This toy was the fourth entry in CM's Brave Gokin line, and as such, the engineering leaves a little bit to be desired. It's a huge set, and it suffers from being overly ambitious. In short - it's kind of a mess.

God Raijin-Oh (ゴッドライジンオー) comes from the 1991 anime series "Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh" (絶対無敵ライジンオー}. It was the first in the Eldoran series, sort of a Brave series for the younger set.

This toy was the fourth entry in CM's Brave Gokin line, and as such, the engineering leaves a little bit to be desired. It's a huge set, and it suffers from being overly ambitious. In short - it's kind of a mess.

A pretty mess, but a mess nonetheless.

So much of a mess that I didn't do a video review - I figured I would just get too frustrated.

So here it is.

The box is big, making it a bitch to store. Inside is two beautiful old-school styrofoam trays.

The toy consists of two robots - Raijin-Oh and Bakuryu-Oh.

Raijin-Oh

Raijin-Oh is a combining robot, consisting of three smaller robots:

Ken-Oh

Ken-Oh is the humanoid robot, the core of Raijin-Oh and God Raijin-Oh. He's a fantastic figure, almost entirely metal. Articulation is great and the figure has swappable hands. Ken-oh's sword is stored in his back (just the hilt) and the blade can be attached. I had difficulty attaching my blade - there was excess plastic in the hole in the hilt that had to be carved out with a hobby knife. Ken-Oh comes with two head crests - a gold chrome one for display and a flexible yellow one for transformation (shown here).

Hou-Oh

The Eagle is all plastic but has a tremendous wingspan. The quality on this one is so-so, with pieces falling off during handling. The head pops off easily, the tail is just held on by friction, and one of my foot claws won't stay on. On the plus side, the jaw is articulated, the wings are jointed in several places and the legs are articulated.

Juu-Oh

The Lion is the heaviest out of the three, with the entire torso being diecast metal. The feet are articulated, as well as the tail. The jaw moves, but thats about it. In the show, Ken-Oh can ride Juu-Oh, but I have no pictures of that.

Raijin-Oh Gattai!

Raijin-Oh

Combining the three units to form Raijin-Oh is almost identical to the anime. Really, if you want to know how it goes together, just watch the clip above.

Essentially, Ken-Oh folds up and becomes the core - Hou-Oh becomes the head, arms and wings, and Juu-Oh become the legs. The thing is massive, and heavy as hell. It retains a great amount of articulation, pretty much everything Ken-Oh had, just bigger.

Some of the flaws are glaring though. For one, once you add the heavy lower legs of Juu-Oh, the upper legs (which are compacted) will not stay locked into place. Pick the thing up and the legs just come sliding down, the left moreso than the right. It is as if there is no mechanism to click them in place.

There are two sword blades included with the toy. The silver blade is for the tail of Hou-Oh. When used as the sword we switch to the gold blade.

Another fatal flaw is the hands. For one, all the hands have this film on them.. maybe an oxidation of the rubber? But either way, they look bad until you wipe them down. And then they are brittle. 3 years later, and while trying to place the shield (which, incidentally is Juu-Oh's head) into the holding hand, the hand broke in half.

It looks pretty, but don't let it fool you.

The second robot in the set is the Bakuryu-Oh

Bakuryu-Oh

Bakuryu-Oh is a bulkier robot than Raijin-Oh, and is very plain looking (in my opinion) with the only saving grace being the large wings. it's very... white.

The upper body is all plastic, with limited articulation. The head turns, the arms are on ball joints, the upper arms swivel and the elbows bend. It's very plasticky and toy like - fitting of a Brave-type toy. The lower legs are solid metal, but have almost no articulation due to the connection method to the body (pegs). The knees bend, and the feet can move a little.

The hands on Bakuryu-Oh have the same issue with the film on them, and swapping them out sucks. The reason? at the end of each arm there is a peg, and that whole assembly can slide into the arm. To get it out, you push a small peg under the arm. Well, the fit is so tight with the fists that applying force to the wrist peg while holding the small peg underneath results in - you guessed it - peg breakage. I ended up putting a flat-head screwdriver in the space behind the peg to force the wrist peg into the hand.

Bakuryu has a large cannon that can be held in his hand. Unfortunately, it does not shoot anything. It is articulated, but that is for another purpose. Also included is a shield.

Bakuryu-Dragon

Bakuryu-Oh can transform into the Bakuryu-Dragon. It's really just a bunch of parts-swapping. The big gun becomes the tail with articulated segments and the shield unfolds origami-like to form the head. Combined the thing is immense.

Combined, the two form

God Raijin-Oh

This is a messy process.

If you already have Raijin-Oh combined it is not so bad. Bakuryu-Oh dissasembles like a puzzle - there are parts everywhere. Each part needs to be folded and arranged just so to fit on or over Raijin-Oh. Once again, the video is spot-on.

