History of Arcadia/Yamato Toy's Macross Line for 2003

2003 was the year Yamato toys starts to ramp up production of their Macross line with a large volume of new product releases. 2003 was also the year where the 1/72 line of Macross Plus toys was coming to an end as after this year they didn't release anymore products of this scale. The good news is that the perfect transformation 1/48 opened up the way for the 1/60 perfect transformation VF's. List of Macross Toys created in 2000-2002 by Yamato can be found here.

2003

1. 1/60 VF-1J Super Valkyrie Max version: released January 2003. 23cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Marking Stickers and Gun Pod, RMS-1 anti-ship missiles (nuclear). Legs and cockpit cover for transformation. This was different from the Strike Valkyrie because it didn't have a cannon. This was version 1 of the 1/60 line and a far cry from the detail and accuracy of the current line of 1/60 Perfect Transformation VF's.
   
   
   
   



2. 1/60 VF-1J Super Valkyrie Milia version: released January 2003. 23cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Marking Stickers and Gun Pod, RMS-1 anti-ship missiles (nuclear). Legs and cockpit cover for transformation. This was different from the Strike Valkyrie because it didn't have a cannon. This was version 1 of the 1/60 line and a far cry from the detail and accuracy of the current line of 1/60 Perfect Transformation VF's.
   
   
   
   



3. 1/48 Perfect Transformation VF-1S Roy Fokker version: released February 2003. 30cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Marking Stickers and Gun Pod, 2 spare hands, 3 missile pods and ground attack missiles plus pilot figure. Price: 15,540 yen.
   
   
   
   



4. 1/60 VF-1D version: released Marc 2003. 24.5cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Marking Stickers and Gun Pod, Missiles and 2 pilot figures. Legs and cockpit cover for transformation. This was version 1 of the 1/60 line and a far cry from the detail and accuracy of the current line of 1/60 Perfect Transformation VF's.
   
   
   
   


5. 
   Transforming 1/72 YF-21 with Fast Pack from Macross Plus: released April 2003. 27cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Fast Pack parts, Marking Stickers, 2 Gun Pods, and Pilot Figure. Based from my understanding of the Japanese, the fast packs will not fit the original 1/72 YF-21 released by Yamato toys in 2000.
   
   
   



6. 1/48 Perfect Transformation VF-1A Maximillian Jenius version: released May 2003. 30cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Marking Stickers and Gun Pod, 2 spare hands, 3 missile pods and ground attack missiles plus pilot figure. Price: 15,540 yen. Macross Ace VF-1A from Macross DYRL rendered in perfect transformation 1/48 form.
   
   
   
   



7. 
   Transforming 1/72 VF-11B with Fast Pack from Macross Plus: released June 2003. 25cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Fast Pack parts, Marking Stickers, 2 Gun Pods, and Pilot Figure. Isamu Dyson's VF-11B from Macross Plus. The VF-11B was the premier frontline fighter of the UN Spacy that was the subject of project Super Nova's competition between the YF-19 and YF-21 to see who could replace it.
   
   The YF-19 and YF-21 were a leap ahead of the VF-11B in terms of features. Both prototypes were able to reach orbital heights without booster packs and had built in stealth capability, to name but a few of the features that the VF-11 lacked.
   
   
   



8. 1/48 Perfect Transformation VF-1A Low Visibility Color version: released July 2003. 30cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Marking Stickers and Gun Pod, 2 spare hands, 3 missile pods and ground attack missiles plus pilot figure. This version was exclusively sold at the 2003 Hobby Show. I guess we could say that this was the time Yamato decided to meddle with exclusives and limited editions in the Macross line that they were selling.
   
   
   
   



9. 1/60 VE-1 Elint Seeker version: released August 2003. 23cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Marking Stickers, Missile Parts, 2 Pilot figures. Legs and cockpit cover for transformation. For but a short appearance in the Macross : Do You Remember Love movie, this reconnaissance version of the venerable VF-1 Valkyrie gets a lot of production appearance due to its fan appeal. Not sure why the product page says it has missiles when in fact this variant came unarmed due to the amount of surveillance of equipment it was bringing.
   
   
   
   


10. 1/60 VT-1 Super Ostrich : released August 2003. 23cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Marking Stickers, Missile Parts, 2 Pilot figures. Legs and cockpit cover for transformation. Not sure why the product page says it has missiles when this variant came unarmed because it was a training version. Hikaru Ichijo found out the hard way when he tried going up against some Zentradi's in the Macross DYRL movie in this bird.
    
    
    
    


11. 1/48 Perfect Transformation VF-1J Hikaru Ichijo version: released November 2003. 30cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Marking Stickers and Gun Pod, 3 missile pods and ground attack missiles plus pilot figure. According to the product page, the 1/48 VF-1J was done with the help of "Robot Master", famed mecha sculptor. They could be referring to "Professor Robot", Taku Sato who passed away last 2006. I was blown away by the EX line of Getter robots that he made for Fewture.
    
    
    The VF-1J was Hikaru Ichijo's main VF and was the iconic mecha that defined the Macross series, plus of course it was always shown in the opening and mid sequence of the anime episodes. Of course every time the VF-1J comes up I can't help but question how Hikaru Ichijo was able to score a squad leader's VF, considering that he was just a rookie pilot. It could be because his mentor, squadron leader Roy Fokker, pulled some strings for him to get this type of VF.
    
    
    
    



12. 1/48 Perfect Transformation VF-1S Hikaru Ichijo DYRL version: released November 2003. 30cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Marking Stickers and Gun Pod, 3 missile pods and ground attack missiles plus pilot figure. Price: 15,540 yen.
    
    Hikaru Ichijo's climactic ride in the Macross DYRL movie.
    
    
    
    



13. 1/48 Perfect Transformation VF-1J Super Valkyrie Hikaru Ichijo DX version: released November 2003. 30cm long in Fighter Mode. Made of Die cast metal, ABS and PVC plastic. Includes Marking Stickers and Gun Pod, 3 missile pods, reaction missiles and ground attack missiles plus pilot figure.
    
    
    Once again this was made with the help of "Robot Professor" and another designer whose name I can't translate correctly, so I'll just leave the kanji here : 吉山治樹. Must be a special edition because it has "DX" attached to the product name.
    
    If we follow the Macross canon, there never was a time when the VF-1J of Hikaru Ichijo got to wear a super pack. This was because by the time the super pack was developed, Hikaru Ichijo was already riding the VF-1S of the deceased Roy Fokker. Having taken over the Skull Squadron of Roy.
    
    
    
    
    



14. 1/48 Super and Strike Parts for Perfect Transformation VF-1: released November 2003. Costs 6,090 yen. Includes Beam Cannon, Back pack missile pods, Boosters, Arm Micro Missile Pods, Leg Propellant Tanks, Reaction Missiles and Marking Stickers.