Story of Jetfire | From Macross to Transformers | Evolution of Toys | VF-1S Valkyrie | Toy History
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ค. 2022
- Jetfire? Skyfire? VF-1Super Valkyrie? Macross or Transformers? G1 Sunbow or Harmony Gold?
Join me for this discussion of a long, convoluted history about how the VF-1S Valkyrie by Super Dimensional Fortress or SDF Macross became a Transformer, in terms of G1 / Generation 1 Jetfire in Action Figure toy form. The history goes from 1982 through to 1985 during the peak era of the 80s cartoons.
Follow the history through looking at the figure from its early days with the Takatoku brand, through to Matsushiro, and eventually Bandai and Hasbro. Also known as Skyfire later on, with cameos from the modern Generations, War for Cybertron Siege, and Fanstoys (Masterpiece) Phoenix versions.
Decepticons beware. Autobots roll out!
Thanks Chung Chui for proofreading my script.
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#Jetfire #Macross #Vintagetoys #g1transformers #morethanmeetstheeye
Nothing new to add information-wise, but I definitely appreciated the effort going into the historical links between the Macross Valkyrie and the Transformers Jetfire figures. I recall back then having watched the G1 cartoon and seeing the toy was different, and thinking "no problem; not much different from Ironhide and Ratchet looking so different from their toy counterparts" (you couldn't get a much wider visual disparity than THAT). Even so, I had also seen the commercial for Jetfire and Shockwave, noticed Jetfire's animation design in that commercial evoked the toy, and little 9-year-old pre-Hitman's confused brain wondered why this was a different case at that time.
And while I had missed out on Robotech back then (which I realized many years later was a mistake I had to rectify), I had seen a TV commercial for the Robotech cartoon as a kid, saw the Valkyrie show up, and thought, "... Wait a freaking minute...!"
Good point about Ratchet and Ironhide. And yeah i gotta catch up on Robotech myself
I was both a fan of Transformers and Robotech as a kid and didn't understand at the time why a Veritech was showing up as a Transformer in the toyline until much later. It was even more baffling when he didn't show up in the cartoon and Skyfire was supposed to be him. Still, at the time, I knew I had to have him but couldn't find him in stores. Luckily, a comic shop that also sold Macross toys had him. That shop would also be my first exposure to Macross which I still did not know about since that shop was carrying the Bandai DYRL? movie toys. It was a trip to see these different Veritechs (I didn't know they were called Valkyries in Macross) that were not in Robotech. After Robotech stopped airing, I would finally discover Macross again in the 90s with the Macross II series and go down the Macross rabbithole to discover all the things I didn't know back when I was a kid.
EDIT: Man, you definitely go deeper into the licensing of the VF-1S than others have. They gloss over this part and mostly state that Hasbro got the license from Bandai but you make a really valid point about the other figures that Hasbro would release from Takatoku. And the Super VF-1S is what Jetfire is based on too so it would make sense that Hasbro beat Harmony Gold to the license from Takatoku which kept HG from having the Macross toys available when Robotech was released. They were able to license the SD versions from Bandai however which Matchbox released outside Japan.
Thx for the insightful comment. Yeah i myself wondered about the skyfire animation model as a kid. Tons of research went into this video 😎
The Robotech Art 1 book mentions how it was made from Macross and the other two series, it's association with Matchbox, and the blow it was dealt when Transformers showed up, along with Sunbow/Hasbro's massive marketing budget..
Jetfire>skyfire. Great video Ken.
I got used to both names. Thx bud!
I’ve wondered about the history of Valkyrie VF-1 and Jet Fire for years. Thank you for the clarity.
For me hands down it's the Valkyrie version, though the modern versions of Jetfire/Skyfire are cool. As a kid we use to have knockoff Valkyries that were fragile as heck, wish I could remember who made them. Never had Jetfire or any of the Matchbox Robotech stuff back then, but loved the Macross series. This was a great episode, and very informative. Thanks Ken!! See you in the next one!😃
Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah I had a knockoff one too but I bought in the early 2000s, so unsure if it was a vintage knockoff or not - can't remember who made them but they were literally only worth about 10 bucks back then.
There was a lot of different KOs, but Joons (Korean company) is probably the most well known of them all.
I recently found that there is a cheap knock-off of the 1/55 scale VF-1S toy called "Happy Well XBOT GS-11".
