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Post by xiombarg on Dec 16, 2013 21:56:07 GMT -5
So is this guy supposed to be a "stealth" Mazinger? If I only look at him closeup, I do like a lot of his details. It's just his general shape, or 'silhouette' of his design that just doesn't work for me. I almost feel bad saying it because you can see that somebody went through some meticulous design process in laying out the details, but the designer needed to step back and look at the bigger aspects of the robot. As the saying goes... "didn't see the forest because of the trees". If I could design myself a "Stealth Mazinger" I hope my rendition doesn't turn out to look anything like this one. Upon a closer look, I'm warming up to the face head and upper body. I still don't like handles and I still don't like the shape and form of the legs and blocky feet, especially the torso setup. If I could take this Mazinger's upper body, head, and arms and merge it with the 1969 Fewture Mazinger's lower body parts perhaps I might appreciate the hybrid creation in that appearance. Another thing that weirds me out is that those Iron-Cutter blades are exposed and built like hinges... ...originally (and according to the anime), the Iron-Cutter blades were designed as "surprise attack" weapons to serve as a strategic defense maneuver to surprise and overwhelm the enemy with a sense of eminent sudden death. Once those blades are executed the enemy has no time to dodge them nor react to them. The Iron-Cutters were perfect weapons until they started to lose their effect late in the series with such repeated deployments. Still, the idea of "surprise weapons popping out from hidden compartments" was what gave these super-robots that extra visual WOW! appeal... ...it was what made these super-robot characters unique and memorable... ...if you watched these super-robot shows when you were a kid, you know exactly what I'm talking about with the visual effect of the robot's pop-up surprise weapons. I don't feel that effect coming from this item. And to add further redundancy to the hinged Iron-Cutter blades, the manufacturer added a SWORD? The only time Mazinger-Z ever used a sword was during the final battle scene ( "Mazinger-Z tai Ankouku Daishogun" 1974 Toei) when he used Great Mazinger's sword to defend himself against a gladiator battlebeast... and even then Maz finished it off with his Drill Missiles. I'll take this sword and give it to some other robot toy-- Hey- Jet Jaguar could use a sword! Why not! lol  zozo-mag |
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Post by gravewolf on Dec 16, 2013 23:45:46 GMT -5
xiombargThe design just feels imbalanced in my opinion. There was just too many things that were overdone like the handles and also I feel it should have more rounded edges on the whole design. This isn't even steampunk since a lot of elements in a steampunk design involves leather, copper pipe tubes, lots of gears and victorian styling. It has none of those elements and I feel like the concept for this robot was that it was made in a junkyard with scrap parts judging from the ruggedness of the details like the welds and bolts. Mazinger Z is a super robot icon so expensive redesigns like this is expected to receive all sorts of critiques from his fans.
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Post by xiombarg on Dec 17, 2013 1:10:08 GMT -5
gravewolf, yeah I agree. For me I always like to ask myself "would I like this design if it wasn't a character I know" and I would have to say "not enough that I would personally want to own it", but being Mazinger leads to certain expectations and that only makes me more critical of it.
The handle bars, especially on the shoulders, don't work for me. I also don't really like anything about the entire lower portion except for the really up close details. And then there is the crown on the head. The whole thing pushes some boundaries not unlike a lot of renditions of Mazinger, but the end result to me looks clunky instead of cool. 3A does a lot of clunky designs which are very cool because they have the right blend of minimalist mechanical era design and quirky personality. Mazinger however does not fit this mold, so you end up with a clunky super robot that doesn't inherently have a quirky personality at all. Ultimately it needed to be something like what they did with the Zoids liger which stayed very cool and kept up with the design personality of the original.
