"You will not remember what I show you now, and yet I shall awaken memories of love... and crime... and death... "

I never really thought about it until now, but I suppose people who aren't classic monster movie fans might get a bit confused when hearing about the characters from the 1932 Boris Karloff vehicle "The Mummy". The main character is of course the mummy himself, who's real name is "Imhotep", but when he's resurrected, he takes the name of Ardeth Bey and moves freely among the rest of the cast, until his true identity is revealed. So, "The Mummy", "Im-ho-tep" and "Ardeth Bey" are all the same person.

The figure is really well made like all the others in the line. The box art is great as usual showing Ardeth Bey poised above the character of Helen Grosvenor (played by Zita Johann), whom he believed to be the reincarnation of his lost love, the Princess Anck-es-en-Amon. A statue of the Egyptian god Anubis stands in the background. I love these box lids that have the vintage poster art on them. They make such great backgrounds for your monster setup.

Ardeth Bey box art

My humble monster collection, with Sideshow boxes on the top row

Ok, so the box is great, but what about the figure? Well, like most toys, it's got it's good and bad points. The costume and accessories (a sacrificial dagger and the Scroll Of Thoth, with which one could raise the dead) are fantastic. The figure can even hold both of the accessories and the Scroll of Thoth can actually be untied and rolled out to admire all the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics which were meticulously recreated. The tarboosh is molded right onto the head and is not removable.

The figure looks just like Karloff did, but something about the paint job feels wrong. I know how the character in the movie looks eerily ancient but here his face looks absolutely petrified (and I mean that in a turned to stone kind of way). I don't really have a problem with that, but you can still see tiny areas of flesh tone peeking through and I feel like the black around the eyes looks a bit too exaggerated, which sort of makes it look "fake". I know that's probably a weird way to describe a toy, but I think if I saw someone who looked like this in real life, I would think "there's someone made up to look ancient" instead of "there's someone ancient". It looked great in the movie, but doesn't seem to work as well in color. Perhaps this figure would have benefited from a black and white "Silver Screen Edition", but one was never made as this was released towards the tail end of Sideshow's run of these 12" classic monsters.

With that said, if that's a problem at all, it's only a problem when you look at it up close. From a couple feet away or while mixed within a collection, the doll is fantastic. And it certainly adds a distinctive flavor to a monster room otherwise filled with your standard Frankensteins, Draculas, etc... I welcome any of the characters who are less seen in toy form.

Ardeth Bey comes with his own adjustable 12" doll stand and was limited to 3000 pieces. It's definitely a great figure for the monster collector and if the paint feels flawed at all, it's only because of the high standard already established by Sideshow's previous releases. But I don't think you'd be too disappointed to have this one in your collection!

It's not an expensive toy. It's not big... Who cares? It still rocks!

Hello there, I'm Wallas, a new writer here on CDX. Before I start my review, I must tell some tech stuff. This is my first review, so please be understanding if I make some style mistakes ^^ Also, I will use the writing scheme that is common on my very own Transformers site. And finally, I may be pretty advanced in English, but it's still my second language (I come from Poland). So don't kill me if it won't sound like a native's article :) Ok, time for the fun part!

My adventure with this toy began quite accidentally- I'm a Transformer collector and although I do like Japan toys (on my PC's screen), I had never had personal contact with any of them, especially Microman toys. That is, until one day someone sold two Microman Biomachine toys on our local auction site. I wasn't quite interested but after 3 months of failing to sell those sets, the seller lowered the price to about $5 per piece. Then, out of simple curiosity, I began to consider purchasing them and made some small research on those toys. The results were promising enough for me to buy both Microman sets. Were they worth it? Read on and try to guess :P

Umm... don't expect to find any plot-related stuff here, I'm as new to this as you guys ^^ All I know that Microman are some kind of miniature cyborgs fighting with their evil counterparts...

For starters, let's check out the box. Though it may look like your standard blister-on-card package for smaller toys, this one has few very nice features. Apart from specific graphical design (I'll leave judging whether it's nice to you), from the technical side, it's far more better than, for example, TF Deluxe boxes. Especially when it comes to opening it. Usually companies like Hasbro (or even Takara with their other releases) simply glue the blister to the card, which is quite irritating for collectors who wish to preserve the box in the best possible shape. But it's not that easy when you must literally tear the box apart to reach the toy inside. Even if you decide to cut the blister with something sharp, it still doesn't look too nice. That's why I was so pleased to notice that with Microman it's completely different. Here, the blister isn't glued to the front of the card. Instead,it's side and bottom edges partly cover the back of the card and are sticked together with transparent gluetape. So, to open the toy, you simply cut the tape and slide out the card. This way you can have the box in exactly the same state as it was before opening. Brilliant! Also, unlike most US toys where figure and all it's belongings are place on a single tray filling the whole blister, here, the accessories and the main figure are stored on separate trays (and in the way that all smaller extra parts are hidden behind the figure). All the paper sheets included to the toy are hidden inside the card (it's double-layered). So in general a viewer has a feeling of order when looking at this box.

After dealing with the holding measures (which are effective but also easy to remove), we get to see Xeku, Microman included in this particular set. And I admit it, even while not being a big fan of human action figures, the look of this one simply impressed me. Very human-like proportions, nice pallete of colors, as well as simple but eye-catching design of the suit. It's purpose isn't obvious when you first look at it, but it's just a fine piece of a battle suit (Power Ranger costumes go home!).

About the colors again. Xeku is made mostly from semi-transparent dark blue plastic. We can also see many red metallic parts of the armour, accompanied by single white metallic chest part (white is also the colour of the hands). The finishing touches consist of many small, orange paint aps all over the figure, as well as silver,chromed head (this is something like a recognition sign for the whole Microman series). And I admit, it's a nice color scheme... the only problem with it is that the red tends to wear off at those pegs on shoulders...not a big deal for me, as it's not that visible, though.

