Happy new year! January 1, 2010
Posted by istaipen in Event, Featured, Xperience.add a comment
Yeah! 2009 is officially part of the past now, it was such an action packed year. If we will recall, 2009 started with the explosion of the world financial crisis resulting to global unemployment problems, a surprising new black American US president Barack Obama which was considered before as almost impossible then a series of deaths from internationally known people like Michael Jackson as well as locally known people like Cory Aquino, Manny Pacquiao became more known in 2009 for defeating Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto.
2010 is the year of the tiger, and I just hope that it will get better than 2009 or than any previous year ever! Happy new year!
A look at yamato’s Super and Strike parts for VF-1 1/60 scale December 31, 2009
Posted by istaipen in Featured, My Collection.1 comment so far
I thought I wouldn’t say this but I underestimated the awesomeness of the additional yamato super and strike parts for VF-1(DYRL? version) that can be purchased together with the 1/60 scale VF-1S/A(DYRL? version) which is slightly cheaper than buying it separately but at least has its own box.
Super and strike parts box
The front box cover can also be lifted to see content
I actually bought this last month(so this isn’t my Christmas gift for myself LOL!) after realizing that my VF-1S DYRL? Hikaru Ichijo version was always shown in the movie as the strike VF-1S valkyrie(with the super and strike parts), I decided to get this one so that my VF-1S can become more anime accurate.
About the fictional super and strike parts
The super and strike part is the upgrade to the VF-1 valkyrie, it consists of 2 fast packs mounted on top of the valkyrie fighter plus some small thrusters attachment to the leg and additional missile attachment to the arm thus improving the VF-1’s overall combat and handling ability.
There are 2 variants, the super valkyrie and the strike valkyrie. The major difference is that the strike valkyrie has the strike double cannon fast pack on the right and the normal micro missile fast pack on the left while the super valkyrie only has both micro missile fast pack.
The strike cannon and the normal micro missile fast pack
In the movie DYRL?(Do you remember love?), the strike valkyrie attachment was only shown with the VF-1S which is only piloted by squadron leaders. Also, the super and strike valkyrie was only shown during space flight and was never seen in atmospheric flight suggesting that it’s only for space use.
For more detailed fictional specs, click here.
The VF-1S strike valkyrie as seen in the movie
The youtube video below is the final battle scene and also the scene where Hikaru is seen piloting his VF-1S strike valkyrie. This video also features Lyn Mynmay singing the lost protoculture song “Do you remember love?” which played an important role in convincing the zentran commander Britai to defect to the human side and fight along with the SDF-1 macross against zentradi supreme commander Boddole who wanted to destroy the entire human race together with it’s culture, Britai realized the importance of culture through the song.
About the package
The box includes the left and right fast pack, 1 strike cannon attachment, 2 micro missile attachment, leg and arm attachments and 4 sets of RMS-1 reaction missiles plus a decal sheet for customizing your valkyrie and instruction manual in Japanese.
The RMS-1 reaction missile
The manual and decal sheet
Now, lets take a closer look
The super and strike parts securely fits to the VF-1S, everything just snaps easily and can also be removed easily except the arm attachment which is a little difficult to remove but once you get used to it, it won’t be a problem anymore.
The thrusters can be rotated
The 2 main fast pack thrusters can be rotated for some turning display action, great for dioramas. The parts feature great details and can be improved by putting the decals for some more customized details(the decals has color schemes for Hikaru, Max, Roy and Kakizaki) but unfortunately, I’m too bad with applying decals(I messed up a lot of my model kits because of decals and paint) so as of now, I still haven’t placed my decals yet but it still looks good without it anyway.
Engine details can be seen
The coolest feature is that you can remove the case of the fast packs and the leg attachment to reveal the internal engine details.
Fighter mode
Still, my favorite mode. With the super/strike parts, the valkyrie looked something more like a space shuttle LOL! The RMS-1 reaction missiles looked great with the super/strike parts.
