January 8, 2001 CURRENT RUMBLE GUN-dam! rbc3 1.8.01 On my first ever toy buying adventure to none other than the Japanese toy mecha of the world, Tokyo, I discovered Clover made a human sized Gundam Beam Rifle. I've seen photos of an Orguss Orgroid Gunpod, but never THIS! At the time I didn't have the pocket change to pay for the incomplete one I found. I made a trek out to Magic Box and as any toy buying nut who's braved the Tokyo suburbs to find it knows, there's not a cash machine in sight which accepts foreign plastic. If you have a Japanese Sanwa Bank account, you're the only lucky fool who can afford the insane prices at the infamous Magic Box. The rest of us have to manage with what cash we happened to bring with us. My bank account thanks me. Lucky for me I found a mint untouched one back in my new home away from home, Hong Kong, AKA bootleg central. Anyway, back to the toy. If this thing isn't cool what is? First of all it's a gun. Is there a real boy in the Earth Federation who doesn't like to play with guns? Secondly it's a cap gun... KAPOW! You even get a box of caps which go into the two supplied brass bullets. You then load a single bullet at a time into the, get this, REMOVABLE DIECAST MAGAZINE!!! How awesome is that? Thirdly it's got, hold your breath, blowback action! Uh, well, I don't know what that is either, but it sounds cool. There is a spring loaded rod which you pull back to engage the firing mechanism. Pulling the trigger causes the rod to slam against the cap filled bullet. Maybe when ignited, the cap has enough force to re-engage the spring loaded rod... naw, that sounds dangerous! Heh, heh, heh, those darn Japanese toy designers and their aversion to child safety. Too bad it doesn't actually fire the bullets. Ah well, I guess they didn't want little Japanese kids killing each other. Lastly and certainly most important, it's good 'ol RX-78's personal weapon of destruction. All I need is a Gundam RX-78 costume to complete my fantasy (well, at least one of them). So now I'm prepared to fend off any of the Zion forces in my neighborhood. I'm keeping this bad boy under my pillow just in case Char Aznable tries to sneak in and do me wrong while I'm sleeping. Are there any other cool gun toys you ask? Well here's a short list I compiled to whet your appetite. I'm on the lookout for them, and when I find more, I'll be sure to submit another Rumble. Xabungle Walkar Garriar Rifle (Clover) Space Cruiser Yamato Cosmogun (Nomura) Macross Valkyrie Gunpod (Imai) Orguss Orgroid Gunpod (Imai) Tekkaman Disc Shooter (???) If you know of any others which deserve to be on this list, feel free to write.  RUMBLE INDEX  |  CURRENT RUMBLE