Whether it's Jetfire, the VF-1S Valkyrie, or Ricks Veritech Figher, it is one of the most elegant and classic designs of it's era. It's also what made me fall in love with the mechanical design of Shoji Kawamori, who not only designed the Valkyrie, but also designed what would become Roadbuster and Whirl (all from an anime called Dorvack), as well as Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, and the Seekers (when he was freelancing designs for Diaclone). Heh, the man was the most prolific Transformers Designer who never designed anything for Transfomers. It's a shame that only now, almost 40 years later, Robotech and the original Macross creators have reached a legal understanding - there are a TON of Kawamori designed Valkyries we could have been enjoying in those years - instead they were niche, japan only releases that often cost a fortune to get a hold of now. Macross mecha alone are a rabbit-hole you could spend a few episodes on.......
Awesome Jetfire collection! He was my favorite G1 Transformer by far! I got him for my tenth birthday... And broke his shoulder five minutes later. 😭 My Dad wouldn't let me exchange for a new one. He said it was obviously junk since it broke so easily. 😡 Finally got one... A few years back. Restored him to his original glory. I love it!
The Gerwalk mode was used in the original show originally released in 1982. It was always intended as part of the transformation, and although Matchbox couldn't sell the Verotech toy that became jetfire in the USA, Bandai did sell it in Japan and as such had the gerwalk mode. It has always been officially part of the toy. I find it interesting that you dislike Gerwalk as it is my favourite mode. It really seems practical and utilitarian from a real world combat perspective. The pilot being able to see in front of them, still having jet engines and wings for flight while having the arms and gun to assist in close quarter combat.
It was also useful in maintenance and such to move them around. Glad to see someone else who watched Macross. How did you discover it? I found it on a random channel as a kid doing reruns.
Alls one needs to do is re-listen to Roy's explanation of the mode to Rick/Hikaru in order to realize how cool it was/is. Edit: actually watch the 1st 2 episodes and episode 24:showdown, when Rick gets the fastpack booster thrusters/missiles. He was able to stop on a dime with the gerwalk mode... such a cool way they animated that scene and his response in the cockpit.
@@isaackinsley1662 I got lucky, I became friends with a kid who loved it and had taped every episode patiently pausing the ads out and restarting the recording for the entire first series. He loaned me series on three vhs tapes back in 1988 or 89. It was the first tv show I ever binged and it was amazing.
@@isaackinsley1662 you're right. Also reading your comment reminded me of the VTOL capabilities available to gerwalk which made air to land/sea combat far more capable. I can't imagine a real pilot surviving the G forces this would demand but hey alien tech probably has inertial dampeners right?
A great video. I've been getting into Robotech again recently. Recently bought one of the KitzConcept figures and can't wait for it to arrive. I liked how you talked about the history of the toy line and its interaction with Transformers. Provide some history on top of the pretty plastic
Who here went also went on ebay in the mid 90s to buy a Jetfire because you loved Robotech and that ended up getting you back in to collecting and now you are 45 surrounded by plastic robots... Anyone? Anyone?
I'm kinda surprised that you're not a Macross fan. I love the Robotech as much as Transformers. As a little boy I thought of Prime like a father figure I also felt that Rick Hunter was some how me. Long live JetSkyfi.
I was lucky enough to find a Matchbox Veritech fighter (in a very beat up box) as a kid, but it drove me nuts. I believe it was originally designed to transform, but due to licence restrictions it didn't. But there was signs of it, like screws where the legs attached to the fuselage, so i kept trying to take it apart and make it transform. Scorched Earth Toys has a ton of detailed info on all the Robotech/Macross toys.
Also, the dog we had, at the time, chewed up JETFIRE’s red Armor Accessories pretty good. I was furious but nothing I could do but accept the fact that I now had “battle damaged” armor.
