by the fans for the fans

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the site, but have been on RT.com for a bit, and am an old school RT fan from the 1980s. I've collected several of the Toynami pieces from recent years, including the Scott Bernard Alpha, and some of the smaller 1/100 Veritechs. I am thinking of getting a few pieces, and am curious to get advice or recommendations from people here and what people think would be a fair price. These are items I am considering purchasing. I should preface all this too by saying that I've read reviews on all these pieces, so I'm not going in blind, but am curious to get opinions from members of this site.

1. Yamato 1/60 Veritech. This would be the "2nd version" that came out in 2010 or so. I'm a huge fan of the original Bandai 1/55 mold, aka the "chunky monkey." However, I'd love to get a VF-1S, and the Yamato 1/60 version looks really darn good. I'm one of those folks who wants the piece to look like a collectible, with all the detail, but would also like some playability so that I can swoosh it around the room a few times (yes I unabashedly play with my toys even after all these years). I'm a little late to the party on the Yamato veritechs, so I'm guessing I'd need to set aside $200 - $250 to get a MISB VF-1S with the Superstrike armor? What do folks think of this design and price?

2. Toynami MPC Beta fighter. So I have the Blue Alpha, and at first I was a little disappointed, since certain pieces (arms) didn't quite click into place with connectors in plane mode, plus the up-jutting plane nose bothers me a bit. However, I pulled it out the other night, and it has grown on me. It's a solid toy. I'd like to get the Beta so that I can complete the linkup. What do folks think of the Beta MPC, and the combined form? If I had to buy, I'd probably order from RT.com at the $129 price.

3. Destroids, specifically the Excalibur/Tomahawk, and the Raidar X. I've always been a fan of the Destroids. Never had them as a kid. I saw that Yamato made some in the 1/60 scale. What do folks think of designs? I'm expecting $100 or so on each of these.

4. Yamato SDF-1. The big mama. So I still have my Matchbox SDF-1, and had a lot of fun with it back in the day. This version looks pretty awesome, good detail, even though it doesn't have RT colors, and no Daedelus/Prometheus, though it does have Armor-1/Armor-2 attachments. Looks really good. Does anyone on here have one? The price looks high, I guess I should expect to pay $500 or more on this one. What do folks think of this one? From what I have seen/read, the consensus seems to be that this is one crazy expensive toy, but that it is totally awesome, and if one can purchase it then go for it.

These are the pieces I'm considering. I'd love to hear what people think, and if folks have any other recommendations on cool RT toys. I'm using RT loosely, to include Macross, Mospeada, etc. Hope I'm not committing a cardinal sin or anything. Thanks in advance for any help/opinions/advice!

1. You NEED to get a Yamato 1/60 VF-1S version 2. I have 11 of the total variants including the initial releases of the version 2 with the shoulder issues. They're beautiful though some of the newer stuff Yamato is putting out, namely the VF-17S and VF-19S, are even better even though they're not Robotech.

2. Since you have the blue Alpha, you probably should get the blue Beta as it's something we all wanted back in the day and it compliments the Alpha so well. Pretty solid toy though it's more of a display in my opinion.

3. The Destroids are totally awesome but I'd put off purchasing them until you buy 1 and 2 and maybe even 3. They're definitely quality pieces though the swivel at the hip for the upper body is way too loose for my tastes. Moreover, it's still unclear if Yamato will complete the set so definitely ok to wait.

4. The SDF-1 looks awesome and it's the 1 Yamato toy I've never owned or even seen in person. The price has come down quite a bit from its initial release so you could probably get if for $375 shipped or so. Again, I'd still buy 1 and 2 first as though are more iconic pieces to most people though if you want a center piece, this is the one to get even though it's not really Robotech.

In conclusion, I say go for the 1/60 VF-1S and Beta if you can afford to. Hold off on the other ones until the next sale at hlj.com.

ps99041,

Thanks for the recommendations man. The Macross pickings were a little slim at SDCC, the only version 2 1/60 Yamato VT I could find was the Hikaru Ichijo VF-1S. I got that, and it is sitting proudly on my shelf right now. Not bad, I'm VERY impressed with the detail, articulation and transformation. I may need another one, I really wanted the Roy VF-1S, but they didn't have him.

I also picked up the green colored Defender Destroid. I may be one of the few Destroid fans out there, but I TOTALLY love this toy. Completely awesome.

I saw the SDF-1, and held it in my hands, guy was asking $500 for it. I put it back, didn't want to blow quite that much cash on one item. I put the rest of my money into these RT/Macross toys, and Transformers. Good stuff.

Now I really want to get the Green colored Tomahawk Destroid, and pick up at least one more 1/60 VT, hopefully Roy with the super strike parts. Awesome stuff man, as Roy said - this Robotech stuff gets in your blood . . .

Some advice...give up collecting Robotech stuff and start smoking Crack it's a cheaper addiction

Joking aside I haven't bought any RT collectibles in years. I do buy G1 Jetfires I now have 4 of them. None with the Macross symbol on the wing YET! I have two that are complete except for the gun clips. The next one I buy is going to be in the box.

Ha, yeah man, I'm sure there are cheaper hobbies out there. Collecting toys really eats into the pocketbook. But man, these are some freaking AWESOME toys. Love this stuff.

I've got my 1/60 Yamato VF-1S up on a desk shelf in a little nook that I'm using as a "launch bay." There are four nooks, I've got the VF-1S in one, next to it I have my childhood Jetfire, then a 1/55 Bandai VJ-1J, and lastly my Toynami Blue Alpha Fighter. Good stuff.