I bought 2 of them for my son and I to play with as they're only $25, a FAR cry from the $350 that my VF-1A "Chunky Monkey" toy from the early 2000's is worth (that one stays in the box and out of sunlight). And I can happily report that the XBOT toy is a good toy.
It doesn't have any die cast metal, but that isn't a big loss, and the gun doesn't shoot, also not a big loss (literally) as losing accessories is a thing. Better to not have the missiles. It just has the gun that doesn't even shoot. One item that is interesting is that the head lasers are actually a hard rubber, not plastic. They bend and flex quite a bit, so they're unlikely to break off. That is an improvement to me.
Yes, the GBP right shoulder armor is on backwards. Figured it'd be funny for someone to find (which the previous figure owner already messaged about 😆😆)
ALSO: Another reason the Jetfire likeness had to change for the Transformers cartoon is because Harmony Gold owned the original Valkyrie likeness for animated purposes in the US
Thanks to @GenXToysGeek[Jody] for this reminder.
Hey man, picked up your channel from the accidental live chat from last night - and Jetfire is *by far* my favorite Transformer. I'm glad I picked up the sub!
@@wallaroo1295 i recognize your name from the live stream yesterday. Glad to hear from you!
I only had like 3 Transformers as a kid. The G2 Gobots water shooter race car, that Bandai "Future Machine" (so not a Transformer,) and Jetfire, which I found at a flea market.
I remember being fascinated with the cockpit and its window, and the Autobot symbol, and how it can be two different faces depending on if it's right side up or upside down. I also loved how the head turned into a turret in jet mode.
This Jetfire was missing a hand and of course all his accessories.
Unfortunately we had a fire in the early 90s, and the Jetfire was lost along with a lot of my other toys and of course most of my family's stuff. Thankfully no one was hurt.
Later on, after watching Beast Wars, my search for a the discontinued Transmetal Tarantulas lead to me collecting new and vintage Transformers. I of course had to get Jetfire again, and of COURSE, my favorite childhood Transformers ended up being the most expensive! But he was complete, and even had his styrofoam tray!
I ended up being a big fan of Robotech and Macross too, so I really got a kick out of the "crossover." The name and appearance change in the cartoon was annoying, though! And yeah, now we have two different versions of Jetfire/Skyfire to collect.
I guess my favorite version is Jetfire, partly because of the fond childhood memories. But the Macross version is awesome, too.
Great video! Thank you for doing this vid. I’m a big fan of both Robotech & Transformers and always found this figure fascinating. This video taught me a lot more about the backstory of this figure than I ever knew. Keep up the great work. Be well. -Dave 🤙
Always glad to share new info, Dave! Hey just realized from your channel that youre a comic book guy like me. Feel free to reach out anytime!
@@ToyKennections Thank you! Much appreciated. 🤙
Actually knew the Macross Super Valkyrie for YEARS before G1 Jetfire haha
I was born in the year 2000, and I didn't know the history of the Valkyrie/Jetfire until I was older and knew of the legal comedy of errors involving Robotech, Macross and everything in between, so as someone who became a fan this year of both Super Dimension Fortress Macross and its even better sequel OVA Macross Plus, I'll always know this toy as the Valkyrie. The first Valkyrie fighter toy by Takatoku will always to me be that of the first Valkyrie fighter, not Jetfire.
It's a shame there hasn't been a reissue, but I'm not complaining as to me, the HG Macross line of model kits that began this year by Bandai (and will come to our shores thanks to the 2021 Agreement) is more than doing the job. YF-19 from Plus was great, so the wait for the inevitable HG VF-1 won't feel that long.
I had the Valkyrie 'SCHOOLBOT' when I was a kid, and for the life of me I can't find it now, which is a shame because they sell for a small fortune on eBay these days! He was my JETFIRE.
I had to look up which one was the Schoolbot. I still got lots to learn about robotech and macross.
Mine was the blue & white one with a red disc for an eye. He came with a shield and a "lance", and for a pocket-money toy, he looked really cool!
Great video. Always loved Jetfire as he was possibly the most articulated of the G1 line (and just an amazing figure!). Always felt a bit wrong with his Bandai branding given the Gobots rivalry! :-) I see there are rumours/leaks of an official MP release....
