Macross Frontier: Bandai VF-27 Lucifer Valkyrie Brena Stern Custom 1/60 Review

Confident villians paint their robots purple.


It's been 25 years since Macross originally aired and now the series has been refreshed for the new generation with Macross Frontier. The new series keeps to the original's receipe with a number of hints to the original series such as similar Macross captains, a love triangle, and singing. The VF-27y piloted by Brena Stern plays the antagonist to Macross Frontier's main character, Alto. The VF-27 holds a number of similarities to the villianeous Fz-109F Elgerzorene from Macross 7 such as the wing mounted engines, fixed wings, and flared headpiece.

The VF-27y is part of the forth wave of Bandai's successful line of 1/60 scale Macross Frontier toys. Also included with the forth wave is the re-issue of VF-25F Alto custom with Tornado pack and green mass produced VF-27. In this release, Bandai has addressed many complaints from their VF-25 line of valkyries. For those of you who skipped out on picking up any 1/60 scale VF-25, this is your chance to pick up a really amazing valkyrie which comes close to Yamato's 1/60 scale Macross valkyarie engineering.

Front of box:


Back of box:


VF-27 box compared to Alto's VF-25F:

The VF-27 is just a tad taller but the same width

VF-27 compared to VF-25F box thickness:

The VF-27 box is just a few millimeters thicker than the VF-25F

Inside the box:


Included hands and fold booster attachment:

You'll need to pick up the VF-25G Gallo web-exclusive sound booster set to get the fold booster. The hands are the same poses as the VF-25 release with closed fist, gun grip, ninja chop, and opened palm.

Fighter front:

The two upward canards are easy to snap off so be careful

Fighter right:

The wing mounded engines mask the slender leg/engine of the VF-27

Fighter Rear:

The wing mounted engines have nozzles mounted on ball joints

Fighter top:

Nice white tempo all over the VF-27 really make the fighter look good and detailed

Fighter bottom:

The slender legs are beautiful and much improved over the chunky legs on the VF-25.

Fighter comparison VF-27 to VF-25F:

The VF-27 looks like a spaceship while the VF-25 looks really conventional.

Paint imperfections:

Sadly Bandai hasn't perfected their manufacturing process. Be careful as the light paint on the nose of the fighter chips easily.

Highly detailed engine and movable engine nozzle:

The larger bottom engine nozzle piece doesn't move

Collapsible Shield:

Many people complained the shield on the 1/60 VF-25 stuck out too much in battroid mode so Bandai has now made it collapsible. I can fit the gun grip and opened palm hands under this shield just like i could with the VF-25

Large guns compared closed (VF-25G top and VF-27 bottom):

Better paint application on the VF-27 beam rifle makes it look better

Large guns compared opened(VF-25G top and VF-27 bottom):


The loose extensions on the VF-25G sniper gun make it feel much cheaper than the VF-27 beam rifle

Built in gun clip:

Unlike the separate gun clip on the VF-25, the VF-27 has a fold away gun clip so you can clip the gun in fighter mode.

Bottom with gun:

The beam rifle is long and it's a little hard to keep straight because of a bump on the bottom of the fighter just between the engine intakes.

Right with gun:


Longer landing gears make a big difference.

Canopy opens:

It's tricky to open the cockpit. Be careful not to scratch the paint.

Pilots:

Unlike the VF-25, Brena (purple) and Ranka Lee (white) are removable. Too bad Ranka is missing part of her legs

Swirvel:

Unlike the VF-25, the legs now swirvel on a ball joint just above the knee

Better leg:

The foot now pulls out more smoothly and lots of parts fall into place to cover up the metal.

Opened legs:

With the swirvel in the leg, gerwalk mode is a lot easier and better looking

Gerwalk:

Still not my favorite mode

Battroid visor:

I'm glad they used clear plastic like on the VF-25F rather than painted like the VF-25S

Battroid front:

Sleeker than the VF-25 but with almost the same transformation sequences. The top half of battroid is even more difficult to get over the fighter cockpit area.

Battroid right side:

The 3 toe foot is fairly stable and easy to pose

Battroid left side:


Battroid back:

Nothing special but the boosters aren't too heavy so the VF-27 never feels back heavy

Battroid top:

The head slides out a lot more smoothly and locks into place rather than the bobbly VF-25 heads.

VF-27 with beam rifle:

Villans need big weapons. One hand can support the gun but it can easily be pushed loose.

Bandai VF-27 with Yamato VF-1S:

The VF-27 looks good with the Yamato VF-1

VF-27 with VF-25

The VF-25 looks even more like a chunk monkey beside the VF-27. The shorter engine intake of the VF-27 allow much more leg motion that's not possible on the VF-25.

Bandai did an amazing job improving the VF-25 mold to create the VF-27. A lot of the misses from the VF-25 were addresses such as the removable pilots, collapsible shield, slender leg, foldaway gun slip, and much more stable head. Unfortunately the Macross Frontier line of toys still suffers from quality issues with paint scratched off. The VF-27 is more expensive than the standard VF-25F and on par with the VF-25S armored but it brings a lot more satisfaction. It is definitely worth picking up.

VF-27 fighter mode:


Eric Toy Score: 4 out of 5

Publisher: Bandai
Year: 2010
Price: $199 (approx)