Joined: Jul 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,960 Location: Illinois
Re: FRAME ARMS « Reply #30 on Nov 1, 2009, 4:52pm »
The local place near me has the Gourai and Skylet on pre-order, but it's not looking (at least for now) like ANY of the US distribution chains are going to be selling just the Frame architect version.
... Fortunately, I have one tacked on to an amiami order right now to make the most of my EMS shipping
Joined: Jul 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,960 Location: Illinois
Re: FRAME ARMS « Reply #32 on Nov 2, 2009, 10:23am »
Got mine from amiami for 17% off and should have 'em by mid week
... I was sad that they were sold out of Gourai though. I'm not really digging the Stylet one, but I figure that if the base body is no good, at least I'll only be out the $14 or so shipped it's costing me. If it IS good ... well, I've got some older model kits I might look into bashing with it
mechamasterj Giant Mecha Robot DX member is offline
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 4,664 Location: NJ
Re: FRAME ARMS « Reply #33 on Nov 2, 2009, 3:54pm »
Good deal quin but amiami only ships EMS which negates most savings if you ask me (unless you got a lot of shtuff to boot then it can even out a lil). I cant wait to mix and match these guys, but still, they will require a bit of painting...... i do wonder if they will have decal sheets to accompany these dudes. Guess we gotta see how well they do..... maybe theyll even do some SRWs in this form
Joined: Jul 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,960 Location: Illinois
Re: FRAME ARMS « Reply #35 on Nov 5, 2009, 9:53am »
Got my Architect (base body) the other day. It definitely shows its model heritage, for better and for worse.
The good: It's a phenomenally poseable frame. The shoulders are fantastic with the way they're jointed, able to flex and shrug and move essentially like a humans would. The waist is jointed in a manner that the figure can lean forward and backward quite a long way, although (as near as I can tell) there's no side to side bend. Obviously it can twist, though. The figure has adjustable hip height so you can make it taller or shorter, and while outward hip movement is limited very slighly (no side-to-side splits/van damme poses, unfortunately), the overall leg movement is great; kneeling or even sitting in sieza is no problem for the frame.
The not-so-good: There's that "model kit" heritage rearing its ABS and polyvinyl head. It's by no stretch of the imagination an "action figure", despite coming in a window box all assembled. It's a snap-fit model kit that has had 95% of its parts put together already, make no mistake. Pieces will come apart while you're trying to move limbs, the elbow and knee joint pegs come out of their sockets VERY easily, and it uses polycaps for its various joints so it's bound to wear down and get floppy with time. You WILL need to sit down with a tube of glue with this, pre-built or not. In particular the upper bicep and the thighs are in desparate need of being permanently affixed, and the hands (which you put together yourself) have some fitment issues and will need to be glued as well to save headaches.
The rundown: It's a very cool frame and I'm excited to get my Gourai so I can see how it works with the armor, but make no mistake about it, these are model kits through and through, despite having the pre-built frame. I see the Frame Architect as being a great commodity for customizers, though, and I do hope Kotobukiya keeps adding to this line because I can see a lot of potential here.
Joined: Jul 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,960 Location: Illinois
Re: FRAME ARMS « Reply #37 on Nov 5, 2009, 10:58am »
I got the Architect from amiami as part of another order, since it's looking like only the full sets are being distributed in the US. I have gourai on pre-order from Big bad toy store, but it's looking like the US release wont be until later this month: http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu.aspx?menu=2101
They're being distributed by Diamond, I think, which means that you should also be able to order them through a local comic or collectible store if you have one nearby.
mechamasterj Giant Mecha Robot DX member is offline
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 4,664 Location: NJ
Re: FRAME ARMS « Reply #39 on Nov 5, 2009, 1:14pm »
hmm well i guess what quin said is to be expected but was hoping for more action figure oriented, but still cant wait to get my sets. Thanks for your first impressions quin!
Joined: Jul 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,960 Location: Illinois
Re: FRAME ARMS « Reply #40 on Nov 5, 2009, 7:55pm »
Photodump, GO!
This is it!
Fighting poses are a breeze!
The body is amazingly dynamic
Bird run! (Or perhaps figure skating) - The lightweight body coupled with the fairly robust joint system means if you can balance it, it can do it. This may change once outer armor comes into question, of course.
Iron man pose? No problem.
The extremely flexible waist really helps convey realistic poses.
mechamasterj Giant Mecha Robot DX member is offline
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 4,664 Location: NJ
Re: FRAME ARMS « Reply #41 on Nov 5, 2009, 10:15pm »
love the pics quin and the poses, im all about articulation and this guy fits the bill, of course im sure he will loose a bit of mobility once armors are on but still color me impressed. And the best thing, they can only get better from here. You go Koto! wonder if these will make bandai respond....hmm
Joined: Jul 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,960 Location: Illinois
Re: FRAME ARMS « Reply #42 on Nov 6, 2009, 11:18am »
Yes, this figure is definitely designed with articulation and versatility in mind. I'll really be interested to see how much the outer armor kits restrict the mobility. Frankly, even if they cut the mobility in half, they'll still be some of the most poseable sub-$50 models available.
For the amateur robot illustrator, I can see this as being pretty good as a visual guide for drawing mecha poses and the like too, kind of like an artist's dummy.
Joined: Jul 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,960 Location: Illinois
Re: FRAME ARMS « Reply #43 on Nov 10, 2009, 11:37am »
Dalong has started putting up reviews of the full kits; looks like no decals or anything fancy like color separation, but it also looks like the poseability isn't really compromised at all with the armor, which is pretty cool.
mechamasterj Giant Mecha Robot DX member is offline
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 4,664 Location: NJ
Re: FRAME ARMS « Reply #44 on Nov 10, 2009, 12:24pm »
Yeah I already new about the lack of color separation and these would require a bit of painting before they would look remotely like the demo pics, but good to know that articulation isnt compromised much, but I do wonder if we will have armor pieces flinging all over the place...... probably need to invest ins some glue lol
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