Together, God Raijin-Oh is a heavy fiddly clusterfu*k. You can't touch it without something falling off. It's just too much.

Some of the notable flaws - The head looks too small for the crown that it wears. That crown does not snap on at all, and grazing it will send if off across the room as if it were spring-loaded. The same thing goes for the chest panels, shoulder panels, eagle head etc...

The "shoes" on the feet are the solid metal legs from Bakuryu-Oh and they just klink and klank each time you pick the thing up. The connection method is just two clips for each leg, and you really have to jam them in there.

The large blue wings slip over the red wings, giving the combined figure a wingspan of over a foot. They include small blue wing tips to keep the red and blue wings lined up.

It's big, for sure.

Bakuryu-Oh's shield combines with Raijin-Oh's sword to create a giant arm blade. This requires a special hand that has two posts pre-attached to it that connect with the shield.

God Raijin-Oh can now hold the large cannon with two hands. The hands have angled wrists to accommodate the pose.

So there you have it. It's a great concept, and much more anime-accurate than the old Tomy version, but you really sacrifice durability and play value here. Once you get it in the mode you like - put it on the shelf and leave it alone.

CM's included a ton of screw-hole covers, but honestly, I don't have the time or the motivation to put them on. Also included was a small sticker sheet of clear stickers, die-cut into shape. Nowhere in the instructions are these shown, but my guess is these stickers help protect parts that are prone to chipping.

Not cheap. Not durable. Handsome as all get-out. My advice - display it as the two separate robots - Raijin-Oh and Bakuryu-Oh.

PS - in an odd move - CM's is re-releasing JUST the Raijin-Oh.. I wonder if that is an acknowledgment that the design went too far.

Oh no! This is a training aircraft.

In the ever widening world of VF-1 toys, the VT-1 Super Ostrich is a unique variant with its own charms. Taking a cue from the first few episodes of the original Macross series, the "star date" between Hikaru and Minmay during Macross: Do You Remember Love is meant as a callback to when those two young teens were out fighting for their lives in an orange Valkyrie. Unlike the VF-1D, the VT-1 is a dedicated trainer much like a real life example of the T-38 Talon, which is the training version of the F-5 Freedom Fighter. For a little boy with a copy of Clash of the Bionoids, this entire ordeal is summed as follows:

"OH NO! THIS IS A TRAINING AIRCRAFT!"

From then on I was doomed.

Yamato's new VT-1 is a great execution of a unique design. The basic fighter mode looks right and feels good in the hands. The changes to the design are not immediately apparent, but once you scratch the surface you'll find at least 20% of this toy is all new parts. The first being a new nose section with the VT-1's signature raised seating style where the rear seat is higher than the front. As such, the chest plate has also been redesigned to account for the new nose section.

From the rear we can see the redesigned tail section with features new fixed tailfins and a hinged rear flap. These are used when the backpack is folded against the top of the aircraft.

This version of the VT-1 allows for the head to be tucked away.

Here is a picture of the three Valkyrie nose section types. From left to right are the VF-1D, VT-1 and VF-1S. Like the previous two releases, the VT-1 has a lot of tampoo markings which make the toy very presentable out of the box.

After a few quick snaps, the FAST packs are installed with little effort.

Check out the engines on this ostrich.

Both the dorsal boosters and the leg parts feature removable panels. These panels are easy to remove yet at the same time, do not fall off with the slightest touch.

Here is a close-up of the leg detail.

And here is a close-up of the booster detail.

This toy does include the usual Yamato display stand adapters, but I find a Flexdisplay stand suits this toy much better.

The GERWALK mode of the VT-1 is quite distinct. It is mostly shown with its arms retracted and the hump created by the backpack evokes images of a speedy bird.

Owners of old Macross artbooks are familiar with this pose.

This is the most we ever see of the VT-1's transformation. Super GERWALK is probably its most notable appearance in the film.

In the cockpit we find a matching pair of Hikaru and Minmay (or Misa in a spacesuit) figures.

While the VT-1 is never seen in Battroid mode, it was always meant to have one. I have chosen to use the fixed posed hands for these pictures because I liked how expressive they can be.

There are an additional pair of locking clamps on either side of the tailfins in Battroid mode. I did not use these clamps as I feel they're really redundant and difficult to extend without a small tool or sharp fingernail.

Minmay!

I want you for UN Spacy!

I say chaps, I am armed with a nasty fingergun

Super Battroid mode is just as sturdy as regular Battroid mode.

Here you can see the fuller bust line of the VT-1 in comparison to regular VF-1.

Really, the VT-1 is another winner from Yamato. Its a great design executed almost perfectly in toy form. Yeah it is another VF-1, but the Super Ostrich has a lot of charm.

She's just an angel in the skies.

