Darth Mingus

I suspect there will be some available at release.  Don't forget that to "complete" the toy, you will need the P-Bandai funnel set.

42 minutes ago, sqidd said:

Forgive me, I know next to nothing about Gundam. I'm half way through Gundam UC right now and that is the extent of my knowledge. And I mostly collect toys for aesthetic reasons so "history" isn't much of a factor for me. That said, that's the Unicorn correct? What am I looking at? Is that a soon to be new release? It looks massive. How big is that thing (I'm a big toy fan)? Bandai? I think I see another in the background with the shield? Same toy different display? I think I need something like that in my collection! Thanks!

It is the RX-93 Nu Gundam from Char's Counterattack, the theatrical movie released in 1988, which, at the time wrapped up plot lines from Original Gundam (1979), Zeta Gundam (1985) and ZZ Gundam (1986).  It was meant to be the "ultimate" Gundam, but with recons, it was eventually superseded by Mobile Suit such as the Unicorn.

What you are looking at is the first product in a new line called Metal Structure which is essentially a 1/60 scale "Perfect Grade" model kit made into a fully completed and painted figure.  The "toy" went on sale at the end of August and sold out faster than most Valkyries considering this thing costs over 100,000 yen (not a typo).

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Suit_Gundam:_Char's_Counterattack

https://gundam.fandom.com/wiki/RX-93_ν_Gundam

Shopping links:

https://hlj.com/metal-structure-kaitaishoki-rx-93-nu-gundam-bans57540

https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=FIGURE-049722

Product Announcements:

https://www.gundamkitscollection.com/2017/11/metal-structure-series-revealed-at.html

https://www.gundamkitscollection.com/2019/06/metal-structure-rx-93-nu-gundam-release.html

10 hours ago, Graham said:

Articulation looks amazing. Not a big fan of the RX-78 or 1/144 scale, but I may just get this variant for the amazing articulation.

The joints on the 40th look very interesting.  Not sure how I feel about the design decision to make the skirts 1 solid piece and non-articulated.  When the Gundam kneels, the thigh actually slides out from the armour, then pivots at the end.  This would probably be more natural looking on a Zaku, but on the Gundam, it is a bit weird.

3 minutes ago, Ignacio Ocamica said:

The FAZZ is a 2.0 MG?

Apparently it is based on the MG ZZ ver. Ka.  Ver. 2.0 tends to better match line art depictions of kits.  You can think of this as the spiritual version 2 of the FAZZ, like the ZZ Ver. KA was a modern take on the classic ZZ.

And I just bought a third-party PG Sword/Launcher add-in set for my Strike...

There are a whole bunch of these on the market for a variety of topics from Star Wars, to Back to the Future, etc.  The price is crazy, but some of the features make the model quite nice like light up components, etc.  If the magazines were in english and I had 2 years to collect it, the amortized price would not be too bad.  A good modeller could do the same with the PLAMAX offering.

4 hours ago, jenius said:

The circled items are improvements being made over the first release, they are both cavity fillers.

My bad... I noticed the misaligned cockpit and the sloppy cleanup on the panel lining and assumed the worst.  I guess they would not be tweeting about QC issues, would they...

Given the QC problems with the SV-51 and the items circled on these factory samples, hopefully, Arcadia can iron out the kinks.  The painting is beautiful, but pointless if the factory cannot be relied on to fully assemble the product, or assemble it correctly.  For that amount of money, I would expect a premium product, not something that will surprise when I transform it the first time.

Looks like Bandai is doing a co-branded HG Gunpla/S.H.Figuarts offering.  When they showed the original picture, I thought...meh. but the new listing shows you can combine the two into a motorcycle form, and I am a sucker for motorcycles.

19 minutes ago, Anasazi37 said:

"what did you buy?!"

Worst question to get first thing in the morning.  I had a bunch of stuff pop up on the statement on the once a month time that my wife looks at the credit card statement and had to justify $500 in purchases.  I now use that conversation every time a box comes in the mail..."Remember we talked about the big purchase last summer, that was pre-order for this time..."

2 hours ago, obakesan said:

 

Paint job looks great!  hopefully the ankles are assembled correctly.

2 hours ago, Graham said:

I'm really loving the newly released P-Bandai F90 Master Grade. It's a great kit. 

The original non-grade 1/100 F90 A/D/S was the first ever Gunpla I built way back in 1990.

So happy that a Master Grade had finally been released as the F90 is one of my all time favourite Mobile Suit designs. 

Looks great.  Are you getting all the weapon packs as well?  The kit from the 90s wasn't too bad, but this one looks like it blows it away. 

Supposedly, my armour parts from NY have shipped.