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Post by Lejam on Dec 17, 2013 5:45:09 GMT -5
What a piece of crap junk ! Medicom limited kit was way more interesting ! -> robotjapan.proboards.com/thread/20957This is a weak interpretation of Mazinger Z design. Nothing new, nothing special... Except they include the scottish kilt in box. |
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Post by magengar on Dec 17, 2013 8:29:31 GMT -5
No no no no... lol.... this 3zero figure is Not a "Stealth" Mazinger! Actually, I've been contemplating for months what would it be like to design my own rendition of a "Mazinger-Z" robot in "Stealth" format... ...using the original Toei version robot character as a reference and build from that. What would I do to make the body parts look more aerodynamic-friendly while keeping it simple. If I were to build a Mazinger that looks like this 3zero model, I certainly would NOT throw the hips way out there like THAT. lol And I'd keep the spherical/cylindrical shapes of the body and limb parts. I like the steampunk/rivets look of this 3zero rendition. From the head down to the black torso area it seems to flow smoothly. I can believe it as a mechanical robot object if this were to exist in real life. But then it breaks up at the outer hip areas and flows differently from there down to the feet. The contrast of blocky legs/feet versus the spherical upper body parts ruins the flow, especially at the torso with that weird ED209 hip articulation design. And those "handles" gotta Go, they might work for an art-deco "Big O" style on some other robot/mecha such as a Gundam or a Scopedog; but not on Mazinger-Z. Not even Dai-X or Mikazuki would play that. If this entire thing were to exist in real life as a live mecha unit I would think it looks weird between the top and bottom halves. After all, if it's gonna have flight capabilities it has to have as minimal wind resistance as possible to achieve high-speed flight... Just wait until the Jet Scrander gets made for this thing, then I'll crack up! LOL zozo-mag So is this guy supposed to be a "stealth" Mazinger? If I only look at him closeup, I do like a lot of his details. It's just his general shape, or 'silhouette' of his design that just doesn't work for me. I almost feel bad saying it because you can see that somebody went through some meticulous design process in laying out the details, but the designer needed to step back and look at the bigger aspects of the robot. As the saying goes... "didn't see the forest because of the trees". If I could design myself a "Stealth Mazinger" I hope my rendition doesn't turn out to look anything like this one. Upon a closer look, I'm warming up to the face head and upper body. I still don't like handles and I still don't like the shape and form of the legs and blocky feet, especially the torso setup. If I could take this Mazinger's upper body, head, and arms and merge it with the 1969 Fewture Mazinger's lower body parts perhaps I might appreciate the hybrid creation in that appearance. Another thing that weirds me out is that those Iron-Cutter blades are exposed and built like hinges... ...originally (and according to the anime), the Iron-Cutter blades were designed as "surprise attack" weapons to serve as a strategic defense maneuver to surprise and overwhelm the enemy with a sense of eminent sudden death. Once those blades are executed the enemy has no time to dodge them nor react to them. The Iron-Cutters were perfect weapons until they started to lose their effect late in the series with such repeated deployments. Still, the idea of "surprise weapons popping out from hidden compartments" was what gave these super-robots that extra visual WOW! appeal... ...it was what made these super-robot characters unique and memorable... ...if you watched these super-robot shows when you were a kid, you know exactly what I'm talking about with the visual effect of the robot's pop-up surprise weapons. I don't feel that effect coming from this item. And to add further redundancy to the hinged Iron-Cutter blades, the manufacturer added a SWORD? The only time Mazinger-Z ever used a sword was during the final battle scene ( "Mazinger-Z tai Ankouku Daishogun" 1974 Toei) when he used Great Mazinger's sword to defend himself against a gladiator battlebeast... and even then Maz finished it off with his Drill Missiles. I'll take this sword and give it to some other robot toy-- Hey- Jet Jaguar could use a sword! Why not! lol zozo-mag |
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Post by magengar on Dec 17, 2013 8:51:10 GMT -5
I believe Xiombarg hit the exact right note that I was trying to convey...
...if this were any other character that I'm not familiar with I'd feel different
about this design.
The 3zero rendition of the Zoids Shield Liger, all hands down, friggin Rocks!
And this design visually suits the Liger much better, for what it is;
and I've never seen the Zoids shows.
But, because the character touched here is MAZINGER-Z, it's difficult for me to accept other renditions
of it than the Mazinger-Z I know (the Toei version), because it's engraved
in my mind since my youth.
I watched Gigantor (Tetsujin 28) on TV when I was a kid... if someone came up to me
with a robot model looking like that and called it "Gigantor" I'd react the same way
because it's not the Gigantor I know from my childhood.
That Medicom-X Mazinger figure also struck a weird nerve with me.
However, I was a little more forgiving about that figure-- because it maintained
its concept symmetric design from head to toe, and it looks more accessible to me
than this 3zero thing. lol
But, in either case, neither renditions are the Mazinger-Z that I know!
Just goes to show you the powerful grip of nostalgia in situations like this.
Schmbluuuuuuuuuugh.
zozo-mag
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Post by TheMazingerZ on Dec 17, 2013 11:28:58 GMT -5
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Post by southpawdragon on Dec 17, 2013 12:53:48 GMT -5
Holy amateur hour wtf happenend to his hips , crotch area
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Post by greengetterguy on Dec 17, 2013 13:35:47 GMT -5
Marketing hid the area from the very beginning...