Ever since the late 80's with the explosion of the OVA and doujinshi market, Mecha Musume (mechanical girl) type characters have been littered throughout various fandoms. The most famous of these were Mika Akitaka's MS Girls. The same designer of the Double Zeta Gundam created a series of illustrations of cute girls clad in Mobile Suit armor. I feel that Konami's Busou Shinki line in an interesting take on the Mecha Musume concept. These figures represent 1/1 scale miniature androids that do battle over an online game called Busou Shinki: Battle Rondo. If you're interested in the game, there's some videos floating around youtube.

With regards to the figures themselves, Busou Shinkis are highly articulated and highly customizable figures. Each one comes with its own themed arsenal of weapons and armor parts which can be added to the standardized body. Each figure has its own unique head design and name to give it some kind of persona. Recently Konami has been releasing a few "Light Armor" figures that come with fewer parts than either a full Busou Shinki set or even the optional parts sets. I actually like this idea as while the big set are nice, they tend to have too many parts to keep track of or even use all at once. A Light Armor figure can serve as simple fun or as a gateway into the line.

Angel Commando Werkstra on her own is a typical Busou Shinki gal. I like her very basic style. These figures have several plastic washers in their wrists, thighs, and biceps which can be replaced with washers that include attachment points for armor and equipment. One thing I don't like about these figures is the tiny wrist washers. I'm always afraid I'm going to lose one and they don't come with extras. If I had to compare her face and hairstyle to a recent anime character, I'd have to say she looks like Eureka from Eureka 7. I'm not sure if the name Werkstra means anything special. It certainly doesn't sound "angelic."

Werkstra comes with an extra head with closed eyes so that she may pray like a good little angel. Right now I think she's thinking about delicious cake.

Enough with the basic figure. HENSHIN!

Fully equipped, Werkstra starts looking like the love-child of Eureka and KOS-MOS from Xenosaga (perhaps KOS-MOS is built to the same spec as Aaron Stack and contains many "useful devices"). As my other two Shinkis are Fighter Type Asuka and Dog Type Howling, this figure gets major points from me for having useful feet. I think a few too many of the fully armored characters depend on their included stand pieces. Werkstra is stable even with her armor. I like to display these figures with their silly headgear, and I think Werkstra's sensor hairband looks nice. She has some basic protection in the form of a chest plate that replaces her chest part.

Werkstra's main weapon is some sort of futuristic P90 style weapon. It comes with an optional bayonet that also serves as an assault knife. Her shield is mounted via one of the extra wrist washers. She comes with two fists, two open palm hands, and two weapon holding hands.

Like the big sets, Werkstra comes with a display stand that plugs into one of the many Microman-esque ports on her body. This stand is much simpler than awkward looking ones from the big sets like Asuka or Howling. It consists of an oval shaped base with a long pole with a joint on the end. The pole itself is comprised of several different pieces so that you may adjust its overall height. The joint is secured with a tiny screw which can be loosened to adjust the angle of the attachment point.

From the rear we can see that Werkstra's default configuration is concentrated into one single back unit with two boosters. Each booster has a detachable missile and fin. Since I'm a terribly uncreative person, I don't really know what else to do with her. I like her default look. I'm not really sure how boosters, missiles, and a wicked gun makes you an angel but then again I'm not a Japanese designer.

Wekstra's equipment is nice and compact so it doesn't affect her flexibility. Here you can see the knife detached from the gun.

As a collector, I'm not deep into Busou Shinki but I do like the ones I have and Werkstra is no different. I hope Konami continues with these Light Armor style figures but in the end its all about which figure you find appealing. I like the way Werkstra looks, and I also think she's a good introductory figure.

Kyrios, Allelujah Haptism: I have control.

The third member of the Gundam 00 team is the requisite transforming Gundam called Kyrios. The dual nature of the Gundam is reflected in the dual personalities of its pilot. The mysterious Allelujah Haptism hides a darker side that makes him the ultimate super soldier. Towards the end of the series, the character and mobile suit became so entwined that it made even skeptics of the design real fans, myself included.

Kyrios, like the other first seasons Gundams of 00 all share a similar aesthetic as they all share a central chest orb (GN Drive) with gray cables connecting each limb to the torso. These cables are represented by gray bars on the arms and legs. My Kyrios unfortunately has a defect on the right thigh. Other than that the paint apps are typical HCM Pro quality. Everything is sharp with little to no overspray or globbing.

Kyrios is a peculiar design to say the least. Its most obvious feature is its sheer depth. Thanks to its large wings, tail, and nose portions, you really wouldn't want to hug Kyrios.

