 to cost the same as a naked 1/60 VF-1?

I doubt Yamato is looking at the sales of this toy as an excuse to ramp up prices on smaller, less detailed pieces. Especially not in this economic climate.

However, for those who do want a tv style Macross, I hope they do look at it and see a market for ships.

On the other side of the token, does anyone know how well Bandai's Quarter sold? I remember it really tanked in price right away which made me worried it sold poorly. Also, I haven't been around much lately but I don't recall Bandai releasing a movie colours version. I'm still hoping against all odds that we eventually see a New Macross class ship like Battle Frontier get the toy treatment.

It doesn't seem like the Quarter sold very well. It was heavily discounted so early on and nearly continuously in so many stores which seems to indicate that retailers were just trying to get rid of existing stock since it wasn't selling. I too am wishing for a Battle Frontier, but if Bandai uses the quarter's sales as an indicator, it doesn't seem very likely. It's a shame because I thought the Quarter was done fairly well with respect to the line art and design of the toy itself aside from suffering from loose joint syndrome that has been plaguing their frontier DX toys.

[Mommar]

It doesn't seem like the Quarter sold very well. It was heavily discounted so early on and nearly continuously in so many stores which seems to indicate that retailers were just trying to get rid of existing stock since it wasn't selling. I too am wishing for a Battle Frontier, but if Bandai uses the quarter's sales as an indicator, it doesn't seem very likely. It's a shame because I thought the Quarter was done fairly well with respect to the line art and design of the toy itself aside from suffering from loose joint syndrome that has been plaguing their frontier DX toys.

I understand how some people could like the Frontier but I honestly believe it didn't sell well because of the colors (very pastel/toy-like) and the fact it looks like a Robot laying down on it's face... something I feel the DYRL style SDF-1 comes dangerously close to resembling as well. I think if they made a TV style SDF-1 that would actually open them up to making an SDF-2 as well, since a lot of the bridge stylings are closer to the DYRL style PLUS they could slap the ARMD's on it as well, since it used them instead of the carriers and the molds already exist.

[Radd]

I know a bunch of people stated they were holding out for the darker movie colours, and the photos of the Quarter made it look more pastel-coloured than it actually is, And yeah, I got the impression it sold poorly, but was wondering if there were any numbers to back that up.

As for "robot layin down", I think people hold some pretty weird opinions about that, because even in attack mode the Macross, especially the DYRL version, looks more like a ship than a robot, which is why the difference in the two modes are practically nill. Show the lineart of the DYRL Macross in ship mode to anyone unfamiliar with Macross and just ask them what they see and they're going to say "spaceship" not robot.

Now, about the SDF-2...both the tv style SDF-2 and the movie style Megaroad are vastly different from either SDF-1 version. Not to mention the tv style ARMD platforms are completely different between TV and movie styles. An SDF-2 or Megaroad would need to be entirely different molds, and neither would be transformable.

To be clear, tho, I do agree that the Quarter was definitely designed with an emphasis on attack mode. Whether you're talking the toy or the line art or the CG, the Quarter looks made for "robot" form, with a ship mode kinda tossed in.

[Reïvaj]

My view about how we get used to paying more and more for toys:

*The first reason, being apparent, is the high Yen.

*The second one, is that toy companies manufacture more and more limited products these days. [...]

*The third reason, IMHO, is small companies producing niche products. [...] So for us toy collectors, we have got used to paying more than before to get the same quality of products.

*The fourth: big companies are not stupid. [...] They know it when you would accept some medicore work and pay a hefty price and they still can get away. [...]

P.S. At least I think the Yamato works are nice and worth my support.

While I think the bigger items Yamato is making are promising, I don't think the high end $400+ items are going to be the norm, in fact, I wouldn't expect more than 1 per year. [...]

Also while the SDF-1 has a simple transformation, a more telling indicator of price is how many parts it's made of. The more parts to cut tools for, the higher the price. Looks like it's got a lot of small parts to me. To reduce the price, some of the bigger parts could be simplified and molded in less parts, but Yamato probably wouldn't go that route because that would mean sacrificing the very level of detail they are known for.[...]

Thank you ff95gj & Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0 for your very clear concepts. It’s pretty clear that the cost of our beloved toys will depend on the relationship between the baseline cost (molds, assembly, packaging and to a lesser extent materials) and the total expected production. So very intricately and detailed toys addressed to a limited fan base will necessary mean higher prices.

And sadly, it´s not that the Yen is too high, it´s the dollar that is so weak…!!!

[Snail00]

Question on origins of both TV and Movie SDF-1

Was it ever explained why there are two different versions of the ship.

