scand Posted April 2, 2004 Posted April 2, 2004 Funny thing, I enjoyed this toy more than any transformer. It never would hold a transformation but it was pretty fun to play with. My grandma also bought it at one of those no name low-budget drug stores. Quote
APU Posted April 2, 2004 Posted April 2, 2004 hey, that was my first Macross toy too, but I got the skull 1 version and it still look ok in battloid form. But Sucks in everything else. I hated it so much after opening the box and finding out it can't transform for shitzzz, I jumped over to transformers for years before ever coming by to Macross because of this toy. If only I reach a little bit more to the right it would have been a Joke machine. Is it that serious? Quote
ewilen Posted April 2, 2004 Posted April 2, 2004 "From Battroid..to giant Moth"? "Giant Moth" because "Gerwalk" in Japanese is ガウオーク "GAUOKU". "Ga" is the pronunciation of the word for "moth". (Look here.) I don't know if the rest of the word contains a pun on a word for "giant" or "enormous", etc. Anyway, the Gerwalk mode does look kind of like a Sphinx moth (hummingbird moth, hawk moth) at rest, and those moths are known for their ability to hover. Here's an especially big one from http://pacificislands.fws.gov/wesa/sphinxmoth.html Quote
fifbeat Posted April 2, 2004 Posted April 2, 2004 I remember one color-scheme I had of this POS was black, purple and had some of the stupidest-looking stickers I've ever seen. LMAO! Man, I miss those days. Quote
ewilen Posted April 3, 2004 Posted April 3, 2004 That sounds like one of the convertors. Was it this one? http://www.toyarchive.com/Convertors/ZardakMOSC1a.jpg Quote
F360° Posted April 3, 2004 Posted April 3, 2004 hey, that was my first Macross toy too, but I got the skull 1 version and it still look ok in battloid form. But Sucks in everything else. I hated it so much after opening the box and finding out it can't transform for shitzzz, I jumped over to transformers for years before ever coming by to Macross because of this toy. If only I reach a little bit more to the right it would have been a Joke machine. Is it that serious? yeah..at that time I was small and transformer was getting pretty popular. Quote
fifbeat Posted April 3, 2004 Posted April 3, 2004 That sounds like one of the convertors. Was it this one?http://www.toyarchive.com/Convertors/ZardakMOSC1a.jpg WOW! I haven't seen that for a looong time. Thanks for posting the link. That's what they're called... sigh. Quote
Sturmvogel Posted April 3, 2004 Posted April 3, 2004 Well, I finally dug out my bootleg Macres valk (my first Macross toy). It looks like the bootleggers did a good job approximating the Takatoku box. It's my first time attaching a photo to a post, so I hope this works, Quote
Sturmvogel Posted April 3, 2004 Posted April 3, 2004 This is my "Zark" Convertor. It was my second Macross toy, but it says "Japan" on it. Could it be a repackaged Takatoku rather than just a bootleg based on the Takatoku Henke toys? Quote
Sturmvogel Posted April 3, 2004 Posted April 3, 2004 Lastly, here's "Zark" in "giant moth" mode in front of the back of the Macres box. I thought the title of the transformation instructions was funny. Quote
ewilen Posted April 3, 2004 Posted April 3, 2004 (edited) The Convertors were apparently legal (or semi-legal) versions of the Macross designs. A company called "Mark" apparently partnered with Takatoku in making the cheapo Macross toys (as well as other cheapo versions of Takatoku's toys like Orguss and Beetras). Mark later sold them to a company named "Select" which marketed them as Convertors in the US. As if the name "Convertors" wasn't enough of a ripoff of "Transformers", the stickers are reminiscent of the Decepticon logo--at least to my untrained eye, since I'm not into TF. These links are the best info I could find--most of it comes from Ginrai of Masterforce, who is also a member here if I'm not mistaken. http://pub32.ezboard.com/fmasterforce94688...opicID=22.topic http://www.pimbrecords.com/mfo/3.0/robotlife1987.html http://www.toyboxdx.com/data/takatoku2/beetras.html The Macres stuff though is pretty clearly an effort at bootlegging Macross. Edited April 3, 2004 by ewilen Quote
ewilen Posted April 3, 2004 Posted April 3, 2004 (edited) I thought the title of the transformation instructions was funny. Somebody should use "Magic Chang" as their member name. Edit: fifbeat--you're welcome! Edited April 3, 2004 by ewilen Quote
fifbeat Posted April 3, 2004 Posted April 3, 2004 or "giant moth". Man, these toys bring back memories. So much for me, because I (my parents) could never afford the real crap.... so I was stuck with Sav-on Drug toys. Quote
zeo-mare Posted April 3, 2004 Posted April 3, 2004 wow the "covertors", I had these as well ,some of the earliest verison of any sort of Macross toy I owned, they also had some of Orguss, Dorvack, Ovelon and a few others in this series. I used to get them at the Christmas Tree Shops that are all over Massachusetts, the only place I knew that sold them, every time my family and I went up there they would let me and my little brother buy some. At the time I thought they were very cool but then again I was probally about 6 or 7 and any sort of robot was cool back then . this brings back memories Chris BTW "GIANT MOTH" what the hell were they thinking? I guess it could be worse, how about "Flying Cockroach" mode Quote
kanata67 Posted April 3, 2004 Posted April 3, 2004 figures... I sold the two I had in box not long back for a song and after I am gioving my remaining one away for the cost of shipping people start asking for them!!! anybody want the small transforming cyclones before they go to ebay? Quote
fifbeat Posted April 4, 2004 Posted April 4, 2004 I don't know why... but this thread has to be the most interesting to me out of any in this whole forum. There's nothing like a good hit of memory lane. I swear, I forgot these things existed until a couple of days ago. These damn Convertors should be selling for $500 on ebay.... Giant Moth... classic. Quote