I covered the air intake fan to make it look more like space ship
Don't mind the white thread
very space like
for maintenance
side view
semi rear
Gerwalk mode
Still, my least favorite but doesn’t necessarily mean bad. The gerwalk mode is still worthy of displaying.
gerwalk w/o missile
w/ missile
Battroid mode
With the upgrade parts, battroid mode has become more battle ready looking. Even with the added weight on the back, the battroid can still stand up without falling backwards.
the strike cannon can be pointed forward in battroid mode
Final thought
Definitely a great addition to your VF-1 collection specially those DYRL? versions. If you’re a macross/VF-1 fan, you better get one of this along with the VF-1 of course, I know you’ll like it like most macross collectors say.
like all yamato macross 1/60 scale figures, this is pretty expensive in fact, with the same price of this super and strike parts only, you can already get a good quality decent transformer toy so serious macross fan are mostly probably getting this into their collection. But as a macross collectible, I say this is really worth buying.
Maligayang Pasko! December 25, 2009
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“Maligayang Pasko” is a Filipino greeting for Merry Christmas so I just wanna greet all you guys a happy and merry Christmas(I know it’s impossible for everyone in the world to be happy this Christmas but still let me greet anyway). Lets just keep on hoping and doing our best for the better!
For the meantime, let’s just enjoy, relax and spend some time with family and friends(for those unlucky ones who are still working now, just enjoy the double pay LOL!).
Once again, merry Christmas!
-The Wanderer
The Child’s Christmas December 13, 2009
Posted by istaipen in Xperience.add a comment
There is a Christmas saying here in the Philippines that Christmas is for children or at least it is enjoyed most by children and I couldn’t agree more.
Since I already experience being a child, I now know how Christmas is like when I was a kid and probably the same with most children.
Christmas feels kinda magical for me when I was a kid, I can’t explain it properly but yeah! I remember the feeling of excitement that Christmas seems to give. During Christmas, the horror of nightmare thought about dark nights temporarily disappears and becomes a dream experience thanks to attractive and fascinating Christmas lights that turned every home and ways into a wonderland, The child’s fear of vampires, ghosts and other scary creatures that is commonly known to appear during night is removed and is replaced by the story of Santa Claus flying in the night skies along with rain deers carrying gifts for the good kids.
Christmas day is another day for me to remember back then because I remember everyone is giving me gifts and everyone seems to be so happy and I get to see most of my cousins and relatives even those from far away places plus I get to eat lots of ice cream and that also adds to the happiness LOL!.
Child’s Christmas is truly, a very enjoyable Christmas and something of a way that we will never gonna be able to celebrate again.
It’s Suddenly Christmas! December 13, 2009
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Yay! it’s December now and it’s now only less than 2 weeks before the much awaited Christmas then new year follows, wow! time seems to be moving fast.
Let’s all look forward to a happier, peaceful and more complete holidays.
Wishing all you guys a greater Christmas season,
-The Wanderer™
OH NO!@^%$ November 2, 2009
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Just this morning when I was watching TV, I accidentally saw a terrible news. Originally, there will be a special non-working holiday this coming November 27(muslim related event) and 30(bonifacio day) and I’m sure most of us are really looking forward to it.
But the president canceled November 27 and instead made it a non-working holiday only in the autonomous region of muslim mindanao(ARMM). The reason is because most from the business sector are complaining about it.
I’m not sure if November 30 is also canceled and I hope it wasn’t. Now I feel like I’m a little bit broken hearted T_T.
Belated Happy Holloween November 2, 2009
Posted by istaipen in Event, Filler, Xperience.add a comment
Yeah! belated happy holloween and all soul’s day, happy all saint’s day to all of you guys!
Still thankful that my weekend was wasted September 28, 2009
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What is supposed to be a good and comfortable weekend turned out to be a total waste and inconvenience for me when the tropical storm “ondoy” directly hit our place.
2 days ago(Saturday, September 26, 2009), I woke up past 10am and the rain is really pouring heavy outside. I went down the stairs and my sleepiness disappeared after seeing the rain water is already entering our house, so I quickly brought to the 2nd floor anything that needs to get lifted away from the incoming flood.
