Gashapon Gladiators
(Ladies?) and Gentlemen, JLP proudly presents to you an epic battle of pint-sized titans, engaged in mortal combat!
These are both SD Leos from Gundam Wing.
In the Blue Corner, molded in green, hailing from a vending machine in Nagoya, Japan, weighing in at a price of 100 yen the Japanese release Leo.
In the Red Corner, molded in Brownish Grey(?) with grey accents, hailing from Toys ‘R US in The US of A, weighing in at an individual price of about USD 1.37 is the American Release Leo from the Superior Defender line.
The Leo is about the only thing from Gundam Wing that I liked. Its a wink and a nod to the Zaku II, but with more “Make the Good Guys look cool when they get blown up” appeal. Leos are possible the biggest mooks in the Gundam Universe with Balls being the only real contender. When I got the JPN SD Leo, I was so happy that I nearly lost control of my bowels.
When SD was released officially in the states, I has no interest in getting the SD Leos, as I was happy with the one I had, I did however want the SD Aries that came in the same 5 pack as one of the Leos. Now that i have them both, I figured I’d compare them. Which one is better?
Construction-wise there is no difference–these are “toy crack” it its most base. While the US Version looks slightly bigger because of the way it was molded, its actually the same size as the JPN release. Ver. US comes with a molded on shield as well as a dober gun, while the JPN release comes with the canister machine gun and a removable shield.
The biggest difference however is articulation. SD Gashapon by their very nature have little articulation, but both of these have arms that move at the shoulders.
Ver. US has a neck joint. Very cool!
BUT, BUT, BUT…
Ver. JPN has a waist joint. I know that’s a big deal to some of you all.
these are both great little “toys” though. I highly reccomend assembling a batallion of Leos today
JLP