Now, a close-up for the upper body. The chrome head mentioned before is nicely shaped. Not very detailed, but still you can see hair or eyebrows. Not bad for a 3 1/2 inch figure if you ask me. Also, the red chest plate is shaped after the emblem of this very character (the emblem is visible in the right upper corner of the box). Nice!

Time for another important matter in this toy aside form it's looks. Microman was always known for poseable figures, but when Takara introduced so called Full Action Body system few years ago, Microman became one of the most poseable toy series up to date and even now it's no less impressive than the Revoltech line. Just look at the example poses above. It doesn't look much until you look up the numbers- each Biomachine Microman features 30 points of articulation which include double knee and elbow joints, double shoulder ball joints and more. Plus, each figure has it's own 6 sets of interchangeable hands. This gives you a lot of possible configurations and poses. I think it would be really hard to run out of new ideas at some point.

Xeku also includes a small elliptic stand made from transparent plastic. It features two phrases - "Micro size action figure" and "Microman since 1974". That's what I call a long tradition. Aside from these, in the center of the stand there's also a carving of a Microman with his legs and arms stretched... An obvious reference to Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, but it's a very nice touch. The stand also includes two pegs- one that is compatible with Full Action Body figures (like Xeku), the other one is to make the stand work with older Microman toys. although the stand is done nicely, it's not much really. I mean, compared to standard Revoltech stands that allow you to create jumps, powerkicks or other airborne poses, this one allows you only to support ground-based setups. But maybe it's just me with my big requirements, you still can manage some nice poses anyway.

But, unlike Revoltech, Micromen actually have something like a storage for hands not used at the moment. Basically it's just a transparent connector that keeps all spare limbs together, but it sure makes losing these parts a lot harder.

Now it's time to introduce the main feature of the Biomachine sub-line, the Biomachine itself!. The main idea behind Xeku and his buddies was to provide each Microman with his own, unique set of accessories (like it does in most Microman toys). In Biomachine they take shape of futuristic vehicles like the one above. In Xeku's case it's a small combat hovercraft dubbed MachineMirror (probably due to the use of anti-gravity drive). And I must say, it looks interesting. It's shape isn't maybe obvious, but thankfully no one has yet definitely determined how a futuristic hovercraft should look like, so it's not a bad thing. Especially that the specific shape is partly due to the special feature that can be used when all four Biomachines are gathered in one place- they can combine to form a huge exo-frame robot (Bio-suit) piloted by one of the Micromen (still need the other two to perform that, so no pictures of the combined form now, sorry ^^).

But I would also like to mention other things about MachineMirror apart from it's general mold. For example, the color scheme. Basically the main structure is pure chrome, which is simply awesome. I guess the Mirror nick of this vehicle can also refer to the fact, that everything around it reflects on it's surface and it really looks good. It's almost like this machine was built from liquid metal (similar to T-1000 from Terminator 2). Add really nice level of details and you get small, but really nice piece of toy (I guess it's not hard to consider Biomachine sets as two separate toys). Another thing that catches the eye is the weaponry- MachineMirror is equipped with a medium size laser cannon , as well as four smaller blasters on sides. For a vehicle of it's size (check out the Mirror/Xeku comparison shot) it's more than enough.

Another nice (and maybe not 100% obvious) feature of MachineMirror is to drive Xeku around- it has two small handles on the back which our Microman can grab- when you fit Xeku there, he looks quite similar to a motorcycle driver. Unfortunately, it's not that easy to make it look right. First, it's hard to make Xeku grab the handles- you have to use a dedicated pair of hands and it's still hard to place them right. Then, when you're done with that, you must also pose Xeku properly (like on the picture above and believe me, it only looks easy, unless you have a third hand, of course. You see, you use one hand to hold Machinemirror, the second to adjust Microman. But when we talk about hyper-posable toys like this, usually when you adjust one part, the others changes their earlier position...so it's really a pain in the butt to do it properly. Thankfully, Takara equipped Mirror with two pegs on top. You can plug Xeku's feet there, so that he can surf/skate on his vehicle.. or do other interesting things related to transportation :).

You thought that's all this set has got? Not a chance. For you see, some parts of MachineMirror are made of the same transparent dark blue plastic as Xeku's main body. And apart from the piece on the main gun, all these parts disconnect from our hovercraft...to become Xeku's armour. This is called the BioTech mode and I simply love it. Not only does it look great (the transparency of those parts make them look as if they were taken from Tron), but also doesn't really decrease Xeku's poseability much. Plus, parts that were laser barrels before, now form a spear that can be used as Microman's personal weapon. Pure awsomeness if you ask me. Ok, time for some pics so you can get the idea how BioTech mode works :)

Finally, the partly disassembled MachineMirror can stll work as Xeku's vehicle, even if he's in BioTech mode.

And the last pic in the review, a group shot of all parts included this set. Oh, I almost forgot- the US version of this toy (like mine) has a promo DVD included. It's not much- you have all Biomachine's members short profiles, a short commercial and a two minute overview of Microman line up to Biomachine. still, if you get it for free (the set costs the same amount of money as the japan release), it's welcomed :)

To conclude, I didn't expect so much nice features form such a small and cheap toy. I highly recommend Xeku as well as other Biomachines- for someone who's new to the Microman line (like me), it's a perfect toy to get enthusiastic about these figures. An "A" score from me :)

There have been a few attempts at making a nice toy of the bike, but none come anywhere as close as the PX-03 Soul of Popynica Kaneda’s Bike. This is an amazing piece, and if you are a fan of Akira, there’s no reason for you not to have it.

Everyone loves Kaneda’s bike. It has become a symbol to anime fans across the world.

