Consolidated Megazone 23 Toy/Model Thread for 2017-2018

[daBlah!]

https://www.hlj.com/1-24-scale-megazone-23-die-cast-model-garland-autonomous-army-color-ver-acamrk821566

 

I was hoping this would be available on HLJ. I had added one on nin-nin but held off.

Edited February 4, 2021 by daBlah!

[treatment]

57 minutes ago, daBlah! said:

https://www.hlj.com/1-24-scale-megazone-23-die-cast-model-garland-autonomous-army-color-ver-acamrk821566

 

I was hoping this would be available on HLJ. I had added one on nin-nin but held off.

yup...

[treatment]

Arcadia 1/24 Garland re-issue release-date delayed:

https://twitter.com/ARCADIA_Co_Ltd/status/1405786373387284480

Quote

[Notice] Regarding the products scheduled to be shipped this month, we are sorry to inform you that the release date has been postponed. ◆ 1/24 scale die-cast model Garland [Before change] Scheduled for late June 2021 ↓ [After change] Currently being confirmed * We will announce it as soon as it is confirmed. We apologize for the inconvenience, but thank you for your cooperation.

 

 

Edited June 19, 2021 by treatment

[MKT]

Took to re-watching Megazone 23 Part 1 recently, and just only realized the song early in the movie is the same  as another song by a very well known Cantopop singer. Interesting since I read the discussion of songs being ripped-off in the Bubblegum Crisis tread..

 

 

 

Meanwhile, copy and pasting my post from another tread:

Recent Megazone 23 purchase arrivals:

After getting my first Garland toy from Arcadia back few years ago, I went on a hunt for the older Yamato releases, starting with the repaints. Kudos to @jenius for his reviews. The original Yamato regular red Garland always eluded me, in a sense it was tough to find one that hasn't had exploding metal bars or shoulders, or the very elusive red metallic gift set version with fixed joints & better paint.

So when the regular red appeared on Mandarake for super low price and with no remarks of damaged or broken joints, I jumped on it. Duly checked when it arrived and very stoked that all the joints are indeed intact on this copy..

 

 

As luck would have it, when it rains it pours, but in a good way. Right after the red Garland purchase, the red metallic gift set version suddenly shows up for sale elsewhere. I have never, ever seen this pop up anywhere before, so was even more excited with this purchase and the anticipation of it when the package was on the way.. 

And so it finally arrives..

 

 

Although the DVD is quite obsolete now, the icing on this red metallic version is the VERY nice artbook that comes with it.. Can't wait to set all these up with the other Garlands.. 

 

Now, just waiting for Arcadia to release their 1/24 Army colour version that should be out next month. Hopefully it wont be delayed any longer..

 

[JetJockey]

On 9/9/2021 at 1:57 AM, MKT said:

Took to re-watching Megazone 23 Part 1 recently, and just only realized the song early in the movie is the same  as another song by a very well known Cantopop singer. Interesting since I read the discussion of songs being ripped-off in the Bubblegum Crisis tread..

 

 

 

Meanwhile, copy and pasting my post from another tread:

Recent Megazone 23 purchase arrivals:

After getting my first Garland toy from Arcadia back few years ago, I went on a hunt for the older Yamato releases, starting with the repaints. Kudos to @jenius for his reviews. The original Yamato regular red Garland always eluded me, in a sense it was tough to find one that hasn't had exploding metal bars or shoulders, or the very elusive red metallic gift set version with fixed joints & better paint.

So when the regular red appeared on Mandarake for super low price and with no remarks of damaged or broken joints, I jumped on it. Duly checked when it arrived and very stoked that all the joints are indeed intact on this copy..

 

 

As luck would have it, when it rains it pours, but in a good way. Right after the red Garland purchase, the red metallic gift set version suddenly shows up for sale elsewhere. I have never, ever seen this pop up anywhere before, so was even more excited with this purchase and the anticipation of it when the package was on the way.. 

And so it finally arrives..

 

 

Although the DVD is quite obsolete now, the icing on this red metallic version is the VERY nice artbook that comes with it.. Can't wait to set all these up with the other Garlands.. 

 

Now, just waiting for Arcadia to release their 1/24 Army colour version that should be out next month. Hopefully it wont be delayed any longer..

 

All these rip off and alternate songs are upsetting me.

Anyway, I believe I saw that book posted before in this topic. But it's just Part 1 right? Any pull out posters in there? I lean towards thinking that Parts 2 and Part 3 are the best. But I still want Eve singing posters from all three parts. I only have the one so far from the Megazone 23 box set that was released in the US a long time ago. I would go after singing cels but posters should be far easier.

