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Post by Mark on Feb 20, 2014 2:54:14 GMT -5
Do you guys remember the R-Center 1/100 Nightingale? You know, the terrible third-pary kit that required resin building skills to make it look decent? Well, looks like R-Center had too many of these left in stock, I guess, and decided to "build" them and repackage them as completed, painted figures, possibly the first third-party fully-assembled plastic Gundam figures:   Comes in matte finish (more expensive for some bizarre reason):    And gloss finish:    And for reference, here is the beast next to the MG 00 Quanta (18 cm):  The gloss-finish one is around $180, while the matte one is around $220. As it is now, the only one that is really easy to find is the gloss one; the matte one can only be found in places like Taobao or Pabbos. Still, this is an exquisite figure and from the reviews I've seen, there is no catastrophic QC failures with these figures. If I had a bit more cash, I would like to try to get one.... This site has a slightly cheaper price than the others (~$175 shipped), but it's the glossy version only. www.gkgundamkit.com/shop/products/1-100-msn-04-2-nightingale-shiny-painting-version-completed-model---dfe55bcec-bdc4-424d-bef0-a27e0117cd1b---en.html |
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Post by luizssb on Feb 20, 2014 5:21:17 GMT -5
All things considered, I think US$180.00 is very reasonable price, specially when one considers that it's a third party product and the Nightingale is a beast of mobile suit. Still, it's way out of my range, what is a shame. Though in different scales, I'd love to have it next to the RD Hi Nu Gundam, so awesome it would be!
I hope one day Bandai decides to do their own take on the NIghtingale. Sure buy should it be a Robot Damashii!
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Post by Mark on Feb 20, 2014 7:18:20 GMT -5
All things considered, I think US$180.00 is very reasonable price, specially when one considers that it's a third party product and the Nightingale is a beast of mobile suit. Still, it's way out of my range, what is a shame. Though in different scales, I'd love to have it next to the RD Hi Nu Gundam, so awesome it would be! I hope one day Bandai decides to do their own take on the NIghtingale. Sure buy should it be a Robot Damashii! If Bandai is willing to make large mobile suits in the RD line like Kshatriya and Xi, a Nightingale may actually be plausible in the future. Unfortunately, I think an RD Nightingale might actually cost around $180 too. The Kshatriya is already $130, and the Nightingale is quite a bit bigger than the Kshatriya already. |
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Post by luizssb on Feb 20, 2014 15:04:29 GMT -5
All things considered, I think US$180.00 is very reasonable price, specially when one considers that it's a third party product and the Nightingale is a beast of mobile suit. Still, it's way out of my range, what is a shame. Though in different scales, I'd love to have it next to the RD Hi Nu Gundam, so awesome it would be! I hope one day Bandai decides to do their own take on the NIghtingale. Sure buy should it be a Robot Damashii! If Bandai is willing to make large mobile suits in the RD line like Kshatriya and Xi, a Nightingale may actually be plausible in the future. Unfortunately, I think an RD Nightingale might actually cost around $180 too. The Kshatriya is already $130, and the Nightingale is quite a bit bigger than the Kshatriya already. Good point, I didn't know the Kshatriya was so expensive. Anyway, with the SRCs of Shin Getter and Mazinkaiser, robots that it seemed Bandai wouldn't ever touch, I hope they try something different with Gundam also heheh BTW, eBay has the glossy version of this guy for U$190.00, for those interested. |
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Post by Mark on Mar 27, 2014 5:41:49 GMT -5
Well, after quite a bit of deliberation (and a small sale), I managed to order the matte Nightingale. I'm very curious as to how this will turn out since I haven't seen a single review for it yet, but I like the design enough to take the risk.
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Post by Yumcha on Mar 27, 2014 10:14:05 GMT -5
Well, after quite a bit of deliberation (and a small sale), I managed to order the matte Nightingale. I'm very curious as to how this will turn out since I haven't seen a single review for it yet, but I like the design enough to take the risk. Just curious, but where did you order yours from? I'm kinda interested!  |
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Post by Mark on Mar 27, 2014 10:58:19 GMT -5
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Post by squall12 on Mar 27, 2014 21:27:53 GMT -5
can u provide link that it sell on taobao website. Thanks |
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Post by Mark on Mar 27, 2014 22:04:18 GMT -5
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Post by squall12 on Mar 28, 2014 4:31:54 GMT -5
thanks for the link.
