Sephiroth Posted June 6, 2004 Posted June 6, 2004 With all the talk about Yamato's new 1/60 GBP armor...I felt obligated to spread a little love for the Takatoku 1/55 GBP armor to help even things out. I've been wanting a set of Takatoku 1/55 GBP-1S armor ever since I first laid eyes on the pics at Nam Ngo's Valkyrie Factory site several years ago. Well, that day has finally come. I was searching eBay for closed GBP-1S armor auctions to figure out how much they were currently selling for. I came across this closed auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3193068694 The title was "Takatoku Toys Macross Armored Valkyrie GBP-1S " and it was listed under the Robotech category listings. The starting price was $200, but no one bid on it...this was actually the second time the seller listed this item. Most complete GBP-1S armor sets sell for $250+, and this one appeared to be unused from the pics. I couldn't understand why no one bid on it. Anyway, I decided to contact the seller and ask if he still had the item available. The seller took several days to write back...I had given up hope by then...and said that he did indeed have the armor and that he would sell it for $215 shipped. We worked out the deal off eBay and now I am the proud owner of my very first set of Takatoku GBP-1S armor...and with my luck, Bandai will soon announce they are going to re-release the 1/55 GBP armor. I noticed that there aren't a whole lot of pictures or reviews of the 1/55 GBP-1S armor to be found on the web. No one ever really talks about the armor other than to say that the chest and shoulder compartments open up. When you are able to find a few pics, you will most likely see the armor being used on a VF-1S or Hikaru VF-1J. To help remedy this, here's some fan service: Box and Inserts: GBP-1S Front: GBP-1S w/ Compartments Opened: GBP-1S Back: The GBP armor perfectly fits all vintage Takatoku/Bandai 1/55 Valkyries as well as the reissues. I am completely amazed by how snugly the armor pieces fit around the battroid...especially since this toy was designed in 1983 by hand (no CAD). The 1/55 GBP armor design allows for a lot more articulation than you would imagine just from looking at it. The leg & knee joints are still able to move foward and back one notch and the arm & elbow joints have full movement. The parts can be clipped on easliy or easliy removed, and remain attached with no problems. The GBP armor dosen't add too much weight to the toy and doesn't offset the balance. The GBP armor itself is molded in a nice mix of colors (blue/red/grey) with no painted areas. The factory-placed stickers give the GBP armor enough of a finished look that I don't feel the urge to use the sticker sheet provided. There's just enough detail molded in to keep the pieces interesting. It appears from other sets that I have seen offered that the plastic is suspectible to UV damage (thankfully mine had no UV damage at all). The box art/design is on par with the quality you come to expect from Takatoku. The art on the front depicts an armored Hikaru VF-1J and shows full character shots of Hikaru and Max. This differs from the VF-1S & GBP-1S giftset which depicts an armored VF-1S and only shows the the charcter shot of Hikaru. More battroid art is shown on the right side and the stiker palcement guide can be found on the left side. The only flaw I see is that there is no underside to the box...the top is half/sides are taped to the back of the styrofoam tray. The instruction guide is one sheet, folded 2x. It depicts the armor being placed on a VF-1S. Something I have never seen posted or discussed is that the instructions sheet shows that you can place extra missiles into holders on the hips: Quote
Sephiroth Posted June 6, 2004 Author Posted June 6, 2004 More GBP images that you rarely ever see... GBP-1A Front: GBP-1A Back: Millia GBP-1J Front: Miliia GBP-1J Back: Quote
Sephiroth Posted June 6, 2004 Author Posted June 6, 2004 More Random Images GBP-1S & SVF-1A (Takatoku Super Valkyrie Armor): Millia SVF-1J (Takatoku Super Valkyrie Armor): Quote
CID Posted June 6, 2004 Posted June 6, 2004 Yes, the original TAKA GBP.... I think GBP will make any Bandai Valks look 10000% better I acquire several sets during last few years, I have them on each VF-1J, S, As'. It really makes them look as if they were ready to kick some zentradis' (Might be wrong spelling) Axx. Thanks for sharing...... Quote
connor99 Posted June 6, 2004 Posted June 6, 2004 Sephiroth Posted on Jun 6 2004, 12:09 AM ...and with my luck, Bandai will soon announce they are going to re-release the 1/55 GBP armor. From your lips to GOD's ears!! and thanks for the pix, SEPH!! Quote
