Consolidated Megazone 23 Toy/Model Thread for 2017-2018

[jenius]

In anticipation of the Arcadia Garland dropping, I posted my last review of the Yamato 1/15 Garland today (the factory color version). This and the metallic red version are dfeinitely my faves! 

 

[Daedalus]

I actually appreciate that Artstorm held the Garland back and kept working on the Mold, now I'm excited again. 

My wallet is thankful for the wait too haha

Edited July 29, 2018 by Daedalus

[JetJockey]

Arcadia Garland looks awesome. I don't need the truck but it's a nice option to have. If they get to Part 3 it should be quality.

 

[tekering]

Like jenius, my anticipation for the Arcadia Garland has led me to revisit and photograph some of the Yamato variants.

Thanks for the motivation, jenius!  

[RavenHawk]

On 7/29/2018 at 1:41 AM, wmkjr said:

Courtesy Dengeki Hobby:

Wow. Really looking forward to this. The payment went through on my Garand at HLJ, so I'm very curious how the scale will look on these in hand.

[RavenHawk]

On 7/31/2018 at 7:27 AM, tekering said:

Like jenius, my anticipation for the Arcadia Garland has led me to revisit and photograph some of the Yamato variants.

 

Thanks for the motivation, jenius!  

Still missing the army color one from my collection. The factory color one has for me held up great over the years. In fairness, I've always been careful with it, though.

[SuperHobo]

So far from Japanese Twitter reports the Arcadia Garland seems good on the build quality front. 

[tekering]

12 hours ago, SuperHobo said:

So far from Japanese Twitter reports the Arcadia Garland seems good on the build quality front. 

That's an understatement.  The build quality is fantastic!

First of all, this thing's heavy.  There's a lot of diecast parts, and almost every surface is painted.

Detailing is top-notch, too.

Robot mode is where it really shines, though...

Spectacular articulation (three joints on every tiny finger!), really solid construction, wonderful heft, and a joy to behold.  

But here's the really big news, guys:

It's definitely not 1:24 scale.

Yamato's Garland was 1:15 scale, but the figures were significantly undersized so the pilot could actually be seated in "maneuver-slave" mode.  As you can see, Arcadia has similarly underscaled their Shogo figure for the same reason, but here's the thing: it's Shogo that's 1:24 scale, not the Garland.

Anime fans like to remind us toy collectors that the Garland was supposed to be the size of large motorcycle, not a convertible sports car:

So, since Arcadia's figure is 1:24, the considerably oversized Garland makes it closer to 1:18 scale.

Intentionally or not, Arcadia has given us a Garland to scale with Yamato's figures!

I've been waiting 30 years to make this display.  

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the inaugural Aramaki 5000 Invitational Motorcycle Race!"

"Contestants, start your engines!"  

Edited August 2, 2018 by tekering

[SuperHobo]

10 minutes ago, tekering said:

That's an understatement.  The build quality is fantastic!

First of all, this thing's heavy.  There's a lot of diecast parts, and almost every surface is painted.

Detailing is top-notch, too.

Robot mode is where it really shines, though...

Spectacular articulation (three joints on every tiny finger!), really solid construction, wonderful heft, and a joy to behold.  

But here's the really big news, guys:

It's definitely not 1:24 scale.

Yamato's Garland was 1:15 scale, but the figures were significantly undersized so the pilot could actually be seated in "maneuver-slave" mode.  As you can see, Arcadia has similarly underscaled their Shogo figure for the same reason, but here's the thing: it's Shogo that's 1:24 scale, not the Garland.

Anime fans like to remind us toy collectors that the Garland was supposed to be the size of large motorcycle, not a convertible sports car:

So, since Arcadia's figure is 1:24, the considerably oversized Garland makes it closer to 1:18 scale.

Intentionally or not, Arcadia has given us a Garland to scale with Yamato's figures!

I've been waiting 30 years to make this display.  

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the inaugural Aramaki 5000 Invitational Motorcycle Race!"

"Contestants, start your engines!"  

Fantastic to here man! The Garland really needed a well built sturdy option after all of crumbling efforts from Yamato and Freeing. Are all of the joints friction joints? How well does the hand hold the gun? I don't see any tabs in the palm. 

[tekering]

More of Yamato Shogo on Arcadia Garland.  

13 minutes ago, SuperHobo said:

Are all of the joints friction joints?

Yeah, and the tolerances are perfect.  Tight, but no scary squeaking noises.  Puts Bandai to shame!

Mr. K must be using the best factory in China.  

13 minutes ago, SuperHobo said:

How well does the hand hold the gun? I don't see any tabs in the palm. 

Doesn't need 'em.  The fingers are tight enough to maintain a good, solid grip... although I imagine they'd eventually loosen up with regular handling.

Of course, as with any transformable figure with multiple painted diecast parts, regular handling is not recommended.  

