Sense of Nostalgia......

rushed out of the Godmars packaging produced under Bandai's Soul of Chogokin line. Had this for quite a while and not sure what came over me.

Anyway, here they are; the 6 gods that will combine to become Godmars. Actually, I do not remember watching this cartoon at all which was aired between 1981 and 1982. Bought it 2 years ago because I basically like combiners and the Soul of Chogokin line uses mainly Diecast material which makes this a collectible.

Good old school packaging. It is like the 80s or early 90s and I was not so fortunate to own toys like this back then.

All 6. Standing in front is Gaia piloted by Takeru Myoujin and then in the 2nd row, on the left, we have Uranus and Titan that forms the arms. 3rd row, Shin and Ra forming the legs and lastly Sphinx which is the torso.

During combination, Gaia enters into Sphinx to form the main body.

Main body of Godmars complete. Waiting for Uranus and Titan to combine.

Next, the Uranus and Titan form the arms. Now, Shin and Ra to form legs.

Lastly the leg is formed by Shin and Ra. Godmars is complete.

The all mighty Mars Flash Sword that always deliver the final blow in every episode.

The sword is sure flashy! Hopefully it does not tarnish.

Ok, that's about all that is of Godmars but in the packaging includes 3 jets and since I did not watch the series. I know them only by their names but do not know in what way they were utilised in the series.

From left, Cosmo Crusher 1, Cosmo Crusher 3 and Cosmo Crusher 2. All three combine to form..........COSMO CRUSHER!! Not very creative....perhaps it is the 80s.

I would say the combined mode of all 3 jets do look good but it will stay in the box even if I get to display Godmars.

VF-25G Michael Custom ......

is another valkyrie from the SMS skull Squadron. I do not think I have explain what SMS stands for.

S.M.S. (Strategic Military Services) is a Civilian Military Provider owned and operated by the mysterious Zendradi named Richard Bilrer. Mr. Bilrer originally created the S.M.S. as private security service to protect his transportation corporation. The SMS (for short) organization has been contracted as outsourced military protection for the Macross Frontier Fleet and supplements the fleet's military assets. The organization consists of former N.U.N.S. veterans and talented soldiers. The organization's assets include more two squadrons of the new VF-25 Messiah variable fighters, a VB-6 König Monster variable bomber, a small compliment of Meltlandi Queadlunn-Rea power-armors, small company of Cheyenne II Destroids and a transformable warship named the SMS Macross Quarter, like the SDF-1. The S.M.S. maintains its headquarters on Island 1 (the primary colony ship of the Macross Frontier Fleet) with additional port facilities where the Macross Quarter is docked.

The second preferred Valkyrie after Ozma's VF25S is this, perhaps it is the color scheme that appeals to me. Michael Blanc is parallel to Maximillian Jenius of the original Macross series which explains the color of the valk.

Like all other Messiah valkyries, the design is the same and difference is only in color and head design of the valks.

There is a another difference as Michael is a sniper and thus, the VF-25G is a variant of the standard VF-25 Messiah equipped with an electromagnetic rail sniper gun pod and an enhanced optical package in the specially designed head unit.

The most valuable capabilty of the "G" variant Messiah was by far it's ability to field heavy weapons in support of friendly units. The heavy firepower of the VF-25G was gained via the SSL-9B Dragunov Anti-Armor Sniper Rifle, a powerful rail gun that was already in service with the VF-171 Nightmare Plus. The SSL-9B fired a super polymerized gold cartridge covered in super-hard metal not at the low end rail gun velocity of 3,500 meters per second, but at an impressive 6,200 meters per second (the linear driver increased initial velocity to 7,490 m/s in space).

The cool factor of this is the long electromagnetic rail sniper gun pod and its head. It is indeed a formidable opponent in the battlefield.

The sniper rifle is about 3/4 the height of the valk, as such, the VF-25G provides support in the beginning of the battle. It joins in close combat only when it used up all its sniper rounds or the fight intensifies.

The VF-25G's SSL-9B sniper rifle remained one of the few reliable weapons capable of routinely penetrating the Vajra's incredibly powerful energy converting armor in spite of their adaptive defenses. To improve the accuracy of the SSL-9B rifle, the VF-25G Messiah included a specially designed head unit adjusted for sniping and an FCF-21b FCS precision fire-control booster located in front avionics bay.

Nothing gets missed when the VF-25G locks his eyes on (none more to say about my shooting skills).

Again, like the RVF-25, the pix here are off focus; same reasons (excuses) applies. Anyway, discovered a new mode while transforming it back to fighter mode.

Berserk mode!! As in the Evangelion series when EVA 01 Test type went berserk.

RVF-25 Luca Custom......

from Macross Frontier is the toy that I have decided to feature (yes, I finally decided to open up all the SMS valkyries from the series).

The RVF-25 is an Electronic warfare variant, with a dorsally-mounted rotodome and featuring a different head design.


Piloted by Luca Angelloni throughout the series. He is one of the youngest member of the SMS team and most probably the brainiest. He is a totally new character from the Macross series, however, the valkyrie is not.

