Hallucination

Sazabi week is wrapping up tonight with the final set of figures, but I couldn't resist posting a photo of this glorious beast that just arrived in the mail this weekend.

It's too bad that the backlight doesn't pick up the beautiful blue glass eye. Definitely one of my favorite pieces thus far.

[Review] Littlest Red, Part II

Proving once again that style can trump substance, Bandai/Fusion Works' Gundam Ultimate Operation line soldiers on in its 14th and 15th iterations, producing a Sazabi and two Jagd Dogas.


So what is FW's Gundam Ultimate Operation ("FWUO", for short). FWUO has been one of Bandai's more obscure product offerings, and definitely remains one of the more unusual. I can't quite remember when FWUO began appearing on shelves- my memory tells me that I saw the second line on a 2000 trip to Japan; it can't have been much earlier than that, as the first lineup included the Strike Gundam in its roster, meaning that Gundam SEED must have been airing at the time. FWUO ran with the "candy toy" concept, which has always been popular in Japan: include a toy of a popular character with some candy and sell it to whiny kids in supermarkets. I'm sure every collector has, at some point, eaten said candy. They're not bad, really- kind of ramune flavored- and much better than the 1981 Topps baseball card gum that I totally did not eat in 1991.


Over time, the candy has become incidental and in FWUO, is almost an inside throwback joke, because the line is clearly marketed to adult collectors. Now, after that unnecessary build-up, I will finally get to what FWUO is. FWUO is built around the concept of highly-detailed static display figures. Static is something of a personal judgment, because some do have 'moving' parts. In its early days, FWUO was an incredible concept, arriving well before the onslaught of trading figures. Although there were few moving parts on these figures, they had a full paint job and weathering to boot. Anything in those days that was less than a full-size action figure was typically woefully lacking in detail and paint; gashapon figures had only recently emerged from their days of being colorless rubbery figures.

But the original sets of FWUO were not only beautiful, they also featured excellent lineups of MS, with 9 unique paint/sculpt combinations in each of the first two lineups. In subsequent lines, the FWUO magic would touch the 08th MS Team, Gundam 0080, Char's Counterattack, and Z/ZZ Gundam. Over time, sadly, production quality and assortment have slowly declined, with the most recent line being composed of only 3 unique figures in a box of 6. It is predicted by some, and I tend to agree, that the FWUO line is all but defunct. I would be highly surprised if we see any new figures after this last set, which depicts the final battle of Z Gundam.


The figures we have tonight, the Sazabi, Gyunei's Jagd Doga, and Quess' Jagd Doga, are from the "Plus 4" and "Plus 5" lines of FWUO. Sequentially, they are its 14th and 15th lines.

Being that the figures are from different lines, it was somewhat expensive to obtain these. For anyone familiar with buying Japanese candy toys and gashapon, you will know that they are (1) not widely imported by U.S. sellers and often disappear shortly after release and (2) only sold by the case. I bought an entire case of Plus 5 for the Jagd Dogas (which were cruelly only sold with 1 set per case), netting me 3 duplicate figures. Sad face. The Sazabi was bought off eBay from another guy in Hawaii for well over the retail price. We exchanged money and toy outside of the Ala Moana Blvd. CompUSA in what probably looked like a drug deal.


To get rid of the bad taste of paying above retail, we will review the Sazabi first. Well, it has a fairly good paint job- almost comparable to the EMSiA Sazabi, amazingly enough. It also includes a sizeable assortment of accessories, some of which serve to create its intricate back-booster system. Unfortunately, the thing that makes this figure stink is its pose. What the hell is it doing? The damn thing looks like it's high-stepping like a show pony, while simultaneously attempting to hunch over, bury its head in its chest, and throw up signs with its free hand. FWUOs were always known for their outlandish poses, which typically made up for their severe lack of poseability, but some of the more recent ones, I just don't know. The pose not only looks bad, but makes the figure a pain to stand upright, because it is balancing on one foot and a toe. To make matters worse, every time it falls over, the little booster-pods on its back fall off.

I am a bit disappointed in this Sazabi.



Fortunately, the two Jagd Dogas are MUCH better. I'll probably delve into this more with my final review of Sazabi week, but the Jagd Dogas essentially served as Char's elite troops in Char's Counterattack. Quess' Jagd Doga (aka, the red one) is packaged with her mega beam-gatling gun, which is sufficiently large to look imposing. Gyunei's Jagd Doga instead includes his beam sword with bayonet combo weapon. Strangely, the sword is held in a reversed-wrist position, which makes for some neat poses, but is overall a bit confusing. Is he drawing the sword? Is he doing the cool stab-behind-the-back move? You just never know.

