Alen Yen's ToyboxDX

	11.20.00-- 11.25.00


RUMBLE INDEX

11.25.00: Rumble 14 Years Removed

Digging through the aging vinyl records at my local flea market, I found a item which should amuse the Japanese toy fetishist. The 1986 album, "Flaunt It" by Sigue Sigue Sputnik features album art which mimics Japanese toy packaging, featuring an 80's style super robot shooting flames from his fingertips. For whatever reason, the album credits include Z Gundam, Zoids, Tomy and Gatchaman.

But lest not think the design of the cover is merely the brain child of some Japanese toy-loving, 80's graphic designer. The guitarist displays his toy-collecting geekiness, proudly posing with some sort of Japanese Transforming Helicopter (Takatoku?). The band's freaky new wave / glam look, reminds one how lucky we are that the 80's are over (expensive toys not withstanding!). But give these guys credit, with their mock Japanese toy look, and songs like "Atari Baby", they predicted the retro 80's collectors craze some 14 years early.

-- starscrm

11.24.00: Shin Getta Lust

ADV Films has recently acquired the rights to release Shin Getter Robo here in the states!! As soon has I caught wind of this I was in contact with the folks at ADV to find more information. Unfortunately they do not have a release date as of yet :(

The only info they could give me was that it will be released in DVD format with both English and Japanese dialogue. Good news for people like myself who already have the series on tape, but since I don't speak Japanese I never knew what the hell was going on :)

[Don't forget the Devil Wing Shin Getta One from Miracle House will be shipping in mid-December! - Ed.]

-- Christopher Boivin

11.24.00: Kub-Rock

In other less pressing news, the line that people will remember in a year's time keeps marching on, and going to some odd places.

Medicom has released a set of Kubricks for that Misfitsesque band BALZAC. Comes with weird bag heads or ones with devil locks in either red or black. This puppy also includes a 7" record no less for the song, "Hands of 9 Evils." Ooooh spooky.

Meanwhile collectors in Japan are going nuts for the new line of CroMagnon Special Force Kubricks. Why? Well they are being sold individually in sealed boxes. Each of the pieces in the set have different chances of being found. The rarest? Perhaps it is the one that the selling case for the figures boasts of as "Impossible to find Kubrick" - the SAS tear gas cat in blue at only 1 in 96 packages. Tough since the cases come with 24 packs.

Meanwhile folks who are serviced by the monopoly that is Diamond Comics can pick up the "C" Devilman, Tetsujin 28, and all 3 Votoms sets.

-- Joseph Buck

11.24.00: Bungled Mecha

Japanese toy enthusiast D.Kei gives us a glimpse of the just released Walker Machine in Action Xabungle. All those weapons and the waist articulation look very sweet. The stiffness in the ankle doesn't. Here's another view.

-- Darren

11.24.00: Gundam: End of a Century

Sony is a hosting "GUNDAM: End of a Century", a special event consuming eight floors of the Sony Building on the Ginza from December 17th to the 25th. A lot of exhibits featured in traveling Gundam shows will be on display, such as the 1:1 scale Gundam hand.

Who cares? The event holders promise to make available A LOT of special promotional merchandise during the event. Now might be your only opportunity to snag that Perfect Grade solid gold edition Zakurello. Ah, maybe not.

-- Darren

11.24.00: Patlabor

Another Banpresto crane game offering in June -- five new character gashapons from Patlabor. These are each 9cm tall.

-- Yappy & Darren

11.24.00: Full Armor Mode!

Banpresto is offering a killer "DX" crane game prize in May -- the Gundam Series Heavy Arms MS line. They are semi-poseable, 10cm tall Gundam figures, first announced being RX-78-2 Gundam and Nu-Gundam. The figures will come with snap-on armor to upgrade the Mobile Suits to Perfect Gundam and Nu-Gundam HWS ("Heavy Weapon System").

These will be sold seperately, and packaged in a small, hanging window box similar to Banpresto's other Toru-Toru Items.

If you're not familiar with Nu-Gundam HWS, it's basically an arms and armor upgrade for Nu-Gundam ... bigger gun, large shield, longer skirts, etc. B-Club sold a resin full armor parts kit that upgraded the 1:144 Nu-Gundam gunpla to HWS mode.

-- Yappy & Darren

11.24.00: It's All Just SIC!

A brief note: The Super Imaginative Chogokin line appears to be going strong! Look for a Full Action SIC Kikaider and SIC Side Machine to ship at the end of March for 6,800 yen each.

-- Matt

11.23.00: Holy Mother'a God ...

