And I thought Jetfire was all the connection there was… Macross 7/ Transformers collaboration

[sh9000]

Basara Prime.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

This is the best thing, since Jetfire. 

 

[Froy]

So far VF 19 parts I see:

Very obvious intakes

Shield

That collar thing on the ankles

Vertical stabilizers

And the root of the wings with that beam (?) thingy on the hips.

[nightmareB4macross]

For the love of Macross, please make it stop.

I’m happy to see Macross have more exposure via a more prominent brand, but this just isn’t right.

🥲

[twich]

2 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Basara Prime.

I am not sure what or how I feel about this.  Never imagined an Optimus Prime playing a guitar.....Also, what is that on the forearms?  Smoke stacks from a semi? Or are those supposed to be the semi-recessed wing root cannons?

Twich

[Chronocidal]

I mean.. I can see hints that look sort of like a VF-19.  I think I see a nose section dangling off his back that'll probably fold over the head and give a very rough Fire Valk shape.. 

I'll at least be interested to see what the other mode looks like, but that giant chest block basically tells me everything I need to know.  

[Black Valkyrie]

 

I knew it the the transformation will be similar like the Legioss ;

 

 

[Graham]

I really want to see this in it's alternate mode.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

[jvmacross]

10 hours ago, nightmareB4macross said:

For the love of Macross, please make it stop.

I’m happy to see Macross have more exposure via a more prominent brand, but this just isn’t right.

🥲

Just think of it as some ultra-weird, ultra-rare and gloriously fugly VF-19 Kai bootleg from the mid-90's....then you will be all over it! 

[nightmareB4macross]

55 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

Just think of it as some ultra-weird, ultra-rare and gloriously fugly VF-19 Kai bootleg from the mid-90's....then you will be all over it! 

Eww. Even the 90’s had some self respect.

🤣

[jvmacross]

14 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said:

Eww. Even the 90’s had some self respect.

🤣

LOL....yeah...this is forced nostalgia....I assume this mash-up is intended for Japanese consumers....although I can see a WWM release but I think the impact to non-Japanese collectors would be minimal....

[Dangard Ace]

Started a rewatch of Mac7 because of this toy.   I still enjoy Milia flying circles around Basara in her "old" VF-1.

 

I'll most likely get this to go with my Prime collection.  Rocker Convoy is what I'll call him.

[Chronocidal]

So I just realized.. he's got Optimus Prime's exhaust stacks sticking out of his arms.. but they're positioned like the arm guns on the VF-31.  Would be funny if they actually rotated out that way.  

I still don't know what they intend to do with that giant chest block, but the more I look at it, the more I'm thinking they might at least be able to pull off a mostly decent-looking VF-19 imitation for the robot to hang underneath.  The parts are looking like they're all there, they just need to get them into the right places.

Edited January 18 by Chronocidal

[nightmareB4macross]

Why is there a VF-19 nosecone on the back?

This thing will be a brick and half once it’s in alt mode.

Make it stop.

[David Hingtgen]

Am I the only one who'd like to see an Arcee Mylene MAXL?

[Black Valkyrie]

 

They should make a short anime about it.  Since the late 80s I always wanted a VF1 in Convoy/ Prime color style. 

 

[Black Valkyrie]

47 minutes ago, David Hingtgen said:

Am I the only one who'd like to see an Arcee Mylene MAXL?

 

You never know. 

 

[Scyla]

I think this looks great. Can’t wait to see it in color and the alt-mode

The reason why I think it looks great is because I expect a Legacy Needlenose reshell but this looks like it actually transforms into a jet and is not a box underneath a jet.

The head also has some hinges on it so I wonder if they are there to flatten the head in jet-mode or maybe it is a Headmaster that transforms into Basara. The cockpit seems a bit small to house one but will see.

I also love the guitar. I might buy to if the guitar is big enough for the Yamato Fire Valkyrie to hold.

I find the inclusion of the truck parts odd. I mean it doesn’t seem to transform into a truck, so why have the smokestacks on the arms.

I‘m ok with the chest design since it is not meant to be a VF-19 Battroid-Mode but a Transformer (i.e. a living organism).

[Darkspire17]

No one's brought up the fact it takes cues from Fire Convoy from Car Robots

[David Hingtgen]

17 minutes ago, Darkspire17 said:

No one's brought up the fact it takes cues from Fire Convoy from Car Robots

OMG, now that you mention it and I look again---that explains everything and it works so much better.  It's not a G1 Prime+VF-19 hybrid, it's 2001 RiD Prime (Fire Convoy) as a VF-19...   I just might buy it now...

