Consolidated Megazone 23 Toy/Model Thread for 2017-2018

[glane21]

Snagged the Freeing EX=Garland at a pretty good discount.  Maybe I got a better copy than standard because it stays together fairly well.  And was happy to find it’s basically the same size as the Arcadia 1/24.  They look great together.  I figure with all the scale shenanigans the manufacturers pull to try to fit the rider inside, the numbers don’t mean much.

[RavenHawk]

4 minutes ago, glane21 said:

Snagged the Freeing EX=Garland at a pretty good discount.  Maybe I got a better copy than standard because it stays together fairly well.  And was happy to find it’s basically the same size as the Arcadia 1/24.  They look great together.  I figure with all the scale shenanigans the manufacturers pull to try to fit the rider inside, the numbers don’t mean much.

Congrats on the find.

Love to see some size comparison pics, or more pics in general, if you get the chance.

I made the decision to invest in the Arcadia line, so didn't pay much attention to this after that one transformation video went up. That said, as time goes by, I'm starting to consider it. Still, haven't seen any good deals on it anywhere.

[glane21]

6 minutes ago, RavenHawk said:

Nice pic!

How do you like the E=X?

I really like it!  I’ve been wanting to pair these two bikes in a diorama since seeing this race track drawing in the May 1991 Hobby Japan.  Just need to source some track tech and an umbrella girl figure.

 

 

[glane21]

More comparison between the EX and Arcadia garlands.  They are roughly the same length in bike mode but the extending calves of the EX give it a clear height advantage.

[RavenHawk]

Great pics! I'm surprised they're so close size-wise.

How do they feel in comparison? Does the E=X feel less solid?

[glane21]

Definitely, the EX is a lightweight compared to the mostly die cast Arcadia. It can be difficult to find a balance when posing and the elbows spin too easily.  But I’m willing to forgive a lot considering the difficulty of making a perfect transformation toy of this design with those spindly legs.  I wouldn’t pay full boat for it, but as it continues to slide into clearance prices I may pick up another.

[Darkspire17]

ive seen some racing garland photos in a book of mine, im guesing it all ocurs after level seven falls, and because of shogo, the garland is now publicly known.

[no3Ljm]

Arcadia's 1/24 Proto Garland from Miyazawa Mokei Fall 2018.

 

[RavenHawk]

That looks great to me. Thanks for posting those pics, no3Ljm!

Already have the display shelf ready and waiting...

 

I really hope we get some news on the Hargun soon. Obviously, from a business/financial point of view, the Proto Garland makes sense as the next release, but the Hargun's the one I'm really excited about seeing Arcadia tackle.

[tekering]

54 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Arcadia's 1/24 Proto Garland from Miyazawa Mokei Fall 2018.

You mean Fall 2019, right?  

[no3Ljm]

57 minutes ago, tekering said:

You mean Fall 2019, right?  

Nope. Fall 2018. [ 宮沢模型 秋の展示会2018 ]
https://news.amiami.jp/event/2018/11/143964.html

 

[JetJockey]

They need to start work on some Eve statues. I would get an Eve from parts 1, 2, and 3.

[tekering]

38 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Nope. Fall 2018. [ 宮沢模型 秋の展示会2018 ]

Then where are the pre-orders?

[jenius]

Isn't the reference to when the show was... Not when the toy was released?

[RavenHawk]

7 hours ago, JetJockey said:

They need to start work on some Eve statues. I would get an Eve from parts 1, 2, and 3.

Are you specifically looking for new designs? I ask because there are actually a lot of slightly older Eve statue kits out there already (as in, I'm always surprised by just how many seem to have been made).

[JetJockey]

On 11/16/2018 at 11:13 AM, RavenHawk said:

Are you specifically looking for new designs? I ask because there are actually a lot of slightly older Eve statue kits out there already (as in, I'm always surprised by just how many seem to have been made).

Yeah new figures. I've seen the old kits. I thought about getting one for the box art. But once again, I'm surprised that we didn't get new figures when they released the series on Blu-ray.

[RavenHawk]

It looks like the Megazone 23 XI video is delayed, and were asking for more backers with a new campaign: https://camp-fire.jp/projects/view/65101#menu (if this was already reported, sorry, I don't remember).

The campaign seems to have closed already, and it says "FUNDED", but it also only brought in 1/4 of what they were looking for.

I'm working off the Google Chrome automated translation, so anyone with corrected info, please share.