More so than most of the other figures, these two are really stylized renditions of the design. Look at those shoulder armors, yeesh. Someone should have told the sculptor that you don't need wings to fly in space. Overall, I appreciate the attempt to use different head sculpts and accessories to differentiate the two, and the pose and sculpt is pulled off nicely, as well.


End of the story is that these FWUO figures, unlike earlier sets, remain relatively available on eBay and from other importers. Per figure price will range from about $5-10. Stay away from the Sazabi, unless you must have a Sazabi figure. The two Jagd Dogas, however, are highly recommended for fans of the CCA movie and the MS design.

[Review] Big Red, Part I

Yes, it is Sazabi week on Robot Loves Monster! Bet you couldn't tell that little pixelated head was the Sazabi. Bet you cared.

So, yes, this week, I am showcasing my collection of the various Sazabi figures that have been released over the years (minus the OG MSiA Sazabi, because there is no point to owning that one after the EMSiA version). Today we have the two figures on the large-end of the scale: DX MSiA Sazabi (U.S. edition) and Extended MSiA Sazabi. It's not exactly accurate to say "high-end" considering that one of the upcoming figures is both smaller and more expensive than either of these.


You think I have a lot of these, just wait until you see my Gouf collection.

The Sazabi, for the uninitiated, has the dubious distinction of being the last MS ever piloted by the almighty Char Aznarble (also known by the much more effeminate, Quattro Bajina... Octopussy? What?). Char debuted in the original 0079 Gundam series in his trademark red command-type Zaku II, later upgrading to the weirdo Zugock and Zeong. Returning in Z Gundam, he piloted the gold demon, Hyaku-shiki. Finally, he and Amuro Rei ended their little pissing contest with Char in his Sazabi and Amuro in his much-less iconic Nu Gundam. Oh, and Char died in that movie. Sorry, spoiler alert.

So I guess the Sazabi is probably number 2 on my list of favorite mobile suits (Gouf will always be my number 1). Now, as you may have mistakenly inferred from my above Char-bio, I do not like the Sazabi because I lurve that hunka-hunka Char, as does much of the male Gundam fanbase. No, no, the real reason is much more stupid.

Once upon a time, there was a game for the Playstation called Gundam Battle Assault. The premise of the game was that players could duel it out Street Fighter style in MS, which were piloted by random dudes. These were, I might add, not the pilots used in the series. Sazabi, in particular, was piloted by this Jamaican dude with a beret. And so I grew up with the misassumption that this guy was THE Sazabi pilot, until I saw Char's Counterattack. Anyway, the game. Well, the Sazabi only had two moves worth a damn. One was his funnel attack, which would pop up the back funnels and pelt the opponent with little beam fire. The second was a moving slash with his beam tomahawk- it was to the game what Chun Li's lightning kick is to Street Fighter 2. That is, really irritating. You could almost work your way through the entire game by using that attack over and over and over again. So, yes, I love the Sazabi for a cheesy attack in a long-forgotten game, and not for its rather fetching pilot with his silken golden locks and strong jawline.

Ahem.



Anyhow, I don't think I can do the EMSiA Sazabi justice with these photos or sing its praises enough in this review. It is, quite simply, the pinnacle of the MS design combined with three-dimensional representation in figure form. The proportions of the sculpt are just right, with the body seeming bulky and menacing without becoming sort of flabby, as the old MSiA did. The amount of detail sculpted and painted into the figure is also just unbelievable- the undersides of the feet are detailed, as are the hidden areas of the side and rear skirts. Just ridiculous attention to detail.




EMSiA Sazabi also includes every accessory imaginable for the Sazabi. Rifle and shield are included, along with two beam swords, a beam tomahawk, and the fully extended beam sword. Also included are six pairs of extra hands, six deployed funnels, and a replacement head (which I believe is supposed to represent the shot of the Sazabi in the maintenance bay with its head open). And of course, the funnel packs open up, and the toe and heel of the foot extend to create a clamp. I don't remember this last one in CCA, but I do not doubt that it happened.




Not to let this review become overly verbose, but I feel obligated to mention the awesome paint job and materials used in this figure. Bandai made the right move in choosing to construct the EMSiA Sazabi from the more rigid type of PVC used in FIX/Zeonography figures. It's a lot lighter (meaning less floppy) and keeps the form of thin pieces very well (no more droopy antennae syndrome). The paintwork is also fantastic, although I caught a few errant marks here and there.


My only complaint- only one- is that the Sazabi suffers from its own design. The super-bulky leg design of the MS almost guarantees that the legs will be difficult to pose, both because motion is restricted and because of the sheer weight of the leg pieces. Otherwise, EMSiA Sazabi is everything that I ever wanted in a mid-scale Sazabi figure (until they release the Zeonography Sazabi with Nightingale conversion parts).


