SuperHobo

Patience guys amiami will come through. I'm sure they're hard at work calculating and tallying up all of the ways possible to rape our wallets on shipping. I'll expect my YF-29 and poster within a week or so within a giant doghouse size box where I'll celebrate in triumph by spending 20 minutes to cut the box down just so it could fit in my garbage pale.

Looking good there. Also nice to see an extra integrated support bar to hold that up the backside of gerwalk mode. What's still baffling me is how they got the crouch and hips in battroid mode to look as accurate as they do. However, as much as I like what I see, I'm still going to wait this one out.

I just love the sound of that click when the chest locks in battroid mode. Transformation videos ftw

Unexpected metal content? What what? Like in the joints or exterior metal? Same questions intakes removable?

Well to keep the 00 Gundam in fashion I present to you all the METAL BUILD 00 REVIEW. Sculpt: The sculpt of the MB 00 Gundam is fantastic. The proportions have a very strong muscular build to them and it really translates well to the 00 gundam. All of the colors have been properly sculpted and painted in. Did I mention this figure is almost fully painted? That's right no crapshoot here, no sir, Bandai put a little extra effort in this one. Anyways, moving on to the tampo printed markings all over this piece, let me just say its quite nicely done with a rather asymmetrical look that overall fits in with the 7swords edition of the 00 gundam. Articulation: There are tons of joints on this figure and all of them are nice and tight. I would say the articulation is better than the HG 00 gundam, but not quite MG level of say the red frame, but nevertheless pretty much all of the joints you want to move are there. My only complaint is I wish there was possibly a tilting joint in the midtorso and possible another joint in the neck. The possibility on the neck is still quite good for a single ball joint, but it could of used a bit more range of motion. Other than that this thing is pretty well dayum articulated. Metal Content: This thing is called "metal build" right? right? Where the #$%^ is the metal bandai? Just kidding, this guy is quite heavy. The feet are metal, ankle joint, calve frame, knee joints, hip joints, crouch area, elbow joints, midtorso frame and finally the swing bars holding the GN drives are metal. Even though this guy isn't 70 or 80% diecast it still has a wonderful heft and in no way feels cheap. Accessories: So what do you get with this guy? Well you get a pretty neat stand, that's fully adjustable with locking positions to pose the gundam in tons of flight poses. You get 4 spare pairs of hands. The hands are nicely painted and sculpted. However, getting the two GN daggers in the proper hands can be a bit of a challenge. He comes with two beam sabers with 2 pink beams, the buster sword, the GN long and short sword, 2 GN daggers and finally two of the infamous "spatulas" to replace the GN long and short sword if you so desire. Can the metal build hold the buster sword with one hand? Well the answer is yes and no, yes he can hold it, but it's a little unstable and I wouldn't recommend you have him in a pose with the buster sword in midair for very long. Alternatively, you may use the stand Bandai provides for you if you want to use the buster sword as a sword. Finally you can also convert the GN short and long swords into their respective gun modes. Oh and of course the buster sword can also act as a huge shield. It attaches securely and has never once popped off. Cool right? Finally you get the two new parts to make the normal 00 gundam. Things to look out for: Even though the buster sword can be attached securely, it does make the gundam lean to the left a bit. Now the torso and waist joint are made of metal so I don't think it will break, but it is putting a bit of stress on those joints. Furthermore, the peg on the GN long and short swords that connect to the skirt armor might come undone, its a minor problem, but it gets annoying when the peg gets stuck in the skirt armor. Finally, since this piece is almost fully painted take care in posing because if you a little too rough you might chip some paint. Overall: This thing is beautiful, its heavy, its got tons of accessories and its dayum fun to pose. There are a few problems here and there, but there really minor. Well thanks for reading. Now go enjoy some pictures!!! A few more pics for fun. He dropped and gave me 20. Thanks for looking.

It appears there's also a new pilot sculpt. Excellent.

SDF-1 not included? and webshop based? My hopes of having an affordable DYRL SDF-1 has now gone down the drain....again because twice is not enough.

