jvmacross Posted September 13, 2015 Posted September 13, 2015 (edited) "...It's over Johnny.....It's Over!" - Colonel Samuel "Sam" Trautman, First Blood Although I remember the month and day of the week…I can’t remember the exact date…. The Year of Robotech…1985….it was just another trip to the “south-side” Swap-o-Rama (Drive-in by night!) on a hot Sunday in July, during a typical hot Chicago summer…but as it turned out…this was to be the first day of my 30+ year quest to collect everything Takatoku had ever produced for the Super Dimensional Fortress Macross TV show….a collecting journey spanning 3 decades had begun! Immediately after the show debuted, I saw the ads for the Macross toys in magazines and comic books….for whatever reason, I never got around to ordering any via “mail-order”…..instead, I did buy all the bootleg Valkyries that seemed to have overrun the local dollar stores and flea markets in the area….the coolest being the mostly die-cast 1/100 VF-1’s…..the most invasive being the bootleg henkeis! I remember drooling over the illustrations on the boxes….I had no idea who Takani, Suzuki, or Masami were at the time…but thought the art was the coolest thing ever…..as for the descriptions of the “story” none of it made any sense….but I found it fascinating….Centrady Army? Inspecting Army? MICROSS!!!!?? What exactly was I missing out on? Anyway….there I was, checking out the usual selection of knock-off “Robotech” valks then I came across a seller that had boxed Macross toys…but these were not the ordinary Taiwanese knock-offs….these were original Macross toys from some company called Takatoku Toys? I recall that he had the 1/100 VF-1J, VF-1S and a few of the larger 1/55 scale VF-1s (don’t recall which)….and the 1/6300 SDF-1!!!!.......for whatever reason, I settled on the 1/6300 SDF-1…bypassing the 1/100 VF-1’s (probably because I had so many of the KO’s) and forced to skip on the 1/55’s because the seller insisted that they “were not for sale” (guess he was just showing them off!)….. And so began my quest to collect every toy Takatoku released for the legendary Super Dimensional Fortress Macross TV show….a show that I would soon find out had actually began in Japan in October of 1982….I had some catching up to do if I was ever to acquire everything! Flash forward to 2014….29 years after having acquired the first in my Takatoku Toys Macross collection and I was still short 4 pieces!…..the Takatoku Henkei VF-1J Milia Type, the mini sofubi 4-pack “Valkyrie Type”, the Takatoku Henkei 3-pack “Vattroid Variation” set, and the Takatoku Henkei VF-1A “Soldier Type”….29 years of searching and I was still not done…At this point I had practically given up all hope…but my obsession to complete the set kept me searching….. 2014 turned out to be an epic year in my quest to collect every Macross Takatoku toy release…..almost within the span of about 4 months….I was able to acquire the Takatoku Henkei VF-1J Milia Type and the mini sofubi 4-pack “Valkyrie Type”…..I was suddenly down just 2! Takatoku Henkei VF-1J Milia Type Takatoku mini sofubi 4-pack “Valkyrie Type” ……and then came the “find of a lifetime”….or simply The One Macross Collectible To Rule Them All.... In late 2014, something showed up on YJA that was unbelievable….an object that had been widely considered to never have existed beyond a Takatoku prototype….The Takatoku Super VF-1S Henkei #6!! Takatoku Super VF-1S Henkei Although I was still down 2 Takatoku Macross toys….adding the Takatoku Super VF-1S Henkei was both completely unexpected and a nice “reward” from the Macross Gods for not abandoning the quest after all these years! 2015 came and the start of a whole new year of “hunting” had begun….. I had only two more Macross Takatoku Toys left on my list….the Takatoku Henkei 3-pack “Vattroid Variation” set, and the Takatoku Henkei VF-1A “Soldier Type”…..was this going to be the year my quest would finally come to an end?