The Megazone 23 Garland By Yamato Thread

[VF5SS]

Can't you ask them to send you a replacement?

[drifand]

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way outside of Japan and the infinite kindness of YamatoUSA.

At this point in over 30 years of collecting Japanese toys, it's just bloody disappointing to see a company drop the ball like this when they have the means to produce something absolutely fantastic.

[mr.chogokin]

Wow! You've got the worst Garland ever. Yours even have issues no one has reported before. I guess you're still lucky since you've spent all your "quota of Yamato luck" on one single toy. Most of us have the issues scattered all over our collections

Actually, he's not the only one, I too experience loose magnets on my Army and Factory Garlands... They both have issues where the feet assembly come off totally if I "pull" too hard. All the fists are loose except for the Protogarland's. But I didn't mention them cuz they are easily fixed.

What bothered me more are instances like my Army Garland's very loose right arm... it turned out that a plastic part inside his right bicep connecting to the shoulder that broke, and that part is hidden by the shoulder casing that is glued tight. I wouldn't know if it was broken if I didn't pry the shoulder apart to tighten the arm. To cut the story short, I ended up fixing the plastic part by glueing them together and tighten the right arm, but as a trade off, I also have to contend with a right shoulder that has ugly plastic stress mark on it.

This beg the question...

1) Why do they glue parts that should be held together good enough with fasteners or screws?

2) Why not let us fix or tighten those parts that they miss during assembly or QC checks?

I would trade places with Drifand if I could.

[drifand]

I feel your pain, mr chogokin.

I really wanted to like this toy... had plans to detail-up and paint over the plasticky-white surfaces! Now that you mention the dumb glued-shut parts, I'm much less inclined to do so. I also just noticed:

The upper arms are assembled wrong-sided... the screw holes are exposed face-up in robot mode. CR@P!

In any case, I am taking my Army Garland back to the shop this evening and try to work out something with the owner... I'm certain he stocks at least one more of the same, but I'm not sure I want to take the chance anymore.

[Vermillion21]

Ouch. Sorry to hear about the poor QC on the Garland ... good luck getting it replaced.

[drifand]

Thank you for all the well wishes. Here's a quick update:

As I walked into the store at 7pm, the store owner looked up from the counter and said, "Oh no. The leg fell off or what?"

He sure knew his products!

After explaining the most major problems (magnets fell out, limp leg), he searched the back of the store and pulled the last Army Garland he had. Together, we opened the box and inspected the toy. Guess what?

- The magnets weren't glued down either :-/

- The right knee guard couldn't swing open freely. Something seemed to be obstructing the hinge inside the leg housing.

- The rear light also fell off (not glued down)

- The left shoulder joint is totally loose and cannot hold a pose.

Huh. The other customers in the store were bugged-eyed at the litany of QC 'issues' being revealed. At least both legs could extend and lock, but the shoddily assembled fists were a crying shame.

So now he's now stuck with an unsellable item. He tells me the return policy for resellers is so convoluted he'd rather take a loss than deal with the hassle. He asked the people in the store: "Anyone interested in the big Yamato Patlabor?".... silence and wry grins all around. "I guess not."

I thanked the owner and took the lesser of two evils home.

Edited October 29, 2008 by drifand

[Scream Man]

The rear light thing happeend on mine too, but i didnt ever worry about it. it clicked back on and only comes off occassionally.

The armn thing with the screws: From memory the upper arms can totally spin around, so u should be able to rotate them inwards easily.

The other stuff i dont know. I guess u could glue the magnets down...

[drifand]

Hi Scream Man,

Thanks for the advice and yes, the upper arms do rotate 360-degrees. I think my disappointment was exacerbated by the superior execution on the Proto Garland. For example on the PG, the upper arms only rotate along the upper groove because the lower portion is fixed to include an additional joint so that the arms can lever-up past 90-degrees (perfect for rifles-in-the-air poses). I was so used to this that the Army Garland's lesser-featured arms threw me a scare... it really looked like they assembled it wrongly.

The lack of glue on the rear light and magnets: fixed it myself with superglue, natch, but it's the lousy feeling that a whole batch of these pricey toys got pushed out the door without good QC.

Other functional things that the Proto Garland spoilt me for:

- Attachment pegs in the properly assembled hands that help to hold weapons firmly; had to drill holes and add pegs on the Army Garland myself.

- More versatile sculpt for the left fist that allowed a good range of poses; AG's pointy left hand looks dumb in most situations.

- Easier arrangement for the cockpit rear hatch to open in robot mode; AG's version needs to pull up the front-end first.

- Better construction of the feet block, screws only exposed on the inner side; Screws face outwards, easily detached from leg housing, loose parts.

- Problem-free knee guards; the AG's right knee is either misaligned in the slot or obstructed by excess glue/plastic flash.

- Properly detented shoulders to hold arms up laterally; AG is friction-joints only, and loose.

- Special optional lock piece to hold bike mode together more securely; none for the AG.

So I'd say if anyone wants to own a Garland, the best version to get is still the Proto Garland.