[MKT]

11 hours ago, JetJockey said:

All these rip off and alternate songs are upsetting me.

Anyway, I believe I saw that book posted before in this topic. But it's just Part 1 right? Any pull out posters in there? I lean towards thinking that Parts 2 and Part 3 are the best. But I still want Eve singing posters from all three parts. I only have the one so far from the Megazone 23 box set that was released in the US a long time ago. I would go after singing cels but posters should be far easier.

Yeah it is the Maneuver Book, and for Part 1 only. Looking at past posts and other info, it seems the book was considered bad in its time due to heavy recycled content, and high price tag when it was sold as a standalone. I'm pretty happy with it since it is my only M23 book.. No pull out posters though.

I wish there were more figures of Eve made from Parts 1 & 2.. instead of just obscure resin kits..

[Bobby]

Actually, it does have a "secret" fold out poster in it ... if you remove the book jacket, on the reverse side of the jacket there is quite a large fold out poster (over 2 ft) of the red Garland in bike mode which is pretty awesome and pretty detailed. The Megazone Manuever Book that was sold separately from the box set (has silver cover) which I bought first, did not have this jacket hence no poster.

I regularly check behind my book jackets from Japan because sometimes the art printed on the binded cover (both front and back) of the book differs from the art found on the book jacket (nice way to sneak in more art!). While it is not that common it's always nice to find these easter eggs!

[oshanmacross]

Yeah, that book is lacking alot.
If really into Megazone bikes follow this person on twitter: @R_AREA2019

Lots of good fan made comics obsessing on the Megazone 23 bikes and all variations.

[JetJockey]

8 hours ago, MKT said:

Yeah it is the Maneuver Book, and for Part 1 only. Looking at past posts and other info, it seems the book was considered bad in its time due to heavy recycled content, and high price tag when it was sold as a standalone. I'm pretty happy with it since it is my only M23 book.. No pull out posters though.

I wish there were more figures of Eve made from Parts 1 & 2.. instead of just obscure resin kits..

No one seems to want to make figures of the old anime characters. I'm surprised we got a Zillion Apple figure a while back. I don't know how that happened. Yet no Minmay, original Dirty Pair, Eve, Priss, or others yet.

 

1 hour ago, Bobby said:

Actually, it does have a "secret" fold out poster in it ... if you remove the book jacket, on the reverse side of the jacket there is quite a large fold out poster (over 2 ft) of the red Garland in bike mode which is pretty awesome and pretty detailed. The Megazone Manuever Book that was sold separately from the box set (has silver cover) which I bought first, did not have this jacket hence no poster.

I regularly check behind my book jackets from Japan because sometimes the art printed on the binded cover (both front and back) of the book differs from the art found on the book jacket (nice way to sneak in more art!). While it is not that common it's always nice to find these easter eggs!

Can you post a picture of the secret poster?

[Bobby]

24 minutes ago, JetJockey said:

Can you post a picture of the secret poster?

You bet ... (photoshopped out the folds)

[JetJockey]

1 hour ago, Bobby said:

You bet ... (photoshopped out the folds)

Thanks, I can't remember seeing that one before.

[MKT]

4 hours ago, Bobby said:

Actually, it does have a "secret" fold out poster in it ... if you remove the book jacket, on the reverse side of the jacket there is quite a large fold out poster (over 2 ft) of the red Garland in bike mode which is pretty awesome and pretty detailed. The Megazone Manuever Book that was sold separately from the box set (has silver cover) which I bought first, did not have this jacket hence no poster.

I regularly check behind my book jackets from Japan because sometimes the art printed on the binded cover (both front and back) of the book differs from the art found on the book jacket (nice way to sneak in more art!). While it is not that common it's always nice to find these easter eggs!

Wow thanks for the info, I totally missed that jacket poster! I guess it also explains why this book's prices in secondary market appear to be higher than the standalone print..

 

3 hours ago, JetJockey said:

No one seems to want to make figures of the old anime characters. I'm surprised we got a Zillion Apple figure a while back. I don't know how that happened. Yet no Minmay, original Dirty Pair, Eve, Priss, or others yet.

 

I didn't watch Zillion, but I got the Apple figure for heck of it, and really like the sculpt and its subtle details the pose brings. I'm guessing the market for figures of older anime are very different from the mecha toys that gets more chances of re-releases. At this point, I think only a true fan sitting high up enough in one of the figure-making companies would be able to push through these figures.

Minmay is wayyy overdue, but since new Basara & Mylene figures are now being made, hopefully she'll be next..

