This set is a gamble on the part of Lego: that kids & collectors would buy a set based on the obscure, hard-to-see, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo it makes in the Special-Edition version of Episode IV.

Video review included!

Modern vinyl and I have a sketchy relationship. I can't nail down what I like about a piece, but I know it when I see it. I know it has to be something like a kaiju, reasonably large, and cool as hell.

Modern vinyl and I have a sketchy relationship. I can't nail down what I like about a piece, but I know it when I see it. I know it has to be something like a kaiju, reasonably large, and cool as hell.

Sanjeev broke this thing out at the summit and I knew I had to have it, although I had no idea what it was.

Its called Cyclopus and its made by a Japanese vinyl company called BLObPUS. I don't know much about them other than they make some of the most striking vinyls on the market today. I think they have been around since 2005 and are closely tied to Super7.

What I've noticed about BLObPUS is that they tend to recycle parts a lot, with the various combinations being different characters. This one here is Cyclopus, but with winged arms its Dokugan. This makes an almost limitless number of combinations. There's sure to be a design you like.

Cyclopus is 8 inches tall and made out of soft vinyl. There are 6 points of articulation, but that's not really what vinyl is about.

The vinyl is translucent yellow and sprayed with a mix of red, green and black. On top of that the body is sprayed with glitter. That's right, its not in the vinyl, its actually sprayed on. Unfortunately, the glitter will come off if you brush it the wrong way, but if you can manage to keep it carefully, it should be fine.

The head features a cyclopean doll eye (hence the name).

The arms are designed so that the ends can be removed. This furthers the interchangeability of models. The right arm on this particular model has a large appendage with FIVE screaming skulls at the end.

This version of Cyclopus was sold through a Japanese On-Line retailer called intheyellow (http://www.intheyellow-store.com/). I'm sure it was a limited edition, but i'm not sure how many were made. Intheyellow is sold out, so if you want one, you have to find one on the secondary market.

http://www.intheyellow-store.com/?pid=5995542

Kotobukiya's second entry into the 1/100 EO-tech line.

Intro

When you think of injection plastic model kits one name is the first to probably come to mind. This company is Bandai, whose long history of injection plastic model kits began with the original Gundam series in 1979. Bandai's years of experience make their products a tough act to beat. If anybody has the potential to top Bandai, it's Kotobukiya

Kotobukiya, a long time producer of resin and vinyl kits has branched into injection plastic kits in the last few years. From their first plastic kit in 2003 Kotobukiya has made steady improvement in the quality of their kits, the quality of their recent 1:100 Alteisen being no exception.

Kotobukiya has produced several Super Robot Wars kits in the 1:144 scale in the past. The Alteisen is their second entry into their "EO-Tech" line of 1:100 scale kits. A third entry (R-1) is planned to be released later this year.

Contents

Construction

This kit is big and has a very high parts count. There is no inner frame, but almost no painting is required, and every detail is molded in its own part. No glue is required and the kit can be built entirely snap fit. Most parts go together well, a few pieces were a tad difficult to assemble, and in a few circumstances I noticed minor stress marks adjacent to a peg and hole joint.

I have built a few Kotobukiya kits in the last couple of years and two things that have always bugged me are their choices in seam and sprue placement. This kit is very good, and a vast improvement over their older kits. Most sprue marks are concealed or located in non visible areas. There still remain a good number that are in exposed areas. If you are good at removing these marks or plan on painting the kit, there should not be a problem. They clean up well, but there were a couple spots where the parts had already been broken off in the packaging. Because of the stress in the joint, the plastic turns white, and usually makes its way down below the finish surface of the piece, making it impossible to fully remove without the use of paint.

The only two areas with what I would call poor seam placement are the lower and upper arms, but the parts line up quite well, and the seam is nowhere near as visible as many I have encountered in the past.

Features + Accessories

As far as other gimmicks go, the heavy claymore launchers on the shoulders can be opened, and the cylinder for the revolver stake can be swung out. The outer cockpit hatch can also be opened, to reveal another non-opening hatch underneath.

There are no hand held weapons for the Alteisen. Aside from the mecha itself, you are left with an additional heat horn, two fixed posed closed fists, and two poseable hands.

Articulation

This kit is very well articulated. While not up to current Bandai standards, it has plenty of joints to get the job done. Elbows and knees are double jointed, ankles and shoulders have five degrees of freedom. Head, waist and hips are ball jointed. Skirt armor moves, as well as the armor in front of the feet.

Preparing to reload, would have been nice if they included a speed loader.

Balance is quite good with plenty of joints to accommodate a large variety of poses. Hips can also swing forward to allow for a wider front to back stance.

Conclusion

Overall this is a very good kit. I highly recommend it to any fan of the design. Easily the best SRW kit released by Kotobukiya so far. Hopefully they continue to improve sprue and seam placement issues. Personally I could have done without the LED gimmick, if it would have brought the price down somewhat.

Kotobukiya kits typically run more than Bandai's, they simply do not have the infrastructure from 30 years of experience put in place, and I highly doubt Kotobukiya's SRW kits sell nearly as much as Bandai's trusty Gundam.