I remember watching AKIRA for the first time. I just picked up a bootleg vhs tape of the raw movie at a comic convention after seeing it on the screen at a dealers booth. I ran home to watch it, only to find that all of my VCRs were broken. I quickly called a few friends to see if I could bring it over and watch it. I ended up going over this kid Scott’s house to watch it – he could care less about it. I remember watching that scene where all the buildings explode with the riot going on… I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but right then and there my mind was opened to a whole new world.

Kaneda’s bike in AKIRA is just awesome. Street punk Kaneda steals the bike and uses it to fight against the clown gang. This bike is smoking hot. To this day people are still trying to make a working version of it. I think it is every otaku’s dream to sit behind the wheel of this thing and cruise around Neo Tokyo.

There have been a few attempts at making a nice toy of the bike, but none come anywhere as close as the PX-03 Soul of Popynica Kaneda’s Bike. This is an amazing piece, and if you are a fan of Akira, there’s no reason for you not to have it.

First of all, the bike comes with a Kaneda figure that is basically stuck in the pose you see him in. Boo to Bandai for not making him articulated. Still, he looks nice and fits well on the bike.

The markings on Kaneda’s bike are anime accurate – something the McFarlane version wasn’t able to do. The toy features rubber tires, clear windscreen, and diecast internal skeleton.

Most of the parts on Kaneda’s bike can be removed to expose the beautiful diecast beneath. Pretty much anything you see silver is metal. The front fork turns, raises and lowers, and has spring loaded suspension.

Kaneda’s bike comes with a second set of coverings that can separate a little differently than the first set.

This toy was first unveiled at the Tokyo Motorcycle Show with a limited edition “naked” version – this was basically just the bike without any of the sponsor logos printed on it. Also, the Kaneda figure was not included with this version.

I’m not kidding – this thing rocks and you need to get it. They are reasonably cheap, all things considered.

What a horrible mess this is, but I’m not sure who to blame.

I’ve always loved the armored Valkyrie but somehow never got my hands on one. At this years summit someone was getting rid of a Yamato set. Now, I don’t really like my 1/60 Yamato, and I was ready to get rid of it, but I thought maybe I could dress it up with some armor.

What a terrible mistake.

The Armor comes sold separately and has to be installed onto a 1/60 Yamato Valkyrie. None of the armor connects how I think it should have. Some parts are passable, some are just horrible.

The good parts

The shoulders, arm armor and lower leg armor are all well done. I don’t know if I like the big anime fists or not, but it doesn’t totally ruin it for me. The feet seem small with the armor on, so why didn’t they give anime sized feet? The chest isn’t also too bad, although it just clips on. The front door on the chest and the doors on the shoulder units open to reveal missile banks that don’t fire.

The bad parts

Everything else is bad. The booster pack on the back attach with a really flimsy bracket, and I have no idea if I’m even doing it right. It just seems half assed.

The crotch piece is actually 2 parts that connect together by incredibly small pegs. The thing comes apart just by looking at it.

Probably the biggest annoyance is the hips. We all know how these 1/60 valks attached at the hips – pegs that go into the nosecone. Well, when you add the hip armor, it adds thickness to the hip, meaning less peg to hook into the nose. Therefore, every time you pick it up, the legs fall off.

Seriously guys, come on.

Now, part of the fault here could be mine, as the valk I used is the very first 1/60 made, and may not have been tooled to be compatible with the armor. But still, there are just too many things wrong here. Yamato has made great strides since this toy came out, but I can’t recommend this armor set to anyone.

This Jumbo Megazord was the last to prominently feature parts of animals in the design. That combined with a lack of gimmicks and Jumbo fans had already become disillusioned with these toys by this point. Although two more would be produced, it often feels like this line really died with this release.

The Jumbo Thundersaurus Megazord was the fifth entry in Bandai Creation's line of Jumbo sized Power Ranger robots and the first from the Dino Thunder series. It followed previous releases the Wildforce Megazord and Isis Megazord from the Wild Force series and Storm Megazord and Thunderstorm Megazord from the Ninja Storm series. In my opiniion, it's one of the weaker entries in the line, possibly the weakest. I tend to flip flop on whether I like this or the Wildforce Megazord the least.

I think I would like it more if it didn't have those silly patterns within the gold on the legs and shoulders. I just tends to remind me of bad wallpaper. Also, there's something about a robot with toes that just seems off to me. Also, the right hand looks kind of awkward to me. I can't quite put my finger on it.

The giant drill/tail for a left arm doesn't bother me that much like it would many other Jumbo collectors. I've heard some people complain about it, but no one complains about the drill arm for Getter 2. I think it might just be an anti-sentai sentiment at work. The arm on this toy can turn, but it doesn't actually spin unfortunately.

I do quite like the sculpt of the head, even though it tends to remind me of Dancougar.

I'm not quite as enamored of the head that sticks out from the chest. It sticks out a bit too far for my liking. It really seems seems out of place on what is otherwise a very thin robot.

Both heads are made of soft vinyl and need to be attached when you buy the toy. Another plastic handle for the back is also included again. As is the case with some of the other toys in this line, some of the paint applications are a little bit spotty.
Again, the box can be displayed either landscape or portrait style.

As a fanatic for anything Jumbo, I'm glad I bought this guy. But I suspect that if you were collecting when this came out and didn't get it then, then nothing will change your mind about it. There are no hidden surprises with these things. Basically, either you like the way it looks or you don't.

The other Transformable Kaiyodo trading figure - the VF-1S Roy Fokker Valkyrie

Along with the three super articulated figures in Kaiyodo’s Super Dimension Figure line came two fully transformable Valkyrie toys.

These microscopic toys can fully transform between all three modes, and are less than 2 inches tall. Sure, the transformation requires parts swapping, and it is kind of fragile in all three modes, but it is still kind of cool.

Gerwalk and Valkyrie mode look the best. The Gerwalk mode is able to splay the legs out just right to get that anime accurate look.

The Valkyrie mode is nice and compact. It looks really sharp and can be supported by an included stand.