blackthought Posted June 6, 2004 Posted June 6, 2004 (edited) Thanks for the wonderful pics as well.. Edited June 6, 2004 by blackthought Quote
JValk Posted June 6, 2004 Posted June 6, 2004 yamato must be ashamed that they still cant beat the tank-like badassness of the chunkymonkey gbp! Quote
Armor Posted June 6, 2004 Posted June 6, 2004 Cool pics, I love the VF-1A with the GBP. Yamy has got to make this. Quote
Chowser Posted June 6, 2004 Posted June 6, 2004 lovely pics, you make me not want to sell mine, but i gotta pay for the wakizashi somehow.... Quote
izzyfcuk Posted June 6, 2004 Posted June 6, 2004 Good job, that big fat GBP beefs up any valk any day Quote
fearyaks Posted June 6, 2004 Posted June 6, 2004 (edited) Stupid question... how do you search for closed items on eBay? I usually have to 'watch' items to figure out their market value (after closing).... edit - it looks like you simply select 'completed' when searching... You learn something new every day! Edited June 6, 2004 by fearyaks Quote
Mechafan Posted June 6, 2004 Posted June 6, 2004 That was a nice find you had there. I never knew about the hip missiles. Quote
Sephiroth Posted June 7, 2004 Author Posted June 7, 2004 Thanks for the nice compliments. I really love the GBP armor...I can't understand why I didn't pick up a set any sooner than I did. I just wish I had a Max VF-1J to try the armor on. Hell, I'd like to see pics of an armored VT-1 and VE-1 just for the hell of it. If any of you have these items, can you please take pics and post them here? That was a nice find you had there. I never knew about the hip missiles. Yeah, I thought it was pretty neat how they put that feature in there and was surprised no one ever mentioned this before. I guess a lot of people never removed the missiles from the sprue to find out. I used some missiles from a Bandai reissue, but they fall out easily. Quote
CID Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 Thanks for the nice compliments. I really love the GBP armor...I can't understand why I didn't pick up a set any sooner than I did. I just wish I had a Max VF-1J to try the armor on. Hell, I'd like to see pics of an armored VT-1 and VE-1 just for the hell of it. If any of you have these items, can you please take pics and post them here? I think that its going to look goofy, but, I will post some photos later this evening, unless someone does it before me. Quote
CID Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 Here are some photos of VT-1, VE-1 and Max with GBP Quote
Sephiroth Posted June 7, 2004 Author Posted June 7, 2004 Thanks for the pics! The armored Max looks pretty cool, but you were right about the VT-1 and VE-1 looking goofy. Quote
CID Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 After seeing reviews and having expeience with Yammi GBP, I think that the Bandai GBP is far more superior that the Yamato GBP. The Bandai GBP was made nearly 20 years ago and it still fits tightly on Valks and detail is pretty good for even today’s standard. In my opinion, Yamato needs to improve their Quality when releasing new toys. With today’s resources (Computers, better materials, etc.), Yamato should have made the GBP superior than Bandai GBP. It is shame that a company that can make such beautiful looking Macross toys can not correct its oblivious quality problems, before releasing it to the consumers. Quote
dr_vandermeer Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 Great to see all of the variations! Awesome. Quote
connor99 Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 (edited) CID Posted on Jun 7 2004, 12:54 AM After seeing reviews and having expeience with Yammi GBP, I think that the Bandai GBP is far more superior that the Yamato GBP. The Bandai GBP was made nearly 20 years ago and it still fits tightly on Valks and detail is pretty good for even today’s standard. In my opinion, Yamato needs to improve their Quality when releasing new toys. With today’s resources (Computers, better materials, etc.), Yamato should have made the GBP superior than Bandai GBP. It is shame that a company that can make such beautiful looking Macross toys can not correct its oblivious quality problems, before releasing it to the consumers. Well, that's the thing with businesses nowadays, they want a quick return on their finances. It's like ya said, if YAMATO would only put some extra time and effort into perfecting their stuff---man, we could end up with much more beautiful valks!! Oh, and hey CID, just love that armored TV MAX!! man, I wish that was mine! Edited June 7, 2004 by connor99 Quote