Once again, I highly recommend this kit and look forward to the next two EO-Tech kits, R-1 and Wildwurger

The damaged Getter 1 replicates the final scene in the OVA and Manga, where the Getter Core is ripped out and exposed! This is a limited edition, EXCLUSIVE item from Anime-Export.

The damaged Getter 1 replicates the final scene in the OVA and Manga, where the Getter Core is ripped out and exposed! This is a limited edition, EXCLUSIVE item from Anime-Export.

Anime-Export is one of the lucky few retailers that has had the opportunity to do exclusive versions of Aoshima toys. For this release, they took the standard Getter 1 (from the new-ish Getter OVA) and decided to replicate the final scene in the series.

Here are some of the features, as described by Anime-Export (hey, why reinvent the wheel?):

"1 - For the first time an Aoshima Shin Seiki Gohkin product will be equipped with interchangeable parts. Two different left arms are included in the box, one of them is the damaged one as seen in the OVA and the manga to reproduce all the Getter poses in its final moments.

2 - Glow in the dark parts (to give the radioactive feeling): chest, Getter Core and the hole in the chest. For the hole in the chest we had to spray the glow in the dark paint instead of injecting it, we can assure you that the final result is GREAT.

3 - The Getter Core is made by a new material to allow the glow in the dark effect and needed to be partially re-sculpted. Tubes were also added.

4 - New accessories: beside the interchangeable left arm, the new Getter Core and the standard set of spare hands (six in total) a new hand to hold the Getter Core has been added, the two Getter Tomahawk are painted in a new weathering style and an exclusive bonus figure of Musashi Tomoe that is the solely Getter pilot in this final battle.

Production quantity: This item will be produced only in 1500 pieces, each one of them will have a sticker with the serial number on it (ex. 0001/1500) to certify the limited production run.

Paint: we took so long to put this item in production because of the huge paint-job required. We have been turned down two times by the factory that told us that this model was "undo-able". Finally we studied a new paint-job system and we were allowed to start the production. A normal item is usually completed after 30 to 40 paint steps, for this one over 180 were required... It was a huge task and we really hope you will appreciate it. As for now we can officially declare that there won't be any reissue, recolor or anything else after the first production run (that is common on Anime-Export products by the way) due to the huge costs required for the production.

It is a one-shot item and we consider it our masterpiece so far.. get it now!"

Getter 1 comes in a great color box with full color renderings on the front and back. The sticker denoting the number is on the front.

The paint detail on this damaged version is really nice - it looks like it has been beat to hell. In some places you can actually see brush strokes, but i really don't mind. Its clear a lot of work went into the paint on this. And it really is damaged. The head is missing one of its spikes, and the chest has the guts of Getter 1 spilling out.

Two Getter Tomahawks are included, and the hands to hold them both.

The elbows have that extending elbow gimmick that Aoshima is famous for.

From the back, there are plenty of exposed screw holes. I wish these were covered up, but it does give the toy that old school feel.

The left arm is removable, and you can replace it with a "stump" of sorts. The stump has glow paint on the tips of the wires.

To replicate the final moments of Getter 1, You need to change the right hand to an open hand, and attach the getter core to the damaged chest section.

Turn the lights out, because this thing glows!

Not only do does the Getter Core glow, but so do the eyes, chest panel, wire tips... it is really stunning in the dark.

Included with the Getter 1 is a small figurine of Musashi Tomoe, the sole pilot at the demise of Getter Robo.

I know people tend to shy away from repaints, but I assure you, this is no ordinary repaint. This is almost an entirely new toy, and definitely worth having in your chogokin collection.

The only place you can get your Damaged Getter 1 is at Anime-Export.

Get your Damaged Getter 1 directly from Anime-Export

Well we heard you where tired of the girl figure reviews so how about a review of a transforming mecha piloted by a Woman? Would that suit ya more than say Pocco? I got my hands on the SV-51 (Nora Type) from Macross Zero by Yamato. At a price of almost $200 is it worth it or should you run for the hills?

Right off the top I want to point out the sheer size of this thing. I've seen the pictures and reviews on other sites and for some reason the sheer size of this thing didn't come across, you see it's huge... seriously. In fighter mode its 14 inches long from the tip of the nose cone to the end of the feet thrusters. There's no missing this one on the shelf that's for sure. Thanks to Angolz.com for getting me this Anti-Unification Fighter from the OVA series - Macross Zero.

And of course the box is even bigger. If you've ever purchased a Yamato transforming toy you know what to expect, it's more of the same. A large cardboard box (measure's 15 x 14 x 6 inches so importing to the states can be expensive) with a lid that opens to reveal the contents packed neatly in clear vacuum-form trays.

Fighter mode is probably the strongest of the three mode of this variable fighter. Every part and piece locks into place.... well almost everything. On my piece the right wing is a little loose in the hinge that holds the wing to the fuselage, so barrel rolls leave the right wing floppy. Not a deal really but take into consideration it's almost $200, for that price every single piece should be flawless.... with that said...