It is only in robot mode that the design falters. The Battroid mode looks tall and lanky. The head seems sunken down into the shoulders and the torso looks too long. The only articulation in this mode is the head and arms.

Considering the size, I think Kaiyodo did a good job. The sculpt is by the legendary Katsuhisa Yamaguchi one of Kaiyodo’s master sculptors.

One thing I would mention – keep a bag around for all the extra parts left over while transforming. No one mode uses all the parts.

This toy came in two distinct types – Miriya type and Roy Fokker type. These figures are blind-boxed, so you never know what youre getting unless you buy an opened set.

The Wing Gundam Zero Custom has been one of the most popular Gundam machines next to current fan favorites such as the Strike Freedom and super powered mobile suits of other generations.

Looking back

It’s been a long time since I’ve built a model kit from the Gundam Wing universe.

For the novice, Gundam Wing was the first Gundam series to be released in the United States by Bandai for the Cartoon Network’s “Toonami” block, the network’s slated broadcast for action cartoons. Wing’s debut kicked off the ‘American Gundam Boom’ of the late 1990’ before its unfortunate slump in the early 2000s. Gundam Wing’s flashy, cadre of individual mobile suits were successful with an audience whose previous experience with Japanese anime was tagged with the marketable “Collect ‘Em All” attitude seen in Poke’Mon and even Dragon Ball Z. Also, Wing helped to revive the Giant Robot genre in America set by classics such as Robotech and Voltron. Following up on Gundam Wing’s success, Bandai opened the merchandising flood gates with their assortment of model kits based on the television series bringing the “Gun-Pla” Gundam model kit hobby trend to the Western Hemisphere.

In the months going into years to follow, Bandai would later release other chapters of the Gundam Legacy such as Mobile Fighter G-Gundam and the original Mobile Suit Gundam. With the release of the original, Bandai followed up with its collection of side stories and sequels: O8th MS Team, Gundam 0080, Gundam 0083, Zeta, Char’s Counterattack, and Gundam F-91. In the more recent years, Bandai has continued to release Gundam to the masses with the releases of the current serial: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny. Unfortunately, this rush for more recent material side lined the chances for other Gundam series such as Gundam ZZ (double Zeta), Turn-A, Gundam V, and Gundam X. However, even with this number of series made available to the American public, none have caught on where Gundam Wing was successful.

At the point of saturation, Gundam’s popularity began to falter, in some respects due to the content of releases following Wing were not as popular. The stories of the original series and its succession were directed for a more adult audience. Mobile Suit Gundam was a war story about heroes whose victories came with losses and moral dilemmas of why they pull the trigger, rather than showcasing the adventures of individuals in flashy mobile suits who always won with no damage (this difference could also be applied when comparing between Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny). Added complications would come with the slated television release for series such as Gundam 0080 and Gundam 0083 whose subject matter and content came under scrutiny after the September 11th tragedy. How? Well, in 0080 Zeon soldiers successfully infiltrate of a space colony with the intent to destroy a Federation military base and in 0083, a Former Zeon militia not only infiltrate a Federation army test base but succeed in stealing a prototype Gundam mobile suit armed with a Nuclear warhead. Wait! It gets better: they use the same mobile suit and its nuke to destroy a Federation naval outpost hosting the Federation’s annual naval review. This action not only crippled the Federation’s Space Force, but allowed this same Zeon militia’s follow up plan of dropping a space colony onto Earth with minimal resistance. I think that could constitute a ‘whoa…’

On a much lighter side of the argument, the biggest difficulty in establishing Mobile Suit Gundam after Gundam Wing came from audience’s plain lack of interest in older, more simplistic animation as opposed by the sharper, more detailed and varied style. In addition, there was a generalized lack of understanding in the differences in time tables: everybody knew the ‘After Colony’ time table, but they were utterly clueless about the ‘Universal Century.’ If Gundam were taught as a general history course, many would be able to list out the time table of the Colonies’ Liberation from AC 180 to AC 196 than discussing the pivotal events from the One Year War of UC 0079. You know what they say: One man’s Operation Meteor is another man’s Operation British. I’ll leave you folks at home to check that one out.

Then there were the models: Wing’s starting five mobile suits followed by its upgraded assortment in both 1/144 and 1/100 scale (except for some, IE Tallgeese, Sandrock and Heavyarms) outnumbered Mobile Suit Gundam’s one Gundam and bevy of Zeon mobile suits, no matter how many Char’s variants there are or how many times the RX-78-2 has been remodeled. If not the more direct cause in the decline, Gundam’s death in America could also be applied to gouging costs for most of the model kits. I myself will never live down the fact that I took the domestic route and paid 80$ USD for a model kit that I would have paid 45$ USD if I imported online. In retrospect, I think another nail in Gundam’s domestic coffin was the fact that not many American kids were interested in building model kits as opposed to buying pre-assembled action figures. I suppose now that the “What is Your Level” ad campaign had enough problems before I showed up with my 1/144 Dendrobium.

In light of such a tragic rise and fall of an iconic series, there is a sort of reluctance for being a Gundam fan. There is no more competition between domestic or imported releases so the models are relatively cheaper again through some online dealers. Bandai’s made collection releases of some of the series to distribute again but in the narrower channels so not to flood the market like so many other anime franchises with a more open domestic market have. Also, there’s plenty of parking in the giant robot parking lots again, so I don’t have to cheat by borrowing my grandmother’s handicapped tag anymore.

With my long winded history of Gundam out of the way, let me begin the long winded introduction to my model kit review. Starting with Gundam Wing’s trademarked introduction:

In the year After Colony 195…

…Tensions rose between the space colonies and Earth, igniting into a full scale Civil War. The Earth took the upper hand with their advanced development of mechanized war machines called Mobile Suits. In retaliation, five mobile suits were developed in secret and sent to Earth by the Colony Liberation Organization to eliminate the Earth's stranglehold on the orbiting Space Colonies and defeat the military organization of OZ (Organization of Zodiac) in a coup dubbed “Operation Meteor.” These five, specialized mobile suits were constructed using a rare space metal with extreme resilience for combat called ‘Gundanium’ and were known as “The Gundams.”