Despite its numerous protrusions, Kyrios is well articulated. It has a full range of movement in its hips and shoulders and even has doubled jointed knees and elbows. The upper torso is mounted on a balljoint although out of the box its snapped down into its fixed position for flight mode. Kyrios comes equipped with one beam machine gun and two beam sabers although I don't recall them ever being used. It even comes with two unlit sabers for storage in the rear skirt armor. Now I have not detached these parts from the runner because on a 1/200 scale toy these are about the size of a grain of rice.

Kyrios's most visible accessory is its shield. This simply snaps onto the back of the arm and it fixed in place.

When Allelujah shifts to his alter ego, Hallelujah (the "H" is important) this defensive tool becomes a wicked claw. In the middle of the claw is a removable spike.

During combat, Hallelujah would run headlong into enemy formations in order to grab and impale his foes. The claw itself can rotate and hinge upward.

This way Kyrios stores its gun for fighter mode has always been weird. You have to attach this bracket to the right arm and detach the gun's handle. This is how its done in the show so I guess I can't complain too much. It's strangely toyetic.

Conversion to fighter mode is fairly easy and almost entirely self contained. You do have to remove the shield spike as there was no room for it to retract on a toy of this size. For the most part, Kyrios makes a pretty sleek space fighter. The included stand is for fighter mode only and can only display the figure horizontally. It doesn't have any built in weapons so it mostly relies on its beam machine gun. Often times during the show it was seen with a large weapons container used for carrying missiles and bombs. I'm not entirely sure why this was omitted from the toy, but I guess Bandai did not want include a hollow plastic box that's as big at the toy itself.

Kyrios's fighter mode has a nice and aggressive look, even from the front. I like the false green window and retractable antenna.

Kyrios looks absolutely ridiculous from the bottom. The sad thing is this is exactly how it looks in the show. Poor Kyrios looks very unhappy like that.

Overall the HCM Pro Kyrios is another real winner. If you're looking for a desktop defender or yet another entry in your HCM Pro army, Kyrios is a great toy right out of the box. My only real complaint is the price, 3000 yen MSRP. Kyrios is just a little too bare bones to really justify that price even with the transformation. I got this toy on sale and I'm quite satisfied with it.

I'm on a Gamlin kick.

The progression if variable fighter design received a big change with the introduction of the YF-21 from Macross Plus. While it does have the recongizable form of an airplane folding in half, the melding of Queadluun Rau, VF-1S, and the real life YF-23 has produced a unique specimen in the form of the VF-22S. This version appears in the Macross Dynamite 7 OVA and is piloted by Gamlin Kizaki who is normally associated with the VF-17. I have always liked the VF-22 over the YF-21. To me it feels like a more complete design. Also, Gamlin is probably my favorite character in all of Macross which only added to my enthusiasm over this toy. In the world of Macross merchandise, this toy represents the first fully transformable Macross 7 Valkyrie toy from a company other than Bandai.

Review sample provided by Angolz.

The VF-22S Strumvogel in fighter mode is made to resemble the YF-23 prototype stealth fighter. I think Gamlin's custom colors are well suited for this design. The combination of an all charcoal gray body with yellow highlights emphasizes the unique look of the fighter and translucent red canopy catches the eye. The only problem with fighter mode is that the two main wheels do not lock in place when extended so if you push the toy backwards the landing gear may collapse back into the wheel well.

Like the YF-21, the VF-22S features a hinged canopy. Inside there is a very rubbery Gamlin decked out in his flightsuit. The details on the pilot are crisp with next to no defects. While in Battroid mode, the seat can tilt backwards. I should also note that the decal sheet includes nametags not only for Gamlin, but Max and Millia Jenius as well. Towards the end of Macross 7, they fought it a pair of matching red and blue VF-22S's.

The VF-22S comes with two stand pieces and does not include its own stand. The stand piece for fighter and GERWALK mode can be connected to either a Macross display stand, a Mighty Block stand, or the display stand included in the YF-21 and Sv-51 toys. It clips onto the underside of the toy and uses the socket of the backpack locking piece as its recepticle. The only issue is that you must move the legs out of the way in order to insert the stand piece. Then again, I don't believe there is any Yamato Valkyrie toy that doesn't require you to partially transform the toy in order to attach the stand piece.

Not a lot was changed from the YF-21 toy. Most notably the hip panels feature the VF-22S's redesigned gun bays and a new face. The toy still has articulated thrust-vectoring paddles and parts for mounting the Fold Booster (which I do not own at this time). Unfortunately the new hip panels have no place for the twin gunpods to attach. Design wise, I believe what we see on the toy is meant to represent the guns being stored inside the protrusions on the panels. I actually think the VF-22S was meant to use a different gunpod design but due to time constraints the animators ended up using the guns from the YF-21.

The fact that this toy can stand in GERWALK mode is a miracle of modern science. It features extending knees joints that reveal swivel points for the lower legs. The toy achieves this mode without any problems.

Its difficult to tell here but the hip panels can be clipped into the hand covers at the rear of the Valkyrie. This does limit articulation in the leg a little bit so you may want to leave them unclipped as I have done.