It comes with the full assortment of extra gun pods, missiles and boosters too fully deck out the fighter for long range combat. I prefer the sleeker look of the minimal armament in fighter mode myself but it's nice these pieces are included. Also included is a mini Nora figure which is gummy and soft

Gerwalk mode looks best when displayed on the provided stand than it does on the ground. The shoulders do not “lock in” in any way and just sort of hang there. It will hold any pose you throw at it but the arms are a bit finicky in this mode. The wings however will hold their pose I am glad to report, a concern of mine when I saw the first photos of this design.

You can telescope out the head to use as a “periscope” like seen in the OVA's and the provided stand does a great job holding a mid-flight mode.

Battroid mode is an impressive 13 inches tall and poses fairly well with or without the provided stand. My only real complaint in this mode is the legs don't really “lock” into place at the thighs and just sort of sit there. Tension is snug in this mode and holds the Battroid upright just fine but nothing clicks in place to let you know you have all the angels just right.

Like I mentioned earlier, it comes loaded with accessories.... gunpods, missles, boosters, pilot figure and stand (with attachments for all three modes). The landing gear also folds out and detail is equally as impressive as the rest of the toy.

You can also store the extra magazine clip on the leg as well as the Battroid's gun, though I'm not sure this is an intended feature, but it works pretty well.

So before I wrap this up I have a confession. You see as much as I like this thing I can not recommend it based on the piece I got. Not for the asking price of almost $200. The mid thigh part on the left leg separated during it's first transformation. A little dab of crazy glue and it's better, but for the asking price I should not have to re-glue anything. To be fair, it's not a common issue for this release but still a problem.

I really like this mecha design and enjoy the series, Macross Zero - but I am only recommending this to the most die-hard Macross fans and then only if your willing to take a chance you might get a bum one. All else will probably want to pass. It's 98% ABS plastic and fairly expensive for what it is, however it does stand out on the shelf, your milage may vary. You can get yours at Angolz.com.

"Every man its prisoner... every woman its slave!"

Beulah hails from the 1956 low budget science fiction invasion film "It Conquered The World", directed by the legendary Roger Corman. In it, a scientist conjures a monster from the planet Venus, which then proceeds to try to take over the world, by way of controlling people's minds. The film was remade in the 1960s as "Zontar: The Thing From Venus".

Last year, Ultratumba Productions released this fixed-pose pre-painted resin statue of the monster from the film. It would be a welcome addition to most monster fans collections since there was not much else released based on this character.

I only know of two other three dimensional representations of Beulah, but both were unpainted and un-assembled model kits. While the piece here does require a small amount of assembly, it is essentially ready to display right out of the box. All you need to do is attach the arms to the body. The connection points might need a little bit of sanding, but basically you can just glue the arms right on. It's so simple, even I managed to do it. ;) There are six parts included in the box; the main torso, 2 arms, the base, a nameplate and a flying "mind control unit".

The completed piece is VERY impressive! The sculpt it beautiful and immensely intricate. I can't even imagine creating something like this. The individual bumps in the face, the eyes, the teeth, the tongue.. all beautifully crafted with no detail left unaccounted for.

When resting on her base (yes, Beulah is female), the statue is approximately 10.5" tall, but seems much bigger than that when you put it on your shelf. With the beet red coloring, outstretched arms and menacing glare, your eyes tend to get drawn right to this piece.

The base, name plate and mind control unit are all nicely made and welcome additions. If I had any gripe at all, it would be that there is an exclamation point after the word "It" in the title. Not sure why that is, but it reminds me of the advertising for the movie "It! The Terror From Beyond Space".

Beulah comes in a full color box with a clear window. The packaging somewhat mimics the original poster art for the movie, but the effect is diluted a bit by the presence of the styrofoam tray that the kit rests in. I wish the box was cut out around her body so you could only see the monster. No big deal, though.

Limited to only 200 pieces, the box is numbered and signed by the sculptor, Paul Schiola. At only $65, Beulah is a great value for monster fans and highly recommended. Incidentally, no QC issues here at all, like I had on my Tingler. In fact, I mentioned that to Paul and he totally offered to make it right, in case anyone was wondering. I'd have no reservations buying from him. In fact, his next project looks very enticing... a pre-painted monster from "Invasion Of The Saucermen"!!

MMS Type Builder Grapprap was obviously influenced by the power loader from the movie "Aliens".

EX Weapon Sets are armor sets that you can use with your existing Busou Shinki figures. They are not as large or as complicated as a regular set, and do not include a body.

You can get all your Busou Shinki releases at Angolz.com

For this review I have used the body of the MMS type naked black with this armor.

The MMS Type Builder Grapprap was obviously influenced by the power loader from the movie "Aliens". Its yellow color and hydraulic construction are clearly made for work as opposed to war. Large yellow claws provide extra power for picking up debris and construction material of all sizes.

Grapprap comes in a smaller box, and the parts come packed in two clear trays. There are tons of accessories included. You get a head with a small torso that acts as a stand, leg attachments, and then the whole back attachment with two sets of arms. You will need to use the torso and arms from a completed Busou Shinki figure to assemble this figure.