The mobile suits were produced and sent by each of the five main Lagrange colonies.

L1: XXX-WG01W “Wing Gundam” piloted by Heero Yui
L2: XXX-WG01D “Gundam Deathscythe” piloted by Duo Maxwell
L3: XXX-WG-01H “Gundam Heavyarms” piloted by Trowa Barton
L4: XXX-WG01SR “Gundam Sandrock” piloted by Quatre Reberba Winner
L5: XXX-WG01S “Gundam Shenlong” piloted by Wu Fei Chang

After a long tour of battles, each of the Gundams where given upgrades or superior modifications. The Wing and Sandrock suffered from fatiguing battles and were self detonated in order to complete their missions. In the time to follow, both machines were resurrected: the Wing Gundam received no modifications and disappeared after a while whereas the Sandrock received an extra machine gun. The Heavyarms suffered relatively no damage to require upgrades however it was later outfitted with a modified double barreled Gatling unit to keep up with the increasing firepower of its enemies. The units Deathscythe and Shenlong on the other hand were both completely destroyed and replaced with follow up units: XXX-GW01D2 “Deathscythe Hell” and XXX-GW01S2 “Altron.”

As the machines made their way across the Earth and into Space, another Gundam was discovered in the L1 colony. The prototype for which the others were produced outfitted with a powerful battle computer unit called “Zero System” emerged from space ultimately retiring the Wing Gundam due to their extreme similarities and its superior power: the XXX-WG00W0 “Wing Gundam Zero.”

New Gundam Look, Same Gundam Taste

The layout of the Gundam history you just read was based on Gundam Wing’s story, but not in the history of its mechanical designs. Now before I keep going, let me explain something. According to Myth, there were a series of short comics that explained the evolution between the sharp aesthetic difference between the television series of Gundam Wing and its follow up OAV ending Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. The truth of the matter is that the designs between them are different was because there were two different lead designers: Kunio Ohkawara and Hajime Katoki.

Ohkawara was the original, the first man to design the Gundams dating back to the original Mobile Suit Gundam who designed the Wing machines for its television series. Katoki on the other hand was a rising star of the industry thanks to his more modern, realistic machines seen in the Gundam Sentinel novels and additional mechanical designs from series such as Gundam 0083 and his portfolio of artistic renders of past machines. During Wing, Katoki acted in an assistant designer’s position filling in some of OZ’s mobile suit ranks and also working on filling in his own “Gundam FIX” portfolio. With his career on the rise, Katoki was asked to design his interpretations of the Gundam Wing machines for an article in one of Japan’s leading model and art books. The ending results were sleek, sharper concepts to the already popular designs. Due to their popularity, Katoki was tagged to produce his own ‘Upgraded’ versions of the upgraded Gundams from Gundam Wing for its sequel Endless Waltz. Henceforth, the “Customs” where born.

Spread your Wings Zero

The Wing Gundam Zero Custom has been one of the most popular Gundam machines next to current fan favorites such as the Strike Freedom and super powered mobile suits of other generations. Its design was a sharp contrast in form and style to its alternately designed origin. It’s been so popular, that in model form it has received every model kit form Bandai has ever produced. At its release there were the standard grades: 1/144 (with a follow up limited clear injection/chrome version) and its 1/100 scale high grade (yet again followed by a chrome/clear limited version). As Wing crossed over seas, Bandai pulled out the stops and produced a Perfect Grade.

Unfortunately, the Perfect Grade wasn’t so perfect. Having built one I can honestly say why: construction was out of balance with the wings out weighing the body and the varying tension on the legs’ assembly making balance difficult, the electronics were hit or miss depending if the wires going to the front chest light didn’t get pinched under the cockpit assembly or arm sections, and finally how the armor plating didn’t stay in place very well. All in all, good form, bad follow through.

When Bandai opted to begin their “Version Ka” assortment of Master Grades, it was only a matter of time before this version of the Wing Zero would be realized in much better conditions.

Wing Version Ka to Wing Zero Custom

In all simplicity, the Wing Gundam Zero Master Grade model kit is a remold of a reinvention of another design with new parts and colors to make up the difference. The body is made almost entirely from the same runners used to produce the Wing Gundam Version Ka, but with the differences in color and in some minor assemblies such as the shoulder armor and the back unit where the wings attach. Another visible difference is in the colors: where the Version Ka used a yellow hinted white, the Wing Zero is solid. Also the Wing Zero is narrowed down on its color scheme to solid primaries: Blue, Red, White, with Gray for inner parts, and yellow in trim only. There are additional runners to make up for some of the Wing Zero’s more prominent features and the addition of a base stand (which would later be retooled for the Limited Editions of the Strike Freedom, Infinite Justice, and Destiny Gundam 1/100 scale models).

Construction

The Wing Zero’s assembly is relatively light without going too little or putting too much. In fact completed the model’s weight is surprising lighter than other kits of its size and level of assembly. The overall assembly is done remarkably in scale, although 1/100 scale, the machines from Wing are smaller in scale compared to other models to bear the Gundam name, including the short statured Gundam F-91.

The head is modeled in roughly 13 parts. The head itself is modeled in side split halves with the face consisting of the eyes, chin, and face plate built within and a ball socket polycap for the neck. The Wing Zero’s head fins are done in three parts on both sides of the head and finally there is the ‘V’ crest on the front of the head. The eyes are done with both the face’s eyes and also the forehead sensor eye. Unfortunately there was no physical way to incorporate the eye piece into the crest as it is designed as, so instead paint work is mandatory in that area. Overall construction is tight, although there are small parts such as the front tabs on the side fins which you might consider gluing so not to worry about losing them later on.

