Those sneaky little so-and-sos, they thought they could sneak a newly-minted and GORGEOUS Classics Marauder mini without us noticing? Preparing to bate my breath again... O0
And because I've done this for the rest of them, and nobody's thrown rotten fruit at me for doing so, here are the differences between a PHX-1 Phoenix Hawk and a Northrom/Shinnakasu Heavy Industries VF-1S Valkrie with FAST Pack adaption (the "Super Valkyrie"):
This one definitely, and understandably, is a major departure from the source material, as this is the crown jewel of they who shall not be named's adaptation of a Japanese anime.
1. The FAST Packs/jump jets have been completely redesigned. The upper portion (which in the original housed micro-missile launchers), has been made concave and shortened. From the front angle it's hard to get a good look at the profile of the packs, but I can assume that given what can be seen, they've been considerably slimmed down from the bulky space thrusters seen in Macross. Almost certainly (though this is speculation until a rear view is available) the "backpack" section (which stowed the empennage while in Battroid and GERWALK modes) has been deleted as well.
2. The head has undergone a complete redesign, including making the head more angular, extending the cockpit glazing further up the head (as opposed to the "knight's visor" camera eye on the VF-1S, this also has the added effect of giving some design continuity with the Project Phoenix P-Hawk which features a large glazed cockpit). The four antennae on the head have been retained as a "tip o' the hat" to the Valkyrie's head lasers.
3. The shoulders are considerably different in shape and profile, and include small armor tags on the lower outboard edges.
4. The arms are also redone, with the hands (much like on the Wasp) being integral to the forearm as opposed to the Valkyrie's arrangement (meant to retract into the forearm when transforming). The FAST Pack armor on the forearms (originally housing micro-missile launchers) have been recast into more recognizable machine gun or laser housings.
5. The hand-held Gatling cannon of the original is no more, replaced with what looks to be a hand-held laser cannon which bears no similarity to the original source.
6. The body bears only the vague shaping lines of the Valkyrie. Much of the aircraft-specific styling has been completely done away (for instance the air brake aft of the cockpit and the dorsal forward air intakes) with and the body itself has been made much more angular. The cockpit area has been deleted, and the nosecone turned into a more hip-like affair, including having a torus/"donut"-style ring just above the leg-torso connection.
7. The legs have been made angular, rather than the round, aerodynamic styling of the Valkyrie. The air scoops have a vestigial callback at the very top of the leg (now most likely serving as a heat sink). The FAST Pack fuel tanks on the legs are omitted completely, as are the ventral fins on the legs. The only major similarity between the Phoenix Hawk and the Valkyrie in this area is in the A-frame feet.
All in all, another stunning success at a redesign. Now then -- I ask you: When will we get minis?
Also: Given that in the mini-TRO, they mentioned that the P-Hawk was based on the Stinger chassis, does this giv us a clue to the likely appearance of the Stinger?
