Post by mechamasterj on Jan 13, 2010 0:05:35 GMT -5
(click on pictures for larger view!)
Here we have Revoltech Arbalest, the main mecha in the hit anime Series Full Metal Panic. I actually had the pleasure of watching the first two seasons of this anime (there are talks of a third) and enjoyed it immensely (the second season was better the the first where action is concerned). I actually believe that this Arbalest is based of the second season, since many of the accessories he comes with cant be seen in the first season (like the zip line) and for some reason, when the lambada drive is activated in the second season the shoulders dont flare up (and its never explained why either) so that may be the reason these parts were not included with this release.
So far there are Four versions of arbalest available. This one is by far the best for the money (the best being Alter's 1/60 version). It rivals its Robot Damashii cousin in almost every way. Its far more dynamic (a revol staple) much more poseable, well detailed, and has tons of accessories, oh and a stand is included with this one. For about the same price of the RD you get you money's worth here. We also get a new inovative hip joint placement. Kaiyodo decided to connect the legs to the rear skirt rather then to the pelvis or hip as with other figures. This change increase arbalests movement exceptionally! He is able to do very wide and low stances and do many high kicks. It also limits the amount of manipulation required to get the legs the way you want the in other revlo figues, of course you will find some poses that will require you to move the joints around to get them in proper postion, but it does poses that the RD version simply cant do without some serious modification. Another good thing is that the leg armor rarely gets in the way but here and there they do and may pop off, again, its far less then the RD version. he also has plenty of little flaps of soft pvc to help cover the joints and add to his wonderful design.
He comes with a ton of accessories as most of you already know. And plenty of option ammo clips that can be attached all over his body that goes for the weapons too. However, while its possible to attach almost everything he comes with, it looks rather silly so most parts will stay in the revol container but its cool to have them i guess. But, the best feature would be the zip line! very cool feature to have though they used real string there, I thought we were going to get cable but they nope. So you have to secure the rope to something or it just lays flat. Also, you have to tie the string to the arm pice it connects too. If you have fat figners you will have a hell of a time trying to put it on so it stays on. But beware, one rather large flaw, if you ask me, is that arbalest only comes with two arm hatches for the zip line. One has the hook still in place (which it is possible to attach the line here but its not where it belongs) and the other with out the hook, this is where you attach the line to the mini joint that connects to the arm. Problem is once you attach the it you cant put the hook inside...... the other arm with the hook arleady attached wont close either. So unless you like tying microscoping string every time you want to use the line (and pray that you didnt try and attach it permanently somehow) you will have a string that hangs off of him........ a lesson i learned after the fact so you will see the string of death in a few shots lol.
So what can the RD version do that the Revlo version cant? not much, its just easier to manipulate the joints on the RD. The RD also comes with the shoulder lambada drive parts and the shotgun has a few more moving parts. Also, RD has some ABS plastic in the mix where yamaguchi's doesnt have any at all. Doesnt really matter but the paint is a bit sloppy on the revlo version more so then the RD, it also lacks the metalic shimmer on the blue parts.
Now for the pics enjoy!!
remember click to enlarge!
Again its a wonderful figure and truly the best you can get dollar for dollar!