The torso construction combines some new elements with a few older ones too. The interior skeleton is built on the principle of a hinged midsection that then connects to a double ended ball joint which connects the waist and abdomen. The shoulder of course is built on a hinge so the arms can be swung forward at most 30 degrees and upwards to about 20. Within the construction, you also have the cockpit and neck swivel to assemble along with the base port for the back pack to connect to the body. The cockpit comes as a solid piece which sits dead center of the shoulder and upper body component and is also used as the base point for where the clear ‘Sensor globe’ fits on. The armoring of the Wing Zero’s torso is a multiple part affair due in part mostly to the past incarnation of these parts seen in the Wing Version Ka. In addition, the main armor of the torso is not recommended for removal. Thereby unfortunately, there is no refined door hatch like in other models of the Master Grade line. So opening the cockpit requires removing the cover piece over the sensor globe.

The Waist assembly is done in a combination of simplistic execution with some additional assembly. The waist is done in standard form, two halves split front and back with the polycap hinges set on the sides for the hips and the front and back blocks designed to hold in the main skirts. The skirts are an eleven part affair: roughly two parts each, with a shortcut by the rear two skirts being joined by a solid bar with two additional parts connected at the top. The reason for so many parts is due to the same reason with the torso. Although with fewer colors in its design, the Wing Zero still uses the same construction from Wing Version Ka.

One of the newest points of the Wing Zero that replaces parts from the Wing Version Ka is the backpack. While the Version Ka had only two wings to attach, the Version Zero has four wings. So for this, a new backpack was constructed, this time matching the Wing Zero’s design. Initial construction requires the construction of the ‘shoulder’ for which the wings’ extension arms can connect to. Although this kit makes many attempts to surpass the Perfect Grade, this area has more in common with the Wing Zero’s 1/100 scale High Grade. The construction differs by not requiring polycaps for the rear wing arms and the main back plate that covers the assembly and holds it in alignment. In addition to this extra assembly, Bandai also adapted this model be held by a base stand.

The arms are constructed in the more ergonomic structural interior for exterior design. This means that the inner assembly of the bicep is done so to shortcut costs but improve construction with the armor done as a sleeve. Construction is equally improved with the elbow being built into the bicep assembly and reinforced via polycaps. This is then joined into the forearm which is done in box plate construction so not parts are less cluttered but they hold themselves in place firmly. The Sensor blocks on the outside of the arms are done in the same “more pieces for one component” assembly from the Wing Version Ka, simplified for its design as the Wing Zero. The hands are done in Master Grade form 1.0. In which the middle, ring and pinky finger done in a solid piece with the index finger and thumb done separately. The main fingers are then fitted in the traditional hinge joint assembly with the thumb fitting to a ball joint groove with the hand halves joined by the back hand guard. Compared to previous MG 1.0 hands, the fingers are accented where they are bent at the joint and the overall construction is much tighter.

The shoulder armor assembly revolves around a sliding track which is then plated with the Wing Zero’s shoulder armor. This track assembly is used to fold the shoulder armor down in both the Wing Zero and Wing Version Ka for their ‘atmospheric’ modes. While the principle of the assembly remains the same, the Wing Zero uses a different front cover piece (which is designed into the Wing Version Ka, but is done with two separately colored pieces). The armor plating on the shoulders is done in front and back halves, with the top most section being a solid domed piece which attaches to the top of the completed assembly. When completed, the track assembly fits over the main shoulder peg connecting from the torso via a heavy grade ABS sleeve and reinforced by the shoulder from the arm. One of the biggest difficulties I’ve had with the shoulders is due in part to the track on which the armor rests. For the most part the armor simply rests on the track and floats freely against the arm so not to impede movement, but in some cases it just feels like the armor is too loose for its own good.

The Wing Zero’s legs use the more simplistic route of being joint assemblies from the thigh to the foot without any extra moving components short of the knee armor. When the Perfect Grade was first produced with the actuators combining the knee and thigh mimicking the quadriceps muscle, it had its flaws of flex range but when it was done again for other models in Master Grade form, they fixed those flaws. Unfortunately for the Wing Zero, this schematic was cut out all together and replaced with the more generic form: two halves combined over a knee block and a polycap ball socket for the hip. The knee assembly is remarkably minute but the construction is employed to the fullest, a flexed swing arm which then connects to the main knee armor and allows it to float freely from the leg. The main assembly for the lower leg is done in two halves with polycaps that are used for locking on the outer armor and a ball socket for the ankle. In standard form, the armor attaches in sections: the main front and back plates and side pieces in the upper region with the additional front ankle guard connecting via to a polycap hinge. There is also the ankle armor which attaches to a double ball stem piece similar to the one that joins the waist and torso, scaled to fit of course.

The feet are constructed in the modern fashion with a hinge assembly in the front section that bends the foot 90 degrees downward. Armor is in solid block and plate form here as to minimize construction. There is of course a polycap ball socket within the main ankle assembly to connect it to the leg.

The Wing Zero’s wings are by far the real shining difference between the multiple grades of construction and variations of this design. For the original, the Wing Zero’s wings were large vernier booms which opened for long distance and high speed flight. Also they were key elements in the Wing Zero’s “Neo-Bird Mode” in which it transformed into a form of fighter. With the complete redesign into its ‘Custom’ form, the Neo-Bird form was completely removed and the Wing Zero’s wings were now upgraded for a more symbolic look. According to design, the Wing Zero Custom’s wings are based in symbolism of the four winged angel (a Seraphim, the highest order of angel), so the follow up work gives the Wing Zero two large flight wings and two additional vernier binder wings.