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Post by Yumcha on Dec 17, 2013 16:41:38 GMT -5
The chopped picture with the kilt had me dying... |
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Post by chogokinsnake on Dec 17, 2013 22:42:03 GMT -5
Holy amateur hour wtf happenend to his hips , crotch area Sh*t happen...  check out their inspiration!  |
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Post by mojacko on Dec 17, 2013 23:24:52 GMT -5
I think i found their inspiration for the lower half:  that is soooo NOT fair....the SD valk are the cutest thing bandai did  .....while the Mazinger Z proto is really .....yeeeeech.....its like Mazinger Z gave birth to a new baby rather than Afrodita.... |
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Post by greengetterguy on Dec 17, 2013 23:49:19 GMT -5
No bros, he got inspired by the new Transformer Generations delux wave3 "Tankor..."
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Post by gravewolf on Dec 17, 2013 23:50:03 GMT -5
I think the handle design is a metaphor for being "capable". It's like saying that this Mazinger can "handle" all the enemy robots that Doctor Hell throws at him and that he can also "handle" the job of humanity's defender and maybe even the wide hips symbolize the "birth" of a new breed of Mazinger's....or maybe I'm just looking too deep into the design aspects.....maybe I need to rest.....
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Post by magengar on Dec 18, 2013 0:07:19 GMT -5
I'll have to TRY to stop buggin out about this rendition of Mazinger-Z... after all, it's not even out yet, so, as a spectator I'll give it time and see what happens; who knows-- maybe this prototype will get taken back to the design board and get reworked? (my wishful thinking. lol) Or... at least tuck those thighs a little bit into the torso so they're connected directly from the torso instead of waaay out there on the the sides. And then maybe redo the thighs, shins, and feet to a bit more of the cylinder style to match the cylindrical form of the biceps and forearms. Then get rid of those obnoxious handles. Leave everything else okay theme-wise (the pistons, rivets, and panels). Then the entire body sculpt will streamline smoothly from part to part. Just my honest opinion, of course. I may not buy this particular specimen for seeing Mazinger-Z in this type of rendition and mechanical sculpt. But it doesn't mean I hate it or dislike it... I really haven't acquired a taste for this style. Coming from me, this statement seems ironic, because I happened to enjoy the style of the Fewture's 1969 version of Mazinger-Z. But to me there's a visual flare about that figure that attracted me. I still never bought it, but I'd welcome it onto my shelf if I could see it in my hands or if I could build my own custom version of it. The more I look at THIS Mazinger figure, the more it makes me wanna just say " Frig it, ya know what, Maz is Maz, and any form of Maz is
okay on my shelf as long as it's Maz in different renditions.
I've always said in the past that I wanted Mazinger-Z toys
in any way shape or form, so here it is with this one." (Damn, I never thought I'd see myself come to this conclusion no matter how hard I try to fight it! LMAO) zozo-mag |
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Post by ancestral on Dec 18, 2013 0:53:13 GMT -5
Is there any hope that based on the initial reaction from fans that they WOULD seriously reconsider redesigniing this? and delaying the launch? Or does 3 zero already have an established fan base that will buy anything 3 zero or 3A?
Ancestral
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Post by actionawesome on Dec 18, 2013 0:56:06 GMT -5
Is there any hope that based on the initial reaction from fans that they WOULD seriously reconsider redesigniing this? and delaying the launch? Or does 3 zero already have an established fan base that will buy anything 3 zero or 3A? Ancestral I wondered the same thing. |
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Post by greengetterguy on Dec 18, 2013 1:45:40 GMT -5
"...Or does 3 zero already have an established fan base that will buy anything 3 zero or 3A?" This. As far as I can see even some of their wonkier stuff sells out... I do however really like their The Walking Dead and MGS figures, ONLY because they stick so close to the source material. Their original IPs have some seriously SERIOUSLY questionable proportion issues.  I mean...W.T.H. |
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Post by greengetterguy on Dec 18, 2013 1:53:14 GMT -5
 Here's another clearer shot of the "H." courtesy of Toysdaily. |
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Post by mildred on Dec 18, 2013 3:26:55 GMT -5
the hip looks better in this shot - i still can't get the image of the first photo out of my head, though...
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If I could design myself a "Stealth Mazinger" I hope my rendition
