Aoshima Variable 1/48 Legioss for 2007

[jenius]

Wow, sounds like a repainted MPC to me with a funky shoulder! I'm still going to buy a Stig version and review it on my site... I was really hoping they'd cost less though. The hands sound really interesting. I guess they went from terrible soft rubber to bad painted plastic... can't believe they didn't figure out a way to get this toy right. Aw sigh, I guess I'll just have to hold out hope for the CMs toy even though their prototype left so much to be desired.

[promethuem5]

Wowee! Sounds like nothing was done to fix the MPC figure, and maybe even made it worse. Aside from broken hands and general sloppy construction, I never had nearly that many problems with my red MPC Legioss...

[eriku]

Yikes. Ok then, when is that other Legioss coming out?

[Twoducks]

Really sloppy work from Aoshima then. The numerous problems the Alpha has are very well documented.

Guess now the only chance for me to own that mould is to find it for 30$ or less.

Hope I see some pics from CM soon.

Yikes. Ok then, when is that other Legioss coming out?

I think it was push back to/around Spring 2008 since the proto is being reworked (there's no official date). Comes with the Tread as a combo set.

[eriku]

Hope I see some pics from CM soon.

I think it was push back to/around Spring 2008 since the proto is being reworked (there's no official date). Comes with the Tread as a combo set.

I would guess maybe even longer than that if they're still working on the proto and haven't shown anything final yet. In any case, they can take all the time they need if that means it'll actually be a good piece and not filled with unforgivable flaws. Here's hoping!

[ruskiiVFaussie]

lol, worse than the Toycrappy version... that was unexpected! ... a little. lol No thanks!

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Do the arms worry you during transformation, Saverobotech? A lot of members who bought the toynami version a long while back all expressed concerns over the arms. Did they add ratchets to the shoulders?

Sucks that this toy suffers from stuck joints. Typically, those only plagued comic based figures.

[Mog]

Part of me is surprised they didn't try to improve the design some.

And yet, part of me isn't surprised at all.

Unless they added ratchet joints on the hips and shoulders, I really don't see how they can justify the price they're charging (maybe it's the added die-cast content? ). But yeah, paying US$89 for a figure with floppy arm syndrome would not be something I would be fond of.

Assuming the reaction for these new Legiosses is consistently lukewarm (or worse), it looks like that Toynami Tread/Beta is gonna get pushed back once again.

[Save]

Here are the pic of problem areas.

Paint chips, bent wing, and excess glue and scrapes.

[Graham]

aoshima's strap on missile thingy is pretty weak.

Heh........Aoshima uses 'a strap on'.....LOL!

Graham

[Save]

Picks straight out of the box and transformation.

[kensei]

Seems like its really the design that is at fault. Nothing can save that.

[promethuem5]

The design is at fault, but that looks like some finishing worse than Toynamis... the legs look like they were cut off the sprues with a pair of pliers and a hacksaw...

[Mog]

They ratchet-joint the chest (which no one was clamoring for), but they don't ratchet-joint the shoulders or the hips............IDIOTS!!!

[nightmareB4macross]

Strike one for Aoshima....Strike two for Toynami (since this version is just a remake of their junk)...who's next.

[Valk009]

Saw it and played it in person yesterday...well, nothing much to write home about!

I guess Aoshima has tried very hard but nevertheless it still has the Toynami quality build and feel, which compared with yamato is still miles away!

[rdenham]

Did Aoshima correct the banana type bend to the alpha when it is in fighter mode.

[drifand]

What a fiasco! I am now doubly curious as to HOW IN HECK Aoshima agreed to this deal without better QC assuarances. Almost everything they've made to-date have been consistently well-finished and of high quality materials, even if a little behind in terms of engineering or gimmicks. Now I really hope CM's shows them up!

[nightmareB4macross]

Hopefully, CMs does come through. What I don't understand is by produce crap from sh!t? It really doesn't make sense. If you're going to build something build it well or better.

So, now that we have seen a (not so fine) example of the LEGIOSS from Aoshima, does this mean we'll barely see the other three variants? Then nothing for the TRED?

I think we'll all have to wait and see if history doesn't fully repeat itself.

[Black Valkyrie]

Hmm.... too bad, luckly I`ve cancelled my order. Whats wrong with toy companies now a days ?

[Black Valkyrie]

More bad pics.

[JsARCLIGHT]

Whats wrong with toy companies now a days ?

They cut corners everywhere to save money and maximize profits. What starts as a wonderful, innovative design can become a complete glop of crap when the bean counters and front shop budget minders get involved and start changing specs and farming it all out to the lowest bidder to be made.

[Lynx7725]

More bad pics.

Hrumph... The good news is that now you can mount the gunpod on the top, which is a lot better than the odd way you mount it on the MPC. But the hands look no better, and the plastic quality looks no better. We also cannot quite tell whether the banana-boat syndrome has been fixed.

[jenius]

I'm guessing the banana wasn't fixed by the fact the pics from the latest person show they didn't transform it properly (small winglets not attached to intakes) which was most likely done to hide the banana-ing.