He says "Maybe this is one of the ones I worked on, because I'm seeing some issues wiith him." I can 100% absolutely relate with lmao! I feel ya brotha! I'm sure, as with me, the older the work, the more issues there are, and eventually they just about stop all together. Experience n all. It's very much one of thsse, you can't make an omlet without some butter lol.
the hardest part to get is the black part that holds the gun to the arm (Gun Clip) - most kids tossed it as it looked like it was "kibble" - i was lucky i still have my Jetfire in almost mint condition, no yellowing all the parts, and gun, only issue was part of the leg armor has a missing peg to keep together (still works with one peg but not as strong of a hold) and i "carved" out part of the arm armor for the Black part to stay on the arm to hold the gun. -- that said i was lucky and got a Jetfire with the "UN Spacey" symbol on the wing. in Robotech - the GERWALK mode was the way it landed on the SDF-1, they then started using it in the show as a "fast attack" type mode against the Zentridai
Nice! I was lucky enough to score a complete Jetfire years ago. Including the clip. I restored him, and looks great! JF was always my favorite G1 transformer.
@@LastBastian I love Transformers when I got Jetfire, then Robotech came out (also love that show) in late 1985, early 1986 in my area and I was like omg I already have the toy.
@@tydiriumhanger1320 unfortunately they only did the non varitek/alpha/ bike armor stuff. All the heavy plastic characters. Which is fine. I was able to get one of each except the damn hover tank.
The truth is that the company that made the original Macross toy (Takotoku?) Had the rights to the design in Japan, so Jetfire could not be sold there (Same with Deluxe Insecticons, Whirl and Roadbuster), and they couldn't use the design in the Sunbow cartoon either. The Gerwalk mode is not a half measure or a compromise for the sake of the toy, which is based off of the animated series (unlike Transformers where the cartoon is based on the toys). A lot of people don't like that mode, but it actually makes a lot of sense. By pointing the engine exhausts downward, the Valkyrie can "skate" on the thrust, allowing it to move at high speed across the landscape, and has arms free to weild the gunpod. It has advantages of both the fighter and Battroid modes. Jetfire was my holy grail as a kid. I saw it once in a store, but it was very expensive - around $70 USD in mid eighties money. Jetfire is basically what piqued my intrest in Macross, which I'm still a fan of (I have a bunch of Yamato, DX Chogokin, Hi Metal and model kits. Even the massive 1/20 scale Valkyrie. 😎)
As much as I love the g1 transformers cartoon, Robotech was my favorite as a kid. Especially the first season. Macross saga. I also like the third season new generation. Second season The Masters I didn’t really care for. And yes, before a know it all pops in, I know they are three separate, repurposed, Japanese fictions. But I don’t care. Robotech was very well made. And it was very mature, which is why I think we loved it so much as kids. The themes were very grown up and complex. Anyway, I am with you on the guardian/gerwalk mode. I always thought it was kind of silly looking. I have over a dozen veritechs from Bandai and kitzconcepts and I don’t display any of them in guardian mode. I also preordered the kitzconcepts jet fire deco. But man, you have a lot of jet fires😎. I do have the matchbox nontransforming veritech. And it seems to me, that if you really look at it, I think they originally designed this to be a transforming toy. If it was to be non transforming from scratch, I don’t think the head would have a neck, and they wouldn’t have molded the hip joints. It looks like when they found out they couldn’t make it transform, they just modified the molds to make all those joints solid. I had one as a kid and I was very excited to get a mint copy again a few years ago.
This is so cool I wanted to start collecting robo tech figures but man the prices are outrageous and the scale is so confusing but hey you have a nice collection so I'll just admire yours
Jetfire was admittedly cool but for me it was because of the Valkyrie design, so I went after that instead. Saved up my money and got the 1/55 Takatoku VF-1S. My brother did get Jetfire though.