This is similar to the Elintseeker (which I have already pre-ordered). RVF-25 is still an enhancement compared to its predecessor as it carries armament and is fully capable of battle.


It can also be fitted with Super Parts to enhance speed and additional missiles pods are fitted on the shoulder with the Super Parts.

The slight difference in the fighter mode other than the rotodome is the ventral ELINT fin (detects targets via fold waves with a maximum detection range of one light-day in space) which is seen at the back of the valkyrie.

Gerwalk with Super Parts on and rotodome activated. Had a hard time getting this right as the parts did not exactly stay put and the handling can be tricky.

Side view

Batteroid for this valkyrie is my favourite and if I were to ever display it, this mode it will be. I mentioned that Luca is one of the youngest members and so the head sculpt is pretty apt as it looks happy (just a personal opinion).

Target locked and open fire!

Reminds me of a grasshopper

Well, I am impressed with Bandai's offering of the valkyries from Macross Frontier as I was a sceptic before my purchase and even so when I bought my first VF-25F. However, it is only until I finally opened one and fiddled with it to realise Bandai do make good Macross valks; in fact, they were the first to do so in the 80s.

It took me about 1 hour plus to get the valkyrie transformed, fitted with Super Parts and taking photos. The pictures are a little off focus; as it was after a long day of work and struggling with a flat battery in the camera.

25 years of Macross......

since the series debuted in 1982. I was an instant fan since the first time I caught it on TV and as mentioned before I never did own any variable fighters or valkyries and definitely not the super fortress SDF-1 (I would still like to own one).

After the review on VT-1 Super Ostrich from the 1982 series; here we have the newest variable fighter and the most highly spec model belonging to the Skull Squadron Leader, Ozma Lee. He is parallel to Roy Focker of the original Macross series. That explains the yellow and black color scheme.

A little history on Macross. The first series setting is in the year 2009 (it is 2009 now and I don't see any fighter jets transforming) and 50 years have passed into the year 2059.

The insignia, Skull Squadron which is basically shouting out loud to the enemies "Shoot me, I'm the commander". However, Ozma's skill is so good in the series, I do not believe he ever got shot down. Did I also mentioned that all the system on his valk is enhanced?


The fighter mode of the VF-25S compared to the VF-25F has no distinct difference except for colour scheme and the insignia.


Let's slap the aromor on which took me some time. This unit comes with a full armor which is a vast improvement since 2009. This armor allows the valk to have it on in all three modes; fighter, gerwalk and battleroid.

Side view with the armor on - The valk is basically covered after the cockpit onwards, which I wonder why is the most important part of the valk not protected? The full spec about the armor can be found here. In short, it is like Rambo in the space.

Top view - nicely protected and heavily fitted with twin-exhaust thruster pods, hundreds of Missiles and also a sensor antenna.

Missiles pods opened and missiles are hot and target locked. There is not hiding once that happens.

I skipped the gerwalk mode with the armor on simply because it just look like the fighter mode with the legs hanging. So, let's move on to the batteroid mode.

This is the best looking mode and if not for space, I would leave it as it is. Not to mentioned it took me a really a loooong time to get this right. The price paid for this is definitely worth the detailing and engineering that went into it.

Surprising for the heft that is on the back, the figure is able to stand on its own (not shown here as it looks better suspended). The diecast content in the legs must have attributed to the great center of gravity.

With this addition, I have completed the Macross Frontier's Skull Squadron. It took me about 1 year to get all and I have not open the other two; VF25G and RVF-25 . I wonder when?

FIRE!!

one more with the flash on

"I feel so naked"

VT-1 Super Ostrich......

is an unarmed training variable fighter. It is UN Spacy's first dedicated training Valkyrie. The Ostrich is a two-seater variant of the standard VF-1 variable fighter with a smaller, simplified head unit and the capability to mount a customized Fast Pack system for use in space. The Shinnakasu Heavy Industry NP-BP-T1 FAST Pack space booster system offers the VT-1 the increased range and improved thrust typical of the unit. The Ostrich Fast Packs include oversized dorsal propellant tanks, an additional antenna on the starboard booster pod, a wide-nozzle booster mounted on the tail section and swaps two low-thrust verniers for two additional high-maneuverability vernier thrusters.

This is my first 1/60 scale for the VF series valks. The rest of my collection is in the 1/48 scale. Yamato has made some improvements which is quite visible on this piece. There are more catch that allows easier snap-on of the parts. I like the coating on the cockpit that gives it a multi-coloured kind of finish.


The most preferred mode in my opinion would be the figher mode. The colour scheme of orange and beige worked pretty well and the combination of the Fast Packs makes it looks really good.
Another improvement is the number of pre painted markings has increased on this compared to the 1/48 or even the 1/60 Macross Zero valks.

Gerwalk or Guardian mode; another mode of the Ostrich that I like, the additional hands give it more realism and it comes in handy to achieve certain poses.

Gerwalk with open hand

The mode that I do not prefer to display this piece in is the Batteroid mode. Firstly, it's the ugly head unit and secondly it does not come with any firearm.

1 GU-11 55mm Gatling Gun Pod to go please.

Close up of Hikaru and Minmay

A couple of shots in the fighter mode