Black Valkyrie Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 I wish Bandai reissued the GBP (Game Boy Player ) armor and the fast pack. Quote
Renato Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 Wow! That TV Max looks AWESOME. Power to the Chunk. Power to the 1/55s. Quote
Toonz Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous because i don't have one Quote
sbarrett4 Posted June 8, 2004 Posted June 8, 2004 jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous because i don't have one I have one for sale. Interested? PM if so. Quote
madmacks Posted June 8, 2004 Posted June 8, 2004 After seeing reviews and having expeience with Yammi GBP, I think that the Bandai GBP is far more superior that the Yamato GBP. The Bandai GBP was made nearly 20 years ago and it still fits tightly on Valks and detail is pretty good for even today’s standard. In my opinion, Yamato needs to improve their Quality when releasing new toys. With today’s resources (Computers, better materials, etc.), Yamato should have made the GBP superior than Bandai GBP. It is shame that a company that can make such beautiful looking Macross toys can not correct its oblivious quality problems, before releasing it to the consumers. its much easier to make things fit well when its out of proportion and blocky Quote
CID Posted June 8, 2004 Posted June 8, 2004 its much easier to make things fit well when its out of proportion and blocky Out of proportion??? I did not realize that Yammi was in proportion with valks shown on Macross. The appearance wise, yes, Yammi resembles more closely with what you see on Macross. As for as proportion, it is doubtful and debatable. As for Bandai being "Blocky-ness", you might be right on making it easier to fit. That does not mean, Yamato should be releasing armors that have definite quality problem(s) to the consumers. Yes, I bought the armor, even knowing that it had problems, but that is what happens when there are no competitions. It is all in how companies envision their future and its mission. Bandai has proven over and over again for last decades that their product is superior to its competitor. As for Yamato, it is hard to tell. How long they will survive the competitive toy MKT, who knows. The result will be shown when toys based on Macross series has saturated the MKT and Yamato has to rely on other product line to sustain its viability. Will they be considered as being a quality toy manufacturing company????? Quote
Sephiroth Posted June 8, 2004 Author Posted June 8, 2004 its much easier to make things fit well when its out of proportion and blocky  Out of proportion??? I did not realize that Yammi was in proportion with valks shown on Macross. The appearance wise, yes, Yammi resembles more closely with what you see on Macross. As for as proportion, it is doubtful and debatable. As for Bandai being "Blocky-ness", you might be right on making it easier to fit. That does not mean, Yamato should be releasing armors that have definite quality problem(s) to the consumers. Yes, I bought the armor, even knowing that it had problems, but that is what happens when there are no competitions. It is all in how companies envision their future and its mission. Bandai has proven over and over again for last decades that their product is superior to its competitor. As for Yamato, it is hard to tell. How long they will survive the competitive toy MKT, who knows. The result will be shown when toys based on Macross series has saturated the MKT and Yamato has to rely on other product line to sustain its viability. Will they be considered as being a quality toy manufacturing company????? I have to agree with CID. To say the 1/60 Yamato is more in proportion with the original line art is a given...there's no reason it shouldn't be when you consider that the 1/55 Takatoku/Bandai valks were made over 20 years ago and the 1/60 Yamato valks. That does not excuse Yamato from continually releasing flawed products (both in design and quality) when we know that they are capable of doing better. Quote