Hasbro CAN use the name jetfire and always could...back when dreamwave had the licence for the comic they used the name JETFIRE (not sure about idw as i dont read them) and even going back to the 80s the Marvrl u.k. comic called him JETFIRE....hasbro not being able to use the name is just a misconception that arose because of the actual legal issues...neither harmony gold nor the studio that produced the sdf macross show EVER had a character called "jetfire" in their respective versions of the show so the use of the name "jetfire" was not an infrigment of copyright....hasbro simply panicked and told Marvel studios and sunbow NOT to use the name ....but clearly Marvel didnt care that much as they were perfectly fine with their uk subsidary using the name for their verson of the comic
@@Cyril29a but it must have had been designed for something as the sight is a movable part and connected to a long bit of plastic inside the gun but no spring in mine anyway.
You are using Macross terminology for the half transformed mode...in macross the plane mode is fighter,the half way transformation is known gerwalk and the robot mode is known as battRoid In robotech the plane mode is again known as fighter,the half transformed mode is known as GUARDIAN and NOT gerwalk and the robot mode is known as battLoid.
I just consider Jetfire and Skyfire as independent Characters. Jetfire is the badass Veritech style warrior. Skyfire is the giant dufus who used to be Starscreams girlfriend...
4:24 there are a number of custom parts made by fans that allow left hand to also hold the gun. 11:00 you really ought to rewatch the first few episodes of robotech, in particular the ones before rick enlisted. The gun is actually "worn" the other way in the toon, so the toy mimicks that way of, _holstering_ the gun. I'm surprised you don't have a purple armored/colored, "evil jetfire" that were made where even the box had the decepticon purple hue. They're not official, but cool nonetheless. The controversy has nothing to do with the gerwalk mode, it has to do with hasbro and acquisitions of tatsunoko & Bandai toys. It was clear that HG had rights for macross animation, but I think courts decided that the likeness of macross characters were within HG's authority worldwide EXCEPT for in Japan. The artwork for jetfire on the toy's box, falls under the likeness of the VF1/veritech, as I think that was also part of the sketch work for macross/robotech. I figure hasbro would just rather not deal with the headache of HG, who seem to sit on the license in hopes of suing people or waiting for someone to pay them big bucks for a movie.
I have absolute zero respect for Harmony Gold for how they screwed Macross owership rights out of Tatsanoku/Big West by changing a given % of the content (like name and script changes) to claim it as their own distinct legal property. And I LOVE Hasbro for sticking a huge thumb in HG's eye with releasing the key Macross toy as an Autobot.
You frustrate me Mike sometimes I wonder if you're doing it to drive interaction. Hmmmm? Obviously you now know the chronology in reality of this toy. As to the legal aspect of all this mess... short ugly version, Hasbro got to keep selling the toy but couldn't market it as is therefore Skyfire on the show. Harmony gold got to keep marketing its appearance but wasn't allowed to make it so it would..."transform" which is why the figure scale fighter doesn't do anything. Retroblasting did a great video about it and showed the engineering of the toy is just shy being able to transform.
Whether it's Jetfire, the VF-1S Valkyrie, or Ricks Veritech Figher, it is one of the most elegant and classic designs of it's era. It's also what made me fall in love with the mechanical design of Shoji Kawamori, who not only designed the Valkyrie, but also designed what would become Roadbuster and Whirl (all from an anime called Dorvack), as well as Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, and the Seekers (when he was freelancing designs for Diaclone).
Heh, the man was the most prolific Transformers Designer who never designed anything for Transfomers.
It's a shame that only now, almost 40 years later, Robotech and the original Macross creators have reached a legal understanding - there are a TON of Kawamori designed Valkyries we could have been enjoying in those years - instead they were niche, japan only releases that often cost a fortune to get a hold of now. Macross mecha alone are a rabbit-hole you could spend a few episodes on.......
Awesome Jetfire collection! He was my favorite G1 Transformer by far!
I got him for my tenth birthday... And broke his shoulder five minutes later. 😭 My Dad wouldn't let me exchange for a new one. He said it was obviously junk since it broke so easily. 😡
Finally got one... A few years back. Restored him to his original glory. I love it!