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Post by Mark on Mar 29, 2014 20:37:36 GMT -5
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Post by magengar on Mar 30, 2014 0:43:22 GMT -5
That kit is such Wickedly Sickedly BEAST!  The sickest Gundam item I have ever seen thus far because the 3rd-party company offers it built and painted. So, yes, the prices for those versions (Matte, and Gloss) are justified. It would have probably cost a little less if it came un-assembled and unpainted for the customer to handle the task. I'm amazed that the company is offering this item assembled and painted... that's like Monogram offering to build your new model battleship Sealed In Box brand new. On the good side: it would save you time having to do all that intense detailed work, and you'll have a professionally assembled and painted item ready to display right outta da box. On the bad side: an individual fan might feel deprived of the joy and satisfaction of assembling this kit and painting it to one's own custom personal taste... the aspect of Interacting with this model kit (building it and painting it) gets cut short, at a higher price. I guess it just depends on whichever way you look at it. But, overall, this is quite a beautiful beast!  zozo-mag |
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Post by Mark on Mar 30, 2014 1:33:13 GMT -5
On the bad side: an individual fan might feel deprived of the joy and satisfaction of assembling this kit and painting it to one's own custom personal taste... the aspect of Interacting with this model kit (building it and painting it) gets cut short, at a higher price. Yes, if this were a Bandai or Kotobukiya model, I would definitely agree with that. But the model kit in question is like, really bad. Terrible seam lines, warped pieces, ill-fitting parts, etc. More work than a resin kit. gundamph.com/gundam-news-updates/rc-1100-nightingale-potential-flaws-defect-and-problems/Granted, the above example was a trial factory run, but the actual kit isn't much better judging from other reviews. It really isn't worth it, especially since the toy is only $50 more than the original model. On another note, look at how much metal there is on these thrusters on the figure... these were plastic on the model kit (and only available as metal as a pre-order bonus), but they're all solid Gokin goodness here:  And here's a pic from someone in China who already owns it. They seem pretty happy about it too. Scales pretty well with other 1/100's too.  |
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Post by magengar on Mar 30, 2014 17:24:28 GMT -5
Wow, I didn't realize that. Thanks for point it out, Zip! I actually don't own any Gundam kits but two: the ZZ-Gundam and the RX-78 (I can't describe their scales off the top of my head at this moment, but I will post pics of them soon-- I plan to clean them up and paint them)... ...I bought them Used, built by an RJ member in this forum. These two could help me break into building Gundam kits. lol I like those metal thrusters. I've seen some of those and other kit parts at HLJ and Amiami... but I don't wanna start pack-ratting any Gundam kit parts until I'm ready for whatever kit parts I would actually need. That way I'm not stuck with unused clutter. lol Compared to the Nightingale item in that store photo, the one in your friend's photo looks really pristine. He did a great job of building it and adding those metal parts. I'd have to agree then, if the item has flaws such as you mentioned then I can't see myself spending that kind of money to touch-up or repair something that should have been Quality-Checked at the factory before leaving the production line. But, I'm also pulled the other way... if I were to buy that toy I'd probably beef it up to look much better than it was intended to be by design default. And that's If I'm willing to spend some time doing all that work. I'd like to enjoy touching it up or customizing it, rather than repair it after the purchase. Oh well, even in this hobby... sometimes I just Can't have my cake AND eat it, too!  zozo-mag |
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Post by Mark on Mar 30, 2014 20:20:10 GMT -5
Compared to the Nightingale item in that store photo, the one in your friend's photo looks really pristine. He did a great job of building it and adding those metal parts. Nah, that isn't even my photo of the Nightingale. It's from some guy in the Chinese Baidu forums who already owns one of these pre-built models (they were released last November after all). It looks just as good as the production pics from what I see, which surprises me too. I was just sent the shipping notice for my Nighty, so hopefully it'll get here in two weeks and I can tell you guys for sure whether or not it's worth the plunge! |
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Post by Yumcha on Mar 30, 2014 23:45:38 GMT -5
Holy sh*t...there are diecast parts in the pre-assembled set?  |
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Post by Mark on Mar 31, 2014 0:23:01 GMT -5
Yeah, but it's limited only to the thrusters.
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Post by magengar on Mar 31, 2014 1:20:15 GMT -5
I was thinking...... this Nightingale figure (or, pre-built kit) would be the one time I would enjoy having just a small amount of diecast as an "accent".... like those thrusters.... they stand out from the rest of the armor, thus giving that Nightingale a really noticeable presence. zozo-mag |
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Post by Yumcha on Mar 31, 2014 10:23:53 GMT -5
Yeah, but it's limited only to the thrusters. Thanks, zip. I'm really tempted to pick this toy up. Interesting that there's a price difference between the matte and gloss finishes...but, I'm assuming the matte color takes an extra layer of paint. Mulling which one would look better too. |
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Post by Mark on Apr 1, 2014 4:53:18 GMT -5
I'm surprised too that the matte actually costs more than the gloss- the gloss is more of a metallic coating if anything, and the shade of color between it and the matte are completely different (the gloss has a deeper, more vibrant red, whereas the matte is more salmon). If anything, the matte version's color looks almost exactly like the original model kit's plastic shade, so it might just be a clear matte topcoat rather than a new layer of paint:  If this were a release by any other toy company, the gloss version should cost more. Not to mention, the paint scheme is more complex on the gloss version since certain parts (all the black and white) are kept matte too, while the red is candy-coated, yet everything is matte on the matte version. The only way I can see this pricetag discrepancy making any sense is if the matte version was a more limited production or exclusive release akin to Tamashii Webshop items. This would explain why the gloss version can be found on multiple sites while the matte version can only be found at Taobao. |
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