drifand

There are several versions of the "Kerberos'" armor. The one in that auction is made by Dragon Models and depicts one version as shown in a live-action film. There is also an earlier design for another live-action film, and then there's the Jin-Roh anime film version. The first picture in the thread seems to be a CUSTOM 12" figure of the Jin-Roh design, made by Heroes Club, who are famous for their very expensive auctions of customized figures. Don't ask about whether such customs are 'worth it'... only the buyer can decide. If your heart is set on the Jin-Roh design, then tough. The only large toy of it is the 12" Japan-exclusive Medicom Collectors' Club edition (US$150~200++) which is now OOP. Some folks have sought out the 12" Kaiyodo vinyl kit instead to make their own 12" customs. Otherwide, you can opt for the smaller 5" Kaiyodo action figure. Do a search on the forum for Jin-roh or Kerbero Panzer Cops. Plenty of info in those older threads.

Drifand, you're gonna post pics of your mod right? Well,you can already see some of the improvements in the newer shot, like the inked-in panel lines and the modified landing gear, although things like the proper clearance for the stub-wing pylons and painted cockpit details may be harder to notice. I still want to remove the bulky 'rotor guard' covering the tailfan, and maybe sanding down the edges of the 5-blade rotor and then painting them in flat black to match the finish on the Armour models. Another option is to paint the hub in bright orange to replicate the look of the prototype craft. Anyway, I just bought another one to keep in original condition, so I'll probably snap some comparison pix once I'm done. :-)

Just a quick snap. I bought a 1/100 scale Armour Collection AH-64A Apache on sale and got a AH-1W Super Cobra for free! So now I've three of the best US attack helis together... well, make that two. :-)

Only on very rare occasions do I leave a toy unopened - and that's only if I'd bought an extra to keep. You've got to ask yourself WHY you even bought the SOC Dan if you didn't intend to take it out of the box. "Investment"?

The 1/60 VF-1Js just look better to me - the head sculpt isn't 'just slightly off' like the 1/48's, and the Battroids have better proportions too. With a couple of needed mods, they make for my favorite realistic display pieces. :-)

Those will look sweet next to the 1/144 Doyusha VFs! I'm definitely going to get a whole set of those little destroids - they're real affordable for vintage pieces and aren't hard to complete. :-)

Impressively proportioned and engineered, but falls short on the poorly designed optional head connector (too loose). Considered by many to be overpriced at $200-250. But as some well-heeled folks on this board like to say: If you like it you'll pay the price (Huh)! At least you get some quality metal in this beast that weighs 1.1kg out of the box. Check out my TBDX Rumble from long ago.

WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!! don`t sell it, you`ll regret it later. Are there any reissues of DX MKII or Musha MKII ? The DX Musha Gundamcloth Mk-II was already a reissue of sorts for the DX Gundam Mk-II. You can also look for the ridiculously large Korean bootleg of the DX Mk-II by Academy. A perfect, high quality scaled-up repro of the toy.

Matt Alt and Tim Brisko's review can be found here.

Features, sculpt, size and poseability are as expected and acceptable. Materials are OK but having diecast in the lower legs might have provided better balance. In lieu of ballast, perhaps a stand for 'spacecraft style' posing would have been great. However, the hefty price tag doesn't seem right to me, so it'll definitely be on the wait-and-see list instead of 'buy-it-now'.

Sounds like a good candidate for Ver. 2.0 treatment. Except, there may not be enough demand to warrant it. Hope to get a feel of the actual toy before deciding to buy... The price doesn't seem right.

Interesting ! die-cast ! because I really want the HCM Gundam MKII and you can forget the FIX MKII to expensive! IMO the HCM MK.II does not really have a very good sculpt, the head is a bit wrong, plus I find the body a little chunky. Also, it does not come with a bazooka. If you want an accurate looking, well articulated, relatively cheap MK.II toy, IMO the MSiA is far better than the HCM. Graham Very true. The old HCMs don't have very modern Katoki'd proportions. The best thing they have going for them is diecast joints and styrene instead of PVC. Here's a comparison of the Mk-II:

A friend found this large but rather bland looking display model... 'only' $160. And here's a report on the Comanche's cost overruns and shortcomings.

