Post by mechamasterj on Feb 21, 2010 2:01:18 GMT -5
I saw these figures a while back in some HJ magazine, and I immediately said "I have to have one of these!" To my dismay, they were Volks web shop limited items and I was unaware of proxy services and such, add the fact that the ones you could find on eBay and YJA were pretty expensive! but then again Volk's stuff ant cheap. So they remained just out of my reach for quite some time. About two years or so later, I finally got my hands on some thanks to Tokyo hunter!! Finally!
So apparently the mechs come from a Hentai dating game called Muv luv that features , you guessed it, lots O women piloting some slick mechs based off of real life jets ?? Never played the game or seen any of the related material that spawned after them but the mechs are awesome so that's all i cared about.
In any case Volks took it upon themselves to make a series (over 30) of PVC action figures of the mechs from the games. They have an average price of 6500 to 9500 yen (though some of the LE ones go for around 12000 yen). One good thing (at least for me anyway) is that many are repaints, and a lot of them share similar designs with only a few minor differences. So this makes collecting a lot easier for me since I can concentrate on the ones that I really like, which I did (though there maybe two more I might try and get).
Since most of them are the same, they pretty much come with the same weapons and what not. The three I have range from 2008 to 2009. They call come in a rather nice box decorated by the mech held within, which is viewable from a small window. The back of the box lists some specs of the mech along with pilot information if there is one.
I got 3 Tactical Surfaces Fighters (Blue) Type-97 (Fubuki), (White) XFJ-01A (Shiranui Second), and (Black) Type-00C (Takemeiaduchi). Of the three I have, they all came with the same accessories, only having one or two weapons that differed from each other . They do come with a very large assortment of extras (and one even had a decal kit) but unfortunately, most of them aren't of much use. You see, most of the accessories are for part swapping due to none of the option parts having any real functionality. So, the parts are to imitate the holding and removing of various weapons. I really think they could of saved a lot of plastic if they just allowed a sword or gun to be removed and placed back in its holding compartment. Now you have a bunch of spare parts and a lot of part swapping just to make it look like one of the weapons have been pulled out and is ready for action. So as it is, they all seem to come with; 2 sub guns, 2 swords, and 2 daggers, which are all the same between the three that i have. However, one of them a cool shield, large rifle, and two missile packs which actually open up without part swapping, and it quite nice how it does it too. Furthermore, all weapons (that are loose anyway) have hands permanently affixed to them, so , you even have to part swap the hands to hold weapons. All the parts are done with pegs, which is easy enough except for the back mounts, which can be a pain due to their awkward angle. One good thing is that you can interchange weapons with other figures though the colors maybe off.
The mecha themselves are all made of PVC, they are nicely detailed (though Shiranui could use some panel lining in some areas due to his white paint scheme) they all use the same joint system though which consists of mini ratchet joints (kinda like revoltech but they aren't sphere shaped). The joints offer very strong points of articulation, except in the feet. The feet will hold the weight of the figure, but there is a bit of slack that cold of been tightened, it makes balancing a small problem especially with Shiranui and Fubuki, Takemidaduchi is very strong however. This brings me to another point, though they all use the same joints, joint placement, and designs, they sure don't move the same. Some figures are tighter than others while one is a little floppy (Shiranui). they also don't have the same level of articulation. Now I thought this was due to the production dates, maybe when they made improvements over the years..... well two of the figures were made in 09, one has superior articulation (Shiranui) to all of them, and the other is extremely limited (Takemikaduchi). The third (Fubuki) was made in 2008 but is far more poseable then Takemikaduchi. Takemikaduchi is missing a lot of gimmicks found in the other two but he's a newer release, I don't know why this is the case especially when they all share such similar designs. Also, some of the pegs fit loosely, easy fix, but it still a problem.
In any case, they are pretty cool, and if you can get your hands on at least one, I highly recommend having it in your collection. The problem is, depending on how important articulation is to you and how much you like to have, it may prove difficult figuring out which ones do and which ones don't.
