1/60 Strike VF-1S Anniversary edition Review

Yamato sure know what they are doing

i had this toy few months ago which can be traced from my loot posts. Actually i plan to review 1/60 VF-1S a long time ago but somehow i procrastinated and decided to review it now. I bought this toy from HLJ during Yamato Sale and there was 75% off for EMS thus i decided to get it despite the product discount was not that good. Probably the reason for me to get this toy is that i had other VF-1A and 1J Hikaru custom already and this toy offer the Light projector which makes me to decide getting this toy instead of 1/60 VF-1J(which is much cheaper). in this set you get VF-1S with the basic armaments , Strike parts which can be changed to Super parts, Led torch and Some dry transfer decal for extra details.

In Macross series, Hikaru Ichijo piloted this VF after Fokker's death and using this VF, Hikaru Ichijo participated the war where conflict between Human and Zentradi will be concluded. The Strike parts provide more firepower and mobility for Variable Fighter which the pilot will need during intense combats. Only VF-1S are allowed to mount Strike parts while VF-1A and J got super parts instead.

After owning the Yamato macross toy i would say the toy quality is really superb, much better than the Macross kit that i ever had. The price is pretty worth it though it is expensive indeed considering these Yamato toys are intended for High end Collector. However i find that these toys doesn't really suit me well not due to the price but i prefer build kits by myself instead of getting the finished product.

Variable Fighters have different forms to adapt conditions that the battle going on. The Gerwalk mode serve as hybrid of Fighter and Battroid mode where it has some of Fighter mode agility and Battroid targeting efficiency. This mode are particularly useful in low altitude combat to urban warfare. Gerwalk mode also allow vertical takeoff in case there are circumstances which prevent normal take off.

The transformation from the Fighter mode to Battroid is perfect indeed. There is no need of parts exchange which the macross kit need to do. At first doing the transformation might be scary since you need to handle this toy carefully since it is not meant for kits and some of the parts can break easily if you put too much force. Normally VF-1S able to stand properly without problem though with the Strike parts equipped, the toy is really hard to stand properly since the strike parts is putting some weights on the back.

Compared to Bandai's 1/72 VF-1S, Yamato toys beat the Bandai's kit in every aspect of quality considering the Bandai's toy is pretty old. I should have painted my VF-1S with spray paints to look much better than the current one.

VF-1S with Strike parts are equipped with additional 2 Micro Missiles, Arm Missiles, Laser Cannon and 4 Reaction missiles along with VF-1S standard weapons. The micro missiles carry more payload than usual compared with VF-1S with no parts equipped. The arm missile shoot out 2 missiles travelling in different direction aimed to same targer for each shot. The laser cannon shoot powerful energy shot which is capable of delvering serious damage to Zentradi warship or just instant kill the Grunts.

As for Reaction Missile, UN Spacy only allow the VF to mount these missiles during critical battles only since it's destruction capability are as good as a Nuclear Warhead more or less. in ACE this VF-1S with Strike parts are pretty broken once the limiter is released since you can use unlimited amount of Reaction Missile.

The Yamato toys also has some parts that can be revealed its internal parts which add some gimmick value for these toys.

One of the iconic pose of VF-1S by Hikaru Ichijo where he unleash all of his Arsenals to a single target. In DYRL this move used by hikaru to deliver the Final Blow to the Zentradi Leader which conclude the war.

The LED torch show the Skull Squadron Insignia along with Hikaru's Ichijo squadron number when it is lit up. I suppose Fokker's and Max's version of VF-1S also got their own LED. Come to think of it, it is quite silly of me to get this toy for the LED torch.

Overall i would say Yamato did really good jobs with their Macross toys with little issue. With this toy i completed my VF collection for Hikaru Ichijo. i don't think i will get any Macross stuff from Yamato since they are too big for my Mecha collection scale and i had prefer to get Hasegawa's or Wave's instead unless the do make 1/72 Transformable scale which i predict to be almost the same price with the 1/60 Scale.