[SuperHobo]

12 minutes ago, tekering said:

More of Yamato Shogo on Arcadia Garland.  

 

Yeah, and the tolerances are perfect.  Tight, but no scary squeaking noises.  Puts Bandai to shame

Mr. K must be using the best factory in China.  

Doesn't need 'em.  The fingers are tight enough to maintain a good, solid grip... although I imagine they'd eventually loosen up with regular handling.

Of course, as with any transformable figure with multiple painted diecast parts, regular handling is not recommended.  

I'm glad it sounds like the delays to improve quality are really shining through on the final product. I'm still not a fan of them opting out of using an pegs or slots for the hand, but at least the Garland can hold it well for now. Websites mention the size in maneuver craft mode is 18cm long, is it still about 18cm tall in maneuver slave mode? 

[tekering]

12 minutes ago, SuperHobo said:

is it still about 18cm tall in maneuver slave mode? 

I make it 20cm to the top of the robot head.

[SuperHobo]

23 minutes ago, tekering said:

I make it 20cm to the top of the robot head.

Nice! Arcadia should have mentioned that in their item description. A little under 8 inches is a good size for a toy. 

[tekering]

Oh, I couldn't be happier about the size.  

[no3Ljm]

Forgot to check this thread. Those pics of Garland are gorgeous, Tekering. Now I want one too.

 

[jenius]

Good to know that my otherwise falling apart Yamato can donate its Shogo figure to a good cause!

[dizman]

I kinda remember hearing that the Shogo figure was a smaller scale so he could fit inside the robot torso. Those pictures have me really tempted to buy the new Garland but I'll stay strong and wait for the Proto Garland or a factory finish version.

[RavenHawk]

9 hours ago, tekering said:

Oh, I couldn't be happier about the size.  

This pic right here literally brought a smile to my face. Thank you, sir.

 

[north-exit]

Thanks for the pics. Relieved to see the Garland has been done some justice. Think I'll be giving mine some light weathering and adding extra paint detail to really make it pop. It comes across like and old gokin toy with its clean basic paint aps, it's kinda nice. It's a costly piece but sounds like materials and scale are spot-on, really dig this size for gokins, not too big or small. Wonder if the box art is display worthy?  

Edited August 2, 2018 by north-exit

[RavenHawk]

11 hours ago, tekering said:

So, since Arcadia's figure is 1:24, the considerably oversized Garland makes it closer to 1:18 scale.

Intentionally or not, Arcadia has given us a Garland to scale with Yamato's figures!

 

I've been waiting 30 years to make this display.  

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the inaugural Aramaki 5000 Invitational Motorcycle Race!"

"Contestants, start your engines!"  

Now I'm going to have mixed feelings here. Generally, I like to display all vehicles based on the scale of the vehicle. I'm one of those people that is bothered when, like you said, the Garland is sized like a convertible sports car and not like a very large motorcycle. HOWEVER...

I display all of my Aramaki transforming bikes based on rider size. So, my Yamato Motoslaves and CMs rider armors sit right next to my Yamato Garlands.

I'll just have to see how it all looks/feels when I have it in hand and next to each other.

Then again, if Arcadia keeps going with the MZ23 line like I hope they do, it'll need its own shelf anyway.

 

[lmtsuper]

About the scale, I compared Arcadia's Garland to my old Aoshima 1/24 model kit. If the size is correct on Aoshima kit, then Arcadia one is definitely not 1/24.

Edited August 4, 2018 by lmtsuper

[dizman]

During the Megazone23XI kickstarter they were offering that white version of the Garland in 1/20th as I recall. Maybe they just made them 1/20th and decided to sell them as 1/24th because that's the size they had the Garland toy rights for? 

[tekering]

1 hour ago, lmtsuper said:

I compared Arcadia's Garland to my old Aoshima 1/24 model kit. If the size is correct on Aoshima kit, then Arcadia one is definitely not 1/24.

We've already established that, but thanks for the confirmation.  

Now put Arcadia's Shogo figure on your Aoshima bike, and you'll see their stated 1:24 scale corresponds to to the rider, not the Garland.

1 hour ago, dizman said:

Maybe they just made them 1/20th and decided to sell them as 1/24th because that's the size they had the Garland toy rights for? 

No, they simply upscaled the mecha so the pilot would fit inside (just as Yamato downscaled their figures to fit inside their 1:15 "Maneuver-slave").  

[jenius]

I wonder when I'll hear news on the white and blue version... that's going to take a chunk out of the hobby fund whenever it's available.

[lmtsuper]

My Garland's shoulder joints is a bit loose, anybody have the same problem?

Edited August 5, 2018 by lmtsuper

[jenius]

Yamato? Then yes. Arcadia, you have the honor of being the first to report this.

[lmtsuper]

6 hours ago, jenius said:

Yamato? Then yes. Arcadia, you have the honor of being the first to report this.

