Sometime in 1999, the need for land in Tokyo spawns the Babylon Project, a massive land reclamation work that seeks to retake the Tokyo Bay from the clutches of the ocean. In order to complete this huge undertaking, the government introduces the use of labors - versatile, heavy duty work-robots which greatly improved efficiency and productivity. Soon, however, this creates a new problem of labor-crimes and thus the Mobile Police was formed, along with their signature Patlabor (short for Patrol-Labor), the Shinohara AV-98 Ingram.

The above scenario should be pretty familiar fare for fans of the anime, but for those who haven't seen it I've included it as an introduction. When I first spied the bootleg videos for Patlabor years ago, I was instantly hooked by the cool industrial design of the labors. "Headgear", the creative team behind the show not only produced great characters and cool stories, they also managed to create a pretty convincing world where robots existed as an inescapable fact of everyday life. The series boasted a great lineup of mecha designs by Yutaka Izubuchi, from the sleek Patlabors and the enemy Griffon, to military-use labors like the airborne Hell-Diver and beefy Brocken, to the highly industrial construction labors...

However, when it came to TOYS... well, the pickings were real slim. Bandai first produced an excellent line of model kits which covered most of the main labors in the handy 1/60 scale. As for actual toys, there was the huge 1/35 scale battery-operated Ingram with flashing lights and sounds, and the much cooler 1/60 scale Cloth Gear series. The Cloth Gear series featured a diecast "exoskeleton" (much like Takara's excellent 1/72 scale Dougram toys), onto which you attached the various external armor pieces. Right up until this year, the Cloth Gear was pretty much the best Ingram toy you could find at any price.

But that has changed with the all new Labor in Action. Coming hot on the heels of the very successful Mobile Suit in Action series, the LiA features all plastic and PVC construction, detailed panel lining, an excellent sculpt and lots of accessories. The size is a little smaller than the old Cloth Gear version, but the better proportions and excellent details more than makes up for it.

First up, the LiA has lots more freedom in its joints for dynamic posing. The Cloth Gear may have diecast but its chunky design leaves much to be desired. The svelte lines of the LiA is much closer in appearance to the original design, especially when you examine the little details... Check out the "holster" compartment for the 37mm revolver. The Cloth Gear Ingram has a bare-bones compartment, but the LiA's is actually >detail-molded to conform to the shape of the gun! And of course, the LiA has the gimmick of the extending forearm for quick-draw action... which is not available on the Cloth Gear.

The LiA comes equipped with three sets of hands - "open", "closed-fist" and "gripping". By combining these hands with the various accessories, you can achieve fantastic action poses that leave the Cloth Gear green with with envy. Besides the hands and weapons, Bandai has also kindly included another head with the protective visor for "riot" action. This is excellent for posing with the 90mm shotgun.

And of course, the most amazing gimmick of all has to be the opening chest hatch to reveal the cockpit! I have been wanting this gimmick in my Ingram models for so long and it's only recently that Bandai offered it in their pricey Master Grade kits for Patlabor. To replicate this dual-hinge action in such a small package just takes the cake for me! No, there isn't a tiny figure of Noa Izumi inside, but Bandai can be forgiven for having already done such a nice job on the main figure.

With all these plus points, the LiA series looks set to wipe the floor with the old-school Cloth Gear toys. My faded and yellowing Cloth Gear Ingram will always have a special place in my collection, but it is with growing excitement that I look forward to future of the Labor in Action series.