First, we take a look at the Vernier binder wings. In the 1/100 scale, Bandai took the ‘optional’ route, making the wings hollow and adding a decorated plate to be set in place if builders decided to pose them in their open form. For the Perfect Grade, these wings were given an excellent action feature with the construction of catch springs and building the trigger within the Wings’ arm which runs into the backpack. By rotating the wing 90 degrees upward, the catch would release and the binders would open. For the Master Grade, Bandai took a less artistic route and made the vernier plate a basic component in the construction. Built from within, the vernier plate is built into the main hinge which connects the bottom housing and the overall wing assembly and helps to bind both sections together. By pulling on the lower cover, the binder opens like a fan and clicks to lock once it reaches its maximum level. Also unlike the PG, these wings can be opened even if they are not raised above a certain elevation.

In the original 1/100 scale, the larger wings were solid shell injection pieces, with the feather tips as solid strips held in place by polycaps. Although with simplified construction the wings couldn’t get out of the way or hold its place very well. For the Perfect Grade, the construction was fundamentally similar except for the addition of a “Wing Rib” which runs from where it connects to its swing arm down to the tip. The feathers were also different by being individually cut rubber strips with a metal strip running through it (think of a reinforced twist tie). In the end, the added weight made for a severe imbalance in the weight distribution. For the Master Grade, Bandai took the wings back to formula. With completely reinvented construction, the wings can now open into three paneled sections through joint, reactive sliding movement performed with the slightest of touch. The feather tips of the wings this time around are not plastic, but light grade rubber, which can easily flex and realign after long durations of being pressed against a surface. There are a total of seven feathers in all which are lined up in sequential order according to length. The wings are attached to the wings themselves via ball tipped hinge arms which fit into a groove cut on the sides of the main wing housing. The weight of the overall completed wing is remarkably light so this added amount of construction puts no imbalance on the overall build. Completed, the wings pose almost flawlessly, and can recreate some of the Wing Zero’s most defining poses, a feature missing completely from the Perfect Grade and the original 1/100 scale.

The Wing Gundam Zero comes with its common assortment of weapons and retains the value of said tools of destruction. First off, the easier of the set are the Wing Zero’s beam sabers. With absolutely no construction necessary, the Wing Zero’s sabers literally come off the runner and fit into the hands. For storage, the sabers rest in their docking grooves molded into the extension arms for the Binder Wings. The beams included for the sabers are clear green, which is a breath of relief considering the most of the Master Grade lineage is overpopulated with “Pink Sabers.” Also it is worth noting that these sabers are curved, almost like a Japanese sword instead of the linear almost European Fencing blades of the standard.

The next weapons included in the Wing Zero are its shoulder mounted vulcan guns. Unlike the common guns which are single barrels, the Wing Zero’s were four barreled gatling guns and fit into blocks on the shoulders. According to the Version Ohkawara, these blocks flipped around with the guns mounted underneath, but in the Version Katoki, these blocks were hinged covers with the guns mounted directly to them. Once open, the guns shift slightly forward and are visibile. For the MG version, Bandai uses a solid construction scheme which uses the guns themselves as the hinge point for the cover plate. Unfortunately, there are the design flaws that come from the Wing Zero’s more compact design. This includes that the hinge does not have as much range to open as one could hope, and that when fully open, the Wing Zero’s head can get in the way.

Also it is worth noting that the gatling barrels do not rotate.

Completing the Wing Zero’s arsenal is its famous double barreled buster rifle. Compared to traditional beam rifles which are designed for short, high output bursts, the Wing Zero’s Buster Rifle is designed for maximum output and maximum penetration. This is why when used it had the capacity to eliminate entire fleets of enemies and a space battle fortress with one shot. The Buster Rifles also had a tactical advantage compared to other rifles by being able to separate and become two distinctly powerful rifles as opposed to one massive gun.

For its MG treatment, Bandai used a complimentary method. This means it retains its simplistic, sleek look but uses smaller detail parts to complete construction that fits both design and form. Construction goes as though it were building two mirrored rifles, one for the left and one for the right. The main rifle body itself is constructed using two full body strips which make the left and right side of the single rifle. Building the rifles begin with a small hinged block which requires the double ended hinge part, fit between the block and its rear holding plate. This block has the ability to rotate to a combined 180 degrees to lock into the side of the rifle and down to hang freely. Included with the sub-assembled locking block are the gun’s triggers, a hinged locking tab and a detail point power cable. Lastly, there is the tip of the gun barrel and the weapon sight (a shortcut done in solid plastic that requires painting on the eye piece). The hinged tab is located in the back of the rifles and is used in combining both the completed rifles. The tabs are constructed facing back and facing forward as to lock together in grooves cut on the insides of either gun. The rotating block portion of the gun is also applied in combing the rifles and works as the main locking assembly.

When combined into its twin buster mode, the Wing Zero’s Buster Rifle can only be held in one hand due to the proximity of both triggers. So in order to be held, one of the triggers must be rotated out of the way (so it fits into the rear stock of its respective rifle). Unfortunately this is where one might find trouble. The combined weight of the rifle might not feel it, but it does put pressure on the MG version 1.0 hands of the kit. When posed upright, the hands tend to lose tension and the gun has a tendency to sag. However Bandai has concluded the construction of the rifles with a way to fix this. Seen at the absolute rear stock of the rifles are little protrusions that are designed to hook under the armor of the Wing Zero’s arms and chest plate (for copying its ‘final shot’ pose). This gives some extra reinforcement to the hands and redistributes the double buster rifle’s weight across a broader area.

As a last accessory Bandai included one of their all purpose display bases. In fact this was the first outing of the display base that would later be released in clear injection for the limited edition 1/100 scale Strike Freedom, Infinite Justice, and Destiny Gundams from the Gundam SEED Destiny line. The base is made up of a flat base followed by a half/half assembled holding block and the extended display arm. The display arm is designed with a groove cut through it and a locking tab at the same end so that the arm can be shifted forward and upward giving it two distinct display styles. For connecting it to the Wing Zero, one must remove a small ‘cut out block’ from the bottom of the Wing Zero’s backpack and connect it directly to the inner frame. This centralized area in the back was a connector for a low construction cost hinge originally designed in the Wing Version Ka to hold a swing arm that would flip/rotate the Wing’s backpack down for its Neo-Bird flight mode. Now that the Wing Zero lacks this feature, it makes for a perfect way to hold it up on display.