The detail on the parts is fantastic. Each bolt and rivet is painted silver, and there is paint detail throughout all the parts. The quality of the plastic and the build is fantastic, as is the norm for Konami releases.

The leg parts are articulated at the ankles, but thats it. It's in the arm units that all the fun is.

The large arm units attach to the large black "engine" on the back, and they hinge there as well. At the end there is a ball joint with a peg on it, to which the lower arms attach. The lower arm claws are fully articulated.

The smaller arms come over the shoulder and those too are fully articulated, and have articulated claws.

Although a stand is included, this figure does not really need one, as it stands fine on its own. The stand attaches to the back of the figure's harness.

As always, this armor comes with a code that enables you to play on-line with your figure. If you can read Japanese that is.

Digging the Busou Shinki line yet? You can get yours at Angolz.com

By Busou Shhink at Angolz.com

The Centennial Master Grade is the Universal Quanitifier, but does this seem like an overglorified High Grade?

MG #100

Despite a wide number of ‘collectors’ edition kits, Bandai’s Master Grade collection has finally reached its Centennial and there was much speculation as to what Gundam would win the 100th model kit title. The speculation started with the proposal for additional “Char’s” Variants, kits that were simple retools of earlier kits. This made some fans nervous, unsettled with the idea of a retool for the big 1 0 0. After months of shadows and the MG number approaching its mark, Bandai revealed the 100th Master Grade kit: Turn A Gundam!

Do Gundams Dream of Electric Sheep?
The Turn A Gundam comes from its self titled series and celebrates Gundam’s legacy from start to (then) finish and marks the 20th Anniversary project of Gundam by its creator Yoshiyuki Tomino. While commonly these events are carried out by a ‘traditional’ group such as Tomino and his longtime partner Kunio Ohkawara, Tomino chose to change things up a bit; taking the Gundam design duties to the American artist Syd Mead, whose credits include the Cyberpunk Masterpiece Blade Runner. The end result is one of the most striking designs ever for a mobile suit. It lacked the traditional ‘V-crest’ on the forehead instead sporting a mustache that curved upwards, gaining it the nickname ‘White Mustache’ which was written into the Turn A series. The body itself followed a ventilated pattern along a curving linear form making the Turn A more of an artistic piece than a mechanical one. This stunning contrast compared to Gundam’s origin struck a cord with fans and newcomers, some bitter, others enthusiastic, none the less, the Turn A Gundam is a much celebrated design.

This Amish Earth

Turn A Gundam takes place in the ‘Correct Century’ calendar, CC 2345, a time when Earth’s technology was destroyed after the cataclysmic events of the “Dark History.” During this era of space travel and interplanetary war, all of Earth’s great advancements had been lost and all technology was destroyed. With no physical specimen to rebuild from, those living on Earth have slowly redeveloped their technology in a Re-Industrialization Revolution, recreating vacuum tubes, prop planes, and Model-T style internal combustion engines to name a few. In the meantime, the People living on the Moon (dubbed the Moonrace) have lived with much of the lost science and capacity for space travel and Mobile Suit technology. Growing to believe its superiority over the Earth, the Moonrace begins planning to reclaim the Earth, either by peaceful relocation and force. In preparation, the Moonrace’s leader Diana sends three young observers to the Earth. Loran Cehack one of the observers, holds high hopes for the relocation after establishing himself as a driver and caretaker for the Heim family, a wealthy industrial family of the Earth.

After growing to enjoy life on Earth amongst the normal Earth dwellers, Loran is equally caught off guard when the Military faction of the Moonrace begins its assault, quickly dispatching Earth’s fledgling militia with their overpowering Mobile Suits. Unbeknownst to the general public, Earth retained some of its Mobile Suit and space-faring technology, much of which was buried underground where it was protected from history. Some technology however was encased in stonework, such as the “White Doll,” a statue used by Earth dwellers in a Coming of Age ceremony. During the initial attack, Loran witnessed the Doll crumble away to reveal the statue is really a Mobile Suit, the Turn A Gundam. Learning how to use it through field experience, Loran comes to terms with the reality that the Earth is worth protecting, even from his own homeland. Little did he realize that the Turn A Gundam had more significance to the Dark History than being a mere relic of that time period.

Turn A Turn

The Turn A Gundam’s incarnation of models came with the standard roll out, a 1/144 scale version and a 1/100 scale high grade constructed in the most basic fashion typical to both scales. For the Master Grade Turn A, the design team chose to forgo the internal mechanical aspect and make the Turn A in its external Aesthetic glory. The model lacks much of the internal detail and mechanical components famous for the line and instead focuses on the final product and there is much internal construction which compliments this theory.

Preliminary examination shows that the Turn A model can be done with minimal paint work. In fact most of the work I did on this was detailing with a rapidoliner, with touch ups with a tooth pick in some areas such as the symbol on the Turn A’s forehead and Loran figure in the pilot’s seat. Detailing is where much of the Turn A’s style stands out, with its panel markings exposed and raised areas that stand out with a little ink. There were some areas where paneling was not fully pressed. However when compared to the whole kit, these small points are negligible.