Don't know about that... except the box does mention it is officially licensed product. Might pick up another one because I'm already making modifications to it. I cleared the inner pylons on the stub wings as the real internal bay doors would need the clearance to deploy. Also drilled out the triangular hollow on the molded front gears to replicate proper landing struts. Considering prying off the canopy to insert some 1/100 pilot figures. Definitely getting some olive drab for a repaint :-)

First guess: Unstable. Second guess: Lack of poseability.

Needs birds... :-)

On a whim, I decided to buy a small diecast toy of the Comanche, seeing as how it may soon go the way of the YF-23. It's a cheap little thing, made by MAISTO with an overall length of about 13.7cm (roughly 1/100 scale). Most online photos don't show the optional attack-profile pylons at all, but I guess MAISTO felt it would make for a cooler looking product. I'm already thinking of getting some 1/100 kit weapons to replace the grubby rockets on the toy... Overall, not the most accurate Comanche you can get, but pretty nice for a cheap and small diecast toy :-)

$50 to $60 tops. Look at the quality and intricacy of the TAKARA Binaltech Smokescreen... They've got 'no competition' in the TF market and I still paid less than $50 for it. If Toynami wants a bigger profit margin, they should scale back on the kitschy boxes and go with a simpler, classier box. Give your customers real value and they'll support you with more dollars.

I actually LIKE the slightly retro look of the AE Gundam... I mean, it's a good re-interpretation of the original design without becoming Katoki'd to death. Check out Tim Brisko's awesome shot of the AE RX-78 on the TBDX homepage! This one is a must-buy for me. As for the Gelgoog, I was hoping for more details... It looks like the old MSiA had more lines scribed onto it than the AE version. At least it'll be more poseable than the old brick of an MG! Guess I'll have to see the real thing before deciding to open the wallet.

The Victory Gundam MS were designed to be smaller than the usual 20m heights, so in 1/100 scale, they'd look pretty small next to the other MGs. F-91 also has a similar 'problem'. And while the 1/144 MS in Pocket toys aren't very poseable by today's standards, they are made of tougher plastics than today's PVC based MSiAs, and even feature some diecast (usually in the hips and legs). As collectors' pieces, the variety is excellent and the prices still very affordable even on eBay. Their weakest area is in the plastics used for the translucent beam shields and sabers... those can fade and turn brittle if overexposed to sunlight, as I've learned to great cost. The white plastics used for the Gundams are also susceptible to yellowing, so keep them away from the UV!

The cut-out heatshield can be improved if you're so inclined: After cutting it out neatly, make the inner surface opaque by painting it with a solid black paint marker (maybe 2 coats). This prevents light from leaking into the cockpit and coming out at the edges as a red glow. You should also carefully paint the edges of the shield in black as well so that the frame also appears more solid. Just make sure everything is dry before putting it back on the cockpit. Try it! :-)

All the 1/60's have some kind of problem or other (especially in the low-hanging gunpods in fighter mode), but most of them were fixed by the releases of Hikaru's VF-1J Super Valkyie. Unfortunately, with final release of the twin-seaters, the Super Ostrich and Elintseeker have been known to have a problem with their redesigned chestplates and require some toy surgery if you want it to transform properly. The attraction of the 1/60s is still in the line's greater variety, affordability, upcoming enemies (and maybe Destroids) in the same scale, and perhaps slightly better proportions in the Battroid Mode over all other transformable versions.

Hi GC, Wish I could, but what time I can squeeze out of work is usually used for more relaxing stuff... like getting more toys! With the arrangements changing every 2~3 months, it's difficult to update them all the time. My Orguss and Macross shelves have changed quite a bit from the pix on my site... and the Orguss portion is more like this today. I've also 'rotated out' my space gobbling Sentai ships for a big chunk of Gundam stuff. And my bro's shelf for SOCs is also quite different now with the addition of the Getters, etc. Our Kamen Riders have also been updated. Hopefully, sometime middle of the year I'll get round to redoing the whole site with a cleaner design. :-)

Well, Doyusha never did reach ver 2.0 for their VFs, so nope, no pilots. Not even legless ones! Only consolation is that the canopies are quite thick and hard to see thru. Those Dragon sets looks pretty cool! I could use one of those for my remaining 1/144 Hikaru 1A. Thanks for the link!

What I'd like is a figure of the lily-livered Hudson complete with a display base with electronic sounds and his trademark phrase "Game over, man! Game OVER!"