The Battleship Arcadia was a popular cartoon series, captained by the Space Pirate Captain Harlock and ingrained in all our hearts.

The Battleship Arcadia was a popular cartoon series, captained by the Space Pirate Captain Harlock and ingrained in all our hearts. I started watching this series because at first Captain Harlock was supposed to be Kodai Susumu older brother lost in battle before the Yamato was reforged... to us USA people Derek Wildstar's older brother. That idea never was made cannon... just like a million origins for Wolverine & Sabertooth... but the cartoon does have that Starblazers feel I love and hence the reason I wanted this piece.

A review for the Arcadia TV Anime Version is already on here so I will just generally cover the chogokin and try to sell the Black version. Aoshima is a company that I enjoy buying from. You get a lot of diecast and they generally do not cost as much as other companies. The "yin" to that "yang" are often a couple of imperfections in figure or flaws in painting, but hey for around 100 USD instead of around 200+USD I can accept that. Mine had imperfect white marks on two areas near turrets (easy fix with touch up paint).

The Ship has a nice heft to it and the main fuselage is nearly all metal. Unlike other Aoshima Arcadia ships (the Blunt nose version?) that require flags and bottom fin being put on, this chogokin comes basically fully assembled out of box (I still have shell shock flashbacks to the insane Bandai Yamato assembly). The only thing you need to do is insert a dome (one solid or one clear yellow) and anchors.

A nice design not mentioned before is the turrets turn in unison and the barrels move in certain sequences depending on position.

Also a missile turret and bottom fighter flap opens, the "hanger bay door" is pretty small and useless but no big flaw to me.

The black version comes with glow-in-the-dark paint on the skulls and the front ship dagger is that cool white "glow" plastic. Charge it up, turn the room to pitch black and enjoy next to your black neo-getter, shin getter, and new getter.

The ship lights up like all the other versions (to my knowledge there are blk. ver, weathering ver., anime color ver., normal ver....are there more??). It also comes with a stand and this one has the front of the ship turn up at a more extreme angle than the others.

A very nice addition to the Black version that I believe does not come with the others is a larger version of the small fighter (not the bomber) that comes with all versions, of course it has the stand in the pictures, the fighter is all plastic but nice details...and lets not get greedy.

A nice heavy Chogokin, looks nice, and the versions I choose to have...yes, it is my favorite...and yes I loved the large fighter. It is displayed next to my Bandai SOP Yamato and eventually my insanely pricey Marmit Andromeda. Once again please read the other Acadia review for more descriptive phrases - I tried not to be redundant.

Hot on the heels of their amazing Cosmo Dragoon replica, Taito brings us another Leiji-verse weapon, the Gravity Saber.

Depending on which Matsumoto series you watch, it's pretty safe to say that the Gravity Saber was the most prominent weapon used. The basic principle of the weapon is fairly simple and straight forward, a long laser gun modeled after a classic early cutlass, giving you both a long range blast weapon as well as a melee weapon for close quarters swashbuckling action.

The version here is the one that appeared in the 1978 Harlock tv series and the Galaxy Express 999 movies. There is another version used by Captain Harlock that appears in Arcadia of my Youth. The biggest difference is that the hand guard on that one is molded in the shape of a skull face. Here's to Taito coming out with that version as well down the road. Now, on to the review...

Like the Cosmo Dragoon, we're given a great replica that's amazingly well crafted given the price. When I first heard that this was coming out, I was worried that Taito might fiddle with the size to cut the price, but fortunately they didn't. From cocking lever to muzzle it measures a full 36 inches. That's a machinder and a half!

The Gravity Saber comes in 3 pieces that need to be assembled, consisting of the handle and 2 barrel sections. The connection points are very tight and surprisingly strong. The peg that attaches the barrel to the grip extends roughly an inch and a half into the grip. I was able to swing this thing around quite a bit with nothing slipping or snapping. The overall construction is fairly well executed.

There are a few seam lines that are slightly misaligned but overall it's nothing I can't forgive. Taito did an impressive job on the paint job. The weathering is very realistic and well executed, not too much and not too little. Being a simple weapon, there isn't too much that this thing can do. The trigger is spring loaded but like the Cosmo Dragoon the cocking handle doesn't move. One cool detail it does have is a small Leiji Matsumoto circular computer display screen inside the hand guard.

Overall the execution and details on this are superb. While there are a few small QC issues with this versus the Cosmo Dragoon, they're nothing that would make me not recommend this to anybody who's into Leiji Matsumoto or fantasy weapons in general. With the Cosmo Dragoon being based on a real pistol, different import laws made it very hard to get one from most major online shops. The Gravity saber is much easier to get. The one that was reviewed here was purchased through Hobby Link Japan and while it is currently listed as back ordered there is another release scheduled later in the year with the added detail of a skull and crossbones marking on the hand guard.

Ahoy Matey! Captain Harlock's Arcadia, off the starboard bow!

In my mind, the name Captain Harlock, always conjures images of swashbuckling space pirates with eye patches. Captain Harlock, is probably one of the most popular of Leiji Matsumoto's space operas, second only to Space Battleship Yamato.

Today, I will be reviewing, the TV version of Captain Harlock's Arcadia. This will be my second entry into Taito's Super Mechanics line of UFO catcher prize toys.

Like Taito's Yamato, Arcadia does not disappoint. Packaged in the now familiar window box, you will see a striking illustration of Captain Harlock himself.

After Arcadia is removed from its box, some light assembly is required (wings, front knife, and front 2 ailerons). Then, and only then, will you truly appreciate the detail and beauty of this toy.

Arcadia is a full 40cm long. Thats almost 16 inches from it's Jolly Roger flagged stern, to the tip of the bow mounted knife blade. The Arcadia is well made and sturdy. Comprised from quality plastic and ABS.