The Turn A’s head is constructed from the inside out starting with a sub-layer that makes up the bulk of the head, mainly the eyes and chin constructed on a spheroid block that then connects with a two disk assembly that makes up the Gundam’s neck. This half sphere shaped piece is molded in the clear yellow plastic with two protruding wedges to make the Gundam’s eyes. Instead of having to paint this area, the Turn A has a ‘mask’ which fits over the eyes and completely encases the first layer. The armor of the Turn A’s head consists of two shell halves (cut front and back) that are locked together by an additional strip on the top of the Turn A’s head. The Turn A’s famous mustache is then slid up into place at its chin and locks into place in a groove. For the must part, the Turn A’s head is impressively constructed, well thought out, and very pleasing to its design.

The Torso of the Turn A is where much of the Gundam’s internal and external mechanisms are showcased. The front of the chest itself is made of individual doors that open like vents. These panels connect to large plates which then lock into the main bay blocks. These two blocks can be removed and shown for their detail, or exposed by opening the plates on the front of the chest. The missiles are adjoined parts, where there are three long missile tubes injected vertically and joined by a flat strip with groove points that run along the inside of the pod. The missile bays as well are solid cast injected parts where both pods are singular pieces. There is some drawbacks to this detail because of their recessed design, making use of the Turn A’s peg mount for the Action Base as a turn key to push the pods out from the back. Speaking of the Action Base, this additional stem arm connects to a small port on the center of the Turn A’s back (by removing the plug installed over the port). One last piece of business involving the front of the Turn A, or more over like two optional pieces. The center rib that divides the chest regions was included in two colors, blue and white. Both parts are exactly the same, and why they were included is beyond me, but the addition is just one piece of extra thought included into the Turn A Gundam’s model.

The range of flexibility in the Turn A Gundam’s torso is incredibly balanced. Through an arrangement of rolling stem hinges, the Turn A’s torso has an excellent range of rotary motion in its abdomen similar to the effect of a ball joint. The shoulders however lack that, as they are only mounted on a peg with limited horizontal rotation, and no vertical motion. This is compounded by the way the shoulder armor locks into place on the shoulder region of the body.

In an interesting fashion the Turn A’s shoulder armor literally floats on itself. Constructed out of a series of underbelly plates and a seating ring (that floats over the shoulder stem) the shoulder armor then connects to the back armor plate. Through an arrangement of interconnected hinges built between the upper and lower plates, the shoulder armor is articulated on its own. In some instances the shoulder armor impedes the arms from flexing beyond a given point, but otherwise they have no influence on the arms and the arms have no impact on how tight the shoulder armor fits. This comes as a nice change of pace where shoulder armor is either built onto the bicep or rests against the arm through a plate that slides onto the shoulder stem. Additionally, the shoulder armor has a series of grooves cut into the rear section so to mount docking brackets for storing the Turn A’s arsenal.

Expanding on the ‘Version 2’ hand parts, the Turn A’s hands are assembled with much better articulated fingers compared to the classic hinged fingers of older MG kits. Unlike earlier kits, the Turn A’s fingers are individually cut digits for the middle finger, ring finger, and pinky. Articulation for the hands is however typical of the Version 2 method, the thumb and index finger are molded with ball joints while the additional fingers fit together as a three piece hinge. Although the Turn A is remarkably taller than most Gundams like the RX-78-2, its hands are quite petite which makes constructing the hands ridiculously tedious as they are sandwiched between the back hand and the palm. So a word of “slipping” caution for those with big hands who endeavor to construct the Turn A. When completed, the hands fit onto the spheres at the end of the wrist joints. There were two additional hands included with the kit, as two splayed open palms. For sake of saying, I did not bother to construct them because I wanted minimize excess parts floating around.

The difference between what I call the ‘sub-ankle’ and the main ankle is their location. The sub-ankle is an extension of the lower leg, and works to articulate the body of the Turn A’s lower leg in relation to the main ankle. The main ankle is a full assembly designed to rotate and flex at an extended range from the leg and connects to the feet. The feet are constructed in three piece assemblies for the front and back with the outer armor covering an underside piece with hinge points to connect to the ankle. Above it all are the hip joints, which follow the same construction theory as the shoulder joint. The hips are canister shaped assemblies that connect to the waist with a rotating block that connects to the legs.

The outer armor of the Turn A’s legs are a series of half-wrap around sleeves for both the upper and lower sections. Naturally because of the radiator-leg design, they do not cover the rear and instead fit on from the front. Like the forearm, the upper thigh armor has two layers of armor that cover the sides of the hips with a short ‘wrap-around’ section where the legs meet the hips. The lower leg is comprised of ventilated strips of armor which fit onto the sides of the legs and two front sections that encases most of the body. The knee armor is then attached and constructed of two sections for the front (outer armor, and underlying plate) and locks into a bracket in the rear.

