Minvera from "Crusher Joe" (1983)

Scale: 1/500
Initial Release: 1985
Medium: Styrene
Kit Rarity: 4

About the Design

Of all the spacecraft to emerge from Japan’s 1983 “Crusher Joe” animated motion picture and subsequent TV series, the Minerva – the hero’s personal starship – was by far the most credible. With a lifting body-like airframe, the ship looked like it could actually fly in an atmosphere. Those big-ass engines looked capable of boosting the Minerva into deep space as well.

About the Kit

Takara of Japan produced a whole slew of “Crusher Joe” models in the mid-1980s, many of which are still available on the collector’s market. The Minerva was produced in both a small scale and a large scale; this is the large, 1/500-scale version, and its engineering is excellent. The model also comes with a tiny Type 2 fighter escort. 

In 2020, Hasegawa produced its own 1/400 scale model of this same venerable spacecraft.

The model was built from an original issue.