(I LOVE the RiD toys---but am quite disappointed in the new Omega Prime---it's like, why bother making a new toy from scratch, just to make it 99% identical to the old one?  It solves none of the major issues, it basically doubles down on them).   And this should be far cheaper than "new Omega Prime".  

[Darkspire17]

2 hours ago, David Hingtgen said:

OMG, now that you mention it and I look again---that explains everything and it works so much better.  It's not a G1 Prime+VF-19 hybrid, it's 2001 RiD Prime (Fire Convoy) as a VF-19...   I just might buy it now...

(I LOVE the RiD toys---but am quite disappointed in the new Omega Prime---it's like, why bother making a new toy from scratch, just to make it 99% identical to the old one?  It solves none of the major issues, it basically doubles down on them).   And this should be far cheaper than "new Omega Prime".  

The chest like "hinge" down the center of it, the head and face shape, it's 100% a car robots homage. 

I'm actually tempted to get an original FC & God Magnus, RID/CRi s really nice aesthetically, the show is kinda ass but the toys are somrthing else. 

[sh9000]

Fighter intakes are usually the hip area of a Valkyrie so I can't unsee Optimus' head inbetween a Battroid's legs.

[M'Kyuun]

Obviously, it's going to try to look like a VF-19 Fire Valkyrie, so we can expect the majority of it to be red with yellow accents. As someone above mentioned, the entire forward fuselage is hanging off the back and will just rotate 180 degrees to cover the head. The shoulders are shaped like the VF-19's pauldrons and will likely fill that same role on this in fighter mode with the forearms recessing, much like the VF-14, into the backs of the legs. The wings wrap around the lower legs, which will likely compress over the thighs to foreshorten them and present as the rounded aft fuselage of the VF-19, while the wings unfurl into their proper positions. The compression of the legs , IMHO, will be the most complex part of the transformation, and the resulting fighter will be a mix of blockiness due to the OP chest and smoothness due to the forward fuselage and lower legs sharing the VF-19's design characteristics. It's a bit of a Frankenstein's monster due to sharing opposing characteristics being taken from two very different designs that, IMHO, don't marry well, especially as they relate to an aircraft, and even more especially, an aircraft design as sleek and aerodynamic as the VF-19. Personally, I would have been more excited if they'd taken a similar direction as they did with Maverick, which takes notable cues from the VF-1 without copying it directly (we have Jetfire for that), albeit taking cues from the VF-19 while hewing close to that design and transformation schema without copying it entirely. 

I think this thing is going to be a travesty writ large, but I'm profoundly biased towards Macross for its realistic and sleek valkyrie designs. Takara, and Hasbro by extension, have abysmal track records for creating jetformers that are anywhere near approaching aerodynamic or realistic. More often than not, they are partial aircraft sitting on the backs of blocky folded robots that often don't even integrate the arms into the jet mode.  Fighters are big machines (I know, as I worked around them during my AF career), far bigger than cars, and yet Takara always manages to tuck the arms somewhere even in the smallest of car modes, or motorcycles for cryin' out loud! There's far more real estate in a jet fighter, and yet they often waste large chunks of a fighter that could be used to integrate arms. It boggles the mind the lack of creativity or the reluctance to try to find better solutions. All I can say is that in twenty years of working around military aircraft, I never saw a single one with arms hanging off the sides or big blocky underbellies. Macross is proof that a realistic aircraft mode is possible for a transforming robot; I just wish the folks at Takara and Hasbro would take a few notes.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

 

[Scyla]

@M'Kyuun I‘m on the exact opposite side I‘m very excited about this and how it transforms. 
Looking at this picture @Black Valkyrie posted Basara Prime hopefully be different than just a box under an aircraft.

At least the legs will look like proper VF-19 engines.

I‘m curious if and how the chest and arms will transform since I can’t spot joints that indicates a upper torso transformation. And I don’t see a way for the arms to move behind the central fuselage.

I‘m confused why Takara felt the need to integrate truck parts into the design. Neither the Rathalos nor Shield-D Prime feature any truck parts.

They just look like the thing from the franchise but it turns into a robot with an Optimus Prime head. However, with Basara Prime the designers felt the need to include chest windows, lower leg vents, and most perplexing of all, smoke stacks.

Plus the revealed design looks nothing like the silhouette that was revealed in 2024. I wonder if BigWest or Kawamori took umbrage with the initial design and demanded changes.

If you are interested I collected my thoughts why this is a Macross 7 x Prime crossover on the site that shall not be named: https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/t-spark-zone-event.1271687/page-11#post-23045251

[Spark-O-Matic]

On 1/18/2025 at 12:04 AM, David Hingtgen said:

Am I the only one who'd like to see an Arcee Mylene MAXL?

