Guan Yu is simply one of the most beautiful 1/6 scale figures I have ever handled. The detail on this thing is simply astounding.

Guan Yu is a central character in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a historical drama that has been re-imagined several times as novels, TV shows and even comic books.  I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about the character, but UniToyzone describes him as:

“Guan Yu was the sworn brother of Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. Five years before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he slew a wealthy bully and was a fugitive up until he met Liu Bei. Sometime after the Yellow Turbans, Guan Yu and Liu Bei's wives were captured by Cao Cao, and Guan Yu surrendered to Cao Cao, even fighting with him against Yuan Shao. After repaying Cao Cao for sparing his life, Guan Yu traveled a very long distance with Liu Bei's wives to bring them home safely. Later, Guan Yu spared Cao Cao's life at Chi Bi, but was killed with his son Guan Ping when captured at Maicheng.”

Apparently Guan Yu was a real person once; You can read more about him in this Wikipedia entry.

Guan Yu is manufactured by Sea-International (known for their ZMDC figures), Distributed by Merit Intl., and is in stock at UniToyzone. There are only 1,000 pieces made of this figure in the world.

The figure comes in an enormous box with a cover secured by Velcro. On the inside cover, there is a description of the character; while opposite this a large transparent window shows off the beautiful figure.

Guan Yu is simply one of the most beautiful 1/6 scale figures I have ever handled. The detail on this thing is simply astounding.

The clothing is a mix of plastic, vinyl, cloth and rubber. The main body armor is comprised of several different pieces. The upper body is a hard rubber armor, and underneath is the vinyl skirt area. The skirt is embossed with dragons and even has metal rivets! Underneath all of the armor is a corduroy body suit that covers everything including the arms and legs. The arm gauntlets and boots are rubber as well.

The body underneath is fully poseable, but some articulation is limited due to the nature of the body armor. The armor doesn’t allow for as much flexibility as I would have liked in the abdomen, but this figure is so beautiful it doesn’t really matter. This figure can be difficult to stand up so I recommend you get a 1/6 scale doll stand (there isn’t one included). Guan Yu comes with 2 additional sets of hands that can be swapped out easily. One set of hands is designed to hold the included spear. The hands are made out of a hard rubber, and require some finesse to get them to hold the spear. I found it easier to attach the hands to the spear and then attach the hands to the arm.

The spear is a long, highly detailed weapon made of rigid plastic. Guan Yu can hold it with one or both hands.

The spear can also be stored on the back of the figure

In addition to the variant hands and spear, Guan Yu also comes with a helmet. This helmet is lined with foam padding to allow a snug fit onto the head. The helmet also has a small ornamental bit on the front center that was bent on mine. It is attached via a flexible metal wire, so it easily bends back into place.

This is  a fantastic figure, and If you are fan of 1/6 scale figures, I can’t recommend it enough. You can pick up yours today at UniToyzone.

Falcon Z1 is the first Zero Metal armor to go airborne. It uses the magnetic repulsion enabled for the Z1 to keep airborne for a long period of time. Falcon Z1 is armed with thermo-optical camoflague, and auto-tracking missiles. The Falcon Unit is made of only female pilots specailizing in solo reconnaissance and assassination mission.

“Falcon Z1 is the first Zero Metal armor to go airborne. It uses the magnetic repulsion enable for the Z1 to sustain airborne for long period of time. Falcon Z1 is armed with thermo-optical camoflague, and auto-tracking missiles. The Falcon Unit is made of only female pilots specailizing in solo reconnaissance and assassination mission.”

The Falcon Z1 armor comes from the Z.M.D.C. line. Z.M.D.C. stands for Zero Metal Defence Capsule. The toy is from a Chinese comic called Jiu Gang. You can sample the comic here. The Falcon F1 is designed by Da Joint, manufactured by Sea International and the ultimately distributed by Merit International.

Caught somewhere between Designer Toy and Action Figure, the Z1 is really spectacular looking. It’s equally influenced by urban designers such as Brothersfree as it is by G.I. Joe. Distributed by Merit International, this Hong Kong figure is easily accessible to collectors in the United States through online stores such as UniToyZone.

The figure comes packed in a large box measuring 15 x 11 x 4. It features a book-like cover held in place with a velcro tab. Opening the cover reveals a nice window box. The box is decorated with artwork from the comic. Inside, all the parts are securely stored in a clear plastic tray. No tape or twist-ties are used. Included in the box is:

• Figure
• Helmet
• Armor
• Weapon
• Shield

The box does not include any instructions.

The Figure.

The figure itself, without armor, is about 12” tall. It is very well articulated, with double jointed elbows and knees, and clicky shoulder and hip joints. The hands and lower legs have the armor permanently attached and there are no “normal” hands or legs to swap out. The fingers on the hands appear bendable, but I don’t know if they are actually filled with wire to hold poses.  The cloth bodysuit is actually three pieces, and appears to be removeable.

The proportions of the figure are a little odd, with long lower legs and a small-ish head, but if you view the comic, you will see that the characters are all styled this way. Once the armor is on, you don’t really notice a difference.

The Armor

The body armor is half hard plastic, half rubber. It has a great weathered paintjob, and has some cool features, like movable shoulder armor, and exhaust vents that open on the back. The armor slips over the head and is attached via two straps that connect in the back. You have to push two white pegs in to release the straps. It takes a bit of work to get them in and out.

The helmet fits the head perfectly, and has a nice translucent visor that enables you to see the face through the helmet.

Weaponry

The only weapon that this toy comes with is a rifle, and it’s not that great. The gun itself is nice, but the hands can barely hold it. The spread of the hand isn’t great enough to securely hold the rifle.

The artwork on the box shows the gun stashed under the back of the armor. However, this toy has no way for the gun to connect there. The gun has a peg on one side of it, but there is no slot for it to fit into. I don’t know if it is a manufacturing defect, or if the design changed before the toy went into production. A manual would have been helpful, but none was included. As a matter of fact, if you look at the official image on Sea Figures' website, you can see that there is a clip mechanism shown here that is not on the toy I received.

There’s no denying that this toy looks fantastic, but it is definitely more of a display piece than something you actually play with. If you do get one of these, make sure to pick up a stand for 1:6 scale figures, as this figure does not like to stand on its own. This is due to the large armor, and the non-articulate feet. Still, it will look great on your shelf.

You can find the Falcon Z1 at UniToyZone.