I did feel he and soundwave were the two most articulated. Haha, never thought of the gobots angle on this one. Makes sense!
man...when I lived over seas in those days the macross valkyries was mine and my friends absolute favorite toys. I had jetfire to cause it was just a different color valkery to me lol
Thank you for clarifying this! I wondered for years, though I learned at least part of this early on, figuring that Jetfire's resemblance to a Macross Valkyrie had legal licensing issues. I wondered about the alternate name Skyfire.
Glad you found some good info here!
I still have my Bandai VF-1S Strike Valkyrie, DYRL Hikaru version, with the Beam Cannon.
Great video!
I hate the lack of modern VF style Jetfires, but I have customized a VF model into a nice Jetfire. I also took that Generations JF and painstakingly gave him a more G1 toy aesthetic. 👍
*Jetfire* = greatest G1 TF toy, hands down. *Skyfire* = kinda generic, IMO.
In the time since this video was made, 2 legends scale Skyfires, Newage Firefox, Magic Square Meteorite have been released, Takara Tomy official MP Skyfire has been released, as well as KitzConcept Macross God of Flame, and an upcoming figure know as Fugumodel God of Flame which are licensed Macross Valkyries with the paint deco of the original Transformers figure. It's an incredible time to be a collector
I've always said "Takatoku Toys" as "Taco Tuesday Toys", and thought it would make for an awesome name of a 3rd party TF company. ^^
Great video! I had that Jetfire as a kid, and just the pure heft and all the metal in the figure made me think even back then that something was different, plus I watched Robotech as a kiddo and the similarity was uncanny to me.
Haha. Taco tuesday toys... now i cant unsee or unhear it. Yeah this jetfire always had a diff feel from the other G1.
@@ToyKennections The seed has been planted! MWAHAHHA! XD
The best citations I can give on all things Robotech/Jetfire are below.
Dan at Toy Galaxy must be something of a Robotech/Valkyrie fan, as he has multiple videos from over several years, that really dig into all the Harmony Gold/Bandai and other issues with Robotech in the US. Just, all kinds of info. Here's a link to my search list from his video page -
th-cam.com/users/ToyGalaxyTVsearch?query=robotech
Michael at Retroblasting must also be a fan, he too does a really good series on Robotech/Jetfire, et al.
th-cam.com/users/retroblastingsearch?query=robotech
Both series (each episode is about 25 min or so) - do an equally good job of digging into the dirt of all the legal back and forth, and who owns what rights, etc.
Those two series - great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Yes! Thanks for all this. I've seen various videos of both of theirs throughout the years. I didn't cover the cartoon/animation rights to the same detail as they did.
@@ToyKennections To this day [as far as I am aware], there are no 1:72 scale Valkyries (Jetfire size) in modern production.
Toy companies deal in scale - so the rights to other sizes *are* available. So you get the newer Bandai and KO units in different scales. But... not 1:72.
I kind of wonder if Harmony Gold is sitting on those rights somehow - just waiting for the right nostalgia boom time. I don't think we are quite there yet, another four years or so - hitting that 40 year childhood nostalgia marketing bump, as late GenX turns 50. But, that is all pure speculation on my part.
@@wallaroo1295 will have to see if your prediction is right in a few yrs
Toy galaxy got some of their info WRONG.in the 2nd video of their 3 part series on this he CLEARLY states that while most of designs were aquried by bandai it was HASBRO who aquried the rights to the VF-1.....if this was the case then why would hasbro have to licience it from bandai if hasbro owned it and also takara would have been allowed to sell jetfire in japan.
@@wallaroo1295 yes there are bandai and hasegaea do model kits in 1/72. (Bandai models transform) also kitz koncept do 1/72 transforming figures and there is another company that does non transforming die cast 1/72 figjter mode VF-1s
Thank you for this deep dive. My favorite is Robotech, but I love all these transformable toylines.
Great Video.... so professional!
Glad you were able to let me vent about the process via private chat group before the video went up lol.
Great video!
Much appreciated.
great video....already subscribed
Thank you and welcome to the channel.
Until Siege came out. The Classics/Henkei version of Jetfire/Skyfire was my favorite. Though the feet could have been bigger. They fixed that with the Generations version. Bandai vs Harmony Gold feud is now over. I hope maybe someday getting a true G1 Jetfire unlike the Funko Pop one that could not transform.
I did enjoy the classics/henkei one in the 2000s as well!
