Super Dimension Fortress Macross

File:Macross logo.png

Super Dimension Fortress Macross (超時空要塞マクロス Chōjikū Yōsai Makurosu) is a 1982 multimedia project consisting of a 36-episode animated television series accompanied by toys and songs. Macross was created by Shōji Kawamori in conjunction with Artland, Studio Nue, and Tatsunoko Production with sponsorship from Big West. Relevant to this wiki, Macross is the source of the original, much-beloved Jetfire toy design, notable for its "perfect transformation" (完全変形 kanzen henkei) in having a revolutionary level of animation accuracy for a triple-mode mecha toy all the way back in 1982.

The Macross brand has continued with new entries every so often, notably with Macross 7 in 1994, Macross Frontier in 2008, and Macross Delta in 2016.

Story

In the year 1999, a massive derelict spaceship crash-lands on Earth in the south Pacific Ocean, confirming to humankind that they are not alone in the universe. Over the next decade, a United Nations Government (統合政府 Tōgō Seifu) is formed to deal with the threat of the ship's previous owners, reverse-engineering the technology found aboard the alien ship to create the U.N. Spacy (統合宇宙軍 Tōgō Uchūgun), humankind's first spaceworthy military service. Their primary air and space fighter craft is the VF-1 Valkyrie, a next-generation variable fighter (可変 戦闘機 kahen sentōki), with the alien capital ship itself being repaired and remodeled to become the SDF-1 Macross. Finally, in 2009, the giant Zentradi (ゼントラーディ人) arrive to take possession of the lost warship and to investigate if this strange world may be home to their long-lost creators, the Protoculture (プロトカルチャー). At this point, an accident strands the human crew of the SDF-1 at the edge of the solar system and ignites war with the Zentradi, and humanity will never be the same again.

Notably, Macross chief director Kawamori takes a flexible approach to "canon", somewhat akin to Star Wars creator George Lucas's willingness to embrace modifications in HD remastering. Newer entries of Macross are allowed to change up prior details as long as the broad strokes remain the same because Kawamori tailors the storytelling presentation to the medium at hand, be it a television series or a theatrical film.

Mecha

Macross 1/55 VF-1S Super Valkyrie

Kawamori and his team, ever the fans of real-world aviation, directly drew upon the Northrup Grumman F-14 Tomcat as the real and fictional precursor to the Stonewell Bellcom VF-1 Valkyrie. Each variable fighter features three modes:

• Battroid (バトロイド) - equivalent to robot mode

• GERWALK (ガーウォーク) - an in-between mode roughly comparable in function to an attack helicopter

• Fighter (ファイター) - equivalent vehicle mode

The VF-1 can equip attachments for extra ammunition and fuel capacity. It also features variants distinguished by the battroid head design, differentiated among squad leaders, aces, and grunts.

• Hikaru Ichijyo (一条 輝 Ichijō Hikaru) - the young male protagonist of the series. In the TV series, Hikaru starts out with a VF-1J in white with red highlights before inheriting Roy's VF-1S.
• Roy Focker (ロイ・フォッカー) - the leader of Skull Squadron. Roy flies a VF-1S in white with yellow highlights.
  • The 1/55 toy for Roy's machine was used for Jetfire.
• Maximilian "Max" Jenius (マクシミリアン・ジーナス) - the genius pilot of Skull Squadron. In the TV series, Max initially flies a VF-1A in white with blue highlights before switching to a VF-1J in blue with white highlights.
• Hayao Kakizaki (柿崎速雄 Kakizaki Hayao) - the inexperienced redshirt. In the TV series, Kakizaki flies a VF-1A in white with tan highlights.
• Milia Fallyna (ミリア・ファリーナ) - the newcomer alien ace who defected from her own people. When she joins humanity, Milia flies a VF-1J in red with white highlights.

Macross in Transformers

The Transformers Jetfire, a recoloring of the above 1/55 VF-1S Super Valkyrie

The progression of Jetfire's character model being redesigned to avoid evoking a Bandai asset

Initially in 1982, a company called Takatoku Toys manufactured Macross toys, notably the "perfectly-transforming" 1/55 VF-1S Super Valkyrie. However, Takatoku would collapse not long thereafter, and their assets would soon be bought out by Bandai, who then licensed the large Macross VF-1S (as well as Beetras and Dorvack assets) to Hasbro, who was desperately needing molds to fill out the 1985 product line of the unexpectedly popular Transformers.

