Veritech Alpha VFA-6Z

The Third-Generation Robotech Fighter Makes Good

Toynami Robotech Line, 2003

　

It seems only natural to go from the forgotten Destroids to the unloved Alphas. Robotech, being the cobbled-together Frankenstein’s monster of an animated series, is most famous for the first portion, known as the First Generation, which was actually a rewritten version of the wildly-popular and successful Macross series from Japan. However, Robotech had a Second and Third Generation whom have typically not fared as well in the public consciousness. Nevertheless, the fans are out there and every once in a while, a toy will come along that will make them proud.

Background

The Third Generation of Robotech, based off the Japanese show Genesis Climber Mospeada, had a strong emphasis of evolutionary development. As such, it only made sense that the Veritech Alpha be seen as the descendent of the Veritech Fighter made famous during the First Generation of the series. It is a transformable aircraft that is smaller and generally considered more powerful. The multiple variations are mostly cosmetic and they generally play a support role to the Cyclones; Transformable motorcycles that act as Ironman-esque power armor.

Because the Third Generation has largely been forgotten about by all but the most ardent of fans, it’s pretty rare for there to be toys for the story. In fact, it fell to Harmony Gold, the holders of the Robotech license, to co-produce the toys. The result is a set of four action figures that largely came from out of nowhere and disappeared pretty much without a trace, leaving behind only rumors of how awesome they were.

　

Appearance – 3 out of 5

The VFA-6Z, like all the Alphas in the series, is nicely colored with a decent range of paints used. While the colors aren’t terribly extravagant, they are very indicative of the mecha from the show and do a good job of looking straight from the cartoon. Everything is appropriately colored, no matter how small the space or subtle the attention needed.

Construction – 4 out of 5

This is a beautiful toy that is well constructed out of very quality plastic. The arms and joints feel very sturdy and the plastic has a good heft to it, making it feel very solid. The one flaw in the construction is, unfortunately, a notable one. The interchangeable hands have to be physically forced out of their docks and the pegs that attach them can break all too easily.

Movement – 2 out of 5

Like the Excalibur from last week, this toy has pretty adequate movement. While it is far more maneuverable than the Excalibur, the range of motion for many of the joints is still a bit limiting (especially the hip joints). The primary weakness, though, is the inability to transform. As one of the most memorable aspects of the Veritech fighters, not being able to even partially reconfigure (as they have a middle transformation between robot and jet, known as Guardian in Robotech and Gerwalk in the Japanese series) is a really damning strike.

Extras – 2 out of 5

The Alphas each come with a series of interchangeable hands (a trigger hand for the right arm, two fists, and two open hands) and one gunpod. Unfortunately, that’s it. There are no light-up elements, no firing missiles, nothing at all. This is all a pretty small deal. What’s unfortunate is the lack of anything to do with the extra hands. While it makes sense that there’d be nowhere to put them on the mecha, it still means that you’re left with three hands lying around at any given time. Also, the lack of additional weaponry limits the playability, while the lack of even a second trigger hand means that if you do buy a second toy, you can’t exactly go all John Woo style. Which, come on, is a real shame.

Packaging – 2 out of 5

The packaging is devoid of anything but the most basic of features. The back is completely identical between all four toys, and the front only distinguishes between them with the name written on the bottom from of the plastic. Fortunately, the plastic is quite sturdy and the windows on the front and sides give you a good view of the toy and its additional pieces. Clearly meant for collectors, there is no diorama to play with and no explanation as to the story or the characteristics of the individual mecha whatsoever.

One place where the packaging is noteworthy is the inclusion of credits. It’s pretty rare to know the names of the design team behind the toy, but the back packaging gives you the names of the Project Director (George Sohn, because directors always come first), the Sculptor (Shin Tanabe, who did a fantastic job), the Mold Tech and Paint Designer (Daisuke Fukuda, who is probably the most unsung hero of this toy), the Package Concept and Designer (Nitai Kearney, who needs to be talked to), and the Quality Control (Scott Tipton, who deserves a raise). I’m not saying every toy needs to credit every person responsible for the development, but having a few names to thank in our prayers for good toys is a nice addition to the usual packaging fare.

　

Overall – 3 out of 5

Three out of five is being quite generous with this toy, but the quality of work that went into its construction simply cannot be praised enough. This is a very well put-together toy that, the frustration with the hands aside, is a lot of fun to play with. There are plenty of elements that could have been done to make the toy more memorable and stand out more, but at the end of the day, it seems like adding things like transformable features or opening compartments would have just subtracted from the quality construction which is, without a doubt, this toy’s biggest selling feature.