In Battroid mode the VF-22S stands over a foot tall and features numerous joints including ratcheted shoulders, a waist joint, ratcheted knees, ratcheted ankles, and ball jointed hips. The hands feature fully articulated wrists and the fingers can open and close around the gunpod's handle. The gunpods are really held on by a peg in the palm of the toy's hand. While I generally prefer a set of fixed posed hands for different tasks, the hands on the VF-22S look alright when balled up as fists and splayed open.

In my opinion the VF-22S face design is a lot nicer than the YF-21. It has the same look as all of the "S" type Valkyries. The visor is translucent red and there is some mechanical detail behind it. The neck joint is somewhat limited to only a few degrees left or right. However, if you flip up the face just a little bit the head can look ninety degrees in either direction although it will look like the toy is looking upwards.

Despite the size of the backpack and the hip panels, the VF-22S is still fun to pose. All of its joints are nice and tight so it won't fall over with the slightest touch.

The Battroid mode stand piece can only be used on the large stand from the YF-21 and Sv-51 toys. The piece connects to the bottom of the toy and is very secure.

I feel that the VF-22S is a great addition to the Yamato Macross line. It looks really sharp in all of its modes and is a fun toy to mess around with. Admittedly, it is a lot easier to transform out of fighter mode and it is to transform it back. I recommend following the pictures in the instructions and checking out a few videos if you get stuck. It's a sturdy toy that just needs to be treated with respect.

A fun extra, behold "Pengroid" mode.

This review is made from blood, sweat, and tears. Well, mostly just sweat.

For all it's dark looks, Nirvash type the END is really just an extreme sports freak.

Here we have another figure that I know almost nothing about. I've never watched Eureka Seven, but I always kind of avoided anything from it. The idea of rollerskating or surfing robots just kind of turned me off.

Ok, so they don't actually roller skate or surf, but the way the mecha is designed leads you to that conclusion. They all have wheels on the back of their feet, they all have what appear to be surfboards etc... I dunno. The designs never did nothing for me. Well, all except one.

When the opportunity presented itself to review Nirvash Type the END, I decided to take a look. At first glance, its a dark angular mecha, with impressive armaments.

According to research, Nirvash Type The END is a type of machine called an "LFO" or "Light Finding Organism". Most LFO are composite machines, featuring both organic and mechanical components. Each LFO has a pilot, and each requires something called a Compac Drive. However, there are two unique LFO that do not need these drives - Nirvash and Nirvash type the END.

Reading the synopsis on Wikipedia, it reminds me a lot of Evangelion. But hey, Kawamori designed the mechs, so maybe it's not half bad.

The toy itself is cool, but now that I am familiar with the design there are a few things about it that bother me.

The toy is larger and bulkier than other Robot Soul figures, and accordingly has a higher price tag. The package is pretty sharp, with a green window box.

Articulation is good, but due to the way the figure is proportioned you can only pose it so many ways without it falling over.

The head is sharp and glossy black, with white eyes and pink pupils. I hate to say it, but the pupils really kill it for me. I know its an oddity in the world of Eureka Seven, but the pupils just look odd. I'm sure fans of the design won't mind, but to the uninitiated, its weird.

The upper body has a long protruding rear section that seems very organic in design. The upper section features an opening hatch that could be a cockpit or a weapon. The underside features two pivoting engine nozzles.

On the front of the figure you have two round white areas. These are swappable with "open" white parts to replicate the "Vascud Crisis" weapon.

Each shoulder has to support the weight of the large upper arms, and they are just not tight enough to do it. Most of the joints are reasonably tight on Nirvash the END but here they are just not strong enough. Each shoulder joint is covered on the body by a black panel which can easily fall off and get lost. I've already lost one of mine after shooting the review.

There's a ball joint where the upper arm meets the shoulder section, a hinge joint at the elbow, and the hands can pop on and off a ball joint at the end of the arm. Variant hands are included that can hold two large blades.

Out of the box, Nirvash type the END is packaged with large arm claws attached to each arm. The claw sections on each is moveable. Also included are to rubber coated wires that attach to the arms. These are meant to replicate a shooting attach where Nirvash type the END can launch its claws at an opponent. The wire is stiff enough to support the weight of the claws.

Moving down the figure we have another big issue with the design. And I mean it's a BIG ISSUE. To put it plainly, Nirvash type the END is hung like a bear. Whatever purpose this elongated crotch section has, I don't care. It just looks wrong. This is why we can't have anime like this in America. It could be the most interesting story in the world, and we'd still be here making jokes about robot wang.

The upper legs are short and lead to dual jointed knees and then down to the feet. The feet have dual jointed ankles, and feature a wheel for a heel (heelies?). In another big oversight, the wheel does not turn.