 

@oshanmacross thanks for the link. The more I see the Garlands, the more I appreciate them and their derivatives. Bike mode has that outrageous futuristic coolness (mainly the leg side-pods), Slave mode has the chunky 80's real-mecha look, whilst the transformation process has a straightforward but elegant simplicity to it.

 

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by MKT

[JetJockey]

5 hours ago, MKT said:

I didn't watch Zillion, but I got the Apple figure for heck of it, and really like the sculpt and its subtle details the pose brings. I'm guessing the market for figures of older anime are very different from the mecha toys that gets more chances of re-releases. At this point, I think only a true fan sitting high up enough in one of the figure-making companies would be able to push through these figures.

Minmay is wayyy overdue, but since new Basara & Mylene figures are now being made, hopefully she'll be next..

 

@oshanmacross thanks for the link. The more I see the Garlands, the more I appreciate them and their derivatives. Bike mode has that outrageous futuristic coolness (mainly the leg side-pods), Slave mode has the chunky 80's real-mecha look, whilst the transformation process has a straightforward but elegant simplicity to it.

I still haven't finished all the Zillion episodes yet. But I only knew Zillion originally from the old Sega Master System game. I think that was the first Metroidvania type game I ever played. Possibly before the original NES Metroid. But I didn't think Apple would be more popular than Kei and Yuri. I mean one anime series versus a Dirty Pair TV show, OVA series, and feature film.

Another thing, I wonder why there isn't a Garland style motorcycle in real life yet? I'm seeing a lot of three wheels, two in the back, one in the front, hybrid motorcycles more often. I guess they are safer because they have three wheels.

Edited September 13, 2021 by JetJockey

[RavenHawk]

4 hours ago, JetJockey said:

I still haven't finished all the Zillion episodes yet. But I only knew Zillion originally from the old Sega Master System game. I think that was the first Metroidvania type game I ever played. Possibly before the original NES Metroid. But I didn't think Apple would be more popular than Kei and Yuri. I mean one anime series versus a Dirty Pair TV show, OVA series, and feature film.

Another thing, I wonder why there isn't a Garland style motorcycle in real life yet? I'm seeing a lot of three wheels, two in the back, one in the front, hybrid motorcycles more often. I guess they are safer because they have three wheels.

I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say a "Garland style motorcycle" and then talk about trikes. The front wheel of the Garland splits in two for transformation (same with the Bubblegum Crisis motoslaves), but it is still just a two-wheeled bike, not a trike. The Tri-Charger in Zillion is a trike, however.

As for real life, trikes with two wheels in back have been around for a long time. They're better for stability when going slow or not taking fast corners, but not so great at high speed cornering. The bikes with two wheels in front (like the Yamaha Niken) are a bit newer, within the last twenty years, since previous attempts at having steering and active suspension in front with crazy heavy bikes met with mixed results, and are very stable, but still haven't gotten as popular as just a basic two wheeled motorcycle. Some of it is weight, some of it is the excitement of being able to lean a two-wheeled bike a lot more, and some is just image.

[JetJockey]

11 hours ago, RavenHawk said:

I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say a "Garland style motorcycle" and then talk about trikes. The front wheel of the Garland splits in two for transformation (same with the Bubblegum Crisis motoslaves), but it is still just a two-wheeled bike, not a trike. The Tri-Charger in Zillion is a trike, however.

As for real life, trikes with two wheels in back have been around for a long time. They're better for stability when going slow or not taking fast corners, but not so great at high speed cornering. The bikes with two wheels in front (like the Yamaha Niken) are a bit newer, within the last twenty years, since previous attempts at having steering and active suspension in front with crazy heavy bikes met with mixed results, and are very stable, but still haven't gotten as popular as just a basic two wheeled motorcycle. Some of it is weight, some of it is the excitement of being able to lean a two-wheeled bike a lot more, and some is just image.

Maybe I'm just noticing more of these sporty trikes with flashy paint jobs. When I see them I think who would want that over a motorcycle? Then I think since they are making those, why not a Garland design? What's stopping them?

[Bobby]

To RavenHawk's point regarding lean, that's probably the Garland's overriding issue and mainly how low the side-mounted legs hang. In one of the Megazone art books I have the Garland has been given some sort of "biker assist system" (see pic) where it detects the rider's banking angle and the legs automatically move/rotate out of the way to help the rider achieve maximum lean on sharp turns. The left and right "leg engines" are actively always trying to keep as low of a position as possible to help maintain a low center of gravity. Both Kawasaki and/or the backyard-hobby-enthusiast-builder are welcome to tackle that!  We've all probably seen some of the real-life Akira bikes and Tron Light Cycles people have made here and there online, but nothing this elaborate ... oh anime-magic transformation, you got us again!