In any case on with the pics. I saved the more dynamic poses for Shiranui since he has the most advancement in articulation.
Type 00C Takemikaduchi
Type 97 Fubuki
XFJ-01a Shiranui Second
So apparently the mechs come from a Hentai dating game called Muv luv that features , you guessed it, lots O women piloting some slick mechs based off of real life jets ?? Never played the game or seen any of the related material that spawned after them but the mechs are awesome so that's all i cared about.
In any case Volks took it upon themselves to make a series (over 30) of PVC action figures of the mechs from the games. They have an average price of 6500 to 9500 yen (though some of the LE ones go for around 12000 yen). One good thing (at least for me anyway) is that many are repaints, and a lot of them share similar designs with only a few minor differences. So this makes collecting a lot easier for me since I can concentrate on the ones that I really like, which I did (though there maybe two more I might try and get).
Since most of them are the same, they pretty much come with the same weapons and what not. The three I have range from 2008 to 2009. They call come in a rather nice box decorated by the mech held within, which is viewable from a small window. The back of the box lists some specs of the mech along with pilot information if there is one.
I got 3 Tactical Surfaces Fighters (Blue) Type-97 (Fubuki), (White) XFJ-01A (Shiranui Second), and (Black) Type-00C (Takemeiaduchi). Of the three I have, they all came with the same accessories, only having one or two weapons that differed from each other . They do come with a very large assortment of extras (and one even had a decal kit) but unfortunately, most of them aren't of much use. You see, most of the accessories are for part swapping due to none of the option parts having any real functionality. So, the parts are to imitate the holding and removing of various weapons. I really think they could of saved a lot of plastic if they just allowed a sword or gun to be removed and placed back in its holding compartment. Now you have a bunch of spare parts and a lot of part swapping just to make it look like one of the weapons have been pulled out and is ready for action. So as it is, they all seem to come with; 2 sub guns, 2 swords, and 2 daggers, which are all the same between the three that i have. However, one of them a cool shield, large rifle, and two missile packs which actually open up without part swapping, and it quite nice how it does it too. Furthermore, all weapons (that are loose anyway) have hands permanently affixed to them, so , you even have to part swap the hands to hold weapons. All the parts are done with pegs, which is easy enough except for the back mounts, which can be a pain due to their awkward angle. One good thing is that you can interchange weapons with other figures though the colors maybe off.
The mecha themselves are all made of PVC, they are nicely detailed (though Shiranui could use some panel lining in some areas due to his white paint scheme) they all use the same joint system though which consists of mini ratchet joints (kinda like revoltech but they aren't sphere shaped). The joints offer very strong points of articulation, except in the feet. The feet will hold the weight of the figure, but there is a bit of slack that cold of been tightened, it makes balancing a small problem especially with Shiranui and Fubuki, Takemidaduchi is very strong however. This brings me to another point, though they all use the same joints, joint placement, and designs, they sure don't move the same. Some figures are tighter than others while one is a little floppy (Shiranui). they also don't have the same level of articulation. Now I thought this was due to the production dates, maybe when they made improvements over the years..... well two of the figures were made in 09, one has superior articulation (Shiranui) to all of them, and the other is extremely limited (Takemikaduchi). The third (Fubuki) was made in 2008 but is far more poseable then Takemikaduchi. Takemikaduchi is missing a lot of gimmicks found in the other two but he's a newer release, I don't know why this is the case especially when they all share such similar designs. Also, some of the pegs fit loosely, easy fix, but it still a problem.
In any case, they are pretty cool, and if you can get your hands on at least one, I highly recommend having it in your collection. The problem is, depending on how important articulation is to you and how much you like to have, it may prove difficult figuring out which ones do and which ones don't.
In any case on with the pics. I saved the more dynamic poses for Shiranui since he has the most advancement in articulation.
Type 00C Takemikaduchi
Type 97 Fubuki
XFJ-01a Shiranui Second