[mr.chogokin]

Yeah the ProtoGarland rocks. I say that even though mine came with a broken right handlebar, which was easily fixed with supaglu.

The optional belly lock piece is also a welcome idea on the PG as my other Garland droop their bellies on M-Craft mode.

The pointing finger on the normal Garlands also made them less macho looking next to the PG.

Drifand, I think you should've experience the PG last. I got my Factory and Army Garlands first and the PG last... so I was pleasantly surprised at the improvements.

[drifand]

Well, as a recent local ad said: "When life throws Lehmans, make lemonade."

I've started to grunge up the starkly white areas... which I suspect should've been metallic silver from what I've seen in the anime footage. Since Yamato has seen fit to glue-shut all vital areas (even those secured by hidden screws), it's just about impossible to take the toy apart without causing some permanent damage due to prying things apart.

The biggest headache by far is the 'no-grip' left shoulder joint: the perfect limp arm to go with the limp wristed hand. I've tried dripping some Tamiya super-thin cement into the adjacent surfaces of the joint, but it's not a good (or permanent) fix because after some posing, the layer of dried cement rubs off and flakes away. Anyone got a better solution for this problem?

[QuinJester]

Well, as a recent local ad said: "When life throws Lehmans, make lemonade."

I've started to grunge up the starkly white areas... which I suspect should've been metallic silver from what I've seen in the anime footage. Since Yamato has seen fit to glue-shut all vital areas (even those secured by hidden screws), it's just about impossible to take the toy apart without causing some permanent damage due to prying things apart.

The biggest headache by far is the 'no-grip' left shoulder joint: the perfect limp arm to go with the limp wristed hand. I've tried dripping some Tamiya super-thin cement into the adjacent surfaces of the joint, but it's not a good (or permanent) fix because after some posing, the layer of dried cement rubs off and flakes away. Anyone got a better solution for this problem?

You can always go to one more extreme and dribble some liquid superglue into the joint, making sure to continuously move it as soon as you put it in. After maybe a minute of frantic wiggling it should be safe to sit, but you'll feel the joint stiffening as the superglue coats and hardens on the inside of the joint. It's the method I use on ball joints that aren't accessible or removable such as those on Bandai's original SOC Eva-01. It's a little risky, 'cause, you know, superglue, but it definitely works.

[boota]

Looks like Yamato missed the schoolbus again... How to build a better bike.

The Garland is probably why Megazone 23 is still remembered today. It should deserve nothing less that what Kaneda's bike got.

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

I'm pretty satisfied with what Yamato did, considering that back in the "Robotech: The Untold Story" days I'd never imagine owning a Garland toy in my wildest dreams. But yeah, the Yamato Garland is far from perfect. QC issues aside I would've loved a fully poseable pilot figure with each release and I was always a detractor of magnets in transforming toys. (Actually, I'm planning on replacing those weak ass magnets for pegs. Shouldn't be so hard to accomplish if not for those hidden screws on the legs).

I'm afraid we'll have to wait a few more years for another company to pick up the franchise again.

Edited November 3, 2008 by Lonely Soldier Boy

[drifand]

Well, I've finished with my 'lemonade' for now: Repainted ALL the white parts with alcohol-based silver Gundam Marker, then dry-brushed over with the metallic-oil G-Marker as weathering. I think this was the color scheme sported by the Aoshima kit... tan brown + silver + dark gray. Pix in a day or two.

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

Can't wait to see what you do with it. I'd like cover mine with military markings when I find the time.

Edited November 4, 2008 by Lonely Soldier Boy

[drifand]

OK, here's my customised 1/15 Army Garland, which came out of the box a limp-wristed, limp-shouldered and lame-legged POS and had to be exchanged for one that was... less lame. Anyway, with nothing to lose on this piece of not-quite-there designer-mecha brilliance, I decided to redo all the stark white parts in dark-metallic, like the way it's shown on the Aoshima kit. The painting was done solely with Gundam Markers with some dry brushing on top.

First up, bike mode. Notice the contraption on the forearm-fuseage?

That's a custom mount for the beam gun scrounged from Bandai's 'Action Base' attachment parts.

Since the weapon is relatively short even when extended, I opted for a more functional location up-front instead of a bracket on the legs like I did for the Proto.

I prefer this solution to the anime magic of stowing the gun 'somewhere' inside the body in bike mode.

In robot mode, the mount is still pretty functional ala ye olde 1/55 Valkyries. Getting rid of the white areas for metallic silver doesn't look too bad either.

A closer look at the custom mount. The only white parts left are the 2 'braces' on the forearms... too tricky to repaint without masking.

[drifand]

One more view. I cut the piece down to size and chamfered the edges, then superglued it onto the arm. Yes, I made it permanent.

In action, the limp hands and left shoulder were simply useless. After much experimenting my solution for the wrist is to use some 'cow gum' residue (handily scrapped from the spine of various Macross Chronicle issues), and stretch it like a gummy rubber band around the wrist gap. It really helps to stop the flip-flop.

