[Shin Densetsu]

When Bandai was announced to have the license to produce transforming toys for Macross Frontier, there was both excitement and uncertainty. Bandai, the biggest toy company in japan, had not made an all new valkyrie toy since the mid-90's, with their DX 1/65 scale Macross 7 line.

When prototypes for the DX 1/60 and VF100s 1/100 VF-25s were finally unveiled, the fandom was divided. Some who liked the more balanced appearance of the sculpt, others who wanted a more accurate appearance. One of the biggest criticisms was the placement of the crotch, as the hips are connected at a high point, whereas in the anime, they are connected towards the bottom. For the DX toy, it was thought that the decision was made to enhance durability and stability, and as a compromise for transformation. However the 1/100 featured the hip connections to the crotch at the very same place, and left fans wondering why. The toys are also considerably thicker than their onscreen counterparts. This balances out the appearance, as in the anime, the VF-25 is quite skinny, a departure from Kawamori Shoji's previous valkyrie designs, but in line with his more recent mecha designs, such as Aquarion, Nirvashes from Eureka 7, et al.

The plamo(PLAstic MOdel) is more accurate and certain pieces need to be removed or swapped for transformation. It is much more slender and due to being unassembled, is the cheaper of the three options. As expected of a model kit, it is accurate to it's onscreen counterpart, and quite beautiful when painted. The market for plamo in japan is huge and Bandai typically makes both toys, and plamo for the properties they sponsor and/or have licenses to. Fans of Code Geass and Gundam won't find that surprising.

So why were the toys significantly different than the model kit? Why the different crotch placement, even on the swap parts transformation 1/100 toy? Obviously Bandai has the skill to make a completely accurate toy, so why, even under Kawamori Shoji's supervision, did the toys turn out different than the model?

As it turns out, the toys may actually be based on Kawamori Shoji's original concept art for the VF-25. The VF-25 shown in the concept art is considerably thicker than the VF-25 in the anime & plamo, and similar to the toys. Hobby Dengeki has posted scans of Kawamori's sketches today, with more to be unveiled at an upcoming event with Kawamori himself present. If the toys are indeed based on the concept art, this explains a lot of why the toys ended up looking different than in the anime. This may have also been done to address the complaints of fans. When the VF-25 CG models were first unveiled, there were complaints about how skinny it looked. Kawamori had stated that it is intentionally slender to attach the heavy armor and be able to transform with it on, with heavy armor it is much more balanced. The VF-25 is a significant departure from the typically thicker valkyrie designs that Kawamori has made, the closest to the 25 in battroid mode being the SV-51, with it's skinny body. The DX and VF100s toys look slender but significantly thicker than the plamo. Bandai/Kawamori may have decided to give fans options, instead of just committing to just one style for both toys and plamo. For superb accuracy, there is the plamo. For a toy with a more balanced appearance, and based on the concept art, there are the VF100s and DX toys. Toys based on concept art are nothing new, we've seen a ton of these for Bandai's numerous Gundam toylines, and last year, we saw the Mcquarrie Concept figures for Star Wars. Initial reports via GA Graphic have already stated that the test shots of the DX 1/60 VF-25 are very sturdy/durable, and are not floppy at all. This is great for all of us.

During production Kawamori retconned the shape of the head, so the DX and most likely VF100s toy reflect that. He wanted a more heroic shape. Also, in the series, no one ever really knew where the landing gear was actually supposed to be. On both the toys, and models, they are in different locations, me personally, I think the positioning for the gear on the VF100s look best, they are too long on the plamo, too short on the DX. What we could have here, isn't Bandai intentionally making a toy inaccurate, but rather basing the design of it off of the concept art, not the final design(and being that Kawamori was supervising them I would not be surprised if it was actually his decision to do this too).