It looks to me like the main creator wanted to add 5 more minutes of material... and thus was looking to raise another $9k. This makes me really nervous that the people behind this just don't know what they're doing, and are real weak on the financial side of things.

 

On a different note, the rewards this time around look insanely expensive. Plus, they are listing the Freeing E=X Garland as a "limited" edition? 

[jenius]

I think they're offering a repaint of the E=X Garland that will be limited to 10 pieces. 

[RavenHawk]

10 hours ago, jenius said:

I think they're offering a repaint of the E=X Garland that will be limited to 10 pieces. 

That would make sense, but the little image from the one picture I saw just looked like the standard version...

... actually, I take that back. It's hard to tell, but it looks like maybe it has more white (or light gray) where the other one had darker gray/bluish gray? You might be right.

[Sandman]

On 3/9/2018 at 7:04 PM, RavenHawk said:

That's what always surprised me with the toy lines.

It seems like Megazone 23 has gotten a lot more love from toy makers and model makers than you would expect. Big Yamato line (about equal to Bubblegum Crisis), decent Aoshima line, and now three separate companies making figures, with at least one planning a full line. All of this from 3 OVAs, with most fans really only being partial to the first.

Compare that to Bubblegum Crisis with 8 initial episodes, 3 more in Bubblegum Crash, 3 in A.D. Police Files, 3 in Parasite Dolls, 12 in A.D. Police: To Serve and Protect, and 26 more in the reboot Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040, and yet the same, if not less, merchandise.

 

Back to expectations on Megazone 23:

All of this is just my personal opinions, and my personal tastes... but I don't think it's that great. There are SEPARATE ELEMENTS of it that I love, but most of the movie does nothing for me. I keep coming back to it mainly because of my love of bikes and Shinji Aramaki designs, as well as some of the ideas behind the storylines, rather than the actual execution of those ideas.

Most people seem to love the first OVA, and hate the two sequels (the final one of which is more like 2 separate, shorter, distinct movies). For me, personally, I think they don't stand up well together as a trilogy, but I think each is totally ok taken separately, in and of itself.

I still love and collect Megazone 23 items, but, for my personal tastes and for my personal enjoyment of watching and regular re-watching, the Aramaki rankings are:

1) Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

2) Bubblegum Crisis

3) Bubblegum Crash

4) Viper's Creed

5) BGC Tokyo 2040

6) Megazone 23

7) remaining BGC spin-offs

 

2040 is way too high IMO. That was a piece of trash. I’m a huge BGC fan and I hate that show aside a song or two.

[Bobby]

Getting excited for more releases!!!

[RavenHawk]

7 minutes ago, Bobby said:

Getting excited for more releases!!!

The Arcadia Hargan is the one I'm really looking forward to. I didn't care for it that much when I first saw MZ23, but it really grew on me over time. I'm sure it'll cost a ton, coming with the transporter, and we'll probably get the Proto Garland first, but I'm still really hoping for it.

[Bobby]

Same here...it really grew on me as well and I'm very much looking forward to it!

[M'Kyuun]

I have no interest in the Hargun, as I'm not really into the parts-forming aspect. I'm waiting for POs on that Arcadia Proto garland though. Been wanting a decent toy of that thing for years; I skipped the Yamato release due to all the QC issues that seemed endemic of those toys. I'm hoping Arcadia does it better, with lessons learned.

[jenius]

I'm really curious to see if Fewture is going to deliver a Garland. The design will be almost 4 years old when it comes to market!

[RavenHawk]

8 hours ago, jenius said:

I'm really curious to see if Fewture is going to deliver a Garland. The design will be almost 4 years old when it comes to market!

And to date, we just have the one batch of pics of it, and they look handpainted to me.

[RavenHawk]

Just rewatched the series of MZ23 movies... which led to the craving for new toys/display pieces to fill up those Megazone shelves in my display cases.

Went online, saw that there were no updates on new products from Arcadia since the images of the full color Proto Garland a couple months back.

That means that we will probably be getting the Proto Garland not before mid 2019... hopefully the Hargun, but not before mid 2020 (I'd guess)... and who knows when for the E=X, if ever.

Look what you made me do, Arcadia!

[jenius]

Not a toy I like but that's at least a good price. I'm guessing Arcadia will wait until Mid-Feb's Winter Wonderfest to start outlining their 2019 sales schedule. 

[RavenHawk]

29 minutes ago, jenius said:

Not a toy I like but that's at least a good price. I'm guessing Arcadia will wait until Mid-Feb's Winter Wonderfest to start outlining their 2019 sales schedule. 

