Robotech 30th Anniversary 1/100th Scale Miriya VF-1J With Super Armor

Last week, I reviewed the VF-1A and while Miriya's veritech is essentially the same figure with a different head and deco, this instance is a bit different.  After I had opened my VF-1A, I noticed that his head was completely broken off, so while I waited for the return process to pay off, I did some digging around on the Internet and discovered that Super Armor sets were available for the 1/100th scale figures.  BigBadToyStore didn't have any, but ToyWiz did.  I wasn't certain what would come of my adventures with Max's veritech, so I decided to just get the armor for Miriya's.

As you can see, I have added the decals to Miriya.  The armor basically just plugs into ports on the body.  To add the thrusters, there are tabs on the backpack that need to be removed and then new ones installed.  The Super Armor set comes with new missiles which look much better than the original ones.

Here's an overhead shot of the VF-1J.  Very reminiscent of Jetfire, for obvious reasons.

Gerwalk mode.  I must say, these figures look so much better with the Super Armor.  Miriya's veritech is downright resplendent in red with the gray armor.  The decals make a huge difference as well.  One thing that I noticed with my particular figure is that there is blue on right leg where there should be red.  The left leg has the correct red where the landing gear are.  No matter, as it really doesn't detract from the overall impressiveness of the figure.

Battroid mode just looks great.  The two antennae versions always look superior, in my mind.  I was worried that the addition of the thrusters on the back would lead to some stability problems, but that wasn't the case.

Whereas my VF-1A could not fully be supported on the stand in anything but jet mode, the VF-1J has no such problem.

A nice addition to the armor set is the cannon.  The front of the thruster is removable and the cannon just pops in.  I don't remember the cannons ever being used on the show, but according to the instructions, this is for a movie-styled look.  I haven't seen the movie, so I'll just take the instruction's at their word. 

Hopefully, Max's solid blue gets released as I'd really like to get that with the Super Armor.  Why didn't I get Rick Hunter's veritech or even Roy Fokker's?  Simple - I never really cared for them.  They look fine, but Max and Miriya have veritech's that just really stand out.  Thus concludes my foray into the world of Robotech figures.  For now. 

Robotech 30th Anniversary 1/100th Scale VF-1A Max Sterling

That's a heck of a title.  Robotech figures are generally pretty pricey, especially since they have not been released in a few years.  Sure, there are some bargains to be had with the Masterpiece Beta Fighters that no one seems to want, but the rest of the 1/55th scale figures are just too pricey when the super armor is factored in.  No matter, as Toynami have re-released their 1/100th scale figures with new packaging in time for Robotech's 30th anniversary.  While I didn't get everyone, I did manage to pick up two from the, hopefully, first wave.  I say hopefully because I'm hoping that there will be a second wave.  First up, Max Sterling's VF-1A.

This is the mainly white version with hints of blue.  Not my favorite iteration of Max's veritech, but I'm hoping that the full blue version is released soon.  While the 1/100th scale is small, about the size of a Generations Deluxe figure, it comes packed with accessories.  Each figure comes with four sets of missiles and four missile boxes.  The landing gear are detachable and don't actually store in the jet.  Overall, this is an extremely light figure.

One of the other accessories furnished with Max is a stand.  This stand comes with three attachments, one for each mode.  In jet mode, the gun is able to be displayed.  Sadly, this is the only mode that I was able to use with the stand as the rest of the modes would not securely stay on the stand.

As you can see, my VF-1A looks rather plain as I haven't added decals yet.

Gerwalk mode is pretty much what you'd expect if you are at all familiar with Robotech or have ever owned Jetfire.  What I do like about the rifle is that the stock extends.  Along with the missiles and stand, Max also comes with five different hands for various poses. 

In gerwalk mode, I'm using the gun fist and a closed fist.

Battroid mode is where it's at.  The canopy is removable and is replaced by a blast shield while in this mode.  The top of the chest actually clips into the blast shield.  There is a peg on the rifle that allows it to be attached to the forearm.  My only complaint with the figure comes with this mode.  The armature that the legs are attached to is really flimsy.  This makes the figure a bit fragile.

Leg fragility aside, this is a very poseable figure.  I've been able to do a ton of poses.  The 1/100th scale figure feature up/down and left to right articulation at the neck, shoulder, elbow, hip, thigh, and lower thigh articulation.  The legs and elbows also rotate a full 360 degrees.