[MacrossJunkie]

I understand how some people could like the Frontier but I honestly believe it didn't sell well because of the colors (very pastel/toy-like) and the fact it looks like a Robot laying down on it's face... something I feel the DYRL style SDF-1 comes dangerously close to resembling as well.

I think you mean the Quarter, right? And as Radd said, it's not actually all that pastel as pictures make it out to be.

I know a bunch of people stated they were holding out for the darker movie colours, and the photos of the Quarter made it look more pastel-coloured than it actually is, And yeah, I got the impression it sold poorly, but was wondering if there were any numbers to back that up.

As for "robot layin down", I think people hold some pretty weird opinions about that, because even in attack mode the Macross, especially the DYRL version, looks more like a ship than a robot, which is why the difference in the two modes are practically nill. Show the lineart of the DYRL Macross in ship mode to anyone unfamiliar with Macross and just ask them what they see and they're going to say "spaceship" not robot.

Now, about the SDF-2...both the tv style SDF-2 and the movie style Megaroad are vastly different from either SDF-1 version. Not to mention the tv style ARMD platforms are completely different between TV and movie styles. An SDF-2 or Megaroad would need to be entirely different molds, and neither would be transformable.

To be clear, tho, I do agree that the Quarter was definitely designed with an emphasis on attack mode. Whether you're talking the toy or the line art or the CG, the Quarter looks made for "robot" form, with a ship mode kinda tossed in.

The "robot lying down" opinion is due to the fact that it still has a vaguely humanoid shape with arms and legs and, to a lesser extent, torso still fully distinguishable as such. Where the SDF-1 is arms down, legs down when viewed from the top, the Quarter is more arms held out front and legs bent backwards like some sort of crazy contortionist. Fully understandable though. You don't want a capital ship that has a lot of people running around inside it to get spaced or smashed from a ton of parts separating or coming together during transformation.

That said, the New Macross class carriers manage to look more like carriers while still maintaining a relatively simple transformation.

They look a bit like Uraga class carriers on steroids. If one of those were made into a toy, I'd have a harder time deciding what mode to display it in.

[Ghadrack]

Question on origins of both TV and Movie SDF-1

Was it ever explained why there are two different versions of the ship.

I can't find the thread and the posts that explain what DYRL? is right away, I'm gonna keep it brief and I hope I get this straight. DYRL? was a high quality, thatrically released, short form, condensed version of the Macross story with better art that was explained as a movie history of the Macross tale for the people in the macross universe, so it's an idealized, embelished history of Macross within Macross. So, IMO the DYRL? version of the SDF-1 therefore is a just a snazzier artists rendition of the ship to look nicer on the big screen.

[eugimon]

I can't find the thread and the posts that explain what DYRL? is right away, I'm gonna keep it brief and I hope I get this straight. DYRL? was a high quality, thatrically released, short form, condensed version of the Macross story with better art that was explained as a movie history of the Macross tale for the people in the macross universe, so it's an idealized, embelished history of Macross within Macross. So, IMO the DYRL? version of the SDF-1 therefore is a just a snazzier artists rendition of the ship to look nicer on the big screen.

well, there's also an in story reason. I think the general idea is that DYRL is also an in continuity movie depicting Space War 1. At the end of the actual events depicted in the original series, the SDF-1 was heavily damaged and underwent a rebuild/refit to the current DYRL type. This refitted Macross (or maybe one of the newly built sister ships of the same class) was then used in the "filming" of DYRL. This is also the in continuity reason for the upgrades on the VF-1 as well, as the ones used were from a later revision of the design.

[sharky]

And I was going to buy an AT-AT after seeing this video review from CollectionDX. Oh well if I bought that and all the extra action figures I would need for it, it would probably come out to around the $395Can. I just spent on the SDF1 anyway.

Damn! Macross wins every time when it comes to my toy purchases.

It's too bad you're in Canada because K-mart had the AT-AT on sale for $50 just before Thanksgiving. You may be able to find it on clearance now that X-mas has past.

Graham is correct, the arm is not suppose to touch the legs in crusier mode.

What??!!! My whole world is crashing down around me. Next, you're gonna tell me that the pilot for a VF-1 doesn't sit in the head in battroid mode.

[Arthurius]

The more i look at the pictures, the more i think i want the movie version... just that 400$ is alot of money...granted it is an ultimate toy, but still, 400$....but i want it....but its 400$....but....WANT.....400$.....NEED....400$..... Oh well, this toy seems so close, yet so far away in the near futur.

[Mommar]

STILL HAVEN'T PUT ON THE SMALL PARTS...

That's a pretty inspiring pic actually.