Bandai has established a CHARACTER RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP -- a program designed to give research grants to assist those carrying out work in the field of character research, so as to "broaden the network of Bandai and resarchers, and truly advance the field to another level."

Oh man oh man oh man......

-- Matt

11.23.00: Amazon Japan Revisited

As promised, an update on my Amazon.co.jp "test" order. The book, which I originally ordered on the first of this month, arrived recently on the 21st. Amazon Japan had initially given me an ETA of December 20 for this special order book, so it was with great surprise that I received a shipping notice via e-mail back on the 11th!

The package looks identical to any other Amazon shipment. In fact, it was postmarked from California (!) on the 16th and had a mostly English-language invoice, so they must have some special handling arrangements for US-bound orders.

The package was not totally Americanized, tho -- the book was wrapped in a hand-folded bookcover of Amazon logo paper. If you've ever bought a book at a Japanese bookstore, you'll recognize this old tradition. The moral of the story? The water's safe, and the service ain't bad. The shipping is a little steep, tho.

But, to never again want for toy books ... ah, the dream ...

-- Darren

11.22.00: Wing-a-ding-ding-dong

When we announced that Bandai of America's Wing Gundam DX would be non-electronic, many in the TBDX community let out a knowing sigh of dismay. The cheapskates at BoA were dropping stripped-down Hong Kong overstock on us... right? Right? Well, believe or not, the US Wing DX is different from the HK version... and dare I say it, it's an improvement.

Let's get the minuses out of the way first. No electronics, but that was expected. For all the "purists" out there, the US DX is made in China, not Japan like the HK version (boo-hoo). The finish on gold chrome on the US version isn't as clean as the HK version's; it feels almost bootleg quality and lacks the HK's slightly matte finish.

Now, the pluses. As we've stated before, the 1997 HK Wing DX is identical to the 1995 Japanese version, sans electronics. Bandai HK left the original mold intact, meaning visible slots in the chest for a non-existant speaker, and a functionless button on the back. BoA has remolded these parts, so no hints of the toy's electronic past remain. The US Wing also sports additional painted detail on the head, skirt armor, and knees. Finally, at $29.99 retail, the US Wing Gundam is easily half the price of its HK predecessor and a steal for a DX Gundam toy. Be prepared for mad rush at your local toy store Friday morning...

-- Yappy

11.22.00: Perfectly Packaged

The PG Wing Gundam Zero Custom from Bandai is now shipping, BTW. Street retail is 15,000 yen.

-- Darren

11.22.00: Visible Mazinger

Look out for U5's newest Desktop Display Model, the tanatalizingly translucent Mazinger Z. Just as with the previous entries in the series (Astro Boy and T-28), the piece is made of transparent resin infused with etched copper "robo-parts," highlighting Mr. Z's innards. Yum! End of November, 15,000 yen (ow!).

-- Matt

11.22.00: Jumbolicious!

That's right: it's an update of that sickeningly, frighteningly complete expose on the Jumbo Machinder world, Jumboland: check out a whole mess o' new entries and a totally new organizational system. Give 'er a test run at www.sixsite.com.

-- Matt

11.22.00: Shocking!

Vinyl-fans take note: Uni-Five's also selling a pair of "Red Soldiers" from the Kamen Rider series; look for 'em at the end of the month at 3,800 yen each. And pick up some Sushi Seals merchandise while you're at it, dammit.

-- Matt

11.22.00: Back in Black

It was only a matter of time. Uni-Five will be releasing a (yawn) black-and-gold color variation of their somewhat popular Shin-Go-Kin Daikyojin. For those of you who just can't get enough of this sort of thing, you'll have your chance on November 26th in Tokyo.

And you know what ELSE? U5's also announcing (trumpets, please) a BLUE version of their "standard soft-vinyl" series Kamen Rider vinyl! Holy mother'a God, they've replaced the bluish-green color on the chest and boots with (gasp) JUST BLUE! And it's limited! LIMITED! Start camping out for your place in line now. NOW! GET ME SIX! I'm a'gonna be rich! THIS IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! MAN OH MAN! Who woulda expected BLUE? Whoa....

-- Matt

11.22.00: Get Ready ...

The Super Robot Taisen games produced a plethora of super robot related toys and gashapons over a couple of years. Banpresto's latest SD super hero offering, Super Hero Sakusen ("tactics"), may well follow the same pattern, spawning new Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Metal Hero, Kikaider, Zubat, Machineman, and Inazuman toys. Oh, c'mon Banpresto, a nice Dol Giran wouldn't be too much to ask for!

-- Darren

Update!: Ask and ye shall receive! The first line of Super Hero Sakusen gashapon figurines features Ultraman Gaia, Ultra Seven, Ultraman, Kikaider, Gavan, and Kamen Rider 1.