[konimon]

Aoshima surely saved some money by this. It is a good move for them as this is the only option for us to get a modern transformable Legioss.

They probably wanted to rush this release by doing minimal and mostly esthetic tooling before the market becomes like Cyclone/Mospeada's (which is good for collectors like us).

[drifand]

Matt Alt reports on Yaclog's comments after receiving his preorder:

http://toyboxdx.com/phorum/read.php?1,173781

It's a real shame how this turned out.

[Lynx7725]

Aoshima surely saved some money by this. It is a good move for them as this is the only option for us to get a modern transformable Legioss.

Matt Alt reports on Yaclog's comments after receiving his preorder:

http://toyboxdx.com/phorum/read.php?1,173781

It's a real shame how this turned out.

To quote Drifand's source:

The first commenter claims to have contacted Aoshima customer service after his Legioss' arm broke off right out of the package, and was told that the company will need another month to respond due to the massive nuber of complaints.

I'm not sure at this point whether Aoshima saved or lost money. Each QC case is expensive not only in terms of replacement parts (or whole toys), but also customer perceptions. Personally, I think Aoshima made a bad business decision, but that's just me.

[Graham]

Hrumph... The good news is that now you can mount the gunpod on the top, which is a lot better than the odd way you mount it on the MPC.

Toynami's "odd way" of mounting the gunpod under the wing of the MPC is actually correct according to the official Studio Artmic lineart.

Anyway, looks like Aoshima good royally screwed by Toynami.

Graham

[Lynx7725]

Toynami's "odd way" of mounting the gunpod under the wing of the MPC is actually correct according to the official Studio Artmic lineart.

Anyway, looks like Aoshima good royally screwed by Toynami.

Graham

I wasn't referring to the way it was mounted as "odd" because it's not correct to lineart -- rather, I dislike the way you have to remove the ammo clip to mount it. That just introduce another part to lose..

As for Aoshima being royally screwed by Toynami, to be honest I have to say they asked for it....

[kensei]

As for Aoshima being royally screwed by Toynami, to be honest I have to say they asked for it....

QFT, as they were too lazy to develop their own....

[JsARCLIGHT]

Not so much too lazy to develop their own but rather too lazy to actually FIX the problems with this hunk of junk's design. And to be honest I don't know how much of that you put on Aoshima. Are they simply the distributor for this or did they have a lot of "say" over the development and build of these things? Something tells me all they did was agree to have their name on the box and use their distribution channels to allow Toynami to sell their crap directly to the Japanese.

Methinks I smell another "well these didn't sell well enough so we won't be making the Tread after all" brewing again. Aoshima probably understands how their market feels about overpaying for crap toys but it makes me wonder if Toynami has figured it out yet...

[Awacs]

Not so much too lazy to develop their own but rather too lazy to actually FIX the problems with this hunk of junk's design. And to be honest I don't know how much of that you put on Aoshima. Are they simply the distributor for this or did they have a lot of "say" over the development and build of these things? Something tells me all they did was agree to have their name on the box and use their distribution channels to allow Toynami to sell their crap directly to the Japanese.

The impression I get, from reading some of the stuff on Robotech.com is that Aoshima went to Toynami and asked to license the Masterpiece Alpha Fighter molds to produce Legioss for the Japanese market. Toynami said "we can't do that because they were a limited edition and we've made the full run. But we'll engineer you a modified version that you can sell" - so they redesigned them adding the shoulder missile box and the intake missiles to the mold. Based on that arrangement I would suspect that the molds remain in Toynami's control and that Aoshima are repackaging what Toynami have produced. That's speculation I admit but it's the picture that makes the most sense to me based on the pieces we have.

Looking at the pictures I've seen here I would guess that these aren't going to be selling well enough to justify a Tread in the forseeable future. Looks like our hope is with CMS on that score (I hope that the current silence on that front doesn't mean they've run afoul of some sort of legal problem or anything).

I was planning on picking up the red Legioss from Aoshima as I still have a hankering for the Hoquet version. But looking at their Stick version.... errrr, no not really worth spending nearly fifty quid on.

Karl

[Kin]

I don't see anything different?

[drifand]

I don't see anything different?

Roger Harkavy's link to Yaclog's comparisons:

http://wildcats.pupui.jp/mt/archives/2007/11/post_27.html

- improved thigh front

- the new missile pod

- slot on back hip plate for gun

[jenius]

I don't think we need to hope that the new Aoshimas will sell well enough to justify a Tread. I think the Tread is a pretty much forgone conclusion at this point. Aoshima probably ordered a bunch from Toynami so as far as Toynami is concerned they've already sold "well." Now, obviously if Aoshima can unload them easily then Aoshima will likely order more Treads and if they sold horribly then Aoshima will probably buy less Treads so there is that piece of the puzzle. I suspect though that the deal that got Aoshima any Legiosses involved some sort of order for Treads as well and was the reason why Toynami finally finished their Beta prototype and announced its impending release. This is all a bunch of supposition but I think it all makes sense.