My favorite is the original Jetfire and number 2 is the original Macross version.
Great video. Believe it or not, the only version of this character that I own is the little Super 7 Reaction one ☺
Thx. He's a wonderful character for sure!
Always knew they looked alike! Thts Y I searched ths & I was right! Pretty interesting!
Thx for viewing! Glad to know people search up this info.
Good stuff Yes it was a confusing story of Jetfire aka skyfire
Very much so!
As an 80's kid this always confused me.
The other one was Shockwave, who also had a Tandy version (I'm not American).
Excellent video. I’ve got the same boxed version of this the Battroid Valkyrie figure as you but mine is the version that didn’t come with the battle armour. I also just picked up another version of it at a garage sale last weekend. That one looks like the Transformers Jetfire only it has a green visor rather than a red one and no battle armour. Are you familiar with this variant?
I'm not familiar with the variant you speak of. But will leave this comment up in case anyone else reads it and knows offhand.
If the colors (the red and black) are the same but switched in certain areas, that's Hikaru's (Rick Hunter) VF-1S Strike Valkyrie by Bandai.
Poor Jetfire. He had such a brief time on the show. Because of legal issues between Hasbro and Bandi.
Yeah. But at least he is getting new figures now.
I think this version of Jetfire can be brought to the west as court case between HG and PGI where HG loose the case as they only have the right to distribute the macross series in eng dub and they don't have the right to the characters and machines in Macross.
You getting the Kitzconcept "God of Flame" Valkyrie?
I wont be. Happy with the Valkyries i got 😎
@@ToyKennections I don't have any, and I've always wanted a "Jetfire" Valkyrie.
Skyfire is a Transformer, jetfire is a copy of the Macross saga toy!
i think the Macross Color is perfect for an Actual G2 Jetfire
Good point!
well harmony gold have no one but themselves to blame they only license the macross tv show and then after it was a success as robotech tried to license the toys only to find hasbro had beaten them to punch in their goal of getting every Japanese transforming robot they could for transformers
Why couldn't hasbro just slightly modifiy the head. For me jetfire with the blue visor and chonk is just fugly.
I don't even care anymore, Harmony.
Macross did the transformers before transformers ever aired. Simple as that.
If you look at it as vehicles (in this case, jet planes) that transformed, that's true but Transformers was the first franchise to treat these transforming robots as sentient beings which is something that the Takara toylines that Transformers came from didn't have as well.
meh all day f em is just GO BOT 🤣
Hey Ken great video several things: I more a fan of macross over transformer sky fire. While I lost a lot of my original toys from transformers (mother gave it away to goodwill😭) I some how kept my Japanese macross toy which was the brown version of the toy (or the generic model of the VF). I have bought the 2001/2002 re release version of the toy in a different version of pilot and colouring to go with my original toy as it's such a clunker to my other macross toys models and needed some company 😅 . As for my original it came from my grandmother in Hongkong and a set of gp armour came along with it. Ofcourse made in japan. However it's worth noting the armour I got is original as came separate box (yes that artwork is crazy good for the box and somewhere is the pamphlet with more artwork and the other toys you could own-the pamphlet was more like gashapon toy style folded over several times tiny too). Ok so getting to your history part I know of the story to jetfire a bit more in-depth but it because of scorched Earth Toys channel who is a macross toy reviewer and his website AnyMoon.com he reviewed the same toy ages ago and first talked about the toy creator/designer after the fall of the company that led to the next creation. Where his evidence comes from not exactly sure but hes been at this for ages with macross toys so I presume his info is go he says on his website is a more detailed look at the issues that went down back then haven't been to his site in a long time anyhow here's the video where he mentions the info and by means am I trying to promote him this is just so you can find the info th-cam.com/video/ZqBs2qbM80Y/w-d-xo.html (Also I gather macross isn't exactly your thing but the newer DX line of toys are premium good and better then yamato which then became Arcadia older toy line which was the top at one point. Or the more smaller scale line of Hi metal R toys which are good too. Also the original toys didn't have heat shields and the re-release 2021/2002 came with it don't remember the ammo clip packs though hummm my re-relase one shot red plastic bullets (🎉 of middle shaped) from the gun spring activated
Thanks for the insightful comment, Jonathan!
The brown and orange one is the two-seat trainer, also called VT-1D or VF-1D.