The MM Vehicle Voltron isn't THAT big for a die cast. Heck the Toynami 30th Anniversary Die Cast is about the same size (granted can't hold a pose well). Some of the larger SOC's are in the same ballpark. God Mars, God Sigma, Ideon, Iron Gear. And there are some truly spectacular Gokin with tons of metal over 12" in height. The Fewture Getter's come to mind. Now 18" may be getting a bit too big for a die cast. To be frank I find it getting to big for a collectable. 18-24" is getting more into a playset type experience. As in does not display well.
I try not to criticize the Matty Voltron. I don't own it. It's more of an actual action figure oriented toy than I tend to go for, and requires way too much room for me. But with that said the only real issue I have observed with it is it needs more weight in the legs to give it enough stability for posing. Those lions are designed to hold the figures, right? So just putting some weight in the cockpits of the Blue and Yellow ones would do a world of good. Or am I missing something obvious?
The MM VV is actually 12.5 inches, measuring from the bottom of its "feet" wheels to the
top of the red nose cone on its head. It surpasses the DX Maz by just half an inch taller.
(
I was just rounding off to the next inch --- 13 inches --- instead of typing out "12 and a half"
or "12 1/2" since keyboards don't type fractions. lol)
Here's a quick view of my VV next to my DX Maz for size comparison...
...even at 12.5" tall, I think it's kinda pushing the limit on height for diecast mass.
And the diecast parts on the VV aren't even solid all the way through to the core, but diecast shells
molded assembled together to accommodate all the moving parts, attachment locks, and joint systems inside.
For as long as I've been in this hobby (
almost 9 years) the MM VV is the tallest diecast figure, to me,
that I have ever experienced.
You did raise a good point about weight distribution to the proper places on a tall figure, for stability and posing.
In which case, for example, the Matty Collector Voltron... it's a beautiful figure, I don't own one, but I've read
various reports from individual owners-- some folks are happy with it, others have stated theirs had trouble holding
up a pose or whatever stability issue theirs had. I guess it depends on whose Matty Voltron turned out stable,
who got a good one, and who got a bad one. I dunno.
In the case of a figure made of plastic (
be it ABS, PVC, or some other sturdy plastic materials), the same rule
would apply: the taller the figure, the more mass of its material that will be required to make it sturdy, stable,
and be able to hold poses and its accessories in its hands.
The difference is that plastic can be a little more forgiving than diecast when we handle it... so, if we break
a plastic figure the broken part can be replaced or modified to some degree although it will lose some value
because the original broken part has been repaired or modified.
We can't get away with an accidental murder That easy on a diecast figure, especially a tall diecast figure.
Then, of course, the repainting a repaired part. Be it diecast, or plastic.
But that's another lengthy rocket-science discussion for another day.
-----------------------------
I'll make this next example short (
if possible)...
I have two Toynami Voltrons... both are "beaters" (used, played with, some broken parts)-- one is a plastic
version that I scored from a local thrift store. The other, in exact likeness, is a diecast version beater that
was given to me by an RJ member so that I could somehow make repair resin-cast parts with, or combine the two
Toynami Voltrons together, to possibly form a whole figure..... I combined the upper plastic body with diecast
parts from the other beater.......
......project FAILED... because during a figure-combo test I had the completed figure standing up for display
(
un-posed, just static position and holding nothing in its hands) beside my computer monitor... one day
I had noticed the figure was starting to topple over. Before I could catch it, it fell over forward
thus snapping the yellow lion's head ("
foot") off at its neck joint.......
The diecast Toynami's yellow lion has a diecast body with a plastic head. Okay, nice, if only the lion were
to be displayed by itself.
But when assembled to form Voltron in humanoid robot mode, now ya got a plastic lion head as the "toe"
bearing all the weight and stress from the diecast leg and upper diecast body parts.
If that head had been made of diecast, it wouldn't have broken off as the figure toppled over.
I'll bet that's what happened to many diecast Toynami Voltrons that I've seen on eBay, some with
headless leg-formed lions and such. lol .......Baaaaaad engineering there, Toynami.
------------------------------
Now we're looking at an 18" new Voltron rendition here. For whatever it's made of, it should have its
material mass properly distributed to aid in support of its own weight and stability while still serving
its functional purpose as a posing action-figure.
The feet should have the most density in the figure, followed by the lower legs with a slightly less
density of material mass, so that the feet and legs together can bear the stress of the figure's
upper body parts.
The hand-held accessories such as the weapons (
swords, knives, guns, spears, brass knuckles, whatever)
should be made of the lightest density of material mass so that they can be held in dynamic
battle poses...
...for the way this new Voltron figure looks, it deserves that much design consideration and respect
in order to emit the command-presence of a heroic robot on display.
Because the last thing you wanna see is your visitors reacting in disbelief when they view your collection
and see such a beautiful robot action-figure falling or slumping over due to half-assed engineering.
During the times I have gone to visit Baron and view his collection, I never once noticed any slight
flaws in any of the figures in his collection; and I have never heard him complain about any of his specimens.
And he's gone through explaining each robot figure in his display cabinets Extensively and they
all appear to be so well-designed and engineered. And, he takes Very good care when he handles them.
Take my word for it, Baron's no slacker there.
(
Now we've come to a Two-way street: a well-designed action-figure robot toy, in the hands of the collector.
The longevity of the figure depends on how carefully the collector treats it.
Sheisse happens... anticipate it, expect it, and be prepared for it. lol)
The well-designed Collectors Grade figure has to be worthy of the investment.
Every collector deserves a proper well-designed figure no matter who manufactures it.
Once the figure is in the collector's hands, the ball is now in the collector's court.
Take notes, Toynami!
zozo-mag