A few hours later, flood water in our 1st floor is already around 4 inches deep and even deeper outside, going out is impossible unless you want to get wet. I felt disappointed because I was really looking forward to my kendo training that day and I knew I could no longer do that. Then around 3pm, the power supply in our neighborhood was ceased and that means no computer and no TV for me to enjoy, I even forgot to recharge my mobile phone and my PSP since I wasn’t really expecting any power interruptions and floods. The rain showed no signs of weakening, the rain kept pouring until the flood got deeper and deeper that it became the deepest flood I can remember that happened in our place.
The next morning, the rain stopped and the flood water slowly disappeared. So we spent most of the time cleaning the floor and returning the things we took upstairs.
My whole weekend was totally wasted and I was really mad because of that, it was like I spent the whole weekend inside our house with no electricity. Around afternoon, the power went back and we all watched TV to know what exactly happened. To my surprise, it was a really powerful storm and I saw some place that was really damaged by the flood. Death reports are high and many people lost their houses and livelihood. That’s when I realize that compared to those unfortunate ones, I can still consider myself lucky since I didn’t really lost anything big so I guess I should still be thankful for that.
A look at yamato’s 1/60 DYRL? VF-1S Hikaru Ichijo valkyrie September 13, 2009
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After a long time thinking about it, I finally decided to get one of yamato’s V2 1/60 scale valkyrie. I got the VF-1S Hikaru Ichijo model as it appeared in the macross movie Do You Remember Love?
BOX
The box front cover can be lifted to reveal what's inside.
Before buying it, I checked out other macross producer brands like toynami and bandai. But yamato seems to be the most recommended brand by collectors and I myself find their products more closer to the anime in terms of looks.
Why V2?
V2 stands for version 2(I think it’s unofficially labeled by collectors). A few years ago, yamato released the V1 which is obviously version 1. Based from my research, the v1 is inferior to the v2 in terms of transformation because the v1 required removal of some parts(like the legs) in order to transform plus, the v1 looks bad compared to the v2. Both are in 1/60 scale so v2 series is the successor to the v1 series.
Background Info
The video below is the opening of the ps1/sega saturn game “macross: do you remember love”(same title as the movie). The video shows Hikaru launching from a carrier(It is said that the ship is prometheus).
Hikaru flew a VF-1A in the video, I just wanted to share some footage showing his red color scheme.
yamato's 1/60 scale VF-1S with Hikaru color scheme
The VF-1s features Hikaru’s own unique color scheme. This model is only shown in Do You Remember Love? movie which is an alternate version of the series SDF macross and has some minor differences in story and mechas used by the characters.
In the movie, Hikaru initially had a VF-1A(with the same red color) instead of the iconic VF-1J he was more known using. Roy, the leader of the famous elite skull squadron is using a VF-1S with his yellow color scheme, Max and Kakizaki also had a VF-1A(Max was later seen pilotting a blue VF-1S as skull leader fighting Millia). At the middle of the story, Roy sacrificed himself and died to save Hikaru and Misa and soon Hikaru gained the position as leader of the skull squadron after Max, the 2nd skull leader disappeared(became a zentran) and was issued a new VF-1S(in the series, he simply inherited Roy’s yellow VF-1S and he succeeded Roy instead of Max).
The skull squadron logo on Hikaru's VF-1S
About the package
The package comes bundled with:
- 1 VF-1S transformable valkyrie model in 1/60 scale.
- 4 sets of missiles(3 missiles per set).
- 4 sets of missile pods.
- A pair of fixed pose hands(can replace the standard articulated hands).
- 1 small Hikaru Ichijo model(to be placed inside the cockpit.
- Some attachment clips(for attaching the cockpit part and attaching the toy to the seperately sold stand).
- 1 gunpod.
- Instruction manual(in Japanese) and sticker/decal sheet.
VF-1S with the missile attachments
Even the Hikaru figure is small, it's still surprisingly well painted.
The gunpod can be transformed as well
An optional super and strike parts can be purchased to upgrade the valkyrie as seen in the series and movie. But there is also a complete set that includes both valkyrie and super/strike parts which is slightly cheaper than buying them separately so if you really want the upgrade parts, better buy the complete package. As for me, I’m not that really interested with the super and strike parts so I bought the cheaper standard set but I can still consider buying the upgrade parts later if I feel like it.