The bottom of each foot features a fold out peg that allows Nirvash type the END to attach to its Reflection Board so it can ride something called "trapar waves". Ok, so maybe it is a surfing robot.

But wait, there's more, the Reflection Board can separate into separate skis for better maneuverability. So, for all it's dark looks, Nirvash type the END is really just an extreme sports freak.

Also, the figure comes with a baby theEND figure, who knows what that is. is it the infant form of this mecha?

In all seriousness though, Nirvash type the END is not a bad figure, and if you are a fan of Eureka Seven, you will probably dig the design. But be aware there are a few design flaws that may hinder your enjoyment.

I like the Gundams that don't look like the Gundams

The Gundam figures I like are the ones that don't look like Gundam at all. Usually they end up being the bad guys, but hey, Darth Vader was always cooler than Luke, right?

The Gadessa is a perfect example of this. There are very few Gundam conventions here, and when they are done, they are done so different that if you weren't told this was from Gundam you would never know. It reminds me more of something out of Five Star Stories.

Gadessa is a heavy assault mobile suit designed by the bad guys of Gundam 00, called the "Innovators". This version of the suit is slightly different in color from the production version, designed for a character called "Hilling Care". And that's all I know about that.

The figure is ultra-poseable and stands 15cm tall. However, this is misleading. With the feet out flat it only stands about 12cm. So what's this all about?

Well, the Gadessa seems to be primarily an outer-space mobile suit. So in space, the toes are tilted down so that the legs come to a point. It looks really great, but sucks for standing. Ideally you would display this on a tamashii display base, and the figure comes with a part to attach to the stand. But, alas, we have no Tamashii stand, so you get it displayed with its toes out flat.

Articulation is pretty crazy - I stopped counting at 20 points. Its got double jointed shoulders, elbows, knees and even the chest has two joints.

Accessories include:

• GN Mega Launcher
• energy pack
• Beam Sabers
• optional hands
• GN Drive
• Interchangeable faceplate

The Mega Launcher is one of the most impressive weapons that I've seen in a long time. This long cannon can expand its three barrels for a tri-beam attack. You have to remove a small connector plate from the end, then push the long silver pointy tail in the back to extend the cannons. Its very cool.

I originally thought the energy pack was a part from the display stand connector, but no, it's part of the figure. It snaps on to the back skirt armor and then another connector snaps onto that to hold the Mega Launcher.

The beam saber hilts can be stored under the side skirt armor, and can be attached to the included beam sabers.

On the back is the GN Drive backpack which also serves as a cockpit and escape capsule. The sides fold out to become wings, while the whole unit can pivot on the back.

Finally, the Gadessa comes with an interchangeable faceplate. You have to remove the whole front of the head to replace it, but it's not too bad.

As far as manufacturing quality goes, this thing is flawless. It's made out of Sturdy ABS with POM and PVC for the joint work, and it works so well. Nothing falls off of this, and everything is tight and sturdy.

Its a good toy, and a cool design. You won't regret picking this one up.

It's a Gundam.

While the official Americanized name is "The Robot Spirits", the line has also been known as Robot Soul and Robot Damashii (Or Tamashii). The idea of the line is to create an affordable, poseable, durable, highly detailed robot figure. It's the logical progression from High Complete Models, to MS in Pocket, to MS in Action, to HCM Pro, and now Robot Spirits. Bandai continues to improve and grow, unofficially dubbing this line the "Revoltech Killer".

While the Robot Spirits figures are similar in size to Revoltech, that's where the similarities end. The figures are basically scaled up HCM pro figures, more akin to Yamato's GN-U DOU figures, except these come with accessories and don't fall apart.

We here at CDX are a bit late to the Robot Spirits line, with this item being the 22nd release. But this figure is in the first batch that Toynami is bringing to the States under Bandai's Tamashii banner, so we got some to check them out.

The character depicted here is the 0 Gundam as depicted in the Mobile Suit 00 Gundam anime series. I haven't watched the series, nor do I plan to, as Gundam bores me to tears. What I do know is that this 0 Gundam was originally grey and white, and sometime in the series the pilot paints it up so that it resembles an RX-78, the most iconic of Gundams. I don't know if 00 Gundam is in the same continuity as the classic Gundam, so whether this is intentional on the part of the pilot, or an tribute by the production staff is lost on me. Feel free to chime in with comments.

Either way, the end result is that we have a toy that looks pretty much like most every other Gundam toy ever released. That's not to say its bad, but I wish the Gundam creators would get over themselves and make something different for the main character.

Aesthetics aside, it really is a nice figure. Judging from the line art that I have seen the sculpt seems fairly accurate.

There are two things that make the Robot Soul line for me - Articulation and build quality.

