Figure News: OMG SV-51 OMG! at Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

Figure News: OMG SV-51 OMG!

Published February 5th, 2007 in Figurine News

For years I have wanted a transformable action figure of the totally wicked SV-51 Variable Fighter, more commonly known as the Valkyrie piloted by Ivanov, Roy Fokker’s mentor (IIRC). There were two versions in the show, structurally the same but painted differently. The sleek black plane is Ivanov’s while the striking streaked purple one is Nora’s. I hear rumours that Yamato is planning to release SV-51 in both colours as variants.

Oh my god. I MUST get this. Btw the guy who designed Macross Valkyries, Kawamori Shoji, also did Eureka seveN, Escaflowne and Aquarion’s mecha designs. Notice a common pattern? ALL of them are bloody fantastic.

I remember mentioning that YF-19 would be my first Macross buy, but in the end, I didn’t get it. I can still, but that’ll depend on how much money I get for Chinese New Year. It would be awesome to get all 3, but I doubt I could afford it.

The aircraft mode of SV-51 looks by far the best out of all the Valkyries, with only YF-19 coming close. It’s sharp highly angled design reminds me of a futurised F-22. In fact, SV-51 is in my hall of fame for aircraft design (Yukikaze ver 2, Vanship make up the others). The gerwalk mode is even better, with the thrusters splitting three ways instead of the more common two, to form "chicken legs" reminiscent of the Mechwarriors. The SV-51 looks best in this mode.

The Battroid mode is a bit weaker, with the rather ugly samurai helmet design and monster-sized groin area.

This action figure is from Yamato and 1/60 scale. Rather than PVC, most of it is ABS plastic. Not sure of the price, release date yet.

Unit type: variable fighter
Manufacturer: Sukhoi/Israel Aircraft Industries/Dornier
Empty mass: 17800 kg
Powerplant type: Aviadgatel D-30F6X turbofan jet engine x 2
Powerplant output: 102.5 kN and 204.7 kN
Armament: Gsh-231 12.7mm mini-gun x 1, Gsh-371 55mm gun pod (120 rounds) x 1, underwing hardpoint x 6
Optional underwing hardpoint armament: Turopov SA-19M I/IR-guided micro-missiles x 18
Crew: 1 pilot
Pilot(s): Nora Polyansky, D.D. Ivanov
Mechanical designer: Shoji Kawamori

Fighter mode:
Overall length: 22.77 meters
Maximum level atmospheric speed at 11000 meters: Mach 2.81
Cruising range: 1910 km (with micro-missile launcher/auxillary tank composite pods)
Service ceiling: 22500 meters

Info courtesy of MAHQ

7 Responses to “Figure News: OMG SV-51 OMG!”

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1 LianYL 328 comments Feb 5th, 2007 at 11:20 pm

LAWL.
2 Zer0 36 comments Feb 5th, 2007 at 11:22 pm

Kawamori Shoji is the maestro of variable transformation mecha - the trademark vehicle -> gerwalk -> battloid mode. It’s a pity that Macross didn’t get as big a following as Gundam.

The 80s was indeed the golden age of real robot sagas.
3 Primeparadigm 3 comments Feb 5th, 2007 at 11:51 pm

If it follows the same trend as all the other Yamato figures at the same size-point, he’d probably be in the 200-250 SGD range. And Yes, Kawamori Shoji is a God among men.

Though if Takara stuck really closely to his designs when he was working for them for their Diaclone line, Optimus Prime would have had a really different looking head from his current iconic one.
4 Forceflow Feb 6th, 2007 at 2:01 am

The SV-51 is nice but I still like the classic VF-1S “SUPER” Valkyrie. Still not sure whether to get that or the VF-19. x.x;;
5 Asteroth 7 comments Feb 6th, 2007 at 3:54 pm

“Manufacturer: Sukhoi/Israel Aircraft Industries/Dornier”

Didnt really paid attention to the backgrd and nitty gritty of Macross Zero, wow .. the Israelis and Germans are the baddies as well pre-Zentradi?

Anyway SV-51 resembles the current Soviet SU-30 rather than a F-22, F-22 is a precursor to those UCAV.

Anyway for those thinking of getting this, just be aware of the fragility and poor QC complains of the more recent VFs from Yamato. SV-51 looks alot more delicate than VF-0.

ABS plastic is hard but breaks easily, can be glued back easily though.
6 tj_han 675 comments Feb 6th, 2007 at 4:32 pm

Hi Asteroth: I would think it resembles Soviet aircraft, since it’s from supposedly the same manufacturer. I heard complaints about QC and fragility, especially for the YF-19 recently. So I didn’t buy. Not sure if that was a good move though.
7 Waterfall 114 comments Feb 7th, 2007 at 1:45 pm

To tj_han,

I got the VF-1S and YF-22. I love the SV-51 plane mode but this will BREAK the bank. >_

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