Thinking Minerva myself since she is the original Japanese Fembot and this collab is suppose to be for the Jav market. either could work 

[David Hingtgen]

Yeah, but Arcee already has the MAXL's coloring, (and curvature), Minerva has neither.  

[26662]

On 1/17/2025 at 9:53 PM, Dangard Ace said:

Started a rewatch of Mac7 because of this toy.   I still enjoy Milia flying circles around Basara in her "old" VF-1.

 

I'll most likely get this to go with my Prime collection.  Rocker Convoy is what I'll call him.

Jon Bon Convoy?

Rhinestone Convoy?

Edit because I overlooked the obvious: Convoy Twitty

Edited January 24 by 26662
I'm human

[M'Kyuun]

On 1/19/2025 at 9:30 AM, Black Valkyrie said:

 

 

 

On 1/23/2025 at 5:53 AM, Scyla said:

@M'Kyuun I‘m on the exact opposite side I‘m very excited about this and how it transforms. 
Looking at this picture @Black Valkyrie posted Basara Prime hopefully be different than just a box under an aircraft.

At least the legs will look like proper VF-19 engines.

I‘m curious if and how the chest and arms will transform since I can’t spot joints that indicates a upper torso transformation. And I don’t see a way for the arms to move behind the central fuselage.

I‘m confused why Takara felt the need to integrate truck parts into the design. Neither the Rathalos nor Shield-D Prime feature any truck parts.

They just look like the thing from the franchise but it turns into a robot with an Optimus Prime head. However, with Basara Prime the designers felt the need to include chest windows, lower leg vents, and most perplexing of all, smoke stacks.

Plus the revealed design looks nothing like the silhouette that was revealed in 2024. I wonder if BigWest or Kawamori took umbrage with the initial design and demanded changes.

If you are interested I collected my thoughts why this is a Macross 7 x Prime crossover on the site that shall not be named: https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/t-spark-zone-event.1271687/page-11#post-23045251

 Having a look at the backside of this fig, I revise my earlier guess at its transformation. Since the intakes are mounted on the torso above the shoulders, and due to the hinge arrangement on the actual shoulders as they correlate to the VF-19's shoulder pauldrons (odd that they didn't configure them to form pauldrons in a like manner on this figure), it appears that the chest piece must swing down so that the intakes mate up with the tops of the hips to complete the engines. Given where the arms are, I surmise that they are going to swing inboard in a similar manner to the VF-1 and the pauldrons will then move into place over the backs of the thighs to complete the top portion of the engines.  I'm guessing that the squarish Prime chest will just sit on the bottom of the jet, which will spoil the bottom of the jet mode, but it appears that in all other regards, at least from a top view, it's going to form a decent looking VF-19. That being said, I concur with Scyla's questioning the need to incorporate truck parts at all when simply putting a stylized head on a VF-19 body would have sufficed and offered a far better jet mode that actually transforms and looks like it's supposed to. I'm curious to see how it all comes together, however, I'm not at all a fan of Basara and, like Scyla, I wish they'd just given us a straight VF-19 instead of this Frankenstein's monster of a valk. I say this as I look lovingly upon my Yamato VF-19S and YF-19 standing next to each other on my desk. Such gorgeous designs.

[M'Kyuun]

On 1/17/2025 at 10:04 PM, David Hingtgen said:

Am I the only one who'd like to see an Arcee Mylene MAXL?

Given how little love Mylene's VF-11 has received in toy form, I wouldn't be opposed to such a crossover to pair with Basara Prime. Honestly, I'd be happier if we got the straight valks with heads that homage the TF characters, but since Takara is bent on combining elements of the TF characters so as to ruin any possibility of ever getting a realistic or perfectly aerodynamic jet from them, I can only image how it would turn out. Still, the color schemes align as well as the fit. I'm guessing it would be mostly a VF-11 with Arcee's back pods.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

I won`t be surprised if Takara - Tomy will produce more variations, like Soundwave will be based on VF-19S. 

 

[sharky]

On 1/17/2025 at 12:46 AM, nightmareB4macross said:

For the love of Macross, please make it stop.

I’m happy to see Macross have more exposure via a more prominent brand, but this just isn’t right.

🥲

If Basara Prime is wrong, I don't wanna be right. 😅

[sh9000]

I would have went with the Fire Valkyrie crossing over with Blaster as they are both similar colors and tied to music.

[26662]

39 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

I would have went with the Fire Valkyrie crossing over with Blaster as they are both similar colors and tied to music.

I'm picking up what you're putting down, but Blaster is a harder sell than Prime.  [And I've had my fill of Prime, TBH.]  Based on the bot-mode images I've seen thus far, I'm not convinced they're gonna be able to pull off the fighter mode all that convincingly.  Fingers crossed.