The Gerwalk mode was used in the original show originally released in 1982. It was always intended as part of the transformation, and although Matchbox couldn't sell the Verotech toy that became jetfire in the USA, Bandai did sell it in Japan and as such had the gerwalk mode. It has always been officially part of the toy. I find it interesting that you dislike Gerwalk as it is my favourite mode. It really seems practical and utilitarian from a real world combat perspective. The pilot being able to see in front of them, still having jet engines and wings for flight while having the arms and gun to assist in close quarter combat.
That is a great way to look at that mode!
It was also useful in maintenance and such to move them around. Glad to see someone else who watched Macross. How did you discover it? I found it on a random channel as a kid doing reruns.
Alls one needs to do is re-listen to Roy's explanation of the mode to Rick/Hikaru in order to realize how cool it was/is.
Edit: actually watch the 1st 2 episodes and episode 24:showdown, when Rick gets the fastpack booster thrusters/missiles. He was able to stop on a dime with the gerwalk mode... such a cool way they animated that scene and his response in the cockpit.
@@isaackinsley1662 I got lucky, I became friends with a kid who loved it and had taped every episode patiently pausing the ads out and restarting the recording for the entire first series. He loaned me series on three vhs tapes back in 1988 or 89. It was the first tv show I ever binged and it was amazing.
@@isaackinsley1662 you're right. Also reading your comment reminded me of the VTOL capabilities available to gerwalk which made air to land/sea combat far more capable. I can't imagine a real pilot surviving the G forces this would demand but hey alien tech probably has inertial dampeners right?
Nice collection! My vintage (childhood) JETFIRE has the ‘MACROSS INSIGNIA’ on the wing. Love that.
I have seen that on some but none of mine have that! Would be cool!
@@tydiriumhanger1320 Oh man, I thought for sure at least one of your JFs would have that! Are you actively/leisurely seeking one?
A great video. I've been getting into Robotech again recently. Recently bought one of the KitzConcept figures and can't wait for it to arrive. I liked how you talked about the history of the toy line and its interaction with Transformers. Provide some history on top of the pretty plastic
Who here went also went on ebay in the mid 90s to buy a Jetfire because you loved Robotech and that ended up getting you back in to collecting and now you are 45 surrounded by plastic robots... Anyone? Anyone?
Ha yes I am with you surrounded with robots!
All of us.
I'm kinda surprised that you're not a Macross fan. I love the Robotech as much as Transformers. As a little boy I thought of Prime like a father figure I also felt that Rick Hunter was some how me. Long live JetSkyfi.
I was lucky enough to find a Matchbox Veritech fighter (in a very beat up box) as a kid, but it drove me nuts. I believe it was originally designed to transform, but due to licence restrictions it didn't. But there was signs of it, like screws where the legs attached to the fuselage, so i kept trying to take it apart and make it transform.
Scorched Earth Toys has a ton of detailed info on all the Robotech/Macross toys.
My personal all-time favorite. Impressive collection like always 🍻
Also, the dog we had, at the time, chewed up JETFIRE’s red Armor Accessories pretty good. I was furious but nothing I could do but accept the fact that I now had “battle damaged” armor.
That does suck but it has character now!
He says "Maybe this is one of the ones I worked on, because I'm seeing some issues wiith him." I can 100% absolutely relate with lmao! I feel ya brotha! I'm sure, as with me, the older the work, the more issues there are, and eventually they just about stop all together. Experience n all. It's very much one of thsse, you can't make an omlet without some butter lol.
the hardest part to get is the black part that holds the gun to the arm (Gun Clip) - most kids tossed it as it looked like it was "kibble" - i was lucky i still have my Jetfire in almost mint condition, no yellowing all the parts, and gun, only issue was part of the leg armor has a missing peg to keep together (still works with one peg but not as strong of a hold) and i "carved" out part of the arm armor for the Black part to stay on the arm to hold the gun. -- that said i was lucky and got a Jetfire with the "UN Spacey" symbol on the wing.
in Robotech - the GERWALK mode was the way it landed on the SDF-1, they then started using it in the show as a "fast attack" type mode against the Zentridai
Nice!
