A series of slightly retro toy reviews! The "Deluxe Fire Valkyrie Basara Special," a fully transformable toy released at the time of the "Macross 7" broadcast, is a masterpiece that has not faded even when viewed today! Nostalgic Toy Discovery Team - Part 1

Akiba Research Institute's Editor A looks back on his own collection of nostalgic toys and reminisces about the good old days in his column, "Nostalgic Toy Discovery Team!

I, Editor A, was born in 1980 and enjoy collecting nostalgic toys that I played with in my childhood, but I wonder if collecting toys has become my goal and I have forgotten the original purpose of toys, which is to play with them. Toys are not to be displayed and admired. They are to be played with!

This series of articles is an attempt to reexamine the little retro toys that have been stored away for so long without ever being played with.

Perhaps you will discover something new or notice something that you haven't seen in toys of today. ......?

The first installment is a Valkyrie from "Macross," the king of transformable robots. Moreover, it is the "Fire Valkyrie" from "Macross 7!

Macross 7" was a TV animation broadcast from October 1994 to September 1995, and started with a bang as a sequel to the 1982 hit "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross.

In the previous work, love songs sung by idols enlivened the story as a trump card to stop the war, but the songs in this work are "rock" songs! Moreover, the guitarist and vocalist Hot Air Basara, while strumming a guitar-shaped control stick, sang, "War is a bunch of nonsense! Listen to my song! The more fans who know the previous work, the more they will be upset by the content of the film. The more fans who knew the previous film were shocked by the content of the film.

Moreover, the main character, Teruki Ichijo, was flying the VF-1, a realistic-looking aircraft based on a real fighter plane, whereas the Fire Valkyrie had a face with a mouth like a super robot! This was very controversial when it was first broadcast, but how are the toys coming along?

The 1st "Macross 7" Deluxe Fire Valkyrie Basara Special (Bandai)

This product first appeared in the first half of 1995, around the midpoint of the anime's broadcast.

At that time, Bandai also released a plastic model, but it was a 1/144 scale non-transforming type and a 1/100 scale replaceable transformable type, and I remember watching the anime wondering all the time, "What kind of transformation does this have?

That is why when I learned of the release of this fully deformable toy, I was delighted: "Now I can see what kind of deformation it has! I was delighted.

Let's start with the box.

The Fire Valkyrie in fighter form seen from the front, reminiscent of the CG in the OP video, looks cool!

The box is quite deep. There are numerous photos of the toy on the side and rear. The deformation of the figure is emphasized as much as possible.

Here are the contents. The Fire Valkyrie itself, and the "Launcher Pod," an assembled armament. Foil stickers and instruction manual.

I detached the launcher pod from the runner and assembled it.

As expected from a toy that is 27 years old, you can feel the plastic deteriorating over time. When I put the pins in place, I heard a "squeaking" sound, which made me break out in a nasty sweat.

The foil stickers have surprisingly not deteriorated in adhesiveness, and I was able to attach them without any problems.

So, it is completed!

The legs may be a little too long, but overall the proportions are quite nice!

The bright red body and heroic face are just like the main character of a mecha.

He is a handsome man. The eyes and mouth are also well painted. The thunderous markings on the head and the crest of the head. The yellow triangle on his chest and the purple rhombus on his shoulders are stickers.

The legs are movable. The thighs are not movable, but there are clickable parts at the top and bottom of the knees, so the legs can be bent to a surprisingly large extent.

The arms have a roll axis on the second arm.

The elbow joint has a single axis, but it can be bent quite deeply.

Now, let's pose him for a moment!

Fire Valkyrie is holding a pod and looking around.

The image of flying. Listen to my song!

Now, here comes the real fun.

Speaking of Valkyrie, its greatest feature is its three-stage transformation into a battroid (humanoid), ghawk, and fighter (fighter)!

So let's transform it into a ghawk right away.

Unlock the upper body and tilt it backward.

This is a small point, but during the transformation process, you can clearly see where the cockpit block is positioned when it is in Battroid. Because the toy can transform without replacement, you can enjoy the deformation gimmick and robot structure that you could not see in the anime.

Next, the legs are transformed into reverse-jointed bird legs.

It looks more like a gawk.

Next, retract the head.

Rotate the head 180°.

Rotate the antennae on each ear to change the angle, then stow the head inside the block and cover it with the cover. During this process, the antennas started to turn slightly white, and I was nervous that they might break someday.

The next step is to transform the wings.

The forward wing is deployed.

Here, the protruding parts on the wing side are inserted into the holes on the body side to fix them in place, but the clearance is extremely tight! The arms are just above the wings. And here, too, the plastic is afraid to deteriorate. ...... If I screw the parts in too hard, they might shatter. I have a feeling that I will have to continue this series, worrying about the deterioration of the plastic every time from now on. ......

The gawk form is completed!

I remember it hardly appeared in the anime (maybe only once or twice?). But it looks cool. It features an unusual design with the wings clipped at the sides.

Finally, let's transform it into a fighter form!

First, remove the weapons.

Then, turn both arms backward.

Insert the dowel in the left arm into the hole in the right arm. ......

Both arms and shoulders are firmly fixed.

Now insert the inserts at the base of both wings into the holes.

Then, turn the legs backward, fold the toes, and raise the tail fins. ......

Fighter form is completed! Actually, I had to put a sticker on the nose as well, but it was adhered to the base paper, so I gave up on it.

Isn't it really a beautiful form? Both Battroid and Gawk were not bad toys at the time, but the perfection of the fighter form is head and shoulders above the rest. The smooth surface of the fuselage is even impressive. The parts fit perfectly.

I wonder if they designed the other forms based on the fighter form ......? It is so refined that you would think that the other forms were designed based on the fighter form.

The canopy part is clear smoked and looks quite realistic.

The arms, legs, and head are tightly packed in the rear of the fuselage. And yet, it doesn't look like a deformable machine. You can see that it is a machine with a very high degree of perfection in its design.

Here is a view from the rear. Even the backs of the legs are detailed.

Here is what it looks like from the back. The back side is also very cool.

The landing gear can be deployed. First of all, the landing gear is located at the base of the nose.

The landing gear is also attached to the shins of the legs. Actually, the rectangular part rotates to expose the wheels, but the parts were too stiff to move. ......

The pod can then be suspended on the lower part of the fuselage. It is ......, but here the plastic part of the insertion hole finally cracked...... (crying).

This is the broken piece. Ugh ....... It is an everyday thing that breaks when you play with toys. ...... It's not sad. ......

How was the first issue of "Nostalgic Toy Discovery Team"?

The Valkyrie series of "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross" released by Takato Toys was also very well finished and is still talked about as a legendary toy, but I think the Fire Valkyrie is also a very good quality item for its successor.

The Fire Valkyrie is also of excellent quality as a successor to the Valkyrie series. In particular, I think it is wonderful that the Fire Valkyrie has a completely different approach to its transformation gimmick than its great ancestor, and that the forms of each of the forms are consistent.

Also, since this "Fire Valkyrie" is a toy for children, it is robust enough not to break even if it is transformed with a bit of force. In recent years, many Valkyries have been sold as high-end toys or plastic models that require delicate handling, but I think it is important for children to have a sense of security when playing with transformable toys that they can handle them with a little roughness.

So, in the spirit of this series, I will try to bring back to life some nostalgic toys that have been sitting in the depths of our warehouse in the age of 2025.

Please look forward to the next installment!