Bandai DX Pre-Production unit found

[Shawn]

I sort of fell ass-backwards into this one...
Started with just a generic 1/48 DX VF-1J auction a few months ago, it was from a second hand shop.
They had 2 for sale, both sunburned, $35 each.
I figured I would get them, and throw a GBP set on them, and resell at the con for someone who was going to just keep it covered in the armor.

A day before the con, I finally pulled the 2 out of the shipping box so I could get them prepped. I noticed the tail fin assembly from one was separated from the valk and wrapped separately...immediately was disappointed because the auction pics did not show this. Maybe I could wedge it in place or something. And this thing was just loose as hell...minor trim parts started popping off, fit for other parts like the legs was very poor. This was trouble.

Anyways I started looking closer and noticed other things that showed weird abuse...like the canopy being frosted and not clear. Not sure how the sun could do that. Then something weird caught my eye... tampo 'no step' on the wing flaps was a different color (red vs black), and the tampo text was darker all over. I pulled a 3rd valk out, a normal prod vf-1j just to see what was going on and then started noticing all sorts of little differences.
One really big difference was the Macross kite being on the right wing instead of the left-that just didn't make sense....wondered if maybe there were some early VF-1J production units that were defective...this was weird. Started to really dig now...wondered what else I might find.
Popped the canopy...well it looks the same as the prod...hmm...oh wait...the heads up display is CLEAR on this weird valk...but blue on my prod. 
Ok..now this is getting fun.
Flipped it over, and started checking for differences...the missile attachment points are not fully punched...and the red dot on the arms is larger and glossier red paint. Maybe the head has something. Yep! Different camera lens, and the triangle opening actually looks slightly larger!
There is a missing finishing leading edge trim part in the intake, and the no-lift is red on the bottom of the wing flap.
Opened the leg attachment are on the nose, and saw some additional dimples on this one, not on the prod.
And leg screws were black and not silver.
Lastly...the tail fin assembly. I've got this weird middle nozzle that just looks wonky..like a really bad fit.
And the attachment point doesn't actually look broken-the edges are painted.

We all think 'Woah...this a something undiscovered...some crazy prototype or test shot' or something along those lines.
I needed to go back into time, and remembered the article on the pre-production version. Found it and looked and at the very bottom, there is my 'right wing macross kite' version.
Then dug out the Figure King preview, and saw the same units again (its the same unit as the web page version), and saw a frosted canopy.

So by sheer luck, I stumbled into a DX Pre-Production unit, with some very interesting variations, sold to a second hand shop.
Here are some pics. Needless to say, it got pulled from the SDCon sale and will not be covered with the GBP armor anymore!

First set here are the auction pictures.

[Shawn]

This set are the differences I've found so far vs a production unit

I'm still looking at the 2nd unit I won in the auction...but it looks like the prod unit so far, just yellow.

 

[Shawn]

The article I referenced

https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/series/tamashii/1135339.html

and the last pic there, with the same style wonky center thruster and the kite on the right wing

[DewPoint]

Awesome score! That unit my be essentially priceless!

[Shawn]

Finding the little differences is fun!

The pre-prod clear plastic is frosted everywhere...even the wing lights

[Shawn]

Since I can pretty much make up any story on it at all, since the real history is lost...I think I'll believe that these 2 were part of those early store-displays we saw posted online.
It could explain why they are both yellowed as they were always on display. And some of the store displays had the macross kite on the right wing like this one. Bandai might have needed to get pairs of these things out, and the red letter wing flap versions was thrown into battroid mode to hide that error.
I guess I could try and see if the yellow sunburns on the pair of valks indicates one pattern would be fighter and the other battroid.

After a while someone just boxed it up and stuck in a box after a while, then decided to take it to a 2nd hand shop for some lunch money.
Who would want a yellowed out pair of toys LOL

Just a guess.

[Knight26]

That is an amazing find, good work there.

[Shawn]

This was the OTHER valk that was from the same seller at the same time...another $35
I can't find the oddities I found on the other one, at least yet.

From the sunburn patterns, I would think THIS one was the fighter mode, and the pre-prod was the battroid version.

[Shawn]

Look at that bottom light toasting one side of it LOL

[Shawn]

I know for sure, next time I see a yellowed out VF-1J for sale, I'm going for it

 

[Bolt]

Wow.. how rare us that?! 
What a score!

[Shawn]

I did find a bit of this white putty stuff on the inside of the chest airbrake to keep it closed...otherwise it just flaps open

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, Shawn said:

The article I referenced

https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/series/tamashii/1135339.html

and the last pic there, with the same style wonky center thruster and the kite on the right wing

Wow... wish I could find that kind of thing of 35 bucks!!! Where I live (CT), hardly any shops, the ones we have here don't carry any of that, and online is crazy expensive!