…..yes! In April 2015…I finally found the Takatoku Henkei 3-pack “Vattroid Variation” set….incidentally, this is the only piece in my Takatoku Macross toy collection that I actually missed out on acquiring once before….it was a YJA that I had completely forgotten about….I was bummed out about it to say the least….but at last I finally had added it to my almost complete Macross Takatoku Toys collection….oh...and I actually found two, which together will make one complete set! Finally, on August 23rd….the quest was finally over! The final missing piece was finally mine! Almost 30 years from the date that the quest had started….it was finally over! The Takatoku Henkei VF-1A “Soldier Type” was finally found and thus immediately ended my long 30 year quest to complete the entire collection of Macross Takatoku Toys!!! The quest took longer than I expected to complete, but the hunt, for the most part, has always been fun and has lead me into so many other Macross treasures along the way! As soon as I have more time to take some proper photos, I plan to gather the entire Macross Takatoku Toys collection for some group shots….for now I leave you with some pics of the first piece that started my quest along with the last piece that brought it all to conclusion….. A Macross Takatoku Toys Collection Quest comes to an end....1985-2015.... Edited January 31 by jvmacross Quote
jvmacross Posted September 13, 2015 Author Posted September 13, 2015 Awesome. Congratulations man. Thanks Benson! Quote
barurutor Posted September 13, 2015 Posted September 13, 2015 that's awesome dedication. congrats! Quote
glane21 Posted September 14, 2015 Posted September 14, 2015 I applaud you, congrats! It's an enviable achievement. I mainly only collect the 1/55 line, 1/3000 SDF-1 and their various reissues and bootlegs from around the world. During your quest, did you place any limits on minimum condition, i.e. must be in minimum C8 box with unapplied stickers, etc? Do you plan to continue to watch for and upgrade certain pieces? Quote
jvmacross Posted September 14, 2015 Author Posted September 14, 2015 that's awesome dedication. congrats! Thanks Barutor! awesome dedication sounds much better....than obsessive compulsion! I applaud you, congrats! It's an enviable achievement. I mainly only collect the 1/55 line, 1/3000 SDF-1 and their various reissues and bootlegs from around the world. During your quest, did you place any limits on minimum condition, i.e. must be in minimum C8 box with unapplied stickers, etc? Do you plan to continue to watch for and upgrade certain pieces? Thanks Glane.....yes, at first everything had to be at least free of tears to the box and complete.....as time progressed and the pickings became slimer....I settled for missing accessories or catalogs and such, but the boxes and toy condition still had to be at least very good...absolutely no yellowing.....which is how I ended up "frankensteining" multiple pieces to make one whole complete set....I probably have done that to maybe 4-5 pieces......and it was mainly for better boxes... I have no plans to "upgrade" anything....the only thing that would bring me out of "retirement" would be the uncovering of a new Takatoku Macross toy product...but at this stage, I really do not think there is anything left to find.....Ohsato Toys have become my new "target".....I am missing a few known items from that toy line.... Oh, one thing that I would still collect from Takatoku would be any promotional items.....I already have the promo posters and the mini promo booklets....but I know there must be at least a few more Takatoku Macross-related promotional items out there from back in the day.... So, as far as toys....the hunt is over! Quote
Shawn Posted September 17, 2015 Posted September 17, 2015 I wonder how many people in the world can say they have a COMPLETE Macross Takatoku set...that is just crazy what you've done over the years! We'll need to give you an entire section on the main site for your collection! Congrats again! That takes a lot of patience and motivation. Quote
AcroRay Posted September 18, 2015 Posted September 18, 2015 Totally amazing. I'm really looking forward to those photos. Wow. Congratulations! Quote
Boroboy Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 Congratulations! That is an awesome story - very happy for you! I don't even have enough discipline to get all the Arcadia toys! Well done. Quote
Alberich Posted October 7, 2015 Posted October 7, 2015 Wow, what an amazing story to tell to us, congrats buddy and I hope that you make another of this hunts in your future even if it is shorter than this one. I'll probably embark myself in catching at least one of every Bandai Frontier Valkyries 1/60. Quote
sh9000 Posted October 11, 2015 Posted October 11, 2015 Congrats jvmacross. You have an awesome Macross collection. Quote
jvmacross Posted October 13, 2015 Author Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) Thanks for all the comments! During my Takatoku search I believe I also managed to acquire all of the official publications released for the SDFM series....I will have to gather all of those books at some point for a group shot too! Edited October 14, 2015 by jvmacross Quote