I was lucky enough to score a complete Jetfire years ago. Including the clip. I restored him, and looks great! JF was always my favorite G1 transformer.
@@LastBastian I love Transformers when I got Jetfire, then Robotech came out (also love that show) in late 1985, early 1986 in my area and I was like omg I already have the toy.
I still have most of my original robotech. Anything I didn't have I purchased the exosquad versions when they were re-released
It is cool to get another chance to pick them up in the Exosquad line and now there are more options for collectors
@@tydiriumhanger1320 unfortunately they only did the non varitek/alpha/ bike armor stuff. All the heavy plastic characters. Which is fine. I was able to get one of each except the damn hover tank.
My G1 Jetfire is still one of my favorite items in my collection.
That design still holds up well and looks great!
I always loved these !!
I would love to see a jet getting a Gerwalk mode in real life, flying recklessly at the sky
The truth is that the company that made the original Macross toy (Takotoku?) Had the rights to the design in Japan, so Jetfire could not be sold there (Same with Deluxe Insecticons, Whirl and Roadbuster), and they couldn't use the design in the Sunbow cartoon either.
The Gerwalk mode is not a half measure or a compromise for the sake of the toy, which is based off of the animated series (unlike Transformers where the cartoon is based on the toys). A lot of people don't like that mode, but it actually makes a lot of sense. By pointing the engine exhausts downward, the Valkyrie can "skate" on the thrust, allowing it to move at high speed across the landscape, and has arms free to weild the gunpod. It has advantages of both the fighter and Battroid modes.
Jetfire was my holy grail as a kid. I saw it once in a store, but it was very expensive - around $70 USD in mid eighties money. Jetfire is basically what piqued my intrest in Macross, which I'm still a fan of (I have a bunch of Yamato, DX Chogokin, Hi Metal and model kits. Even the massive 1/20 scale Valkyrie. 😎)
5:00 Makes you appreciate why they made Skyfire huge in the cartoon.
I do love those bigger bots and skyfire was huge!
As much as I love the g1 transformers cartoon, Robotech was my favorite as a kid. Especially the first season. Macross saga. I also like the third season new generation. Second season The Masters I didn’t really care for. And yes, before a know it all pops in, I know they are three separate, repurposed, Japanese fictions. But I don’t care. Robotech was very well made. And it was very mature, which is why I think we loved it so much as kids. The themes were very grown up and complex. Anyway, I am with you on the guardian/gerwalk mode. I always thought it was kind of silly looking. I have over a dozen veritechs from Bandai and kitzconcepts and I don’t display any of them in guardian mode. I also preordered the kitzconcepts jet fire deco. But man, you have a lot of jet fires😎. I do have the matchbox nontransforming veritech. And it seems to me, that if you really look at it, I think they originally designed this to be a transforming toy. If it was to be non transforming from scratch, I don’t think the head would have a neck, and they wouldn’t have molded the hip joints. It looks like when they found out they couldn’t make it transform, they just modified the molds to make all those joints solid. I had one as a kid and I was very excited to get a mint copy again a few years ago.
This is so cool I wanted to start collecting robo tech figures but man the prices are outrageous and the scale is so confusing but hey you have a nice collection so I'll just admire yours
They are actually not to expensive loose and I will get into that when we get to day 3
Love the VF-1S style Jetfire! I bought a Macross VF model last year and custom built it into Jetfire. I made a video on it if anyone's interested. 👍
Jetfire was admittedly cool but for me it was because of the Valkyrie design, so I went after that instead. Saved up my money and got the 1/55 Takatoku VF-1S. My brother did get Jetfire though.
So is this jetfire scale 1/50 scale?
@@tydiriumhanger1320 Since it's made from the VF-1S Valkyrie mold, yeah, that'd make G1 Jetfire 1/55 scale. Classic.