The waist section is built from a series disk shaped parts, two making the lower sides where the hip joints connect, which are then encased in armor from the front and back. The upper section of the waist is made of a flat disk with two protruding ball-stems and an encasing ring that locks down on top of the main plate. The ball stems coming from the central locking plate are the mounts for the Turn A’s side-skirt armor. This whole assembly then adjoins the Turn A’s torso and legs together, naturally.

The design is a dome-topped canister with the two triangular wings that make the front skirt armor for the mobile suit. The skirts are articulated via a swing arm that rotates around on the body of the corefighter, and again where it attaches to the skirts. The Cockpit itself is a spheroid structure made up of two parts, the outer dome, and lower hemisphere. The lower piece is molded with Loran sitting in the deeply receded control seat which can then be painted before encasing him in the dome. With the dome molded in the clear yellow plastic, a painted Loran really stands out against the surrounding armor. However the minute size of both pieces makes it difficult to hold the cockpit together without glue because the outer dome rests on two miniscule tips on the seat portion.

There is no such thing as a Gundam without weapons, and the Turn A comes with a raw assortment comparable to the original RX-78-2. This weapon assortment includes the Turn A’s shield, beam rifle, beam sabers, and its own incarnation of the ball and chain “Gundam Hammer.” The beam sabers are simple single pieces with no assembly required. The only assembly required is for their docks, which are long ‘u’ shaped pieces that attach to a docking port which fit into grooves on the back of the Turn A’s shoulder armor. The beams themselves are different from the traditional ‘bulb ended’ beams included beam parts, instead they are pin point tubes. While no building is required, the beam sabers themselves are exquisitely detailed, and can really shine with some added touch up work.

The Turn A’s beam rifle is different from the typical idea of Gundam weaponry, and looks like something out of Star Trek. The rifle is constructed in two halves for the main body, with two red triangular parts encased at the end. Additionally built on the inside are the gun’s grip and main trigger, which is made from a rotating disk with a retractable grip. This is then enclosed within the stock of the rifle which slides back and forth like a sock on a track. There is another sliding door on the underside of the rifle which closes over the gun’s regular grip for when the side grip is exposed. This makes the Turn A’s rifle aesthetically streamline like the rest of the mobile suit.

The Turn A’s shield is an interesting design based on the Turn A’s curved look. The oblong shape is almost reminiscent of the shields from the Gelgoog mobile suit of the UC generation. The Shield is built from the back to the front, with the docking assembly where it mounts to the Turn A’s arm connecting to a track which it then can slide across. This comes as a nice change from most MG shields that are simple mounts on a given point with a peg port. The track assembly then connects to an underbelly frame, which then fits onto the main body that is made of three separate pieces. The shield suffers from a problem that can also be applied to the rifle; posing. Due to the overall size of the shield and rifle, it is difficult to pose the Turn A when both items are attached to the arms because they often collide with the shoulder armor. If set properly, the arm does have some range of motion with the shield attached.

The Gundam Hammer, as said is the Turn A’s version of the mace weapon used by the original RX-78-2. Unlike the previous version which was released with the MG RX-78-2 Version 1.5 and again with the Version OYW, the Hammer for the Turn A is a brand new version. While almost identical, the difference is in the gripping anchor which has a groove cut to lock in the peg molded into the Turn A’s palms. Construction of the Hammer is simple with two half spheres making the body and an arrangement of individually added spikes. The anchoring link is then fitted with a snap ring and connects it with a length of chain that connects to another snap ring attached to the grip end.

Overall
Despite its skill class and celebratory status, the Turn A Gundam might seem like an over-glorified High Grade rather than a Master Grade. None the less, the Turn A is composed of a level of engineering that sets it above the High Grade level. While its design has set it apart from many Gundam enthusiasts, the execution in this model form is a real delight for the design and pays its respect with being the one of the best incarnations of the Turn A done yet. For MG #100, it has earned its number!

This is about the newest Gundam Generation; where the world faces rising fuel costs, political unrest, and the Gundam war on terror. Of course, there will be Gun-Pla!

It is the end of 2007, after nearly five years of living in the Cosmic Era of Gundam SEED, the Gundam Legacy enters its new age and one of its boldest steps since its beginning. Welcome to the age of Gundam 00, a time of rising fuel costs, intercontinental unrest, and the Gundam War on War on Terror.

Since its inauguration, each Gundam has been associated with its own Calendar. The Universal Century (UC) was the first Gundam calendar which spanned across its own legacy of generations from the One Year War (UC 0079) and beyond. In later years, Gundam branched into new “Alternate Universes” (AU) to separate stories from the time line of the Universal Century. These then took place in individual calendars: such as the After Colony (AC) table of Gundam W and the more recent Cosmic Era (CE) of Gundam SEED. The year 2007 of our calendar introduced the next Alternate Universe: Gundam 00. Unlike its predecessors 00 takes place in the Anno Domini or simply the “Real Calendar” in the year AD 2307, marking the first Gundam to take place in the post modern age. With that comes a much closer look at the times in our current history. Underneath the glisten and glamour of the idea of a Better Tomorrow, Gundam 00 sets itself with a strong political undertone that takes much of its material from the current geopolitical structure and gives a harsh realization of mankind’s future in a progressive and divided manner. Additionally, Gundam 00 is the first Gundam to be broken into two seasons separated over a long break period (much like Western television series), with Season 2 coming sometime towards the end of 2008.

