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I have a dilemma. With each limited release of CM’s Corp’s soft-vinyl Patlabor figures, I find myself slowly but surely being sucked down into another dimension… the Lair of Sofubi Addiction! Just what is it about these gimmickless, imprecise and exploitingly expensive figures that could appeal to a collector who grew up playing with Super Real High-Technology by Takatoku Toys? In a word: Obscurity.

If all you have ever hungered for as a Patlabor fan was to own some incarnation of the Ingrams, Type-Zero, Griffon and maybe some of the featured enemies by Schaft Enterprises, you could get a quick fix if you don’t mind settling for Bandai’s 1/60 scale model kits. But for true blue toys of those wonderful blue-collar worker labors, you’re out of luck unless you have the skills to tackle soft-vinyl or resin kits. I guess that’s why I’m all over these sofubi labors, even though they really can’t do much except sit pretty.

My Pickel-Kun is the ‘Red OVA version’ (limited to 1,000 pieces); the rarer ‘Brown TV version’ only had a run of 500 pieces. So far, the colors of the actual toys have been slightly inaccurate compared to the online publicity photos. Overall, I find the colors to be duller than expected… my ‘red’ Pickel was actually ‘reddish brown’ (which makes me wonder what the ‘brown’ Pickel really looks like!) The toy has a grand total of just 1 (ONE) movable joint… and that’s the main turret. Those three clawed legs are fixed pieces – the beautifuly detailed pistons cry out to be customised into real working parts. Even the deep-grooved wheels tucked away in the midst of each set of claws are just a molded detail. Poseability is effectively zero, but then again, it looks fabulous when paired with the resolute Ingram.

So, is it worth more than 5,000 yen each? I certainly enjoyed having both sofubi labors within easy reach around my desk… They are relatively well-detailed and molded, and best of all, they are almost indestructible – a quality I have come to cherish more and more when so many contemporary mecha ‘collectibles’ simply fall apart because of over-ambitious product design. These sofubis? They’re made to last. :-)

Feedback and comments are welcome at the regular CM’s Corp Patlabor BBS thread.

Meet the latest diecast robot to roll off the CM’s Corporation factory lines: Gyakuten-Oh (“The King of Reversal”) from the old animated Time Bokan series “Ippatsuman.” It’s a remake of an old Takatoku toy by the same name. Due out in late September, it’s going to retail for a whopping 20,790 yen, making it one of the most expensive robot toys to hit shelves in recent memory.

— Big Science

Well, this isn’t intended to be a full-fledged review but since Bandai (and its minions) has been testing the waters with new L-Gaim products, I thought it would be nice to revisit these two classic toys from the 90s. Back in the day, HCMs were a real toy oddity, mostly because the relatively refined packaging and prohibitive prices were targeted at a market segment that wouldn’t mature for another decade: The adult toy collector. I recall being highly irate when as a teenager I came across the HCMs in local shops… “Are they crazy? $50 (local money) for such a small toy?”

Eventually, close-out sales at the local Yaohan in ’97 brought prices down to reasonable levels and amongst the first I snapped up was the L-Gaim Mk-II. For less than 8 USD it seemed a good deal but then again, I got the large 1/100 Hi-Metal L-Gaim for just 15 USD at Isetan! It was only in 2000 that I finally tracked down a HCM L-Gaim for the princely sum of 125 USD. Such is the price of r@rity on Ebay!

What more can I say about Mamoru Nagano’s designs? Fans have long noted the lineage of L-Gaim’s Heavy Metals with his later baroque and opulent mecha for Five Star Stories, but even with the relatively clean and elegant outlines of the two L-Gaims, hidden complexities are just waiting to frustrate the casual collector.

For example, both toys feature double-jointed knees, but the range of movement is woefully limited especially when compared with the DX Hi-Metal (or any modern MSiA for the matter)… So, no ‘kneeling’ poses. The feet do have some flexibility in the jointed heels, which helps greatly with balancing. However, most troubling to me is the retarded design of the elbows, and it has to be said out loud:

ROBOTS WITH SHIELDS OUGHT TO BE ABLE TO USE THEM PROPERLY! (Grrr!!!)

Both HCMs simply can’t be posed convincingly in a ‘hunkered down’ shielded pose, and similarly, the number of ways L-Gaim can position its single blue cannon is severely limited.

On the other hand, Mk-II’s buster launcher comes with several possible ‘handles’ that allows for pretty convincing 2-handed firing stances. The foldable bipod is a nice detail, although not being familiar with the manga or anime, I’m not too sure how a 100-feet tall robot would feel about imitating a human sniper lying on the floor.

As for WAIST JOINTS, you’ll be glad to know both HCMs come with this highly coveted feature. However, it’s still a mixed blessing at best: The L-Gaim has greater range of movement but underneath the rubber shroud, the joint is easily loosened and can hardly hold its pose. The Mk-II’s waist rotates securely but only in one axis… and more frustratingly, its head cannot turn left or right, only up or down. I suppose ‘up/down’ was given priority because of its flight mode, but it’s really galling when you’ve wrestled the launcher into a cool pose and the robot can’t even see where it’s aiming!

Other than these design foibles, the HCM L-Gaims are really beautiful to look at, especially when you observe them up close. While the ‘Mk-I’ doesn’t have the opening leg hatches or winged-binder of the über-expensive Super HCM, it does sport a detachable helmet that lets you peek at its mechanized noggin. The Mk-II’s head is not removeable, but still features some wonderfully detailed ‘hair strands’ visible from the back.

By the way, I did say they are a ‘mess’? That’s all thanks to the super fiddly ‘power cables’ – the L-Gaim comes with a single black coated metal wire, while the Mk-II has 3 loose and snaking rubber tubes that are guaranteed to try your patience. So, while the HCMs still make handsome display pieces on any collector’s shelf, I am seriously looking forward to Bandai releasing something more substantial than a R3 kit or PVC ‘In Action’ figure (SOC? SPEC?). Hopefully, they’ll also remember to address the poseability issues when the day comes.

You can [Talk about it in the BBS]

by Big Science

Yutaka mini soft-vinyl toy ca. 1991