Here, I'm using the left hand that allows him to hold the barrel of his rifle.  Looking at this, I can't help but remember that I'm not a fan of the single antenna veritechs.

This is perhaps my favorite pose.  There is a fifth hand included, an open left hand.  I was unsure of what to do with it until I came up with this pose.  My kids thought I was crazy when coming up with this pose because I kept kneeling on the floor trying to figure out how the legs would work.  Some waist articulation would lead to an even better pose, but veritechs aren't known for that.

Did Max Sterling's veritech satiate my desire for a full on 1/55th scale figure?  Not in the slightest.  However, he is a very nice figure, leg fragility aside.  I would have included the second 1/100th scale figure I got in this review, but I did a little something different with that particular figure.  You'll be able to see exactly what next week.  Salut!

A Robotech Primer For My Next Set of Reviews

I'm going to go ahead and just blame Maz for this up front; we'll get to the whys later.  Back in the 1980's, I collected a few other series like M.A.S.K., Star Wars, and Masters of the Universe.  While I had figures or vehicles from those series, I never really had a ton.  Out of the three aforementioned series, I maybe had more Masters of the Universe than of the other two.  While I may have had things from different series, Transformers remained my overall favorite.  Nothing could touch my love for Transformers.  Except for Robotech.

Image from https://marbal.wordpress.com/

I think that it's important for me to draw a distinction here.  When I talk about Robotech, I'm not talking about Macross.  What I loved was the Harmony Gold series that combined Macross, Super Dimension Calvary Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA.  While I never really cared for the middle installment of Robotech, the first and third captivated me.  The stories were mature, and the alien baddies were awesome.  More than that, the mechs were just fantastic.

Robotech: New Generation

Sadly, as much as I loved Robotech, the toys were kind of a mess.  I remember one of the first Robotech toys I ever got was from my father in 1985.  He was at sea in Asia and shipped us a care package.  Inside was a set of Robolinks, a Super-Deformed Veritech, and a Veritech model.  The model was assembled and promptly broken because I was 8 and the model was more for an adult.  Breaking that model scared the crap out of me.  Were all toys that transformed this brittle?

A selection of Super-Deformed Veritechs

Keep in mind, that this was all before I had even seen the show.  Later in the year, the show premiered, and I was hooked.  But as I said earlier, the toys were a bit of a disaster.  It seemed that every store I went to had tons of the Matchbox stuff, but they were horrible.  The 3 3/4" figures were ugly, and the Veritechs didn't even transform.  I felt completely gypped.  All I wanted was a transforming Veritech fighter.  When I did get Robotech stuff for Christmas or a birthday, I was more than likely given something like this:

Dolza.  Image from Final Frontier Toys

It wasn't until 1987 that I really started to find and get Robotech figures that I wanted.  In one Christmas, I got all three Alpha fighters by Gakken, which were available at Children's World toy stores, an Invid Shock Trooper by Matchbox, and an Officer's Battlepod, also by Matchbox.  That was in addition to getting Fortress Maximus.  A few months later, I found Scott Bernard's Cyclone at Children's Palace.  I was in hog heaven, for I finally had what I was looking for: Transforming Robotech!  Still, no Valkyries.  Not even a stinking Jetfire to my name.

Photo from Scorched Earth Toys

Sadly, over the years and the many, many moves I made being a Navy Brat, I've lost everything with the exception of Rook's Alpha fighter, and it's in such horrible shape that I'd rather not let anyone ever see it.  It's a crying shame.

I had pretty much driven away my desire for anything associated with Robotech after many years of focusing on things like women, music, and other pursuits.  Even when my Transformers obsession reared it's ugly head around 2001, Robotech didn't even enter my mind.  Then I read Maz's Macross Project on his blog and just looking at the figures stirred something in me.  Once I read every single post and devoured every single picture on his blog about Macross, I scoured eBay like a man possessed.  One thing I learned doing all of this scouring is that Robotech figures are all freaking expensive, certainly too rich for my tastes considering that I'm trying the complete a G1 collection.  Why spend extra money when I already have a goal that I'm working towards?  This has forced me to watch on the sidelines.  That is until Toynami released some 1/100th scale figures to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Robotech.  Sold!  While not 1/55th scale, what I really want, maybe these would tide me over.  Stay tuned to see if they did the trick!