Why would Hasbro market product from Japanese companies besides its collaborator Takara? Bob Prupis, one of the original members of the Transformers marketing team, would frequently go to Toy Fairs in Asia, where "any product that really looked good that was exciting we didn't care where it came from. We did some work with Bandai, who had been working with other people, and took a few products that looked right for our line". The 1/55 Super Valkyrie, then, must have met their criteria for inclusion. As Bandai at the time was only concerned about business in Japan, Hasbro was free to sell the large VF-1 mold as a Transformers figure in non-Japan markets. However, as Hasbro wanted advertising for such a large toy ($32 plus tax on U.S. store shelves back in 1985), some compromises had to be made for Jetfire to appear in The Transformers animated series, which Takara would want to air in Japan as well. The exact sequence of details is uncertain, but we wound up with a character named "Skyfire" in the now-renowned episode "Fire in the Sky" shortly ahead of the "Jetfire" toy itself on North American and European store shelves. Notably, Hasbro's European offices billed Jetfire as the Autobot leader for their 1985 debut of the Transformers brand, creating a particularly lasting memory for European fans.

Jetfire's enduring popularity has seen many new incarnations of the character and trademark over the decades, culminating in the 2019 Siege Commander Class figure, a highly-accurate recreation of his 1985 animation model, free of any legal complications with other companies (though the 2019 U.S. price of $90 plus tax may irk a number of old men). Now and then, Jetfire's original Macross-based design gets to make small appearances.

Legacy cameos

• 
  1986 comic artist error of Jetfire's toy design
• 
  2013 Kre-O online manga cameo
• 
  2021 Funko Pop vinyl figure

Attempted interference by a terrible company

Back in the 1980s, a U.S. real estate company called Harmony Gold ventured into the anime adaptation industry. They purchased the overseas rights to the 1982 Macross TV series as well as two unrelated series to create a hodgepodge project called Robotech. (Back in the day, Power Rangers-style story manglings were much more common in the U.S. industry.) However, they were unable to market the 1/55 VF-1S toy because that mold's overseas rights had been licensed by Hasbro.

Since the 1980s, Harmony Gold has accomplished nothing of substance with the rights to Macross. They have promised for over a decade that a live-action Robotech film is in the works, but nothing manifests. Except for suing anyone who tries to make VF-1-style product without their say-so, even when said merchandise only vaguely resembles the VF-1 Valkyrie because the real-life F-14 Tomcat is not a hard idea to come up with. In 2013, Harmony Gold sued Hasbro for making a non-transforming G.I. Joe and the Transformers Jetfire toy, but noted copyright "damages [were] difficult to ascertain", and the suit was dismissed in favor of Hasbro against Harmony Gold.

Because of Harmony Gold's ridiculous stranglehold over the distribution (or rather, the lack thereof) of Macross material outside of Japan, not even Macross fans in countries right next to Japan could receive full-fledged first-party distribution of Macross material throughout the 2000s and 2010s. No joke: While Asian Transformers fans enjoyed various official localizations of Transformers television series and theatrical films during this time, nothing of the sort happened with Macross while they lived right door next to Japan. After Big West and Studio Nue were finally able to assert some control in 2021, many Macross stories began streaming on Disney+ outside of Japan in 2024...but not the original series. Because of Harmony Gold.

Why is this relevant to you, a Transformers fan? Well despite their business rivalry, TakaraTomy and Bandai have officially collaborated now and then. Notably in 2022, Bandai Spirits announced a high-end chogokin (超合金) toy of the Liger Zero from TakaraTomy's Zoids brand while TakaraTomy announced a Tomica version of the iconic White Base from Mobile Suit Gundam. So what do you want to bet that Harmony Gold is the reason why Hasbro will not bother asking Bandai to cooperate on a reissue or else a new toy faithfully homaging the original VF-1S-style Jetfire toy?

Look, we're going to be honest. We of the TFWiki have no sympathy to attempt fairness toward Harmony Gold because they do not deserve any. And we are hardly the only sector of online fandom of Japanese franchises to feel this way. Shoji Kawamori himself dislikes Robotech. Enough said about that.

Notes

• In the 1980s, the VF-1 molds underwent various licensed uses by overseas companies, similar to the distribution of Takatoku-based assets for Beetras and Dorvack.
  • In the United States, Canada, and Australia, Select released a small VF-1S mold as part of the "Maladroids" subline in Convertors. The baseline Roy Focker deco was renamed "Zark", also being given a variant red deco unique to Converters, while a black deco (including the Super Pack) unique to Converters was named 'Zardak".

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Official Twitter page (Japanese)
• Official Twitter page
• Super Dimension Fortress Macross at Wikipedia
• Macross Mecha Manual fan database