garyboy_palaboy Posted November 23, 2015 Posted November 23, 2015 Hats off for you jvmacross. Even if you are here in Japan its really hard to find nowadays those collections which you have in stores. Toycons here in Japan youll have a slim chance to find some great hunts. If macross will be a full length movie one day and some tv program will feature with someone who have a vast collection of old macross stuff, theres only one guy who deserves to be on it. Quote
jvmacross Posted November 26, 2015 Author Posted November 26, 2015 Thanks GP....are you back in Japan? If so, happy hunting! Quote
matic Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 Congrats 3 decades is serious dedication. Quote
jvmacross Posted December 27, 2015 Author Posted December 27, 2015 Thanks! The Takatoku quest is over, but the general Macross search will never end...😊 Quote
jvmacross Posted January 21, 2016 Author Posted January 21, 2016 Congrats really an achievement! Thanks! My current Macross collecting quest centers mainly on Macross merchandise from the SDFM era produced by Ohsato....I find myself discovering new things from them all the time....they were prolific purveyors of amazing Macross junk! http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?app=gallery&album=618 Quote
jenius Posted August 9, 2016 Posted August 9, 2016 (edited) I was about to add the 1/76 GBP to my website. I have the gray Hikaru VF-1J variant. I know there was a blue Max version and a 'gray market' white VF-1J Hikaru also (I think it's a Matsuhiro release following the demise of Takatoku in Asia). I thought there was another release though, either a Miria or a Mass Production version but a quick Google search came up empty. Do you know of another one? Edited August 9, 2016 by jenius Quote
jvmacross Posted August 9, 2016 Author Posted August 9, 2016 The only two officially licensed Takatoku Toys releases (AFAIK) are the Hikaru and Max. I have never seen any other variants from this 1/76 scale collection in ads, catalogs, magazines, etc. I normally do not collect bootlegs, however, for these 1/76 scale GBP sets, the only one I have encountered is the one you have detailed. I have not seen any other variants. Quote
jvmacross Posted August 11, 2016 Author Posted August 11, 2016 Coincedentally, there are 2 1/76 Hikaru GBP sets on YJA right now in case anyone is interested... http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r159057839 http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r159453622 Quote
Operator7G Posted October 25, 2016 Posted October 25, 2016 Holy crap...EVERY Takatoku Macross toy? And everything else in your collection...wow. Not often I'm jealous of another person's Macross collection. Wow. Quote
jvmacross Posted October 25, 2016 Author Posted October 25, 2016 LOL....don't be jellin'! But yeah....took a while but I believe I am done. I am still certain that I can find other Takatoku items, but they will mostly be promotional type of items....like brochures or posters. Not sure if you have seen these... http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=36465 http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=36466 http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=34685 Quote
valky-001 Posted February 16, 2017 Posted February 16, 2017 Maybe there is one more pice to hunt down if there's a pice of it than it does exist. Quote
jvmacross Posted February 16, 2017 Author Posted February 16, 2017 5 hours ago, valky-001 said: Maybe there is one more pice to hunt down if there's a pice of it than it does exist. What piece are you referring to? A toy or promo material? Quote
jvmacross Posted February 16, 2017 Author Posted February 16, 2017 Nope. Caught them all! At this point I am searching for promotional materials...I recently found this one: So I am pretty sure there are more Takatoku promo treasures to find! Quote
valky-001 Posted February 17, 2017 Posted February 17, 2017 Yes you do have then all, but theirs some thing so far only you have that gives away a slight difference that there's a chance you a the others have what can be a second version of the Takatoku Henkei Type Super Valkyrie. Quote
valky-001 Posted February 18, 2017 Posted February 18, 2017 Like I said if there's at least one picture and an existing pice that belon to it than it can be true. Quote
jvmacross Posted February 18, 2017 Author Posted February 18, 2017 I'm good with my complete boxed sample. Quote
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