The articulation is awesome. Double jointed knees and elbows, full torso motion, feet, hands, head, shoulder pads, armor skirts - everything moves and nothing falls off. The combination of ABS and POM plastics make for sharp, durable pieces that stay together.

There are just enough accessories, but not too many to keep track of. The 0 Gundam comes with a beam rifle, beam saber w/hilt, shield, interchangeable hands, Two rear engines and spare head crest and shoulder spikes.

The Beam Rifle is shorter and stubbier than the ones that usually accommodate the RX-78 archetype. It fits snugly in either of the two included holding hands.

The Beam Saber is actually two parts. The hilt can be stored in an articulated holder on the back. The range of motion in the arms allows you to actually have the robot reach back and grab the saber. The beam plugs into the saber easily.

The Shield attaches to the left arm and can pivot on its arm bracket. The bracket can clip onto the arm but also features a handle that can be grasped with variant hands.

The 0 Gundam can be equipped with either a GN Particle Condenser or a GN Drive on the back of the figure.

Lastly, Bandai included spare parts, should you lose the head crest or either of the spikes from the top of the chest.

There are lots of good accessories in this set but one glaring omission - a stand. Bandai sells a stand separately for 900 yen called the Tamashii Stage if you want one, but really, they could have included it.

If you are not totally burnt out on the whole classic Gundam color scheme, then by all means, pick this up. its a fine figure. I however will throw my support behind the non-gundamy Gundams instead.

Darkness, what does it mean? Does it mean the true evil or more Legioss toys?

You know me, I like weird variants. They don't get any weirder than the Dark Legioss Pilotless Type. Right now, this is the only toy of this variant. Picture a normal heroic Legioss all bright and shiny. Now picture an evil killbot, all dark with nasty claws. Put them together and you've got the Dark Legioss Pilotless Type. This Legioss is only seen in the last episode Genesis Climber Mospeada and even then it had maybe a minute of screen time. If you've seen my review of the regular Dark Legioss you get the gist of what I like and dislike about CM's Corporation's Legioss toys. I will point out the changes made to the design in this review.

This toy easily converts to Armo-Diver mode.

It is fairly stable in this mode if a little stiff.

Here's a group shot of Armo-Divers.

In Armo-Fighter mode, more changes are apparent. The canopy has been replaced with a solid piece adorned with a simple painted sensor eye. The canopy is removable and there is a normal cockpit underneath (with no pilot of course). The leading edge root extensions (the wing like pieces on the side of the nose section) are now much more angular. The new sternum piece is also too big to allow the Pilotless Type to rest on its nose wheel. As such, this toy does not roll along like the other two.

Up close we can see the basic tampoo printing and optional missile cluster. These are plugged into screw holes underneath the intakes.

The gun can still be plugged in between the shoulders.

One good thing about the new foot pieces is that they are easier to line up in Armo-Fighter mode.

Armo-Fighter group shot.

In the end, CM's Corporation's Legioss toys are durable, fun toys but their premium price turns off the casual buyer. Despite all my reservations about the cost, I think it was worth it just to get a toy of the Pilotless Type and the normal Dark Legioss. They are easily the best of CM's Mospeada toys.

Time to review Ran...er, I mean ... Ley (or is it Ray?!). Who knows, what I do know that it is more awesome goodness from Beagle and Toynami with the 2nd release in their Mospeada line. HD Video included!

M.O.S.P.E.A.D.A stands for - Military Operation Soldier Protect Emergency Aviation Dive Auto and is from the Japanese anime series Genesis Climber Mospeada which originally aired in Japan in 1983. While Mospeada has achived a bit of a cult-like status in Japan, most collectors stateside were first introduced to this saga and it's technology as the third generation of the Robotech Saga. Robotech really helped pave the way for Japanese anime here in the States and still holds a special place in old-school collectors' hearts to this day.

Today we are taking a look at the Beagle 1/10 scale Mospeada Armor Cycle VR-052T (Ley type) from Mospeada. This particular line is a collaborative effort between Japanese toy maker, Beagle, and American toymaker, Toynami. Beagle distributes under the Genesis Climber Mospeada brand in Asia and Toynami distributes it under the Robotech brand here in the States.

These two “different” lines are the exact same toy from the exact same manufacturing plant and from the exact same production runs. The only difference between them is: the language the manual comes in, the head sculpt used, and the box they are put in. That and if you're a stateside collector, you can get the “Rand”-named and Robotech-branded box and head-sculpt for an average of $50 less than the Mospeada counterpart because you don't have to pay the international shipping.

I had thrown my lot in on the Mospeada-branded Beagle-boxed version because having had seen photos in advance, I preferred the subtler line art style of the Beagle head-sculpt, so I will continue the tradition for the rest of the series.