In the late 23rd century, mankind has finally abandoned its hopes of Ethanol and Petroleum based forms of power and begun seeking the advantage of solar energy. Through Orbital Elevators set in strategic locations to collect and distribute this abundant energy source, technology has reached a peak of proto-space colonization. However not all countries can reap the benefits, these lesser known and forgotten countries are forced to either crumble or join with one of the main national groups: The Union formed mostly by the American continents, the Human Reform League of Eastern Europe and Asia, and the Western European and African colony group AEU. Because of the fragile nature of the orbital elevators, each nation refuses to trust one another and continue to exist in a stalemate of never ending conflict. In the year 2307, a paramilitary organization has presented itself in order to eliminate war through armed intervention. They are Celestial Being, and they will end war with force through the power of Gundam!

Four is the Lucky Number

The Gundams of 00 are shrouded in mystery, from their conception to construction. Celestial Being is an even greater mystery; formed nearly 200 years ago by the enigmatic Aeolia Schenberg. The earliest mystery surrounding the Gundams is the glistening particle emitted from their cores that blocks out communications dubbed “GN Particles” which can be compared to the UC’s “Minovski Particle.” The Gundams’ power sources are called the “GN-Drive” which is powered by the “Solar Furnace,” a perpetual if not nearly limitless energy source that once powered can sustain and continuously produce energy for the mobile suit to operate and enhances the mobile suit’s basic performance. While the true functions of how the GN-Drive works remain a mystery, it is clear that these superior engines make the Gundams more powerful and adaptive than the current state of mobile suit technology.

Gundam 00 follows the unwritten rule of the AU and introduced not just one, but multiple Gundams as their lead mobile suits. Unlike the previous chapters where there were five Gundams, 00 introduced four Gundams as the lead models. While past AU series make note of these being the first Gundams known to the world, it is revealed amongst Celestial Being members that these are the third generation models. Continuing the tradition of the multiple Gundams law, the Gundams each conform to a particular combat style:

GN-01 Gundam Exia: close quarters blade combat. piloted by Setsuna F. Seiei
GN-02 Gundam Dynames: long range sniper combat. piloted by Lockon Stratos
GN-03 Gundam Kyrios: transformable, aerial combat. piloted by Allelujah Haptism
GN-04 Gundam Virtue: heavily armored assault combat. piloted by Tieria Erde

The Gundam Exia is the current poster child of the 00 generation because of its role as the lead mecha up until now. Its dynamic shape complimented both by its unique arsenal of blades and the traditional Gundam color scheme helps to make it familiar and more acceptable to long time Gundam fans hesitant to accept Gundam 00 as a whole. The Exia is a real spectacle in motion. Compared to its siblings it is the most simplistic in design and is relatively under armed by being a Close Combat machine. Still, it lives up to its purpose in the hands of Setsuna F. Seiei.

More Things Change, the Color Stays the Same

Within weeks of 00’s premiere, Bandai had already rolled out the first wave of models based on the series’ machines in Low Grade and High Grade 1/144 scale kits and slowly begun filling the ranks with 1/100 scale kits, and pushing for 1/60 scale for the primary Gundams. Naturally, selecting a kit can be narrowed to simple choices of scale and execution of the design. So what better scale to get into than 1/100? In this review, we take a look at the first 1/100 scale kit of Gundam 00, the GN-01 Gundam Exia.

In plastic, the Exia comes molded in full color: white, blue, red, yellow, gray and clear parts. The clear parts are one of the unique features of the Gundam 00 mobile suit designs, used in the Gundams at important hard points which represent reservoirs for the Solar Furnace. The second design point is the arrangement of flat cables and soft plates in the Gundams set around their joints. These cables channel the power of the Solar Furnace through the Gundams as they activate “Trans-Am” mode where the suits exceed their limiters to their full potential.

Before the build I surveyed the most of the kit’s needed paint work, and much to my surprise there is very little need to paint parts in a color that does not exist in the current color pallet. As such, the Exia’s only demand for paint is black and gray for panels and filling in around some of the model’s hard points. The solar furnace disks (clear parts) have some room for creativity, by either painting under them or painting over them with a clear coat or metallic colors. In mine, I chose to paint the under side with a clear green coat, and a coat of Gunmetal (metallic black) where each disk lays. The result is a stable contrast of green with a glistening underside.

