ARMORED CORE SITES?

[DARTHTODD]

Hey, just wondering if anyone here knows a good armored core site/forum? I'm interested in these mecha and I specifically wanna find out what sort of figures are out there for this line. Thanks.

[Duke Togo]

Since MechMadness went down, I really don't know.

[Graham]

A couple of months ago, Kotobukiya realeased a set of Armored Core trading figures for ¥500 each. Although small, these gashapon type figures were quite detailed. See here: Armored Core Trading Figs. Unfortunately, HLJ no longer has stock, although other stores may have.

And as I'm sure you know, Kotobukiya used to make a series of Armored Core 'High End' Action figures, which were constructed of PVC & ABS and stood about 14cm high. However, these have been out of production for quite a while now. If you haven't seen these before, go to HLJ, do an advanced search for 'Armored Core' and you will see the whole Kotobukiya Armored Core line.

Graham

[bsu legato]

On a related topic, has anybody seen any Armored Core line art floating around on the web? Was there anything published that might have some, like a guidebook?

[Graham]

I have two Japanese books for the very first Armored Core game for the original Playstation.

Both books are published by Softbank Publishing. One book is a guide book, the other book is a design book with lots of kawamori lineart. AFAIK, both are long out of print.

And sorry, no I'm not going to scan them. Too many pages, not enough time (better things to do with my time), too many backlogged projects for Macrossworld to do, etc, etc.........

Graham

[bsu legato]

Both books are published by Softbank Publishing. One book is a guide book, the other book is a design book with lots of kawamori lineart. AFAIK, both are long out of print.

Thanks Graham. I'll have to add them to my ever-growing list of OOP books to track down.

[drifand]

I own a couple of the 'high end' AC2 figures. While the Kawamori designs are excellent eye candy, as toys they have some issues. Mostly I found them to be almost useless for dynamic posing - the legs don't have much freedom of movement about the hips, and the arms are too floppy to handle the oversized rifles properly. The shoulder attachments (boosters?) too often get in the way of other backpack-mounted weapons. I was quite keen on the half tank figure as well, but after the disappointing experience with the others, I decided to skip it. The best one of the lot is probably the blood-red AC2 Another Age ZIO MATRIX 02... beefy design and well balanced. The 'hero' mech EMERAUDE ECL-01 is probably the weakest of the lot (certainly has the lousiest leg joints).

Overall, Kotobukiya did a better job with the toys from Front Mission 3. Those were a lot more fun to play with. But that's just me :-P

[Angel's Fury]

Wow! These armored core trading figures are impressive! It's too bad Kotobukiya doesn't make them anymore.

[DARTHTODD]

Thanks for the info guys! That's what I was looking for, a list of what they've made for figures, thanks Graham. Anyone have any good sites that have information about the front mission 3 figures? I couldn't find any info on HLJ for them but I have found a couple around the net. These look pretty sweet too and I'd like to find a list of what they've made for this line if possible also. Thanks again.

[drifand]

Well, it won't be easy getting hold of the FM3 figures now as they were made 3 years ago (Y2K)! Kotobukiya still has some pix of the line-up here. For FM3, here's what I have from the first line-up, original Japanese names first, US-release versions in brackets:

01 - Wanzer Zenith Rev (aka 'Zenislev')

02 - Wanzer Type 107 Kyojun (aka 'Kyojun Mark 107')

03 - Wanzer Meredin M1 (aka 'Meledyne')

04 - Wanzer Dolague M2C (aka 'Drake')

05 - Wanzer Grilezex (aka 'Grezex')

06 - I.N. Corps Specific Wanzer (aka. 'Shunwang' - a 4-legged enemy walker!)

07 - Wanzer Reika Type 1 (aka 'Lenghe Type 1')

Of this lot, almost all were well-balanced and equipped with great looking swappable weapons and backpacks. The only slightly disappointing ones were the Meredin (a bit stiff in the legs) and the 4-legged Shunwang. I had high hopes for the crab-design, but the actual toy was rather limited in how it could be posed... not very interesting after all.

After that, Koto re-released the lot in 2 alternate colors (dark blue and army green), the gimmick being that you could swap parts as before, but the common color would produce a nicer looking custom Wanzer. By that time I was pretty sated and didn't feel like collecting the whole series again, so I only bought a select few of the blue variants. They originally retailed for 2980yen in Japan. If you're lucky, you might be able to find left-over Diamond-imports at some comic dealers...

The AC2 toys were less satisfying and seemed to be made from softer PVC materials (which I hate), so I won't talk anymore about those.

[Sarensaas]

I hope Koto makes figures for FM4 when it comes out. The mech designs from FM4 look so nice, more militaristic than FM3.

[drifand]

After the first 2 FM4 wallpapers for "Britney Spears" and "Logan", we finally get some MECHA!Looks like a new Wanzer Zenith... and something called BlizzaiaL, which looks like the offspring of a Qubeley and a tank! :-)

[Angel's Fury]

After the first 2 FM4 wallpapers for "Britney Spears" and "Logan", we finally get some MECHA!Looks like a new Wanzer Zenith... and something called BlizzaiaL, which looks like the offspring of a Qubeley and a tank! :-)

You got that right!