One of the Arcadia's really cool features, is the paint detail. Notice, the deck planking and stern, are painted to give the authentic look of wood. Other cool features included are, rotating adjustable turrets, wing mounted missiles, and a miniature pilot's helm with ship's wheel.

The included stand does not take away from the side profiles ominous appearance. As you can see, the classic skull and crossbones really standout on both port and starboard sides.

I really like this toy. As with Taito's Yamato, its hard to believe that Arcadia, originally cost only $15.00 USD. Consider yourself lucky if you can acquire it at that price now. Even if you pay a little more, it will certainly be cheaper than the Shin Seiki Gokin version made by Aoshima. If Taito keeps this up, I'll have to buy the whole line.

Arrrgh! Get this hidden treasure! Before it be gone!
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It’s taken nearly 30 years for an accurate, high quality, readily available representation of this vessel to be released, and boy, it was worth the wait.

The Battleship Arcadia. Designed and Built by Oyama Tochiro on the planet Heavy Melder, Captained by the Space Pirate Captain Harlock. This is the ship that in 2977 single-handedly defeated the space fleet of the Mazone empire (which numbered in the thousands) and defended the earth from destruction countless times.....

It’s taken nearly 30 years for an accurate, high quality, readily available representation of this vessel to be released, and boy, it was worth the wait. There have been very few toys or models of this version of the famed ship of Captain Harlock released. Takara made a few plastic and diecast toys for the 1978 Harlock TV series, but they lacked detail or refinement. The only exception was a 1/1500 scale plastic kit made by Takara, which with some work and scratch building can make a very nice display piece. In recent years, there has been some resin kits of this ship produced by loyal fans, but for anyone who lacks skill in model building that still isn’t quiet enough. The only “toy” that comes close in terms of accurate detail is a polystone statue released by the Jesnet Company a few years back, but it’s small, fixed pose, and has inaccurate proportions.

The Aoshima Company has made up for all of these letdowns with this release. Upon my first inspection of this piece I was nearly floored. The box art is very well done, with a stern looking Captain Harlock on either end, and the front is adorned with an image of the Arcadia in flight above Earth. When I opened the box I was met with the Arcadia, nearly fully assembled resting securely in Styrofoam. One thing I should note is that the blocks of Styrofoam holding the ship in place were wrapped in plastic, eliminating the risk of stray bits of Styrofoam sticking to the ship, a neat little addition in my opinion. I pulled the ship out of its Styrofoam tomb and marveled at it.

What jumped out at me at first was the sheer weight of this thing. Nearly the entire ship is solid diecast! I went over it using the trusty “cheek test” and the only plastic I could find was in the bridge, the rear captains quarters, engine nozzles (the light grey tips), all the Matsumoto-ish spinitys and fins, part of the upper deck, and gun turrets. To tell you the truth, I actually had some trouble holding this thing for too long, it’s that heavy. Getting past that, the next thing I’ll touch on are the paint and details.

Unlike the early press photos and box art, the skulls on the sides and bow of the ship have “weathering” airbrushed on them so they really jump out. Every single port hole or running light location has been painted in. The gold application on the bow and stern sections is impeccable, no over spray what so ever. Looking closely near the stern, there’s a tiny ships' wheel for Harlock to stand at and steer his ship from outside. Unfortunately the macro zoom on my camera isn’t working so I was unable to get a clear shot of this detail.

Gimmick wise, you’d think Aoshima couldn’t do a whole lot here, but they really stepped it up. Not only do both gun turrets turn, but, as they turn each individual barrel moves up and down in a kind of wave motion, like they’re zeroing in on the target. Behind those, the space harpoon launcher also elevates up and down. On the belly of the ship, the main launch bay door opens, and you can position one of 2 tiny replicas of the fighters used onboard the Arcadia, the Space Wolf and Comso Wing. Included are also a pair of anchors that can be attached to the bow via hooks hidden behind removable panels when not in use. Both have metal chains. Also present is the mighty Bow Slicer. This was the weapon that was used either as a last ditch effort, or when you wanted to dispatch an enemy in the coolest way possible. It is made of plastic, and features a good amount of detail.

As with the other ships in this series this Arcadia includes a light up feature powered by 2 AAA batteries. Pressing a button on the belly causes the main and secondary bridge, engines, Captain’s quarters windows, and computer room dome to illuminate. When not using this feature, there is an alternate dome that is painted the same as the rest of the ship that can be swapped out for the transparent orange dome for the glow effect.

Early on when the first painted pictures of the prototype came out I was kind of worried. It looked like the blue used on the ship might be a bit lighter than in the anime. Luckily they stuck with a very nice deep midnight blue combination that just jumps out. As I said before this is probably the best looking toy/model/display piece of the first Arcadia that has come out up till now.

That having been said though, it is somewhat different than how it appears in the anime series. Proportion wise from the stern up to the skull and crossbones on the bow the proportions are nearly perfect when compared to the anime. Beyond that the ship has been stretched out a bit, the bow nose coming to a finer point. This was a bit of a downer, as I was hoping Aoshima would keep the ship as accurate as possible. I later found out that this design was produced and approved by Leiji Matsumoto himself, and when the M man says this is what he wants the Arcadia to look like, well it’s kind of hard to argue with that.

In summary, Aoshima pulled off a real winner with this piece. Unlike a resin kit or other delicate model, I have no problem picking this guy up and flying around the room with it (yes I have issues let’s not go into that). I’d recommend it to anybody who collects Captain Harlock or Leiji Matsumoto ships.

 I should note that at the time I wrote this it appears that the TV colored version of this piece seems to have dried up pretty quick. Aoshima did however also release this ship in the original manga green color scheme. As far as I know it’s the same as this piece except for the coloring.