Animation by Dan Bickell
Courtesy of DeadPhrog
I am slowly getting this page up to speed.
I have a lot more
information to add, and I hope to have pictures
of my Jetfires
available soon to help illustrate the different
variations.
Animation by Dan Bickell
Courtesy of DeadPhrog
I am slowly getting this page up to speed.
I have a lot more
information to add, and I hope to have pictures
of my Jetfires
available soon to help illustrate the different
variations.
The history behind Jetfire . . .
To make a long story short: (at least for now)
There also exist very rare Jetfires that were manufactured by Matsushiro
rather than Bandai. These Jetfires are commonly referred to as "Macross"
Jetfires because they have the U.N. Spacey logo on the plane's left wing.
I have frequently heard people say that less than 300 Matsushiro Jetfires
were ever made. Please note that this may or may not be true.
Unless Hasbro decides to open its vault, there is no way of knowing how
many "Macross" Jetfires were actually produced.
It is my contention, however, that there should be considered four
variations of Jetfire. I have listed these variations below, and
I've included some additional details about each that most all collectors
seem to overlook:
I have only listed some of the more obvious differences between
the Jetfires here. The truth of the matter is that nearly all (if
not all) of the parts on the dated Bandai Jetfires differ from those found
on the undated Bandai Jetfires and the Matsushiro Jetfires. Those
of you out there who combine Bandai and Matsushiro parts trying to make
the "perfect Jetfire" should think twice. You are not preserving
these toys, but rather destroying a small part of history. DO NOT
MIX THE PARTS!
The lost sentient valkyrie
. . .
Pictures courtesy of Nam Ngo
Jetfire's instruction booklet
. . .
Scan courtesy of DeadPhrog
Jetfire's tech specs . . .
More on Bandai and Matsushiro Jetfires . . .
Originally posted on alt.fan.macross 01/26/99 used with permission from Mercheant
Takatoku Toys sculpted the original prototype for the classic 1/55 scale Macross Valkyries. These toys, among others, were released throughout the original Macross series television run. Although the Takatoku toy lines from this series sold well and were wildly popular, Takatoku was in serious financial trouble. Once the series ended its run, Takatoku sold the molds and the rights to produce the Valkyries to the Matsushiro Company. Matsushiro had plans to release another line of Valkyries, but it too had financial problems. In hopes to produce a quick profit, Matsushiro sold a small run of Valkyries to Hasbro. This Valkyrie type was a basic Takatoku VF-1 with the obvious color changes- i.e., red armor, red and black paint, etc. The only design difference was the trimmed nose. Hasbro requested this change to appease their concerns that the sharp tip of the original design might not be safe for young children. Stop your laughing!! ^_^ Anyway, I've gotten ahead of myself...
Why would Hasbro need the Jetfire line of Transformers? The answer is, oddly, Bandai, Co.
Hasbro was lagging behind in the transforming craze that was sweeping North America. Bandai had its dismal, but popular, Go-Bots line. This series and toys were selling quite well, though both were of low quality. Hasbro was planning to dominate the market with its upcoming Transformers lineup. Transformers had been released in the U.S. and were selling somewhat well; Hasbro was planning a larger toy release with the syndication of the original Transformers television series. However, Hasbro was afraid that the lineup of toys did not include very many large protagonists... outside of Optimus Prime, the good guys were much smaller than those baddies, the Decepticons. This was due, of course, to the fact that the Autobots were almost all cars, and Decepticons were mainly flight capable machines- planes, etc. ('cept a very large Megatron, hehe). The attempt to have a some sort of scale created this problem. Hasbro quieted this concern by including the lone Autobot who was a plane, Jetfire. With the popularity and quality of the Macross toys, the resemblance to American F-14's, and its large size, Hasbro felt confident it would compete well with the Bandai lineup of toys.
At this same time, Bandai of Japan had just finished talks to develop toys for the in-development Macross film. The Valkyrie molds were once again sold to another company; this time from Matsushiro to Bandai. Bandai gave Takatoku's original design a facelift to match the DYRL? Valkyries, and sculpted a few added items: Strike Valkyrie armor, and the awesome VE-1 and Super Ostrich. The two new Valks came from the Matsushiro design- dull noses fit well into the frame of two ships not meant for heavy combat. BUT! When Bandai acquired the Matsushiro mold rights, they had to honor the contracts previously made with Hasbro. The Transformers series had exploded and Hasbro needed stock... Bandai finished the agreement to make the Jetfires, although the second line had Bandai inscribed on them. This is when the majority of the standard Jetfires were made. BTW, the back stock of Matsushiros that Bandai acquired simply had a black foil sticker placed over the Matsushiro name. Some of the Matsushiros were not assembled- this is why some Matsushiros appear to be standard Bandai, with the exception of the foil sticker. (God don't remove it... unless you want to hurt value). The Matsushiro was only released in the U.S., the standard Jetfire was released throughout the world.
A cool alt.fan.macross poster (duh..me!) then asked >>How did you get all this information?!
Mercheant replied> I've been obsessed with anime since Starblazers/Yamato addicted me to it as a young child. In my attempts to find all information and toys from the Yamato line, I found Macross and immediately fell in love. My Valkyrie investigations began when I looked at the Robotech line of toys: I found the super-deformed Valks sitting beside the mammoth Next Generation/Mospeda Alpha fighters. I KNEW that somewhere in Japan there had to be a VF-1 equivalent to the Alphas. So I checked and checked and eventually put the Valkyrie/Macross line of toys history together. BTW, when your fourteen years old and your parents get a $325 phone bill, don't act innocent- just be honest and say you find a Bandai employee who spoke English. ^_^
My Collection of Jetfires . . .
Jetfire #14 undated Bandai
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