RAH NEO Evangelion-01 Test Type

Review by Prometheum5

Medicom Toy's Real Action Hero line is a long-running series of 1/6 scale figures from a variety of licenses ranging from realistic characters like Indiana Jones to anime characters like Goku from Dragonball Z.  RAH figures combine a high fidelity of detail with a vintage construction sensibility harkening back to the vinyl suits of Takara's Henshin Cyborg line.

The Real Action Hero NEO Evangelion-01 Test Type from Rebuild of Evangelion is a large format figure of Eva-01 constructed like a 1/6 scale character figure, but built on a much larger specialized body.  It is the first release in the NEO line, and this review is of the first run version that includes extra accessories.

The Limited Edition packaging is a massive box that fits around the regular version massive box with an additional vacuum tray containing the preorder bonus accessories.  The limited parts are a clear plastic AT Field and two special gripping hands that fit in the middle.

The regular box has a front flap and window.  Inside are two vacuum trays containing the figure and accessories, including a stand.  A packet of papers is taped to the back of one of the trays.  A second special note on how to properly operate the entry plug hatch was under the top flap of the box, probably added after the fact to prevent breakage.

Check out my video review first for some big picture stuff and the accessories in action, then keep reading for glorious photography and luxurious text.

Included accessories are the pallet rifle, progressive knife, umbilical cable, three entry plug parts, assorted hands, and a wimpy display stand.

Unit-01 stands around sixteen inches tall to the tips of the shoulder binders.  The figure is built like a 1/6 scale figure with an inner body covered in a cloth bodysuit with hard plastic armor, and some parts are covered in soft vinyl for a seamless look. 

The sculpt, paint, fit, and finish on Eva-01 are stunning.  This is a beautiful figure that does a fantastic job of capturing the look and feel of the mecha in the movies.  The details are sharp, the paint is flawless, and the use of different materials is well thought out.  Medicom has delivered a premium experience that I can find few flaws with.

Articulation is the big draw for this figure, and it does not disappoint.  A wide range of joints coupled with the complex construction of armor parts over an inner body combine for outstanding flexibility.  If Eva-01 did it in the show, Medicom's figure can do it.

Starting at the top, the head is on a double ball-jointed neck with a soft vinyl covering that allows for seamless flexibility.  The neck covering does not hinder motion and really adds to the look of this prominent area.

The mouth opens by first pulling down the jaw and then using the hinge to decide how chompy Eva-01 is feeling.  The paint and detail here are gorgeous and the jaw is snug enough to hold poses.

The neck can look up and side to side, but it can also look straight down.  Not an essential motion, but useful for displaying the Eva deactivated.  While we're on the head I'll mention that the horn is made from slightly springy plastic.  It feels sturdy, but is quite thin so it is still not going to survive a shelf dive.

The shoulders are covered by the cloth bodysuit up to the purple shoulder guard.  The binders are attached to the torso directly with small ball joints so they do not hinder shoulder articulation at all.

The purple parts of the shoulder are hard plastic, and then the black is a soft vinyl sleeve over sturdy feeling joints.  The arm sleeves have a great feel and I am not too worried about them tearing.  There is some bunching when bending the elbow to a tight angle, but it has not left any real creases so far.  Time will tell how durable the seamless areas are, but out of the box they feel pretty great.

The hands feature nice big wrist joints with sturdy split pegs that slip into the hard plastic inner forearm.  Each hand has its own wrist peg, unlike having to keep track of lots of hands and a few wrist pegs like on a Hot Toys style figure.

The body and legs are covered in the same black cloth bodysuit that extends all the way down to the ankles.  The stitching on the suit looks clean and the material has a bit of a plasticy feel to it that seems plenty durable.  There is a note in the instructions showing how the hip is constructed to have a pull-down joint for added motion like on an SH Figuarts figure.  The hip parts are shown to be all screwed together and feel very sturdy.  The joints are nice and tight and have no problem supporting the figure.

The knees are also covered by the bodysuit, but my figure has a minor issue with the left knee.  The suit has ridden up a bit under the lower leg armor, so it is bunched up around the knee.

Removing the foot reveals how the suit and leg armor work.  I will have to put a dot of glue around the ankle to hold the suit in place nice and snug so the leg armor does not catch and pull it up around the knee anymore.  Little touches like this remind me of a Henshin Cyborg suit than a hardcore licensed figure, when toy construction was a little bit simpler.

The ankles have excellent motion.  They swivel, tilt, have rockers, and have great toe joints.  The green ankle guard is made from squishy plastic and on a ball joint so it does not get in the way at all.

The toe joint is excellent.  Enough of the foot stays flat on the ground to be nice and stable while looking great.

The layered construction and thoughtful engineering of Eva-01 allow it to do all sorts of poses.  It can even do the runner's start from the episode where Shinki and the other children have to catch an angel as it falls to Earth.

The one real gimmick feature is the entry plug area.  A special notice in the box informs the you that you must grab the rear hatch by its rear so as not to stress the slider that it is attached to.  Once the rear hatch is disengaged, the cover for the entry port itself can be flipped up, revealing the entry port.  The rear cover is a bit fiddly, and I am not crazy about the way the entry plugs work.

