Shawn Posted February 15 Posted February 15 This auction is up for another few hours https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/x1173464532 This was an official VF-1D conversion kit from Yamato sold at Wonder Festival 2002, with a run of only 30 kits (rare!) It was done by Nishikawa, who then designed the Yamato 1/48 line up! At this time in Yamato's existence, they only had the DYRL license, so they could not sell a VF-1D variant. This was a way for you to convert your existing v1 VF-1 DYRL toy into the TV VF-1D! They did get the TV license the next year and did a mass release, but for those who like the weird and rare stuff, this is a nice bit of Macross toy history to have!! Here are a few pics of the finished modification kit from my old archives I found on a hard drive, 2002!! Quote
jenius Posted February 15 Posted February 15 Thank you for explaining this. I checked out the auction assuming it was a 1/48 conversion and was surprised when I looked a little closer. A fun little bit of history. Quote
Shawn Posted February 15 Author Posted February 15 I've not seen that kit up for sale in 15+ years. I know the v1 valks don't get a lot of love these days, but they were appreciated back in the day, and this kit is a very niche part of Macross toy collecting history! Quote
nightmareB4macross Posted Wednesday at 04:08 PM Posted Wednesday at 04:08 PM Very cool find. It’s amazing how Yamato released this just before their license kicked in. I would have thought, seeing this kit out before an official release emblazoned with a Yamato name brand on the box could have jeopardized approval. It’s like saying to to the licensor, it doesn’t matter if you approve us or not, we did it anyway. And we’re selling it. Pretty bold. Quote
Bolt Posted Wednesday at 05:04 PM Posted Wednesday at 05:04 PM Wow. That's cool! Thanks for finding that treasure @Shawn I think i still have the 1/48 conversation from @captain america Quote
Shawn Posted Wednesday at 06:45 PM Author Posted Wednesday at 06:45 PM Well remember at wonderfest you buy the limited license for that event, so it was all legit and official. No boldness needed Quote
Froy Posted Wednesday at 07:06 PM Posted Wednesday at 07:06 PM Correct me if wrong but, isn't this one (Yamato VF-1D V.1.) the first VF-1D toy ever released? Quote
Shawn Posted Wednesday at 09:13 PM Author Posted Wednesday at 09:13 PM If we are speaking of a transforming toy, then yes, the Yamato v1 was the first officially released VF-1D toy. There were many fan built Takatoku customs before this of course. Even Takatoku encouraged you to customize your toys like from this pic, but they were not 'official'. If we are talking toys in general, then it could be ARII in 1997, who converted their 1/100 model kit line into a PVC painted toy ready to go out of the blister. Then there were also the Gummy type VF-1Ds from Bandai in 1985, about 2 inches tall. Here is a custom painted one-they originally came from the mold in just one color. Quote
grogall Posted Thursday at 11:14 AM Posted Thursday at 11:14 AM Still one of my favorite Valk's, Yes it's sad that the VD-1D doesn't get as much attention as the other equipment used in Macross. Still hoping that maybe someday the will issue a 1/55 Chunkey Monkey version... But still very please with Bandai's 1/48 offering! Quote
grogall Posted Thursday at 06:51 PM Posted Thursday at 06:51 PM Might have found the original pictures for this conversion kit!? Quote
treatment Posted Thursday at 06:53 PM Posted Thursday at 06:53 PM 1 minute ago, grogall said: Might have found the original pictures for this conversion kit!? That's the 1/60v2. The kit @Shawn is posting about is the way older 1/60v1. Quote
Graham Posted yesterday at 04:31 AM Posted yesterday at 04:31 AM On 2/16/2025 at 4:01 AM, Shawn said: This auction is up for another few hours https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/x1173464532 This was an official VF-1D conversion kit from Yamato sold at Wonder Festival 2002, with a run of only 30 kits (rare!) It was done by Nishikawa, who then designed the Yamato 1/48 line up! At this time in Yamato's existence, they only had the DYRL license, so they could not sell a VF-1D variant. This was a way for you to convert your existing v1 VF-1 DYRL toy into the TV VF-1D! They did get the TV license the next year and did a mass release, but for those who like the weird and rare stuff, this is a nice bit of Macross toy history to have!! Here are a few pics of the finished modification kit from my old archives I found on a hard drive, 2002!! Wow, I'd completely forgotten all about that. Quote
Shawn Posted 21 hours ago Author Posted 21 hours ago I found some old bits of correspondence between you, me, and Yamato, when you used to visit them for the reports! It was funny, I saw that auction, and was also searching an old hard drive for something completely different, and the VF-1D email was right there, like Kismet LOL It sort of freaked me out a little actually. What are the odds that this conversion kit comes up, AND I have a 20 year hard drive in the usb caddy referring to it, with pics. Spooky stuff! Also-that VF-1D assembly kit pic above was from a later release from Yamato. To this day I sort of feel somewhat partially responsible for that line of assembly kits. Iseki from Yamato was visiting the US, and we went out for lunch. He was asking what sort of things I'd want to see as a fan, and I said "I'm a model kit guy, I'd love to actually build those things myself form the factory, could you get the parts and send me an unassembled one?" He just sort of laughed it off. Then I said "Also, could you do anything with Megazone's Garland? That would also be a really fun item to have and no one has done it before" Those were the days!! Quote
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