 

[daBlah!]

On 9/12/2021 at 10:28 PM, oshanmacross said:

Yeah, that book is lacking alot.
If really into Megazone bikes follow this person on twitter: @R_AREA2019

Lots of good fan made comics obsessing on the Megazone 23 bikes and all variations.

Does anyone know a supplier than can ship the R_AREA comics outside of Japan? I've seen their links to some online ones but haven't seen international shipping options?

[MKT]

I thought R-Area sounds mightily familiar, and it jogged my memory: he has just started publishing some Macross doujin as well, & feature quite interesting Valkyrie kitbashes. One of the recent ones was of a Tomahawk VF-1 kitbash that interestingly works quite well visually.

Seeing some of his (perhaps not all) published works listed on Mandarake..

Edited September 14, 2021 by MKT

[Bobby]

4 hours ago, daBlah! said:

Does anyone know a supplier than can ship the R_AREA comics outside of Japan? I've seen their links to some online ones but haven't seen international shipping options?

In instances like this I have used ZenMarket's "Other Shops" link and add the direct URL of the item(s) I want to purchase. Then they buy it for me and charge ¥300 per item for proxy and hold it my "warehouse" for up to 45 days for free. I will then usually purchase other things during that time to make a haul and then around day 40 create the parcel (also a free service). They provide around 6-7 shipping options to choose from (I actually just got a package from them yesterday). This was interesting to me that just recently I calculated that it was cheaper for me to buy 5 books from Mandarake going through ZM vs going through Mandarake direct. Shipping within Japan is fairly cheap when vendors use things like Yu-Pack (Japan's parcel post equivalent) and for this instance having Madarake ship my items to ZM and then having ZM consolidate it into one package for me (free) was cheaper mainly because ZM offers way more shipping options than Mandarake at the moment.

[JetJockey]

On 9/13/2021 at 8:12 PM, Bobby said:

To RavenHawk's point regarding lean, that's probably the Garland's overriding issue and mainly how low the side-mounted legs hang. In one of the Megazone art books I have the Garland has been given some sort of "biker assist system" (see pic) where it detects the rider's banking angle and the legs automatically move/rotate out of the way to help the rider achieve maximum lean on sharp turns. The left and right "leg engines" are actively always trying to keep as low of a position as possible to help maintain a low center of gravity. Both Kawasaki and/or the backyard-hobby-enthusiast-builder are welcome to tackle that!  We've all probably seen some of the real-life Akira bikes and Tron Light Cycles people have made here and there online, but nothing this elaborate ... oh anime-magic transformation, you got us again!

 

My first thought was that since they make big Harleys that it shouldn't be much of a problem. Although I don't really like Harleys. Too big and loud. But anyway, they could adjust the sides so it's not that low to the ground. Then, I remembered this video I saw some years ago. They have a bunch of crash videos around that turn.

 

[Bobby]

 ... guess he forgot to activate "Biker Assist Program" to help get those saddlebags out of the way

[JetJockey]

4 hours ago, Bobby said:

 ... guess he forgot to activate "Biker Assist Program" to help get those saddlebags out of the way

This guy needed more than a biker assist.

It never ceases to amaze me the number of people who will push their luck on public roads. I was guilty of it but one slip up or patch of fluid on the road means disaster if not worse if you injure someone else.

Edited September 15, 2021 by JetJockey

[RavenHawk]

2 minutes ago, JetJockey said:

I was guilty of it but one slip up or patch of fluid on the road means disaster if not worse it you injure someone else.

The lucky few of us whose one moment of foolishness left us alive to learn from it...

[daBlah!]

18 hours ago, Bobby said:

In instances like this I have used ZenMarket's "Other Shops" link and add the direct URL of the item(s) I want to purchase. Then they buy it for me and charge ¥300 per item for proxy and hold it my "warehouse" for up to 45 days for free. I will then usually purchase other things during that time to make a haul and then around day 40 create the parcel (also a free service). They provide around 6-7 shipping options to choose from (I actually just got a package from them yesterday). This was interesting to me that just recently I calculated that it was cheaper for me to buy 5 books from Mandarake going through ZM vs going through Mandarake direct. Shipping within Japan is fairly cheap when vendors use things like Yu-Pack (Japan's parcel post equivalent) and for this instance having Madarake ship my items to ZM and then having ZM consolidate it into one package for me (free) was cheaper mainly because ZM offers way more shipping options than Mandarake at the moment.

