Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (MSIA)

From one of the most popular Gundam series ever and possibly the first to land on an American TV station, Gundam Wing

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Macross Frontier: Bandai VF-25F Messiah Alto Custom 1/60

After a long hiatus from Macross mecha products, Bandai has released the VF-25 Messiah from the very popular Macross Frontier Japanese animation:


This is the VF-25F variant flown by Alto. It has a simple and classy red and black paint scheme and visor like head mold. The other VF-25 variants differ in head mold, paint scheme, and specialized equipment load (like radome on the RVF-25).

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Macross DYRL VF-1S with Super & Strike Parts Roy Focker 1/60 by Yamato

After acquiring my Jetfire, I went online to look for comparison photos of Jetfire to the original robot he was based on, the Bandai 1/55 VF-1S. That's when i ran across a VF-1 Toy Super Comparison on Scorched Earth that covered all the latest transforming macross vf-1s toys. Having grown up with Transformers, GI Joe, and Ninja Turtles, the whole idea that one anime show had toys from various manufacturers was confusing at best. But having more than one manufacturer is a good thing as it gives buyers a choice which usually means a better toy as each maker competes to make the best.

From Scorched Earth's reviews, the best VF-1S is Yamato's second rendition of it and it puts my Jetfire to shame:

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Transformers G1: Jetfire

Back in 1985 when I was a little child, Transformers and Robotech were the premier cartoons featuring huge transforming robots from/in space. Most of Hasbro's Transformers line of toys and characters were designed by Takara for their diaclone line. However Hasbro wanted to capitalize on the popularity so they bought licenses for toys from other manufacturers such as Shockwave and Sky Lynx from ToyCo. One such toy of interest is Jetfire who comes from Takatoku's Macross VF-1 design.

Unfortunately Takatoku went under soon after producing the VF-1 so the VF-1 design got bought up by Bandai. Bandai was a competitor to Takara so this caused a problem with the Jetfire character so he was only sold outside of Japan.

For me, I didn't know any of that when I was young but I saw a great looking big shiny red and white robot in the Transformers toy brochure. And I wanted it. Unfortunately he was fairly hard to find in stores and carried a high price tag.

So almost 25 years after Jetfire came out, I bought a used one from eBay - new ones go for over $300. I got mine for $23. It is a second run so it was produced by Bandai.

Find out if G1 Jetfire was worth buying for me.

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