[Knight26]

1 hour ago, Shawn said:

I know for sure, next time I see a yellowed out VF-1J for sale, I'm going for it

 

Man, what cool second hand stores are you shopping at?

[Bolt]

Probably online..

[Chronocidal]

So, further proof, and I'm surprised you didn't see it.

There's a weird scrawled gash in the upper left of the chest that looks like it was melted with a hot pen or something.  It's less clear in the store display photos, but you can make out some weirdness that looks similar in that area of the fighter-mode display.

I specifically remember that mark being called out when the early production photos were circulated, because people complained about it, and someone replied that it looked like a mark to specifically distinguish it as a pre-production article.

I'm pretty sure you have this valk, right here, which was used in the early promo videos.

The other details of that sample match up as well, including the nub of plastic at the top edge of the intakes.  You can't see the missing paint or the frosted canopy, because they're covered up in that battroid display.

Link to the original post in the announcement thread is here.

Only thing that doesn't quite match up is the markings on the wing flaps, so I wonder if those were swapped out at some point.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Chronocidal

[sh9000]

Congrats @Shawn!  That's awesome.

[Shawn]

I believe you have solved the mystery!   Wow..talk about detective work!!!
I missed the top of the intake nub too
I had not noticed either on con-prep night...woah.

Video on left, mine on right

So that probably means the other valk I got in fighter mode in the video is this one's matching pair on the display...will need to look for a blemish or something to verify, like they do on the movie props haha

And the 2nd hand shops I am referring too are the ones selling on Yahoo Japan

 

[Shawn]

maybe it means 'display 3'? 
Wonder if there are other pics of other displays with maybe 'D 1' or 'D 2' or it doesn't mean that at all...just guessing

oh...the D is really a P, you try writing with a soldering gun on a valk, and it means 'prototype 3'....HA 😛

 

[Chronocidal]

Hah, it could, I actually just wondered if it might be someone's initials.  It does look more like a "D", but I always wondered if it was the Hiragana for "Riro."

[Shawn]

Now all we do is look for flaws and blemishes to match...stress crack on the right upper thigh under the intake matches too

Feeling pretty confident on this unit being the battroid on display

[Shawn]

The intake nubs are actually melted plastic...something was done to the BACK of the intake for some sort of clearance or something.

[Chronocidal]

Yeah, I was thinking this will be much harder to prove.  I'm wondering if those two had their parts swapped in and out over time, because the battroid display one has a white heat shield still, and the chest marking was on the fighter display with the fogged canopy.  That stress mark does look like a good match though.

Interesting about the molten plastic, I'm thinking more work with a soldering iron, just pressed flat into the back of them, probably like a brand to keep track of them.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Chronocidal

[Shawn]

Looking back at around page  45 I had asked this.

 

 

[Shawn]

the little red paint on the back edge of the cockpit also matches up I think (left and right under the head)

[Shawn]

The canopy cover basically wants to fall out everytime you move it, the air brake is super loose (hence the putty), the canopy glass is lift off..nothing seems to be really glued down, so you might be on to something that as the display changed, parts might have re-assembled if they fell off in transport ( a guess)

I'll look at the 2nd unit I have here, and see if it matches anything on the display fighter in that video

[Shawn]

On the fighter in the video, there are paint blemishes under the right intake, which I do not see on my 2nd valk, so I doubt this one is from that display.

 

[Shawn]

From the blog-we get some clearer pics than the video

http://toho.seesaa.net/article/460813985.html

 

from my crappy camera...I'm going to say match?

[DewPoint]

Legs could have been swapped with the other unit.  Check the other one for the paint blemish?

[Shawn]

mark in a weird place

 

[Shawn]

no-neither unit has those blemishes under the leg like shown in the video in fighter mode

was hoping!

[Chronocidal]

Yeah, nothing to say for sure about the second one, but that first one is a dead ringer for all of the details you've pointed out.

I would be really interested in finding out where the red-lettering on the flaps came from though.  Odds are they fell out, and were swapped with another copy, but I don't remember anyone using red to begin with.

[Shawn]

D1 baby!

I am the owner of D3! Need to find a pic of D2 somewhere.

 

 

Kite on the right wing again...I wish I could find a rear shot to see the color of the wing flaps

[seti88]

columbo approves! 

Congratz @Shawn on a rare valk score!

[dtwn]

I remember you posting about the sun damage on the DX VF-1 thread. 

Was thinking that you got an insane deal on those. Have been trying to see if I can replicate that since.

The deal is even crazier now!