Overall

In addition to the transformable VF-1s, Kaiyodo included an articulated version of the popular fighter.

In addition to the transformable VF-1s, Kaiyodo included an articulated version of the popular fighter.

This figure, unlike the other two articulated figures, requires some assembly. Once together, you have a remarkable, fully-articulated action figure. Katsuhisa Yamaguchi’s sculpt is very anime-influenced; opting for dynamic details instead of mechanical realism.

The figure has 16 points of articulaton and can pull off a variety of dynamic poses, including the elusive kneeling pose. There really is an outstanding array of motion here.

Included with this figure is a set of extra hands and a gun. The gun is permanently attached to one of the hands. The gun seems comically oversized, but it works in the context of the animated design.

The VF-1S is made entirely out of ABS and stands about 2.5 inches tall. It is really a marvel of engineering, and it makes me wish Kaiyodo would continue the line.

I’m still kind of surprised that this toy was even released in the US. It’s just so big and bulky, and the price tag was pretty high.

I’m still kind of surprised that this toy was even released in the US. It’s just so big and bulky, and the price tag was pretty high.

The Mezodon Megazord is the US equivalent to the Bakuryuu Gattai DX Max Ohja from Abaranger. In the US it was released as part of Power Rangers Dino Thunder.

The toy consists of two main sections. The Stryracozord is a Stryracosaurus dinosaur. Attached to it is the Triassic Megarover, a chariot that attaches to the rear section. The combined unit is motorized – add two AA batteries to the Mezodon unit and flick a switch to make the zord roll ahead, towing the trailer behind.

The two axe accessories can attach to the top of the chariot, and the golden helmet zord rests in the middle. The wheels and the spiked sections on the side of the rover are removable as well. The whole unit is hard plastic, with some rubber tread on the wheels for traction.

Also included with the set is a Triassic Ranger figure and stand. This figure was not included in the Japanese release, and was presumably added to give more play value. The stand attaches to the back of the Stryracozord and enables the Triassic ranger to ride the zord.

Combining the two units is relatively easy, but be aware that there is a lot of parts swapping going on. It is more like a kids puzzle than a transformer. Pieces are blocky and easy to assemble – its ideal for kids.

In robot mode, the Mezodon Megazord is huge, the biggest Megazord in the Dino Thunder line. It commands attention, and takes up a lot of your shelf space. In this mode, the battery action is still available. This time it activates the spinning shoulder blades. The Mezodon Megazord can hold either of the gold bird weapons as axes. (Note that one axe here is chewed – thanks to my dog).

Parts from the Mezodon Megazord can be used to help form another combined Megazord, the Valkasaurus Megazord.

In addition to being one of the largest Megazords, it is also one of the worst in terms of its transition by the hands of Bandai America. They really did a disservice to the US consumers by releasing this toy the way they did.

First of all, one of the key points of play value in the original toy was that the Max Ohja could combine with the four supplemental Bakuryu to form Maxryuuoh. In the Power Rangers Dino Thunder show, this form is called the Tricerimax Megazord. It is the ultimate expression of power in the TV show. Well, for some reason, Bandai America decided NOT to release one of the dinozords required to make this combination. So not only are you paying a ton of money for this toy, but you can’t even make one of the main Megazords with it! This resulted in prices on the secondary market for the Japanese Bakuryu to go through the roof, sometime fetching hundreds of dollars. Now that the show has been off the air, the prices have cooled, but they are still in demand. Two of the Zords were released in a separate set, why did they not add the Cephalazord to the set??

If you do manage to track down the other Zords, you can form the Tricerimax Megazord. This mode changes around the transformation a bit and adds on the following four zords:

• Cephalazord
• Dimetrozord
• Parasaurzord
• Ankylozord

The Cephalazord becomes the right arm, and when the power feature is activated, the arm has a punching action. This Zord was not released in America

The Dimetrozord goes into the compartment on the right leg. It has no action feature in this place.

The Parasaurzord was found in the Dino Stegazord set and goes into the left leg. It has no action feature in this place. This toy was available in the Dino Zord set.

The  Ankylozord becomes the left arm, and features a spinning action when activated. One of the gold wheel parts attaches to the end and then the two gold spears attach to that, making a powerful swirling attack. This toy was available in the Dino Zord set.

We all know Bandai America has a tendency to remove some paint applications during the process of bringing sentai toys to the US. But this time they got ridiculous. If you see the original version of the toy – they look completely different. All of the gold chrome and silver paint is gone. Paint detailing on the weapons is gone. All of the paint detail on the arms and feet is gone. Sure, we got an extra Triassic ranger, but was it worth it? Was it worth losing half of the play value and half of the paint applications?

I think Bandai America knew this toy was doomed from the start. The prohibitively high price and it being a TRU exclusive meant to me that they had no faith in the product. If Bandai thought they were throwing the fans a bone by bringing this over like this, they were mistaken. Fans would rather it not be brought over at all than be done like this.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a fun, sturdy toy. Taken on its own, out of comparison with its Japanese counterpart,  it is a good toy for kids to beat on and re-enact their favorite scenes. But I bet kids look at this thing and think “This doesn’t look like this on the show.”

These microscopic toys can fully transform between all three modes, and are less than 2 inches tall. Sure, the transformation requires parts swapping, and it is kind of fragile in all three modes, but it is still kind of cool.

Along with the three super articulated figures in Kaiyodo’s Super Dimension Figure line came two fully transformable Valkyrie toys.

These microscopic toys can fully transform between all three modes, and are less than 2 inches tall. Sure, the transformation requires parts swapping, and it is kind of fragile in all three modes, but it is still kind of cool.