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The Toynami Alpha fighter is based on the VFA-6H piloted by Scott Bernard in 'Robotech - The New Generatoin'. The fighter is a futuristic, twin-engine, twin-tail jet fighter. Think an SU-27 on LOTS of steroids. The engines become the legs, the intakes become the torso, two engine pods fold down to become the arms, and the nose flics over to become the back. Yeah, it's even tricker transforming this thing!
The figure is blue and white with lots of panels lines, vents, and WORKING missile hatches! The Alpha also comes with a tiny, removable pilot, some gear, and a energy rifle.
So over the last 20 years, fans still talk about the stories of Rick Hunter, Dana Sterling, and Scott Bernard. The unofficial symbol of 'Robotech' is the VF-1S Veritech fighter. For the non-anime fans who are Transformers fans, THIS is the inspiration for the Generation 1 Jetfire. Personally I've always been a huge fan of the Alpha fighter. First introduced in 'Robotech - The New Generation' this was your typical transformable fighter. The fighter looked like an SU-27 fighter from the future with BIIIIIG engines, extra fuel and weapons placements all over the place... basically anime nirvana. .
That was the beauty of this series. Most of us at the time in the 80's weren't familiar with the incredible designs for mecha and vehicles in anime, so we were content with the usual stuff from 'The Transformers' or super-robot, fanciful stuff like 'Voltron'. 'Robotech' gave us an introduction of designs that were fanciful and futuristic, but also... well, you could see the guys from the Dept. of Defense taking notes. And as a former aerospace engineer you knew it wasn't PRACTICAL but you drooled and thought 'Ya know... just maybe.' Such was the Alpha fighter. It was equal parts F-15 and X-Wing, WITH the ability to transformer into three modes; fighter, guardian, and battloid.
Naturally a series like this BEGS for toys. The VF-1 was all over the place, and a ton o' other mechs and vehicles were released, along with a plethora o' versions of the Alpha fighter. For some odd reason, as much as I LOVED the thing, I never got one... which probably made my parents very happy considering the ton o' stuff I was into at the time. Ah to be young again.
So years pass, and suddenly the toy market realizes Gen-Xers like me are buying the old stuff in DROVES... and the smell of blood, er, I mean CASH is in the air. There was an untapped market of collectors who have a bit of cash to get the old-stuff. Manufacturers jumped on this like gangbusters and released toys galore; action figures, transformables, even little 'Kubrick' type figures. Oh, but the best of them was the Masterpiece Collection by Toynami. Full transformable. Gorgeous packaging. DIE-CAST METAL AS WELL AS PLASTIC CONSTRUCTION! Oh, fans wept. Ok, so you young guys don't know what the big deal is. Hey, it's nostalgia, ok. And besides, when you have a die-cast metal Transformer in your hand you swoon, so cut us some slack.
Anyway, Toynami came out with a full line of the Veritech fighters. Naturally, fans prayed the fad would continue and Toynami would release OTHER mechs from this legendary series. And they did, the Toy Gods were kind, and the Alpha fighter was released. So y'all are wondering why I'm freaking about this piece. Folks this is why we're toy collectors... for a piece like this.
Cont on p. 2