A few thoughts:
- No, Matchbox.
- Matchbox, no.
- Minmei is Asian, obviously, hence the name Minmei and the fact that, you know, she’s from Japan. I don’t think Matchbox got the memo.
- What’s with Rick’s hair? He looks like George Harrison.
- Rick is a slut.
- The song. I can’t get it out of my head. Stop. The song.
- “Isn’t she neat?”
I’ve become slightly obsessed with the Robotech toys, as you can tell. More later.
(Video via PetiteOzma/YouTube)
2 Warps to Neptune 
I’m guessing they made literally dozens of dollars on those dolls. So how dare you judge their marketing. I love how they laugh hysterically after they say how pretty Lisa is. I’m guessing no one bought the Dana doll because she was so boring.
Dana who?
Rick really does look like George Harrison. It’s bothering me.
This… this was a real thing?! Hahahaha, oh my. See how Lisa types aimlessly on a computer because keys are confusing!
That keyboard bit is hilarious. “Let’s get ready for battle!” [Girl thumps aimlessly on keyboard.]
I just added “Isn’t she neat?” as number 8. What a great/awful line.
Point of order: Minmei’s uncle did, in fact, run a Chinese restaurant. I thought it was strange even when I was ten.
Why no matchbox no? I find it fascinating. Really Robotech was kind of an anomaly for the time. How many other “boy’s” shows were marketing heavily to both aisles? I think Power Rangers was the last time I knew of an action show typically marketed to boys market to girls as well, with dolls but still.
I dunno I just found it wildly fascinating that these characters were mostly military women and Minmei, a Chinese girl who sings for the state; more or less, generally dolls didn’t have a huge variety at the time and even today still struggle with it.
1. Harmony Gold was really banking on sales of Valkyrie & Destroid toys, but there was some legal action with Hasbro and FASA, so they where stuck with the Japanese dolls.
2. But yeah, the doll-line was rather pointless. As a kid, my sister had the Dana and Miriya 3-3/4″ action-figures, and she vary well knew that it was an action show: Not a fashion show.
3. Lynn Minmei (Ling Ming-mei in Japan) is vary much Chinese. (Plus, “L”s are not used in Japan; typically using “R”s in their stead, and vice-versa in China.)
4. They would have added hair-gel to spike his hair into a big-O’ anime do, but that would get really expensive and become a fire hazard. 😉
5. Damn, Rick is a player! And Lisa is a pedo! (He was 16 and she 24 at the start of the show.)
6. Yeah, Minmei’s singing is truly THAT awful!
7. “Isn’t that special.”