Thank you that's actually a great help! I've never used it before but will check it out for this case.

This is looking great!

https://twitter.com/imizuhiroshi/status/1438074243187568643

Edited September 15, 2021 by daBlah!

[RavenHawk]

4 hours ago, daBlah! said:

This is looking great!

https://twitter.com/imizuhiroshi/status/1438074243187568643

That looks excellent!

[tekering]

4 hours ago, daBlah! said:

This is looking great!

Yes, but is it Arcadia's prototype?  T-Rex's mock-up?  A fan-made resin kit?

That tweet is nothing but goddamn hashtags.

#twittersucksbigtime

[MKT]

I am hoping the pictures in the Twitter link show a further development of Arcadia’s prototype, but these look like renders with simpler lines.. perhaps a smaller scale model kit?

[RavenHawk]

I agree that, first blush, it doesn't look like what Arcadia showed in its prototype.

Honestly, I'd love to have both. This is one of those designs that I wasn't tremendously impressed by when I first watched Megazone all those many years ago, but it has steadily moved up over the years to one that I love and REALLY want to add to my collection (as opposed to the non-transforming figs of this on my shelf).

[no3Ljm]

17 minutes ago, RavenHawk said:

I agree that, first blush, it doesn't look like what Arcadia showed in its prototype.

Honestly, I'd love to have both. This is one of those designs that I wasn't tremendously impressed by when I first watched Megazone all those many years ago, but it has steadily moved up over the years to one that I love and REALLY want to add to my collection (as opposed to the non-transforming figs of this on my shelf).

Yep, it doesn't look like what Arcadia showed back in 2019. Unless they simplified the design?

[daBlah!]

6 hours ago, tekering said:

Yes, but is it Arcadia's prototype?  T-Rex's mock-up?  A fan-made resin kit?

That tweet is nothing but goddamn hashtags.

#twittersucksbigtime

That tweet is from a fan made resin kit. Usually selling them only during WonderFest events. 1/48 scale I believe his releases are. Would love to get my hands on any of his releases!

[oshanmacross]

Ah yes!
After looking in the feed this is the person that did the "one-coin" transforming Garland in colored resin.
https://twitter.com/imizuhiroshi/status/1059220573413269504?s=20

If only if we could organize a group buy ~_^

 

[Bobby]

Yes, that's is correct ... that Hargan is from a  limited production run for Wonder Festival (avg about 3.5" tall) sculpted/designed by Hiroshi Imizu who does amazing Megazone 23 work! (some of his creations to date...)

In looking at some other pics of Hargun I recognize the teeny-tiny screws ... I had managed to pick up a couple of his Garlands (pics of one below w/some size comparisons) and it was a blast to build (his kits come in color-ready resin), is fully transformable, but man, drilling all those teeny-tiny holes and working with all those tenny-tiny screws which are the size found in eyeglasses was rather tedious!

Edited September 16, 2021 by Bobby

[MKT]

1 hour ago, Bobby said:

 

Kinda like how the kits are about the same size as the Atelier & Organic Garlands.. They will display well together.

How much are these kits? They look just about good enough not having to paint them (I suck at this).. 

 

Edit: Since the kits are Wonderfest items only, I guess its gonna be pretty much hard to get, let alone the price.. 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by MKT

[oshanmacross]

>How much are these kits?
IIRC like $150 USD?
Super Dimension con is coming up, Anyone wanna be a liaison and see if we could get some "Limited Castings For Maniac Fan Convention"

Yes, I know Megazone isn't part of the "Super Dimension"

[Alex GS]

not sure if to put here since the Thread mentions 2017-2018 but will do since didn't find any other thread in relation to Megazone 23 or Garland toys,

The thing is  the ES GOKIN GARLAND literally at half the cost of its original price , so  if somebody interested there is the link below( a huge Sale right now in HLJ), already ordered mine  always wanted this one cause it has lots of diecast(very heavy) and is a Garland(finally will have one) and didn't cost me the insane initial price  

https://www.hlj.com/megazone-23-es-gokin-garland-few96571

 Also wanted to mention, also went for this one cause never got the chance to get a good condition 1/15 Yamato Garland , really loved the size and looks of the Yamato ones, but then Arcadia came in reducing its size severely to 1/24, really didn't like that move, not only they reduced its size but also I think the size doesn't justify its price of the Arcadia ones, so that's why always wanted for a while now this version of ES Gokin, finally got it!!, 

Edited September 16, 2021 by Alex GS