There are three entry plugs included for display in various states of insertion.  The first is a full plug that only just sits in the port, showing the plug in position for pilot entry to the plug before insertion.  The entry plug itself has great detail with recessed panel lines and sharp painting.  The issue here is that the plug does not lock into place or anything, so it does not sit quite as straight as it should.

Next up is a half plug for mid-insertion.  The effect is alright, but again the plug does not sit straight in the port.

Last is a small nub that allows just the tip of the entry plug to show for when the plug is fully inserted.  The hatch can be closed with this plug in place, and the plug is secured by the hatch so it should not get lost.  The looseness of the plugs and the way the hatch is supposed to help pull the plugs out all combine for a lackluster experience that does not seem quite right.  Either I am missing something or this area was just kind of half-baked.

What is done nicely, however, is the umbilical cable.  The actual cable is a solid rubber cord that is soft and supple, but does not have any wire for support or dynamic posing.  The umbilical plug itself has three pegs that fit snugly in the port on the back of the Eva.

The fit is good, the plug is nice and secure, and the parts look great.  The umbilical cord is a nice clean accessory that adds an air of sci-fi legitimacy.

The various hands included allow for some fun poses.  The karate chop hands are a bit limited in their usefulness, but fists are always good to have.  Eva-01 has some nice chunky fists, and the figure can pull off some natural looking boxing and punching poses.

The other hands included are for use with the two weapons.  First up is the progressive knife, which is awesome.  The knife fits perfectly in the hand and looks fearsome.  The superb wrist motion allows for some great stabby and slicey poses.

The prog knife is a few inches long and has a nicely molded sharp edge.

Eva-01 can do an excellent Iron Man movie poster pose thanks to the wide range of hip movement and the very mobile torso.  Unit-01 does a better Iron Man pose than any Shellhead figure so far!

The headsculpt does a great job of capturing the aggressive nature of Unit-01.  It just wants to stab, punch, kick,, claw, and bite things.

The knife is such a simple accessory, but Eva-01 can do so much with it.  The knife can even be held backwards for that tacticool knife action.

Stabby stabby

The other included weapon is the pallet rifle.  I LOVE the pallet rifle.  It is my favorite science fiction gun ever.  There is something about the angular look that is just so simple and elegant that I cannot deny my love. Fortunately, this new Eva-01 comes with a great looking pallet rifle that it can wield to spectacular effect.

It is worth noting that it can be a bit of a pain to get the trigger hand onto the grip.  The hands are not made from super soft material, so it takes a bit of force to get the trigger hand on.  Once attached, I left it on.

The left gun support hand is perfectly posed to wrap smoothly around the rifle with a firm but gentle grip.  I get all giddy when figures do an excellent job of holding their guns in a very natural way.

Eva-01 can look down the iron sights in a convincing manner and kneel perfectly while doing it!

So much pallet rifle porn.  This is pretty much all I need to be happy with an Evangelion figure.

Unit-01 can even go nuts and start blasting wildly!

I think there is something about the tacticool gun contrasting with the goofy bright colors that makes the Eva so visually arresting and fun to pose.

A display stand is included, but it is pretty lousy.  It has a segmented arm, but the joints and arm are pretty flimsy so it cannot support the weight of the figure for any kind of flying kick or jumping pose.  I managed to get one decent kicking pose out of it but only by having one foot resting on the ground.

People that preordered Eva-01 and received a figure from the first production batch also get one more accessory set.  Packaged in a separate vacuum tray are a large clear acetate AT Field effect part and two special gripping hands for it.

The parts are designed to replicate the scene where Unit-01 tears through an angel's AT Field with its bare hands to get at the squishy angel meat inside.  The scene is a big early moment in the series and the effect parts do a decent job of capturing that.  The problem is that assembling the set can be difficult, since the hands are separate parts that must be fit onto the figure and then through the hole in the middle of the AT Field part to support it.

Once was enough for me.  I am glad I was able to take a couple cool photos with the AT Field set up, since it will now spend the rest of its life back in the box.  Cool, but wholly unessential, like a preorder bonus should be.

Medicom Toy's RAH NEO Evangelion Unit-01 is an awesome toy.  It takes advantage of the high detail and incredible articulation afforded by a 1/6 scale style of construction on a large figure that allows for even more detail and more movement.  There are other figures that do some of the gimmicks of the design better, such as the removable armor of the SoulSPEC release or the stylized sense of movement of the Revoltech releases.  For a pure, unadulterated well-made action figure experience that comes with only the essentials, this new RAH Eva hits all the right notes.  Aside from one or two minor wobbles with the entry plug and knee cover, the figure is perfect.  All of the joints are nice and tight, the fit of the armor on the body is excellent, and the end result is superb.  Unit-02 is available for preorder now, and I noticed today that Medicom has put up a listing for the berserk mode Unit-01 on their site.  If you want good clean Eva fun without overly complicated gimmicks or fiddly accessories, the Real Action Hero NEO version is the way to go.