Toynami has announced that the long-delayed first volume in the Robotech: Masterpiece Collection, Rick Hunter's VF-1J, will ship to retailers on June 19, about a month later than Toynami told ICv2 back in March (see 'Robotech Masterpiece Collection Ships in May'). The reason for the latest delay is Toynami's desire to ensure that all retailers receive their orders at the same time. Since many of the limited edition of 15,000 transformable figures were pre-ordered, shipping all the retailers at the same time will alleviate lots of potential customer service problems.
Packaged in a deluxe, book-like 'collector's box' that comes complete with a magnetic clasp and slide-out tray, the die cast metal and plastic figures have tons of features including full transforming pose-ability, removeable pilot, LED lighted visor, and real rubber tires. The deluxe figures, which should get a boost from the current Retro/80s boom, should retail for $79.99. The second figure in the Masterpiece Collection, Ben Dixon's VF-1-A is listed in the current issue of Diamond's Previews, and is expected to ship to retail in September. Now that Toynami has worked the bugs out of its manufacturing, packaging, and shipping systems, it is more likely that the company will make its future ship dates.