Whoa where did that pic come from? . The froating head strikes again!

The wait was worth it, thanks for the review Graham! Man oh man those are loud clicky ratchets joints relieve my mind of any future floppiness good job Yamato.

I'm not sure on this one as it kind of looks like a remolded and repainted DX 25

So for those of you who want the standard or SP version of the monster Animeexport is running a pretty sweet deal for the standard monster at 10,400yen and the SP version for 13,000yen before shipping and 20% off EMS http://www.anime-export.com/product/6097 Picked me up a standard version, I'm glad I waited.

Another interesting note is that the new metal build line is not exclusive to gundam and Shin if what you say is right about the designer of the 00 gundam and FMP mecha is heading this line we might be able to expect FMP 7 inch tall metal FMP figures!!!

If its possible I think the TV SDF-1 deserves a brand new sculpt of its own because for some of us that is the definitive macross battleship. The repaint/ remold isn't a terrible idea, but in my opinion is just seems kind of half-hearted. So I'd vote for a anime accurate TV macross.

Something has been kind of bothering me about the battloid mode of the monster. At the hip joint can the monster move his hips forward or backwards?

I'm thinking of pre-ordering my MP Rodimus here: http://en.item.rakuten.com/auc-ookawaya/tt-342403/ however I've never bought from rakuten before. Anyone have? any comments?

All it needs now is EXPLOSIONS!!! Mic-bay-EXPLOSIONS!

I bought a couple items for Anime export before and everything was fine. They respond to emails quickly and ship quickly. However, be careful when pre-ordering. It might look like a great price, but most of the time they'll charge you a bit more for shipping when all of the final calculations are done with. So don't be surprised that when you made your payment for your pre-order, another small extra shipping charge will come up. Hence, this is why I think AE should just charge the customer when the item is in stock and the final shipping charge could be determined, not the other way around. Just my 2 cents.

Bangbus or the orgybus? I'd like a ticket to get one ride on that bus.

I know its been said before, but it's true. Fansproject: making hasbro's crap more expensive since 2008.

Everyone is kneeling for the camera. While these figures can't pull off the perfect kneeling pose its not bad.

More pics! Eye Candy indeed!