Constructing Intervention

The torso sports a range of the innovation and execution into the Exia’s agile shape. The central body is built around its Solar furnace, which takes up the bulk of the upper torso. Had it not been built sandwiching the main chest and waist assembly, the furnace almost presents itself as a whole kit. The basic design is almost like an aircraft turbine engine, minus the fan assembly. The rear section is a cone shape built outward. The base, solar cell ring and cone tip. From there the furnace is locked by a series of clasps which locks it into the back. On the front side, there is the round cell disk enclosed by a ring and covered by the outer armor cowling and cockpit hatch. In between the halves of the body are two of the rubber parts that fit into the arm pit and lock under the armor that fits around the waist. In the bottom of the torso there is a detail plate, a simple box shaped sheet of plastic that fits under the torso armor to block in the armor.

The Waist of the Exia is built according to the design’s minimalist form. Construction is simply a central block with pegs for the legs to connect, a front block with skirts, and a rear section. There is some paint work to be done on the front skirts, but there is really not much as building that is concerned here. The rear section however is constructed with a rolling bar with hinge mounts on it, to which a set of docks for the beam sabers are attached. This is one of the Exia’s unique action features that a pair of sabers mounted on its rear skirt can roll up and fold out to the sides for it to grab them.

The arms take into consideration a method of construction that has only been used in the 1/144 scale HGUC line and rarely done for anything in 1/100 scale outside of the Master Grade line: double hinged elbows. In a 1/100 scale, the model’s elbows have been faked using polycaps and a decorative ‘elbow sock’ to cover the polycap and bicep peg. Instead of that, the Exia’s elbow is a set of plates sandwiching two hinges, one with a peg to go into the bicep and the inner hinge block that goes into the forearm. This block in the forearm is also used as the docking point for the Exia’s weaponry and shield.

The bicep and shoulder armor are linked together by the rubber strip cable in a fashion that could be considered free floating. The shoulder armor is built around a plate hinge, this fits onto the shoulder block of the torso and then held down by the actual arm, but what unites both the armor and the arm is the cable itself, one end going into a groove in the arm a while the other fits into a block of armor on the inside edge of the shoulder armor. When completed, the arms have a significant range of motion, from the nature of the double jointed elbow to the separation in the shift of the arm rotation compared to its free floating shoulder armor.

Typical of the past few years, the hands of the Exia are simple open fists constructed in three parts: the fingers, palm, and backhand. There is one additional open palm hand for the left arm. Unlike the early entries from SEED the new hands connect together at an added point in the base of the palm rather than just the thumb and fingers region. This improves the stability and grip strength for the hands and makes them less likely to separate.

The legs of the Exia are particularly interesting form of engineering. The hip joint is a sphere shaped component with a cover plate (which is then removed and adjusted to dock its swords), which connects to the upper leg assembly consisting of a stable blend of underlying skeletal structure and outer armor construction. The upper portion of the leg is constructed as two square halves with a rubber plate laid into the front, with a long conjoining peg that locks it into the knee. The lower leg is built into the knee through the knee’s lower subassembly which is then covered by an outer layer of armor, and a rubber strip in the front that is neatly tucked into a groove in the inner leg which floats just above the outer armor layer. Continuing the trend of the kit, the legs also have reservoirs and such they are built into the knee armor.

The base build starts with the knee, as two large circular blocks come together and joins the upper and lower leg from within as a single unit rather than individual sections. The knee itself is rather large than the typical assembly has been in the past. According to the design, the knee is integrated into the lower leg, but is not locked in place. This allows for a greater range of flexibility and makes the Exia physically impressive. At the ankles, the Exia abandons the typical style of wrap-around ankle armor, and goes for a front guard with a rolling guard on the rear. The feet are also a combination of the classic style but done with a sort of ‘floating’ block for the upper portion of the foot, so there is a distinctive gap between the sections of the feet.

In the essence of ending conflict with conflict, each of the Gundams surpasses the typical load of weaponry to compliment the specialty of each machine. As sword combat is Exia’s field of focus; it has an assortment of cutlery at its disposal. As expected for a Gundam, the Exia comes packing beam sabers: four to be exact, built from two halves for each blade. These sabers are stored in docks on the back of the shoulder armor and the waist unit. To compliment the sabers’ versatility, the Exia comes with four clear beams in different lengths, two long beams and two short dagger beams. Unlike past entries, these are not the typical tube shaped sabers of past generations instead they follow 00’s style of a squared shape with smooth round edges. The end result is they conform to the grip of the Exia’s hands much better. Also, due to the extreme range of flexability, the Exia can be posed reaching for them more naturally than any other Gundam outside of the Master Grade line.

Exia’s additional arsenal consists of two ‘GN-Swords’ which are solid blade weapons set at two different lengths; a long blade and a short sword. While different in length, both share the same volume of parts: six pieces to form the grip, scabbard, and blade (the body with a fill-in strip for one side). The GN-Swords are then stored on the Exia’s hips. However as mentioned before, the swords requires two additional canister shaped parts that fit onto the outside of the hips. These added parts makes the Exia lose some of its flexibility unfortunately.

Clearly noticeable is Exia’s primary weapon, the GN-Blade, a large folding sword that runs a full arm’s length and mounts to the shield docked onto the right forearm. According to its design, the blade folds back and shifts underneath the shield. However to simplify the design in plastic, there is no secondary shifting, and the blade simply folds back at the hilt.