Newb, Noob, FNG...

[musha]

Hello Everyone, Musha here. I am looking to expand my small robot collection and I need your help. I have a thing for quality, I don't particularly care for poorly crafted items. So far I have all Soul of Chogoking items: Mazinger Z (45), Big O, Gunbuster, Daioja, Voltes V and Gaogaigar. I want to expand to other lines. I am currently thinking of buying a few Sentinel product. I have also been looking at ThreeZero and Fewture/Artstorm. I honestly have no idea where to start. I guess the best qustion would be, what are the most well craft robots, who are the top 3 companies and what are the top 5 holy grails? Please don't flame me, I am truly oblivious. 1 more thing, it seems no matter where I go, its that guy that says "Just buy what you like" well I like a lot and can buy it all. Also Aesthetics and paint don't always equate to quality if the figure is brittle, fragile and lacks articulation. Thanks in advance. 

[S_Gokin]

Hello Musha and welcome to RJ

if you already in Bandai Soul Of Chogkin line then you are in the right place, there is the smaller line called Super Robot Chogokin just like the SOC but with better articulation and cooler accessories

i honesty don't own any Sentinel but alot of people recommend them and they have this new awesome Mazinnkaiser

check it here
robotjapan.proboards.com/thread/23247/riobot-mazinkaiser?page=1

as for ThreeZero i have their Mazinger z a very awesome figure regardless its all made of plastic but its a high quality plastic nothing cheap at all

Fewture are artwork for me i own punch of them the only problem they have is paint QCs but that was mostly on the older releases now they are improving even with the packaging

top 2 companies for me are
Bandai
Fewture

top 5 robobts this thread will help you to get many feedback from the members here

robotjapan.proboards.com/thread/23716/top-5-thread

and they are right you buy what you like

[mecha-mania]

Welcome on board musha!

Well, you can never go wrong with bandai, especially the SOC line, and if you dont mind smaller bots, SRC is also a good line. I owned the sentinel dancouga and black wing and they are great acquisitions as well.

[mpchi]

Welcome.

Bandai SOC is the safest line in terms of what you want. You can safely expand on that line alone on other releases you don't already have, if the availability or aftermarket price is not too bad. Depends if you want to grow in different scale, SRC is also good. But I myself like more consistency on size, so I don't buy much SRC aside a couple I know won't ever release as a SOC. Even Bandai's Robot Damashii line and Metal Composite line are very good.

Fewture is a nice expensive alternative for something more stylized. Paint QC is an issue, and occasionally some ratchet flaws or joint looseness. But it overall offers unique sculpt that no other company offers. Its for collectors that don't mind style over substance a little.

Sentinel is a very good company, with well designed toys. Some being very smartly engineered. But they are not as fool proof as Bandai with occasional misses (Sentinel is relatively new company, only been around for a few years). They also tend to be quite pricey. But that upcoming Riobot Mazinkaiser looks stellar! I have their all plastic Riobot Gurren Lagann and its really awesome. Also love their 12" Hero Meister Ultraman. Their Getters also has a lot of praises. So they are a force to be reckoned with.

Megahouse is a mix bag for me. I don't quite like their quality in general, plagued with random issues or design flaws. But they do offer some unlikely SOC candidates as gokin release, and not all of them are bad. Some receive positive reviews. Particularly looking forward to their Orguss reissue.

CM's used to be a big runner, but the company folded and you find remnants of their stuff on ebay or auction sites. Some molds however are bought by other companies and being retooled and reissued. Like the recent Goshogun and Arcadia's Jeeg release sot too long ago.

TakaraTomy specialized in Transformers, especially Masterpiece line. If you like Transformers, they are as good as it gets for official releases, until you venture into 3rd party companies, where you get a mix of super good stuff to randomly bad QC stuff. You can find out more browsing the TF threads here.

ThreeZero I can only comment on their 1/6 scale dolls. Not top notch quality like Hot Toys, but they excels in weathered paintjob. They also make an effort venturing a lot of different game and movie licenses. Expect a small hit on material quality and fitment issues, but something looks nice on your shelf with effort made to create. They just don't have the experience and finesse that Hot Toys have.

[xtrlowz75]

Oh just start with a complete vintage SG-01 Tetsujin-28, or a Voltes V. If you want to chase the big guns, there's not much bigger in the grail department than these guys. Well maybe a Poppy Daltanious Black version could be bigger. What others team? He wants to know the grails. Throw him the bones ha ha.

[musha]

Thanks guys, I have been busy since this post. I've purchased/preordered the following

Fewture Grendizer and Black Getter
Preordered Shin Getter, Energer 1969, Mazinger 1969

Sentinel Dancouga, Dino Getter, Black Dino Getter, Black Wing
Preordered Mazinkaiser and Black Getter

Aoshima Black Getter, Black Neo Getter

Revoltech Black Getter

SRC Black Getter

[S_Gokin]

congrats on your purchases man

i see you got a thing for Black Getter, cant blame you tho lol

i recommend you get the Spazer for Gredizer its just amazing, also if you like optional parts i recommend you go for the battle damage parts for Black Getter, i have it even tho i didnt get Black Getter yet lol

[musha]

Battle damage parts... for which version? Also I can't find the Spazer for a good price.

[S_Gokin]

battle damage parts for Fewture Black Getter

and yes the price of the Spazer sky rocketed so fast even faster than Grendizer lol

[musha]

Soon as I find a good price I'll snatched it up. There are a few other things I'm waiting to get as well.