Wicked Ace Posted April 4, 2004 Posted April 4, 2004 These damn Convertors should be selling for $500 on ebay.... Somehow, I doubt it (unless there was a low-vis version). Anyway, if someone knows where to get one of these, please post a link. Quote
Mechafan Posted April 4, 2004 Posted April 4, 2004 Wicked Ace, I got my last set off of Ebay. You can normally get them real cheep. The auction I won I was the only bidder. Most know these are very cheep and will not try to jack up the price on you. Quote
Sturmvogel Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 The Convertors were apparently legal (or semi-legal) versions of the Macross designs. A company called "Mark" apparently partnered with Takatoku in making the cheapo Macross toys (as well as other cheapo versions of Takatoku's toys like Orguss and Beetras). Mark later sold them to a company named "Select" which marketed them as Convertors in the US.As if the name "Convertors" wasn't enough of a ripoff of "Transformers", the stickers are reminiscent of the Decepticon logo--at least to my untrained eye, since I'm not into TF. These links are the best info I could find--most of it comes from Ginrai of Masterforce, who is also a member here if I'm not mistaken. http://pub32.ezboard.com/fmasterforce94688...opicID=22.topic http://www.pimbrecords.com/mfo/3.0/robotlife1987.html http://www.toyboxdx.com/data/takatoku2/beetras.html The Macres stuff though is pretty clearly an effort at bootlegging Macross. Thanks for the info, this is good stuff. Here's a pic of the card for my "Zark" toy. And as you pointed out, on the bottom of the card it does say "Select" as well as "Mark". Quote
Sturmvogel Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 Damn -- were they really MADE IN JAPAN? Yep. And although they looks pretty bad, the quality is very good. My Zark looks brand new, but my bootleg Macres 1J is floppy and pretty beat up. And I personally prefer the Henke toy over the Banprestos. Quote
kanata67 Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 Wicked Ace,I got my last set off of Ebay. You can normally get them real cheep. The auction I won I was the only bidder. Most know these are very cheep and will not try to jack up the price on you. a "set" off ebay... how long ago? I might have been the seller I knew I should have set the starting bid higher Quote
Wicked Ace Posted April 7, 2004 Posted April 7, 2004 Well, I finally dug out my bootleg Macres valk (my first Macross toy).It looks like the bootleggers did a good job approximating the Takatoku box. It's my first time attaching a photo to a post, so I hope this works, This one looks like the one I had, except mine was blue in the places this one has gray and vice versa. I checked ebay for one of these with no luck; I know somebody out there has one they'd part with. Quote
RichterX Posted April 7, 2004 Posted April 7, 2004 (edited) I was very little (2 1/2) when I first saw Robotech, I remember my older brother used to have several small valks similar to the actual Banpresto. I know for certain they were bootlegs, very cheap and easy to break (that is the reason he had several, imagine a 8 year old keeping his toys in one piece with a 2 year old around) When I bought my first Yamato 1/60 he asked me if it was like those pieces of crap he had when a kid that when transformed you didn't knew were the arms went and most of the time keep falling off, are those those valks? Even the Basic transformation Valks I used to build out with legos were based on them, had no idea where to put the arms... Edited April 7, 2004 by RichterX Quote
Mechafan Posted April 7, 2004 Posted April 7, 2004 (edited) Wicked Ace,I got my last set off of Ebay. You can normally get them real cheep. The auction I won I was the only bidder. Most know these are very cheep and will not try to jack up the price on you. a "set" off ebay... how long ago? I might have been the seller I knew I should have set the starting bid higher It was a Converters set MOC. It was the VF-1 in Skull colors, the Orgus and a SDF-1. I had some others when I was younger but no clue on what happened to them. Edited April 7, 2004 by Mechafan Quote
zeo-mare Posted April 11, 2004 Posted April 11, 2004 look i found some convertors on ebay I did not realize that they made the sd macross valks as well. they do not look to bad. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...3187060447&rd=1 Quote
peroliza Posted October 25, 2019 Posted October 25, 2019 Hello. I got a blue and gray Macres VF-1J earlier this year. Someone helped me creating a blue VF-1A resin head. This is the result. I can swap VF-1J and VF-1A heads. Regards Quote
HardlyNever Posted October 25, 2019 Posted October 25, 2019 We're all caught up in the Tamashii Nations event news, and this guy necros a thread and drops the hottest release of 2019 on us. Never saw it coming. Quote
jvmacross Posted October 25, 2019 Posted October 25, 2019 How dare someone enjoy a Macross collectible that wasn't mass-produced last month!!! Quote
jenius Posted October 25, 2019 Posted October 25, 2019 I love the oldies! That resin head is legit, I would have assumed it came with the toy. Quote
DewPoint Posted October 26, 2019 Posted October 26, 2019 I had the CF version of that toy. I played with it until an arm and the swing bar broke off. Quote
jvmacross Posted October 26, 2019 Posted October 26, 2019 yeah....the mis-shapened form of the -1A head gives it legit Macross henkei street cred! It really is not that far off from the real thing...excellent custom work! Quote
Slave IV Posted October 26, 2019 Posted October 26, 2019 Nice, I love those crappy old figures. My 1S is still somewhere in my storage. Quote
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