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lechuck

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  1. lechuck
    Personally I find the DX to be the better toy, but I mainly look at this from a Battroid perspective. - Proper deep bending elbow joint, with Arcadia's you have fake it by shifting the bicep cover and using the upper transformation hinge - Thigh swivel and waist swivel - More independent articulation points around the shoulder for better range of motion - Head can be angled in any direction - Shield doesn't fall off so easily from the arm - Nose cone integrates better into the torso area - No filler parts required for the rear upper legs, looks very unsightly on the Arcadia one if you don't use it - Pinpoint barrier punch effect and arm cannon accessories Specifically for fighter mode I like that Bandai didn't sculpt the nose cone/fuselage area to droop as much, it has that arching thing but sort of keeps a straight line from a side profile view. Also there are no ugly gaps at the knees from the underside. Generally, Arcadia's take on the YF-19 is a bit lifeless to me vs. the Bandai DX.
  2. lechuck
  3. lechuck
    Review of a prototype Hagane Works Dancouga. It's big and looks to have a good amount of heft, but articulation seems a bit on the basic side.
  4. lechuck
    Devine Striker (PB item) https://hobby.dengeki.com/news/1879183/
  5. lechuck
    So I have had the MP Trailbreaker for a couple of weeks now, thought I'd share my impressions. Trailbreakers alt-mode looks very nice, the embossed "Toyota" at the back is great touch of realism. Features include opening doors and bonnet with engine bay details. Pay attention when closing the bonnet again, it's a bit tricky to do, but it should sit absolutely flush - you will know when it's wrong when the plastic tab on the bonnet piece is still visible when closed. There are also a couple of accessories for car mode, one is the radar dish from the episode "More than Meets the Eye, Part 2" and an alternate cartoon grill that can be swapped in for a more cohesive animation look in ones collection. If I had to be critical here, then I don't like how the open door has part of the b-pillar and sill attached to it. Transformation is straight forward, nothing complicated, a little bit of origami with the how the doors fold and rotate. All of the parts have a set position to lock into, so no eye balling or just "floating" into place. I find going back to alt-mode is a bit fiddly with tucking in the rear mounted weapons and arms within the camper parts. Generally for my tastes the transformation complexity could be higher for more engagement and sense of accomplishment, but I think Takara has done a good job on finding a middle ground here. There is some paint on the figure, the outer car shell parts and the red bits on his legs for example, but I would say a higher percentage is just bare plastic. That's not really a negative, because nothing really looks out of place or cheap. Robot mode is of course heavily cartoon inspired and I think Takara has done a great job translating that into toy form. With that context in mind, the silhouette works and his proportions are not really wonky to me - limbs/extremities all have the right length and ratios. People are complaining about how thin the lower half of the robot is, but that is just really due to the fact that the whole car bonnet section is pretty big and is obscuring his "abdomen" piece at the waist from clear line of sight, creating this illusion of disproportion. The visible door windows from the side don't really bug me as others. Takara provides optional stickers to conceal some of it (like in the cartoon), which I won't be using as I generally don't like the idea of using stickers for higher-end toys or model kits. Maybe Takara should have gone the extra mile and engineered swappable clip-on windows for clear and opaque plastic. In alt-mode MP-56 is very dense and a light weight when in robot form. I don't really have an issue with it, but take note that the inside of his upper robot body ends up being mainly hollow as there isn't enough material to go around. Maybe positioning the doors differently or folding up the camper section more to fill out stuff might have been a solution, but then I'm sure another section of fans would then start complaining of transformation being a panel-former or too complicated and complex etc.. There is also a little bit of gap between windscreen-chest and shoulders. I'm critical of visible hollow spaces, but in this instance it gets a pass as it allows for improved articulation – and on that point, Trailbreaker doesn't disappoint. The head is probably the only weaker point, it's on a ball joint but the degree of movement is a bit shallow, but critical stuff like deep bending elbows and knees, ab-crunch or forward pivoting shoulders are all here for expressive posing. High up lateral arm movement is also possible, but initially requires one to clear out some plastic that is blocking the secondary shoulder joint. Two approaches to this, either take apart the shoulders and sand it down/carve it out with a hobby knife or just carefully force it by hand and then remove some of the warped plastic afterwards (which is how I did it). There is an additional smiling and shouting face, an optional multi-nozzle weapon or left hand and a blast effect for TB. If you desire, then it is possible to replace the right hand with the weapons for even more Sunbow animation errors. Final thoughts... If there were negatives to mention, then it is that there is no force field effect included in his accessories and maybe the reliance on stickers instead of better engineering around the doors. Otherwise it's all positive, I think Takara has done a very good job with MP-56 – just a fun MP to look at and mess around with.
  6. lechuck
    An interesting read. When it takes about 3 years for a new MB, it explains why there are so many rehashes of Strike, Exia, Astray etc. in the intervening years. If MB is the equivalent to MG, then where does Metal Composite fit in? Would have been nice to know what they feel the difference is between MB and MC.
  7. lechuck
    With English captions
  8. lechuck
    New promo vid for MPG Seizan. A bit weird that they are only showing off basic articulation, I think Seizan has more to offer. Maybe because they are handling the prototype? Also nice touch with how they detailed the sword hilt.
  9. lechuck
    Review is up by schizophonic. Battroid and Gerwalk and fighter
  10. lechuck
    So badass!! Pre-orders are 2 Feb. right? Still want Sentinel's Riobot Shin Getter 1, but that is unobtanium at the moment.
  11. lechuck
    MP-57 looking impressive, crucially he has good articulation and is not just an expensive big toy brick – can't wait for mine to arrive.
  12. lechuck
    It was officially moved from Feb. to April. https://www.gundamkitscollection.com/2022/09/mg-1100-msz-006-zeta-gundam-ver-ka.html
  13. lechuck
    https://hobby.dengeki.com/news/1812752/ I can't tell if there is Gundam in that image or not? 😄
  14. lechuck
    Alright lets rock this train 😄 Colours look fine to me, but articulation is more my focus and Seizan/Suiken seem to fare better on that point than the other three trainbots so far.
  15. lechuck
    And one knew this would be inevitable... Riobot Gold Reideen https://www.taghobby.com/archives/682005
  16. lechuck
    Some new robots from SRW – Riobot Ialdabaoth & Valefor https://www.taghobby.com/archives/681515
  17. lechuck
    Great Mazinkaiser from CCS Toys https://hobby.dengeki.com/news/1800124/
  18. lechuck
    MPG-05 Seizan is up for pre-order. https://hobby.dengeki.com/news/1790913/ (a couple more images)
  19. lechuck
  20. lechuck
    Look great, this Battroid feels "back to the roots" with its utilitarian compactness. Dare I say probably the best looking amongst all the current toy and model kit options.
  21. lechuck
    Watch how the value of the original releases now plummet towards hell...
  22. lechuck
    Putting a tenner down, I think there is a high chance Cavil might be the next Bond.
  23. lechuck
    If anyone has both the MGEX and the Metal Build, I would love to see a side by side comparison.
  24. lechuck
    Holy crap, that is just terrible to be served off like that!? I don't have any invest in Victory Saber, but if I did my blood would be boiling. How does one end up with insufficient stock for something that is made to order?
  25. lechuck
    This could be THE ultimate Mazinkaiser by Sky X Studio. Definitely the tallest at 27.5cm compared to other current options and the removable magnetic panels is pretty cool. Also the advanced articulation with those moving pistons and panels is just fantastic.
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