In the 80's, when Robotech was going strong in the USA and, likewise, Macross in Japan, there was but one company catering to the USA market of Robotech toys: Matchbox. Look on the box of any Robotech toy from the era, and you're most likely to find a Matchbox seal on it. However, they didn't produce the figures themselves...
Takatoku was probably the first company to release toys for the SDF Macross series. They produced sturdy figures made of plastic and die-cast metal. When Harmony Gold aired Robotech on American television, Matchbox bought the rights to Takatoku's molds and sold many, slightly re-tooled figures under the Robotech toy line. One such toy was the SDF-1...
According to Macross lore, The Super Dimention Fortress (SDF-1) Macross crash-landed on Earth in the year 1999 on Ataria Island. The world's government realized that the threat of possible alien invasion had to be met with organization, so they opted for a United Earth Government. This was met with a conflict "The Unification War," in which groups wishing to remain independent fought to do so. Meanwhile, reconstruction of the Macross was commenced, and a large city sprung up around it.
When the Macross was completed, a celebration was held. However, the celebration was short lived, as aliens known as the Zentradi warped into Earth's vicinity. The Macross, seemingly booby-trapped, automatically fired on and destroyed one of the Zentradi's ships, and an interstellar-war was commenced. Captain Bruno J. Global, attempting to escape the alien onslaught, ordered a "Space-Fold" operation in which the SDF-1 would warp to the orbit of the moon. However, its trajectory was miscalculated, and the Fortress was carried to the other end of the solar system to Pluto's orbit, carrying the much of the island and its surrounding ocean, and the naval vessels Daedalus and Prometheus. The survivors from the city were brought aboard the Macross, and the two ships were attached to it. Eventually, the citizens rebuilt their city inside the Fortress. The SDF-1 set out on the long and treacherous journey back to the planet Earth...
Upon removing the styrofoam insert and pamphlets from the box, I was already impressed with this figure. They don't package toys like this anymore. Anyway, the guns and antennae are all removeable and get lost quite easily. I'm missing the radar tower. The Daedalus and Prometheus arms also come off.
This SDF-1 figure, sadly, is not transformable and remains in the "Fortress" mode. This is alright, though, as it's a pretty well-detailed toy. It's built mostly in plastic, but the torso and parts of the legs are made with die-cast metal. My only complaint is the lack of articulation in the arms; they should be jointed at the elbow. However, the legs are articulated at the hips, knees, and ankles. The "Main Gun" booms are also jointed so they can fold down as they do on the show.
In short, the Matchbox Miniature SDF-1 is a decent figure with some nice designs, but it's also VERY expensive (as with most Macross and Robotech merchandise.) I paid $60 for mine, which is a bargain, and I wouldn't suggest paying over that unless you are an avid fan of the SDF-1 Macross, as the astronomical prices they can go for are not justified by the figure.
Rating: 3/5
No comments:
Post a Comment