The toy has the iconic Macross Gun Pod. I have a feeling that Macross Creator and Designer, Shoji Kawamori, was inspired by the Vulcan cannons that were slung underneath F-4 Phantom II’s during the Vietnam war. The F-4 Phantom did not have an internal gun so it had to carry it externally. Unlike the 1/48 Valkyrie’s of Yamato Toys, the 1/60 variants do not come with a sling.
The back of the gun pod acts as a stock. It is pulled out for the rifle to extend its form and to allow for the handle and trigger to drop out. In collapsed form only a small part of the handle juts out. There is a hollow female part at the handle which connects with a male part to facilitate storage of gun pod at the arms or to secure its position at the palm of the hand. I have to say that this part is a complete failure as it easily wears out or in my case didn’t want to attach securely on the arm or the hand.
Also included in the pack is a set of stickers for the Valkyrie to allow you to customize your VF-1S. There are markings so that you can match Hikaru Ichijo’s plane No’s in the movie to your toy (011 when he was just a member of Skull Squadron and 001 when he assumed leadership over it on Roy Fokker’s death.)
The accompanying manual is in black and white and printed in glossy paper. It is written in Japanese and has 32 pages of instruction in it. Even if its in Japanese you will still be able to understand the instructions because of the pictures. Having a manual however doesn’t make transformation easier.
Due to the realism in the design there are a lot of moving parts that are dependent on each other. Just to give you an example, look at the chest piece movement that occurs at the pic below when transforming to battloid mode.
A key trouble area I always have during the transformation is locking in the lever that attaches the legs to the body at its housing at the tip of the nose because of the dependency of other parts and the movement of the lever.
Also included are 4 sets of missile pods and 4 sets of missile racks. Seen here attached under the wing of the Valkyrie. They attach via holes under the wing that you can stick the hard point on.
There are also 2 spare hands so that you can pose your VF-1S in poses similar to that shown in the movie. Truly a photographer’s dream subject because of the articulation and the realism in the detail of the hands.
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