A look at the valkyrie
Truly, the toy is very well designed and built. The paint job is really superb so it’s good enough even without applying the decals provided. It’s very solid in all 3 modes, nothing shakes or rattles and very very fun to pose perfect for dioramas featuring some favorite macross scenes. It is fully transformable and one feature I find cool about this is that it has a hidden heatshield that slides to cover the canopy much more like what you see in the anime(so far this is the only valkyrie toy I have seen to be able to do that), toynami robotech masterpiece collection and bandai/takatoku 1/55 can only offer an attachable heatshield.
heat shield slides out to cover the canopy when transforming to battroid mode
Fighter mode
My favorite mode! The toy features detailed die cast metal landing gears that can be folded to be hidden, a tinted canopy that once opened will reveal a cockpit with instruments finely detailed(where the Hikaru figure can be placed). Standard missiles or missile pods can be placed under the wings while the gundpod can be placed under the plane. There is also a great looking sort of air intake fan that adds more to the realism of this toy.
Front view
Rear view
The tinted canopy and cockpit
the cockpit view from another angle
side view
Air intake fan
Gerwalk mode
This is my least favorite mode! but still the toy was able to deliver an attractive gerwalk mode so I was able to appreciate it. Surprisingly, complex anime-like poses are possible thanks to it’s very articulated arms, the hand features movable fingers(index finger, thumb and the remaining 3 fingers as one) which securely holds the gun(you can replace it with the fixed pose hands). The knees can be bent forward for gerwalk, the feet can be adjusted to different angles resulting to a more stable stance for the gerwalk mode.
fron view
semi-side view
other side view
Battroid mode
The coolest mode because it is the most poseable mode! I think this is the highlight of the toy because according to the anime, After the SDF-1 macross was found, they discovered that the enemies were large aliens so in order to address this issue, they designed a new fighter aircraft that is capable of fighting these alien threats on equal footing both in air and land. It can transform into a large humanoid robot to directly engage the enemy.
In this mode, you can fully maximize the articulations of the arms and legs. The elbow can be bent more than 90 degrees giving it access to more realistic poses.
semi side view
semi side view focusing the head
front view focusing on the head
The hand with movable fingers.
showing it's poseability
You can always think of a better pose for this
Inconveniences
Even with all those nice features, of course there are some cautions and warnings about this toy.
Transformation problems
Transforming this toy is definitely not as easy as it may look. Prior to buying this, I already read a bunch of reviews and youtube videos about transforming this toy so I thought everything will be simple and easy once I got it. But still, I had a hard time transforming it for the first time, some inter-locking joints are very stiff and stubborn to connect/disconnect especially if it’s brand new, they require force that increases the risk of breaking it. Patience and proper focus of force is necessary in transforming this toy for the first time. This toy is pretty expensive so breaking it will really be frustrating, consider these factors first before buying.
Conclusion
Overall, I really liked it. For me, it’s worth the price. The only problem I had with this toy is mostly in transforming other than that, it’s really a great buy and the best valkyrie model you can ever have(as of now). Definitely, the closest to the anime available in the market today!
Rapido: My Transformer Toy July 12, 2009
Posted by istaipen in Featured, Treasure Archive.1 comment so far
Back in the 90’s when I was just a little kid, I always loved toys in a different way compared to now, Today I try to collect toys for collecting purposes. But before, as a kid I only collect toys to play with them and I never cared for their welfare. I never handled them delicately, I usually throw them, sink them in the water and hit them against another toy depending on my playing story.
So only the toughest kind of my toys were able to survive and one of them is my transformer toy called rapido from hasbro.
Honestly, I never knew any detail about this toy, I only asked my mom to buy it for me after seeing it in the toy store( something a kid would normally do). All I can remember is that it has a “transformers: generation 2″ label in the package.
I only learned the details about it after a thorough research and fortunately I was able to find details about it including a picture with it’s packaging.
some pictures I took with my old transformer toy(click for larger image):
In car mode, the toy looks good. It features rolling wheels so it can be pushed to move(although it doesn’t run as good as a matchbox/hot wheels), it has a silver engine located at the back that can be converted into a weapon when in robot mode.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t do well in robot mode. The only movable part is the hand that holds the weapon(and it can only be moved slightly). After transforming, all it can do is stand so it’s no longer fun playing with it.