Hasbro CAN use the name jetfire and always could...back when dreamwave had the licence for the comic they used the name JETFIRE (not sure about idw as i dont read them) and even going back to the 80s the Marvrl u.k. comic called him JETFIRE....hasbro not being able to use the name is just a misconception that arose because of the actual legal issues...neither harmony gold nor the studio that produced the sdf macross show EVER had a character called "jetfire" in their respective versions of the show so the use of the name "jetfire" was not an infrigment of copyright....hasbro simply panicked and told Marvel studios and sunbow NOT to use the name ....but clearly Marvel didnt care that much as they were perfectly fine with their uk subsidary using the name for their verson of the comic
was there a missile for his gun as it looks like there was something that fired out of it
There was not
@@Cyril29a but it must have had been designed for something as the sight is a movable part and connected to a long bit of plastic inside the gun but no spring in mine anyway.
I saw somewhere years ago a kit to convert to a firing gun and I wished I would have picked it up
Macros is the original cartoon series besides Starblazers that was the name of the game to me 😛👍
Dunno why you removed my post? Guess you took offense to a G1 Toy Jetfire custom I was trying to share with others here.
I did not remove any post maybe RUclips did I just now got back to the computer
Wow I never knew what that piece did.
You are using Macross terminology for the half transformed mode...in macross the plane mode is fighter,the half way transformation is known gerwalk and the robot mode is known as battRoid
In robotech the plane mode is again known as fighter,the half transformed mode is known as GUARDIAN and NOT gerwalk and the robot mode is known as battLoid.
AKA BattleTech Phoenix Hawk
Those do look cool!
Heathen!
I just consider Jetfire and Skyfire as independent Characters. Jetfire is the badass Veritech style warrior. Skyfire is the giant dufus who used to be Starscreams girlfriend...
Jetfire is based on the original Bandai Battroid Valkyrie
4:24 there are a number of custom parts made by fans that allow left hand to also hold the gun.
11:00 you really ought to rewatch the first few episodes of robotech, in particular the ones before rick enlisted. The gun is actually "worn" the other way in the toon, so the toy mimicks that way of, _holstering_ the gun.
I'm surprised you don't have a purple armored/colored, "evil jetfire" that were made where even the box had the decepticon purple hue. They're not official, but cool nonetheless.
The controversy has nothing to do with the gerwalk mode, it has to do with hasbro and acquisitions of tatsunoko & Bandai toys. It was clear that HG had rights for macross animation, but I think courts decided that the likeness of macross characters were within HG's authority worldwide EXCEPT for in Japan. The artwork for jetfire on the toy's box, falls under the likeness of the VF1/veritech, as I think that was also part of the sketch work for macross/robotech.
I figure hasbro would just rather not deal with the headache of HG, who seem to sit on the license in hopes of suing people or waiting for someone to pay them big bucks for a movie.
That would be cool to hold a gun in either hand! There are some great repro parts out there I may have to get some to complete these
You do have the gun wrong in the clip. it needs to be facing the oposite way, on the oposite side. That way you coupld play with it like the show.
I have absolute zero respect for Harmony Gold for how they screwed Macross owership rights out of Tatsanoku/Big West by changing a given % of the content (like name and script changes) to claim it as their own distinct legal property. And I LOVE Hasbro for sticking a huge thumb in HG's eye with releasing the key Macross toy as an Autobot.
You frustrate me Mike sometimes I wonder if you're doing it to drive interaction. Hmmmm? Obviously you now know the chronology in reality of this toy. As to the legal aspect of all this mess... short ugly version, Hasbro got to keep selling the toy but couldn't market it as is therefore Skyfire on the show. Harmony gold got to keep marketing its appearance but wasn't allowed to make it so it would..."transform" which is why the figure scale fighter doesn't do anything. Retroblasting did a great video about it and showed the engineering of the toy is just shy being able to transform.