The more I look at the Endgame Thor figure, the more I am looking forward to it.  Between this and the Mafex Peter B. Parker, I am finally feeling that my body type is being represented in action figures.

1 hour ago, anubis20 said:

Same here!!! Ive only seen the add to cart button once and when I managed to click it stuff had sold out 

I think pre-ordering from 1999 is the golden unicorn for this forum.  Otherwise, the site is rock solid, good prices, good customer service, ships quickly.  I used to get Gunpla from them without issue.

I think this is a fairly gross generalization.  The chinese factories also output our beloved valkeries.  I think most of the smaller factories are run by apex capitalist...you send them a sample and they will grab whatever molds they already have try to pass it off, then charge you more to “fix” it if you complain.  The middle managers on the NA who are just doing a job don’t really give a crap so they accept the shipments and then wonder why this crap does not sell.  If a company cares and finds a good partner, the chinese are capable of doing quality work.

If what you are looking for is non-mecha, i’d consider visiting your local hobby store and seeing if anyone there is willing to do the work.  The one near my place  sells mostly mostly model train supplies but one of the locals built a nice VF-0D, not know what the subject was, he just like the plane.  

 Better yet, for the price it would cost to hire a “pro”, get two copies of the kit, one to practice with and one to complete nicely.  Then visit your hobby store and get the supplies you need and do it yourself.  It would be much more gratifying this way.

14 minutes ago, Mommar said:

Question is, where are our other Armors?  Lord knows Bandai loves IM related stuff and War Machine and Rescue are perfect variants for them.

I'd say the Endgame War Machine (Iron Patriot) is a no-brainer and will be the next P-Bandai release - March/April 2020 timeframe.  I seem to remember seeing a prototype, but it could have been from a another vendor/hot toys, after a while, they all start to blend together.  Rescue will probably take some time as it will not be a simple recolour.  There are probably pretty big differences in body type between a Rescue figure and the other armours in the line.  Maybe summer 2020?

5 hours ago, tekering said:

Great!  

What exactly does "up" mean?  

Preorder available :

NY - https://www.nippon-yasan.com/figures/29135-shfiguarts-thor-avengers-endgame-limited-edition.html

Kurama Toys (Formerly Bandai Online) - https://www.kuramatoys.com/s-h-figuarts-thor-avengers-endgame-action-figure/

Love the belly...

I managed to find a new, unopened tornado pack for the VF-25G at Jungle last Feb.  The only issue I had with it was when I put it on the first time and tabbed the leg armour into the wings, it snapped the tab on the wing root completely off.  The fit of the tab into the hole on the leg armour was super tight, much tighter than on the super and full armour sets.  I'd grab a picture but I rotated out my VF-25s into storage.

Cantonese language review of Chuck's VF-31 and the full armour set from ToysTV.  The put the armour on Chuck's ride.

On 7/28/2019 at 12:41 AM, jeniusornome said:

So I managed to snag the one VF-31 I wanted - the 31C, Mirage’s sweet magenta ride - and I am seriously digging the looks of it in plane and gerwalk modes. I like the feel of the figure too; the only other DX I have is a v2 VF25 and while I really like that it is a little more awkward to transform and pose (trying to sandwich everything together to get the torso solid in particular, though once I get it all lined up right it seems solid enough), and feels a bit unbalanced (heavy legs, light torso).

Anyways, battroid  mode on the 31 feels off for me. I’ve checked videos and instructions and it doesn’t seem like I’m doing anything wrong, but, is there some kind of trick to getting the whole thing to stay together and be able to stand up?

There’s clips in the front where the cockpit collapses on top of itself, and the sort of hinged pegs in the back where you fold down the top of the plane / wings, but there’s so much hanging off of the back I either have to stand it awkwardly leaning forwards or put it up against the back of a shelf. 

Am I missing something that makes it so it can stand on its own?

Strange.  I had my VF-31(s) standing with super packs equipped for months without an issue.  No balance issue.  Checkout the transformation videos on Anymoon to see if you missed anything.

Very excited for the Legioss.  The top view of the fighter looks great.  I think the reason the pilot looks so large in the cockpit is because the pilot figure is articulated.  You can see elbow and knee joints in the pic on the tiny mospeada bike.  If they could pull off an articulated pilot figure with a collapsable bike and make it look good in all three modes, this would be the gold standard in transformable fighter toys.

10 hours ago, Graham said:

Kinda tempted by the new MG Alex. It's always been one of my favorite MS designs.

Same.  The inclusion of the Al and Bernie figures makes me want to get this and the Zaku FZ and recreate the last scene from the OVA.  I wore out my copy of the Cantonese dub of that series.

wrong thread