For around half of what it was going for with a number of retailers when it was first released (and around $100 less than what the cheaper retailers were offering it for then), I decided to pull the trigger.

Really, the biggest factor was my concern that we might never get an Arcadia E=X, and I'd be regretting having passed this up down the road.

So many of my collecting choices are motivated by my continued regret for having passed up the Studio HalfEye Maneuver Blade...

[RavenHawk]

Big week for Megazone items for me. Both my Freeing E=X Garland and my set of Organic figures came in.

 

Starting with the Organic figures:

Holy crap, these things are tiny. I mean, I knew they were small, based on a couple CollectionDX reviews, but somehow it just didn't sink it. These are small... as in, they pretty much fit riding on the old Yamato Garlands (a little too big for Arcadia or Freeing, though). That said, they're surprisingly posable, and are just kind of fun. I paid $50, including shipping, for a new-in-box set of all 5 (Garland, Proto Garland, GR-002 Military Garland, Hargun, Space Hargun), and I feel like that's the limit of what they're worth. Wouldn't pay a penny more, but I don't feel ripped off either. Plus, I finally have a Hargun!

 

On to the Freeing E=X Garland:

All of the complaints about this toy are correct and are justified. So very many things are wrong with it... but...

I opened the box and, of course, the legs flop off to the sides. I then decided to have some fun and try to figure out the transformation without looking at the instructions. It took a long time, but I did it. I would liken it to devoting your evening to one of those Hellraiser puzzle boxes, with an arguably similar pay off at the end.

Having said that, and leaning the final robot mode in a corner so that it can sort of stand up, it looks gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. I love the look of it.

My thoughts at this point were, "What a unique way of shipping an assembly-required poorly-balanced statue of a robot. Instead of putting the parts on runners, stick them into a vaguely motorcycle-shaped mashup for shipping, then they can get taken out of the box, fall apart, and the buyer can assemble their robot statue and stick it somewhere for display forevermore. Novel!"

A few days later, I transformed it back... and back again, with the instructions this time to confirm that I did it right the first time.

And then I transformed it a third time... and it was kind of fun.

The arms pop out of the sockets constantly, but don't break. Just set them aside and pop them back in after you're done with the legs.

The thighs are constantly splitting apart into two pieces, a couple other parts do similarly... but they don't break. Just slide them back together.

The leg transformation is very cool. Finicky, but cool. Cooler every time you do it, as it feels more intuitive.

Basically, the engineering is really impressive, it's just that the execution is horribly horribly flawed.

However, the more I transform this thing, the more I enjoy it.

Again, every complaint that others have about these is completely justified. Despite that, I still like it, and am glad a transforming toy of this exists.

I got mine for half price, and I'm ok with that. Now, if I'd paid full price for it, I'd probably be violently angry.

 

If anyone wants to see pics of any of the above, let me know and I'll post some, but I figure most have already seen them.

[jenius]

Where did you grab the organic figures? That's about what I was hoping to pay also.

[RavenHawk]

Just now, jenius said:

Where did you grab the organic figures? That's about what I was hoping to pay also.

eBay. They go for more (once you factor in shipping, evening combined) if you get them individually, but there's a seller that puts up lots of the set every once in a while (I think it's a store in Hong Kong), and then discounts them by 30% every few weeks. That, plus a 15% off coupon, got them to where I was comfortable with the price. The crazy thing is, people on Amazon are trying to sell the same figures for over $100 a piece.

[JetJockey]

On 12/9/2018 at 3:06 PM, Sandman said:

2040 is way too high IMO. That was a piece of trash. I’m a huge BGC fan and I hate that show aside a song or two.

I watched the first few episodes of 2040 for the first time. I didn't think it was that bad. Not as good as the original. It's different. The animation isn't the same quality. But Priss is still cool. The opening song is ok. Nene is funny. I'll get the series so I can watch the whole thing in better quality.

[Sandman]

2 minutes ago, JetJockey said:

I watched the first few episodes of 2040 for the first time. I didn't think it was that bad. Not as good as the original. It's different. The animation isn't the same quality. But Priss is still cool. The opening song is ok. Nene is funny. I'll get the series so I can watch the whole thing in better quality.

Those are the better episodes. It gets worse.

[JetJockey]

5 minutes ago, Sandman said:

Those are the better episodes. It gets worse.

Oh. Maybe I'll watch a few more online then. I stopped after the female bar boomer went crazy and Linna's lunch at Priss' trailer.