The box for this is identical to the first: a window on the front with the name of the piece printed across in white and original artwork featured on the back. It's an interesting hybrid between the new-school “window-box” and old-school “sealed box/original art work”. The window lets you ohh and ahh at the craftsman ship, while the artwork is meant to inspire your imagination. That is a sign the toymaker knows what a toy collecting aficionado really appreciates.

This second release's box has been trimmed a bit and sits about an inch thinner. Inside all the parts and pieces are neatly arranged and entombed in clear, vacuum-formed trays. Besides the rider and the cycle you get in the box:

• Stand
• Galant Rifle
• Galant Pistol
• 3 spare hands (2 open hands and 1 gun holding hand
• Helmeted head (with working visor)
• HBT Canister

The Ley action figure itself is fantastic! The figure stands just shy of 8 inches tall and features more than 45 points of articulation. Now when I say action figure, I mean it. This isn't a “doll” or Real Action Hero style body. This is a very well constructed, highly pose-able, tightly-jointed figure. What's a nice touch is the cloth suit that covers the limbs of a hard plastic underneath.

It looks like they left a bit more room in the cloth on the Ley release than they did on the Stick, giving the suit a slightly less fitted look (almost baggy), which I think may be intentional – Ley wasn't military so the suit wouldn't have been fitted for him. The Mospeada armored cycle he uses was one he had claimed from a crashed supply ship from one of Mars Bases' failed assault attempts to reclaim Earth from the Inbit. It's a subtle nuance and not very noticeable unless you compare the releases.

The Armored Cycle Mode is equally as fantastic. Measuring 8 inches long and 5 inches high, it is the pinnacle of toy engineering, yet remains a solid, playable motorcycle. Rolling rubber wheels and all.

This bike is almost identical to the Stick release except the front housing on the right doesn't have holes to hold the Beam Cannon and new wheel guards/wrist guards. Ley features a beam cannon mounted to the right side and a blank shield on the left.

... and of course. The real test of a great motorcycle mode is whether or not the rider can properly “ride” the bike, and I am happy to say Ley can. You can get him posed on the bike and drop the diecast metal kickstand and let it sit there. Have a moment to play? Stow the kickstand and feel free to roll the bad boy across your desk (I know you want to...).

They even designed foot-pegs for the rider to place his feet on, something only one other manufacturer has tried (CM Corp) but the small tiny scale and fiddle bits made it impractical for all but the most patient of collectors. It's much more successful on this toy.

The bike is primarily high quality ABS plastic, with the engine block and joints being made of POM. Diecast metal is only used in the “arms” that hold the wheels in place, the collarbone hinge in the frame of the bike, and the kickstand.

Transformation seems a bit daunting the first few times you do it. However if you follow the clearly illustrated manual in the order it presents things it's not as fiddly as some have reported. Once you've done it a few times it's not bad. But it is a piece that requires attention to detail for everything to sit right, but the end results are fantastic!

The one thing I did notice that was different from the initial Stick release is some of the hinge joints are much tighter, allowing you to fold them out of the way and staying where you put them.

In Armored mode, the Cyclo.... er I mean, the Mospeada looks magnificent and stands at 8 1/2 inches tall. The thigh armor connects the boots to the rest of the mecha and the shock absorbers act as pistons for the arm guards. Both actually have range of motion built into the joints to work like a “real” Mospeada.

However should you want to disconnect them to extend range of motion on the figure for posing, you can.

Last, they have included an incredibly well thought out stand. Not only does it allow you to display the piece in either Cycle mode or Armored Mode...

...they also have designed a "footlocker" into the base to store all the extra parts and pieces.

A clip is included to attach it in cycle mode, allowing for angled posing without falling off the shelves. An "arm" is included for Armored mode, allowing either standing poses or mid flight poses.

You can also forgo the stand and just use the extendable part of the arm to brace the figure in action poses without the entire base.

Which brings up a point I would like to clarify from the last review. Apparently I was not very clear when I said he can't stand by himself without the arm.

As you can see they can be posed in a neutral pose without the arm, but understand that it is very precarious. It's not that the joints can't hold it all up; they're fine. It's that the design is too back heavy.

So I do want it known they can be posed without any sort of support, but I wouldn't leave them on the shelf that way. They're guaranteed to take a header sooner or later. Besides, with the stand, it makes it easier to fly it around your office... (Don't lie, I know you do.)

So yeah, once again I am strongly praising the makers of this toy and suggesting you get one. QC gets even better (when I didn't think it was possible) and besides we all know Ley was the cooler one, he did actually “get” the girl after all... My only complaint is, again, the big screw hole in the neck. Come on Beagle, fix that in the next two releases and include a plug for the first two.

I got my Beagle 1/10th scale Mospeada Armor Cycle VR-052T - Ley Type (Damn. That's a mouthful.) from our advertiser Angolz.com and I love them for it. Be sure to check the Gallery for more pictures and I have made a shiny new HD video for your bemusement which is embedded below.