Aile Mecha Warrior

Review by Dkun

The world of unofficial or third party Gundam toys is a new and exciting field for me. Despite being a Gundam fan for most of my life, I’ve never thought to explore or look for the kinds of crazy things that are out there. So Mo Show Toys Aile Mecha Warrior is my first real taste of what some of these companies are capable of.

And man, does it taste sweet.

The Aile Mecha Warrior is Mo Show Toys’ first piece. It is a Metal Build Plus figures which means it’s loaded with diecast for plenty of heft. This thing clocks in at about 2 pounds and 11 ounces!

The Aile Mecha Warrior looks a whole lot like the Aile Strike Gundam. It takes its own liberties and stylistic choices for things such as the finer sculpted detail, which helps it stand out from other large scale Gundam pieces such as the Perfect Grades or other large Aile Strike Gundam toys out there.

The articulation was quite surprising as well. For its size and weight, I was prepared for a more limited figure. However the Aile Mecha Warrior is no slouch and is quite a delight to pose. There are double jointed elbows and knees with plenty of moving panels and slides for a satisfying motion. The tolerances on the toy are also excellent. Everything is smooth, but tight and holds a pose excellently.

There’s even the slightest bit of side to side and front to back tilt in its torso section. It honestly doesn’t do that much, but the fact that it does it is a nice touch.

The Aile Mecha Warrior takes a few cues from the Perfect Strike Gundam. For example, the ankles move along a series of sliding panels that go up the lower legs. Also the skirt armor ball joints are on their own second ball joint stem which allows for a wide range of motion.

The hands are fully jointed as well. The fingers are individually articulated, and free to do all sorts of gestures. I do find that the hands are a little bit too… chunky and symmetrical. The finger lengths are all the same so having just splayed hands can wind up looking a bit odd if you stare at it for too long.

The feet also have giant toe joints that can point up or down and manage to hold a surprising range of stable poses.

Despite its size, the Aile Mecha Warrior is surprisingly articulated. Its weight and internal metal frame is rarely gets in the way of its stability thanks in part to its large and stable feet.

The only real limitation are that its ankle joints don't go side to side as much as I'd like. But that's because of the sliding grey pieces. Plus it helps keep the figure sturdy so I don't mind.

The Aile Mecha Warrior comes with a slew of accessories to keep you entertained. First off are the two tiny little knives that are stored in its side skirts. These just flip right out and fit into both hand. It’s not super secure because the knives don’t have a hold to accommodate the Mecha Warrior’s tabs inside of its palms, but it still manages to hold them well enough.

Its main two armaments are its shield and beam rifle. Both of them are loaded with paint work and sculpted detail and look excellent.

There are two giant beam sabers that are big enough to use as chopsticks. I tried to use them by the way. They’re a little bit flimsy, but it can be done.

The biggest and most impressive weapon that the Mecha Warrior comes with is the giant anti-ship sword which in fiction is known as the Grand Slam. When I first saw pictures of this, I joked that I was going to use it as a letter opener. Now that I have it in hand, I think I could actually use it as a full on steak knife. The entire blade is diecast and it’s incredibly heavy. It even manages to weight the figure down from time to time. This is definitely a weapon that needs some extra support whether that be two handing it or posing it leaned against something.

The Aile Striker backpack is the reason that this set is called the Aile Mecha Warrior, and it’s a big piece of work with lots of joints. Both of the wings can be tilted up and down. The binders can even be tilted on each wing as well! The lower boosters are attached by two giant ball joints and work pretty well.

Pegging the backpack into the Mecha Warrior’s back is pretty straight forward. Just remove the small tab that covers the socket, and plug it in.

Even with such a large and heavy backpack, the Aile Mecha Warrior stands proudly and with very few issues.

But if you do want to display this figure in flight or supported, a stand is also included. It’s a basic enough stand that does its job, and also manages to have some quite endearing spelling errors.

The stand also houses a pair of AAA batteries for some light up action. There’s a cable that’s sticking out of the arm of the stand, and it pegs into the Aile Striker backpack. Then a second wire pegs into the Mecha Warrior itself. The included wire is actually a bit longer than needed, which means the wire ends up needing to be pushed out of the way and folded down. It definitely reminds you that this is an unofficial release that still has its kinks here and there.

Despite the wiring being a pain, the payoff is pretty delightful. The entire backpack blazes with blue LED goodness, and the eyes shine brightly in true Gundam glory.

The LEDs are bright. Maybe a bit too bright, as the plastic of the head can sometimes light up a little through the plastic as well. And the eye colors seem a bit off, coming off a bit more green than they do yellow. I think that helps give it its own identity and charm though.

So that’s the Aile Mecha Warrior. I’ve got to be honest: this might be one of the nicest things I’ve ever owned as far as toys go. The diecast and frame of this thing are amazingly robust. Everything feels amazing. The paint and tampo work is excellent .The electronics are great, even if they are a bit of a pain to set up. I’m usually of the firm mind that I like my Gundam toys and things to be cheap, which is why I enjoy High Grades, SD kits, and Assault Kingdom so much. But Mo Show Toys has done a fantastic job introducing and making me appreciate that other side of the Gundam spectrum. If you like Gundam SEED or if you love diecast toys, then this is a fantastic piece that you should own.