Thursday 20 September 2012

1/55 VF-1A DYRL Hikaru Ichijo (Reissued)




















A revisit to 1/55 Hikaru DYRL Skull VF-1A that was reissued by in 2001. Bandai had redesigned the packaging. Simple artwork with the toy is presented in plane (Fighter) mode whereas the vintage 1/55 VF-1A H Ichijo in robot (batteroid) mode. Can't be sure that the plastic quality of the reissued is more inferior as the white region on the chest had started yellowing. A common scene on many 1/55 scale. Nevertheless, the joints are very tight no stress mark whenever transforming it.

Sticker sheet comes with many extra. It's weird to saw 'Pilot Roy Focker' on it as the valkyrie is manned for Hikaru. I especially like the Minmay insignia. Think it will look awesome on the toy. I didn't apply additional stickers cos the imprints already had made the toy sufficiently nice.

Based on the 80s design, the toy is still at limited posing however sufficient for basic stances and stability. Landing gears made entirely of metal, giving it a solid foundation and increases durability of the toy. Mechanism of land gears are spring action and of you not careful, it can hit you real hard. As for the accessories, 2 heat-shield were included, one for plane cockpit cover and the other for robot mode with Skull Squadron insignia. Cool clip that allows the rifle to be clamped to the arm.

One thing that I feel Bandai can improve on is the packaging. The clear plastic insert tray could be replaced with styrofoam. I personally preferred the styrofoam insert cos plastic seems more inferior and is likely to turn yellowing with time. On the other hand, using styrofoam insert may appear to be less environmentally friendly.

8 comments:

jeroprime said...

I have this figure also. How much u get it? I get it for RM150 from a KL seller. For me, this piece not as solid as VF-1S. hehehe

Dennis aka Katsuden said...

I think tat's a good price for it. I probably paid over cos usually I would buy when it was nearly released in the past.

VF-1S is the icon and most Macross fans won't miss it. Hee! Hee!

Andy NYK said...

hmm, mine didn't really yellowed, maybe for vf-1s, the plastics are slightly greyish. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-crYTgRapBLI/Te9qniajulI/AAAAAAAAA2U/yJ70CmjoxYI/s1600/Chunky+Monkey+Rocks.JPG

Dennis aka Katsuden said...

Lucky you! Maybe it's the lighting and humidity on my room. I noticed yellowing on my VF-1S is less noticeable due to the greyish color tone.

deSMOnd said...

Sad to see some body surface turns yellowish..

Dennis aka Katsuden said...

Yalor... Very sad... Had sold this piece cheap and I'm avoiding toys that has a lot of white.

bluedrakon said...

I am still amazed that Bandai let Hasbro use this for their Jetfire Transformer back in the 80's.

I like the additional sticker sheet.

Dennis aka Katsuden said...

That's was the era where lotz of Japanese robots were introduced to the US. Transformers and Robotech made it big then.

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