For the left shoulder, I dripped Tamiya super-thin cement into the joint... works for a few days until repeated posing wears the glue off. At least now it can hold a balanced pose.

Due to the short weapon and body proportions, 2-handed poses are very limited. There's the barely possible 'overhand stabilised stance'...

And the 'undergrasp supporting stance'.

Pretty convincing for CQB poses.

Next to the Proto Garland, the Army Garland can actually reach the same height if the feet are fully extended out of the lower legs. However, I find this makes the Army Garland look ungainly and off-balanced. Instead I choose to pull them out to just 2 'clicks'... enough for lateral positioning of the feet. And so, the much improved Proto Garland manages to look taller than its predecessor.

The duo in action... neither can pull off a convincing kneeling pose, but I'd be more than happy if only the whole line-up was as sturdily built as the Proto Garland.

I know this is counter-intuitive after all the 'fun' you see in my pix, but for fuss free enjoyment, steer clear of ANY Garland and stick with the superior Proto Garland.

[mr.chogokin]

To be fair, I think the Factory Garland is the most problem free of the 1st trio of Garlands.

I like how you made the army version look a little more realistic now, cuz I can't take the brilliant whites on it seriously. They are too fake and plasticky. The orb gun holder you made is kickass!

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

Great work as usual, Drif.

I completely agree with the gun holder philosophy. Gotta do me a few for all my three G's. Can you post a pic of the Action Base's user manual to see which pieces you used? Just in case I can't figure out myself

[drifand]

Well, I'm at work now but for those who are interested in the mod, I used:

1. A 'flat-L' attachment piece from a large gray Action Base 1 series for the main structure;

2. A square-slot piece from a smaller black Action Base 2 series for the outer brace.

On the gray AB1 piece: Cut down to size and snip off the 3 mini buttresses on the inside-L corner to ensure a flush fit on the arm.

Snip off the hexagonal peg by 1 mm to allow the black piece to fit snug against the gun. I also sanded down the peg's hexagonal sides a bit to let the black piece rotate away for stowage in robot mode.

On the black AB2 piece: The original screw hole has a raised supporting 'collar'. I snipped off about 1/3 of it so that enough remained to grip the gun along its raised ridges on the sides. If you snip off the whole collar, the piece will not be able to secure the gun well.

Edited November 6, 2008 by drifand

[drifand]

Here's a couple of screencaps of the Army Garland... more metallic than white, wouldn't you say?

Edited November 6, 2008 by drifand

[mr.chogokin]

Yeah, would've been so much cooler if those grey parts are painted or moulded with gunmetal color.

[promethuem5]

Awesome tweaks, both for the paint and the gun clip... to tighten the shoulder joint I'd recommend liquid Super Glue over Tamiya Plastic Cement... CA Glue will form an extra layer of material in the joint and increase tolerances while Plastic Cement melts the plastic of the components and forms a bond between the material of the joint.

[drifand]

Hi Promethuem5,

Thanks for the superglue tip... I think I will look for one of those not-so-instant versions! I get nervous thinking about the potential disaster if the glue acts too fast!

Anyway, for those who are thinking of doing the same mod for the gun mount, here's a rough sketch:

What I left out:

It's a good idea to snip off the ring collar and triangle-struts on the AB1 piece first. This lets you place it on the Garland's arm and outline the area you need to snip off.

Edited November 7, 2008 by drifand

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

Drifand, you rock! Thanks for the sketch. I got it clearer now.

We should have recasts available since I don't have that many action bases to salvage.

[Scream Man]

yeah and they look like the bits that come with the Gundam stands u can buy as well.

cool trick. Might try that...

[drifand]

Well, good luck to your guys! Update with pix when you're done :-)

[Hikuro]

Pretty sweet right there.

I got bored and was playing with my Garland and I FINALLY figured out a way to properly seat Shogo in Meanuver slave mode, and keep the cockpit hatches closed.

position the seat fully into the backside, sit shogo down, rotate his arms so they look like they're sitting on his ass, keep the knees slightly bent, feet angled down. And than just watch his legs from getting caught from the torso front, and walah. Not only is he sat in just right, but you can even open the hatch cover and move his head around to look cool.

[RD Blade]

Yeah. His posture pretty much has to go from race bike to chopper.

[glane21]

I fear that Yamato may be done with the MegaZone license. I was really hoping for a Hargun and a GR-2 green hover Garland. But no news of any upcoming figures in such a long time....

[boota]

Yup, look at HLJ... even the Yamato Protogarlands are showing a dismal performance at 50% off! And it's their least problematic one at that! What're y'all waiting for, the Yen to crash?

[RavenHawk]

Does that mean no Garland E=X (sorry if I'm remembering the name incorrectly)?

[QuinJester]

What're y'all waiting for, the Yen to crash?

Um... yes, actually. Eheh. <sigh>

[anime52k8]

What're y'all waiting for, the Yen to crash?

I'm actually hopping for it.

[ShadowerV2]

I like to see a non transformable Hargun type. Any chance of them making them?

I'd say yes.

http://www.hlj.com/product/ORG02151