It's the new Garland by Arcadia. They are not terribly loose, but at some angle the joint can't hold the weight of the arm. Also the the left side connection peg between the body and the shoulder wheel seems not as tight as the right side, I guess I have to thicken the peg a little bit.

Edited August 5, 2018 by lmtsuper

[north-exit]

Received mine today & it's exactly what I expected; heavy and tight with clean QC all round. But could someone chime in on why it's priced about 30% higher than it should be?   

[tekering]

1 hour ago, north-exit said:

But could someone chime in on why it's priced about 30% higher than it should be?   

'Cause at 1:24 scale, it's about 30% larger than it should be.  

[CF18]

 

It has been a long wait - originally set for Dec 2017, it got pushed to Mar and then Aug 2018.  To make it worst the Riobot Mospeada was in the same order (which also delayed from Jan to April) so both finally arrived.

Quality is OK other than the joint problem below.  The legs were hard to extend at first and was quite scary.  I wish the white part of the arms latch tighter with the body in bike mode.

The joints are tight, but one overly tight joint lead to loose joint:

 

 

Joint A somehow became super tight after I lift the arm side way for the first time.  After some man-handling to the arm back down, joint B became very loose and can't hold the arm up in most angles.  Only the left arm have this problem, the right arm is fine.

Adding sewing string into the joint B kind of fixed the issue.

[SuperHobo]

1 hour ago, CF18 said:

 

It has been a long wait - originally set for Dec 2017, it got pushed to Mar and then Aug 2018.  To make it worst the Riobot Mospeada was in the same order (which also delayed from Jan to April) so both finally arrived.

Quality is OK other than the joint problem below.  The legs were hard to extend at first and was quite scary.  I wish the white part of the arms latch tighter with the body in bike mode.

The joints are tight, but one overly tight joint lead to loose joint:

 

 

Joint A somehow became super tight after I lift the arm side way for the first time.  After some man-handling to the arm back down, joint B became very loose and can't hold the arm up in most angles.  Only the left arm have this problem, the right arm is fine.

Adding sewing string into the joint B kind of fixed the issue.

That's a bit concerning with joint B there becoming loose after some moderate handling. Is there any screw to access to tighten it or some floor polish to stick in the seams? 

[CF18]

On 8/8/2018 at 3:25 AM, SuperHobo said:

That's a bit concerning with joint B there becoming loose after some moderate handling. Is there any screw to access to tighten it or some floor polish to stick in the seams? 

There is no screw access.  I managed to put sawing string in the seams.

Japanese video review, with full detail on transformation:

 

[SuperHobo]

Get in the zone. Megazone 23.

My thoughts on the Arcadia Garland. 

Bike mode: It's very solid with some excellent heft. Initially out of the box the swing bars were disconnected from the arms and connecting it to the half moon shaped peg was odd, but I eventually got them in. It didn't help these pegs are all painted so expect some paint to come off here and there. With that being said every surface is painted in a gloss or matte paint. One of the half moon pegs I think I sheared off a small chunk of paint to get the socket pegged on.  With everything pegged in it's a lovely hefty brick. Shogo's figure goes right on and fits over the handlebars like a dream.

 

Transformation and robot mode: Transformation was pretty smooth and wotafa's video review made things clearer. Everything locks is in very solidly with the exception of the crotch armor which basically rests on the wheel. A major improvement over the old 1/15 Yamato Garland is the wheels lock into the chest VERY SOLIDLY this time around. No more weird jiggling for robot mode. My favorite part of the transformation is how when you rotate the chest forward the head pops out in unison. It's a pretty cool transformation moment.

Robot mode and Articulation: All of the joints are friction joints and no ratchets. All of them are perfectly tight with the exception of the shoulders. The shoulders are not loose, but they could be a bit stiffer. The hand proportions and articulation are excellent, but there's no peg to hold the gun. The fingers can hold the gun no problem, but a guiding peg and slot would have been more ideal. Elbows and knees are double jointed. Ankles are on an interesting 4 hinge mechanism that gives a pretty good range of motion either way you want.

 

 

Verdict so far: This a very fine Garland toy and assuming Arcadia used good materials this time around it shouldn't crumble. Diecast was used in a lot of much more fragile areas as well as parts of the biceps and the red parts of the lower legs. Transformation is complex, but fun. If you're looking for an animation accurate Garland from Part 1 this could be what you're looking for.
 

 

[SuperHobo]

UPDATE: So after posing this guy around this morning, the left shoulder on my copy has also gotten loose.  I stuck a healthy amount of floor polish in the joint and I'll let it cure for 2-3 days. Hopefully, that will remedy the issue for a while. 

[SuperHobo]

UPDATE 2: After putting floor polish into the left shoulder,it did not work to tighten the joint. On top of that, the right shoulder is also getting pretty loose. I'm going to try to angle the arms a little differently to let the floor polish target the looser part. Hopefully this works......my last option is some super glue 

Edited August 14, 2018 by SuperHobo