Here's my review of the Bandai Web shop exclusive Tekkaman Evil armor plus figure. First of all this figure is an online exclusive that can only be bought from Bandai's website in Japan. In other words, if you happen to know someone in Japan or if you know a good middle man service your going to be need them to purchase this figure. In addition, if your uncomfortable with a middle man service a few normal toy retailers such as anime export and toy wave also have some limited stock of this figure ( for a marked up price of course). Anyways, on to the figure itself! Packaging and accessories: Tekkaman Evil's package comes in a box similar to previous armor plus figures with the exception of the opening lid to see the figure's layout. It's a pointless omission and it doesn't hurt the coolness of the packaging. In retrospect, its just a standard box with some neat photo shop work of the armored figure in its entirety. For accessories he comes with five pairs of interchangeable hands, his normal lance, his unarmored head, a four split lance and two blades for this pop off shoulder weapons. You pretty much get everything you need for Tekkaman Evil and the only accessory I think they could of included would be the tekka-crystal, but that will be coming with the Blastor Tekkaman (another web shop exclusive ). Sculpt and Detail: The sculpt on this figure like the rest of the armor plus figures is really sharp. Thanks to the help of CAD renderings Bandai was really able to capture the look and feel of how Tekkaman Evil appeared in the anime. Proportions look fantastic and I don't see any wonky limbs or heads when fully armored up. Furthermore, the paint job on my sample is very clean with little to no slop. Additionally, in the paint department this figure shines because all of the armor is fully painted and when put together gives the appearance of a professionally completed kit. What's also sweet is the amount of clear blue parts used around the figure's chest and back area to once again achieve a very sharp outlook. Gimmicks and weaponry: As noted before Tekkaman Evil comes with some badass weaponry and one of his interesting gimmicks is that part of this shoulder armor can be removed and attached to his forearms to make a striking armored blade. Everything fits pretty well together, but getting the blades on can be a little tough so just be a little patient with them until they're nice snug. It's also worth noting that his normal lance doesn't fit as snuggly in the hands as Tekkaman Blade's does. Sure, it's not like the lance will fall out, but it kind of slides around a bit. Anyways, TE also features the same sculpted eyes and face under the helmet and it makes for a pretty wicked effect. . In addition, what's equally sweet is the opening boosters on his back feature multiple levels of spreading armor and looks pretty sharp (both literally and figuratively). Finally, if you want to shed TE into his Pre-Tekkaman mode you can do so, but after looking at the armored mode, why would you? Articulation: Like the armor plus Blade, Evil is pretty much the same in terms of possibility:( double jointed neck, double jointed hips and elbows, ball jointed and hinged shoulders, bicep swivel, mid torso ball joint, ball jointed waist, double jointed hinged knees, hinged ankles and neat toe joint). Even though the articulation is similar I've noticed that the neck on TE is much more free and pose able for looking up and down. Another difference I found is that the inner hip joint that allows the hip to move down is a bit looser on TE and while it does help with posing the figure in more dynamic poses it also takes away some stability in holding the pose itself . Furthermore, when all of the armor is on some of the articulation gets limited and because TE is so spiky posing him needs to have some care involved so be careful. Die cast content: TE's feet are metal. The chest, inner shoulders, forearms, crouch, and calve armor is all made out of metal. With all of the metal TE feels very heavy and while it does make posing a little harder it really feels solid. Durablity and Build: Even though joints are tight now, all of them are friction joints and hinges so they can loosen up over time. The plastic quality feels pretty tough and since most of the armor is made out of metal I don't see too many collectors breaking anything. However, I've noticed that on TE some of the armor parts such as the forearm and leg armor don't attach as snuggly as Blade's. I don't know if that has anything to do with the way Bandai designed the new armor or if there's already mold deterioration on the base figure's mold . One more thing to note is that while swamping out the hands is still kind of a pain on TE its actually easier than using Blade's hands. On TE I can put the hands on in 30 seconds on TB it could take me up to 15 minutes to force the hands on. Final Thoughts: When I first discovered that Bandai was making these Tekkaman figures my head exploded and I immediately pre-ordered them as soon as the ordering page came up. Its a true sight to behold that these Tekkaman figures exist and I hope Bandai continues to bring out a few more of the armored suits in this line ( come on Sol Tekkaman come on)! Anyways, bottom line this figure is sweet, it looks great, poses pretty decently, and blows my mind to have one of the very few Tekkaman Evil toys ever made . Despite, a few problems and a jump in price Tekkaman fans won't be disappointed. Tekkaman fans have waited too long for awesome Tekkaman toys and now the wait is finally over so do yourself a favor and buy this toy.

Evil is here. Teaser pics before my review of the Tamashii Web exclusive Tekkaman Evil Armor Plus

I bought one! I'll review it when he gets here

Got my FP Bruticus upgrade today from Frank and Sons. A pretty solid set. However, my Blast off came with a cracked hinge , but thankfully the dudes at Franks were nice enough to replace mine . So after fiddling with these guys for a couple hours I noticed that the plastic quality definitely feels like a step down from their Springer and city commander trailers. Its not cheap KO plastic (far from it), but it doesn't feel as beefy as the previous FP stuff. Other than that paint is sharp, joints are solid (for now ) and they look great when combined! I happy am to report that the articulated beam fingers aren't floppy and quite solid and theres even a peg on the hand to securely lock the guns in no FLOP! I'm glad I got this set (finally !) and as always be careful fiddling with these guys. Even though they give off the allusion of being mere scout class Transformers you'll need to step down a little and take care when transforming these guys. I'll try to post some pics later. A little note for new owners: make sure you unlock Blast off's arms before trying to unlock the nose of the drone when going from drone to robot mode Another little note: I talked to the dudes at Franks and they told me from their source that they'd get MP Rodimus in for $150 so hopefully it will be that price and not the $200