So, here are some quick observations as I'm awaiting arrival of two Valkyries still.
Yamato 1/60 Destroid Tomahawk in Olive Drab with Weathering:
I received this from BBTS, and it was awesome that they credited my account for the sale price that appeared one week later.
To be honest though, I'm really glad they did that or I would feel that I totally overpaid for the item. Don't get me wrong. The piece is a work of art, wonderful in every way. My only minor (and I do mean minor) disappointment is with the size. These replicas are far smaller than I had anticipated. That is kind of a double edged sword though. Display space is at a premium in my "toy room" and it will be easy to accommodate a nice small collection of Macross items of the 1/60 size. However for the size, the detail and paint applications are amazing. This is one awesome piece of mech.
Wave 1/5000 SDF-1:
Now, you want to talk about a tiny toy for the money? I paid just under $200 plus shipping from Japan for this piece, but I don't think it should go for more than $100. Again, size notwithstanding, what an awesome transformable piece. I know it was more than $100 when it came out a couple of years ago, and they are somewhat hard to come by. Would I recommend it? Oh yeah, if you are willing to shell out the price, and don't mind the tiny size. The transformation has been worked out superbly on this thing. While it can be slightly infuriating, utilizing a tiny tool that is included to maneuver tiny parts, the end result is quite a masterpiece. I fully intended to display the SDF-1 in cruiser mode. However, because the tail is much heavier, and because the "arms" don't want to hang quite properly, I have opted for the battle mode. And it looks quite awesome this way anyway. The ship has much more presence this way, so it will stay in this configuration. I spent about 20 minutes completing the transformation, and there are a couple of hairy parts. Sometimes more force is needed than you would like to apply. I did manage to snap the "foot" off partially when trying to adjust the thrusters to this mode, but also managed to snap it back into place. Overall, I'm very pleased, but would have liked to have paid a bit less. Say half as much.
Yamato 1/60 Hikaru VF-1A Valkyrie
On the way from Hong Kong.
Yamato 1/60 Roy VF-1S Valkyrie
On the way from a fellow board member. Score!