11.21.00: Get your FIX!

"Gundam Fix," that is. Bandai's just announced a new series of Gundam figures based on the designs of Katoki Hajime: the Gundam Fix. Gundam Fix is a book showcasing the photo-realistic art of premier 90's Gundam designer, Katoki Hajime.

The Fix figures will be made of fully-painted PVC vinyl, just like the Mobile Suit In Action pieces, but will feature a bit more functionality. In the case of the first two pieces, Full-Armor Gundam and Perfect Gundam, the figures are 1:144 scale and feature detachable armor. Could a full series of the beloved "MSV" Gundam designs be far behind? One can only hope...

[Click to see a picture of the HCM-version of the Full Armor Gundam.]

-- Matt

11.21.00: Chiming In ...

Don't forget the very next MSiA figures will be Gundam Mark II (in Titans and AEUG coloring) and plain-vanilla Gelgoog.

-- Darren

11.20.00: No Daiku for You!

The top secret TBDX Chogo-Phone rings ... the news is disturbing. The Soul of Chogokin Daiku Maryu is now delayed until March. The good news is that the price will be 9,800 yen. The Soul of Popynika Yamato will also ship in March, but its price will be 19,800 yen.

Now for some news on the 2001 MSiA schedule ... Char's Gelgoog (end of January), Hyaku-Shiki (end of February), and Guntank (end of March). Guntank will have a clear canopy! Don't forget Walker Machine in Action Walker Galliar at the end of February.

-- Matt

11.20.00: Gundam Lite

Kadou Senshi GM, how can I pose thee? Let me count the ways ...

The figure is not a whole lot different from Kadou Senshi Gundam (as you might expect), but who can resist the allure of poseable mass-produced mecha?

The box art rocks. The set comes with a highly detailed FanFan, and I regret you cannot see the single pilot seated on the right in these pictures. GM comes with his bazooka, shield, scatter gun, beam sabre (and detachable beam), and four sets of fists.

However, not all is perfect in disposable robot land. Mighty Mecha Maniac Mark Volk notes, "They just re-used the Gundam beam saber pieces. The GM's saber hilt should be puke-green too, dammit! PUKE-GREEN!"

My apologies to Ranma for the blatent borrowing of the relaxed mobile suit pose, but it had to be done. Word.

-- Darren & Yappy

11.20.00: Etarnal Force!

We recently picked up the set of five Eternal Force Super Robots in Action figures. You may remember three of these characters, Combattra, Raideen, and Gaiking, from the original SRiA line. They are joined by their two new friends Mazinger Z and Getta Robo One.

The new figures are noticably better than the old. That said, don't feel shafted if you own "last year's model" -- the new toys come with all new weapons. Unfortunately, that also means you have to buy both old and new sets to complete the arsenals for each robot.

The engineering is somewhat upgraded in Mazinger and Getta. Far better joints. Better color. Mazinger comes with removable Pilder, removable Jet Scrander, and a whole sack fulla fists. Getta features a removable cape and all three component vehicles.

Raideen transforms into Bird Mode with a few quick-change parts. Gaiking gets a "Face Open" mode head and Miracle Drills. Combattra features great poseability with his Twin Lancers.

The packaging has been brought into style with the MSiA line. No more wide-load boxes. The figures aren't quite up to MSiA standard poseability and quality ... especially with those stiff hips ... but the Legos of the Hero Robots world are pretty fun.

Group Front | Group Back | Raideen & Weapons
Gaiking & Weapons | Getta One & Weapons
Mazinger & Weapons | Combattra & Weapons
Bird Mode, Bird Attack, Mazinger Parts, and Getta Ships

-- Darren & Yappy

11.20.00: VF-1!

Yamato begins pre-production on the VF-1! No news on any type of schedule at the moment, although the prototypes are completed and debugged. This will be the "movie version" of the VF-1, and photographs will be released to the major magazines shortly.

-- Darren

11.20.00: Godzilla Update

Bandai has posted a new picture of the Godzilla vs. Megagiras boxed set. Working our way clockwise, we have Godzilla, the Gryphon, Meganula, Meganuron, and Megagiras. Variation hunters, take note: the Godzilla sports different colors than last year's version.

-- Roger

11.20.00: Heh, heh. Nevermind.

Hi guys. Long story short: I messed up. My AC2 High End Action Model was PRE-production, unlike Japanese production as I thought. I screwed up, and I've put up a retraction/correction on www.masterforce.org. The joints are fine, and in fact, all of my other concerns with the figures were taken care of. The things are wonderful!

-- Ginrai

Previous | RUMBLE INDEX | Next