madmacks Posted June 8, 2004 Posted June 8, 2004 its much easier to make things fit well when its out of proportion and blocky  Out of proportion??? I did not realize that Yammi was in proportion with valks shown on Macross. The appearance wise, yes, Yammi resembles more closely with what you see on Macross. As for as proportion, it is doubtful and debatable. As for Bandai being "Blocky-ness", you might be right on making it easier to fit. That does not mean, Yamato should be releasing armors that have definite quality problem(s) to the consumers. Yes, I bought the armor, even knowing that it had problems, but that is what happens when there are no competitions. It is all in how companies envision their future and its mission. Bandai has proven over and over again for last decades that their product is superior to its competitor. As for Yamato, it is hard to tell. How long they will survive the competitive toy MKT, who knows. The result will be shown when toys based on Macross series has saturated the MKT and Yamato has to rely on other product line to sustain its viability. Will they be considered as being a quality toy manufacturing company????? I have to agree with CID. To say the 1/60 Yamato is more in proportion with the original line art is a given...there's no reason it shouldn't be when you consider that the 1/55 Takatoku/Bandai valks were made over 20 years ago and the 1/60 Yamato valks. That does not excuse Yamato from continually releasing flawed products (both in design and quality) when we know that they are capable of doing better. CID, you've gone through a passionate argument only to end it with "Yes, I bought the armor, even knowing that it had problems, but that is what happens when there are no competitions." So at the end of the day when all is said and done, the fact remains that the flaws are not that big of a deal compared to the great artistic quality in sculpt and in detail Yamato has. Unless you buy things that you think are not worth it. Sepiroth said "To say the 1/60 Yamato is more in proportion with the original line art is a given...there's no reason it shouldn't be when you consider that the 1/55 Takatoku/Bandai valks were made over 20 years ago and the 1/60 Yamato valks. That does not excuse Yamato from continually releasing flawed products (both in design and quality) when we know that they are capable of doing better." Thats not my argument. I will make it more clear. I'm stating when you design according to a set spec than what you cannot control there is a trade off. Yamato is trying to stay true to the line art hence they give way to their own freedom in terms of creating hinges, locking mechansims, etc to please all the "purists". Its all a give and take. Either make it look nice and less stable or make it look uglier and more rigid. I GUARANTEE that if they had gone the other way there would be a BUTTLOAD more complaints. We all know that right? Of course they can take longer to make better designs but time is usually why things come out flawed. Deadlines have to be met. Otherwise... all the MWers start complaining. See the vicious cycle? Look at the MPC Alpha if you dont believe me. On the brighter side, we all can take are valks to the beach with us just in time for the summer. In regards to why quality is bad. Its freakin China and these people can give a rats ass what some collector thinks when all they do is press a button on an assembly line for 10hrs a day for $30 USD/month. I've seen it first hand and its rather depressing. Its a matter of having different interests and priorities. To us, its a treasure that needs to be perfect. To them, its a means to buy a bag of rice. Quote
EXO Posted June 8, 2004 Posted June 8, 2004 The 1/60 GBP in proportion??? I don't think so. Huge hands, huge shoulders, huge cockpiece. I'd say the 1/55 was more in proportion within it's own blockiness. And I'd also say that the 1/55 was more of an engineering feat 20 years ago than the 1/60 yammy is today. Quote
Jolly Rogers Posted June 8, 2004 Posted June 8, 2004 In regards to why quality is bad. Its freakin China and these people can give a rats ass what some collector thinks when all they do is press a button on an assembly line for 10hrs a day for $30 USD/month. I've seen it first hand and its rather depressing. Its a matter of having different interests and priorities. To us, its a treasure that needs to be perfect. To them, its a means to buy a bag of rice. I am so sick and tired of every friggin' company moving their factories to China just because labor is cheap. We know the US market in general don't care about quality so long as we can get our stuff cheap, but whatever happened to Japan, land of zero tolerance for bad quality? Back in the 80s and earlier all their toys were made in Japan and never had quality problems. What made Japanese companies go overseas when they know quality is gonna suffer? It's not like Yamato is trying sell to the US and have to compete on price. Quote
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