And now, to double your pleasure, we have the DX MSiA Sazabi, as it was released in the U.S. in 2003 (or so).

Now, this thing isn't going to win any awards for articulation. For what it is, the articulation is rather good, and the joints are (thankfully) ratcheted. But in the end, it's just so heavy that posing it any other way than standing aggressively isn't an option. It's a beast of a toy (nearly a foot tall), made for display, and for showing everyone that you're a big baller in the Gundam game.


Especially in the comparison pic with the EMSiA (below), you'll see the differences in sculpt become quite evident. The DX tends more toward the original 80s design of the Sazabi with a larger head and wider body; while the EMSiA is more aesthetically pleasing to me, I think it's a lot more stylized and probably less true to the animation. But the DX has nothing to be ashamed of- it has detailing and nuances in spades. And it better- it weighs as much as my laptop.


It's difficult to say whether it wins or loses in the included gimmicks and accessories when compared against the EMSiA. The DX has a lot less parts, but it does have (1) funnels that actually deploy and transform and (2) a face plate that opens up, rather than simply having a replacement head. On the other hand, I hate, HATE, its beam sword. This being the U.S. edition, Bandai America cheaped out and gave us a sword in a cruddy solid yellow plastic. Japanese buyers on the other hand, received a blade cast in cool bottle-glass green. The sword really looks terrible and just sucks. Pretty much the weakest point of the toy.


Fortunately, sword aside, the DX is very well made. The body is comprised of lightweight ABS plastic with screw and ratcheting joints; despite being large and rather unposeable, it doesn't feel ungainly at all. Again, part of the poseability problem is simply due to the Sazabi's design itself, rather than any shortcoming of its toys. It's a nice durable figure that feels like it could stand a jostle or two.

All in all, the DX Sazabi isn't something you buy because it will look great on your desk. No. It's a prestige piece- more so now, due to its rarity- that screams, "Yes, you're damn straight I bought a foot-tall red robot. Now ask me how much it was." It displays well and looks impressive.

As for pricing and availability, I think the EMSiA wins. It was just released in December 2006, and should retail for around $30. On the other hand, I've only seen the DX go up for sale twice in the past year. The first time, I bought this one in an opened box for $40. The second time, it was MISB, and sold for over $150. So, impressive though it may be, I'm not sure it's worth shelling out the cash, and especially not for the U.S. version. The EMSiA definitely gets you more bang for your buck here.


And so there you have the DX and Extended MSiA Sazabis. Check in later for a review of some of their smaller brethren!

It is a secret...

What is the theme of this week?

[Review] A Case of Pink-Ai

Well, haven't posted anything of substance so far this week, so I thought I'd do a short something before I go off to do responsible things with my Saturday.

My bender of purchasing translucent pink vinyl figures continues. The only good thing about this obsession is that there are relatively few clear pink figures. Try doing this with rainy-day figures, and you'd soon find yourself in the debtor's prison. If they still had such things.

First up is the SDCC 2006 exclusive Gargamel Mini-Bakobaso.


One of Gargamel's 'things' is that they often produce standard and mini-size figures of the same characters. In this case, the Mini-Bako is the tiny-ized version of the larger Bako shown a few posts back. This one also happened to be a convention exclusive at the San Diego Comic Con, and was sold to me by a very nice fellow skullbrainer.


Mini-bako is clear pink with a tasteful application of white and red spray. The Bakos are actually my favorite of the minis. From just the right angle, they look like puppies waiting for food, or something. So I've been told, anyway. I've never had a puppy. Thanks Mom and Dad. You never got me that Komodo dragon that I asked for when I was 10 either.


Next, we have the brand-spankin' new TTToys Lava-flow Grus. Yes, that is spelled with three 'T's.

The Grus are from TTToys' Invading Monster series- which sets them apart from other kaiju, which are totally not all space monsters. Some people have likened it to a sex toy, which I do not appreciate. Grus come in OG blue, shadow black, green/pink spark guts (want!), Hawaii-color sunset, and lava-flow pink. I think that's all of them.

This one has pretty much the bomb-ass color scheme of all those mentioned above. They did a great job of integrating the pinks, silvers, and such into a seamless blend. If you catch it from different angles (see pics), it can either look like a solid piece with the iridescent surface spray, or fairly transparent. Eh, hard to explain.


Nobody ever shows this, but the underside is pretty interesting as well. Kinda looks like a crab or something when you flip it over. Why do I feel dirty for photographing the underside of my toys?


Coming soon: the biggest piece of translucent pink vinyl created to date. Think about that one.