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Post by Mark on May 4, 2019 5:53:04 GMT -5
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Post by knolly on Jan 3, 2020 11:44:53 GMT -5
Mine arrived today, any interest in an English review or is this one kind of flying under the radar?
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Post by quinjester on Jan 3, 2020 12:53:49 GMT -5
Mine arrived today, any interest in an English review or is this one kind of flying under the radar? I'd certainly be interested as a curiosity. I've always loved the FSS stuff and was wrecked when Nagano canned it all for Gothic Made and basically put a halt to the development of any new FSS stuff, so to see what the payoff is would certainly be worth knowing. |
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Post by Chen on Jan 3, 2020 13:23:42 GMT -5
Mine arrived today, any interest in an English review or is this one kind of flying under the radar? Very interested, reviews on all kinds of figures is always a great thing. |
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Post by mpchi on Jan 3, 2020 21:51:31 GMT -5
Mine arrived today, any interest in an English review or is this one kind of flying under the radar? Absolutely interested. While the new style is not exactly my cup of tea compare to old FSS stuff, many of us would definitely be interested to see in how this project's final product turns out. |
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Post by gingaio on Jan 3, 2020 21:58:26 GMT -5
Mine arrived today, any interest in an English review or is this one kind of flying under the radar? I'd certainly be interested as a curiosity. I've always loved the FSS stuff and was wrecked when Nagano canned it all for Gothic Made and basically put a halt to the development of any new FSS stuff, so to see what the payoff is would certainly be worth knowing. Absolutely. Let it rip. And thanks in advance. I saw this figure on display all over Japan last week, but I actually thought it was just a model kit. Visited the Volks shop in Akihabara with my brother (we're both fans of the FSS designs) and saw some amazing FSS models on display. Wish this was an FSS Mortar Headd instead, but I might interested if it's a solid toy. |
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Post by bocasas on Jan 4, 2020 7:23:29 GMT -5
This thing is really unique in terms of design, I'm really interested in how it turned out. Awaiting your review  oh, and congratulations by the way. |
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Post by repairtechjon on Jan 4, 2020 9:37:35 GMT -5
YES! Thanks for any feedback.
Any real toys of anything FSS has been SO long in coming, that everyone has to re-awaken their interest, that's been percolating along for many years, LOL
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Post by knolly on Jan 4, 2020 10:32:18 GMT -5
Over the weekend I'll be spamming photos and further thoughts on my Instagram at www.instagram.com/fulldetolf/ but here is my first impressions. Basically... It's not great. I don't even know if I can call it good. It's so heartbreaking to have to type that as I've been looking forward to this figure for literally years. The design has flaws and the quality of production isn't great. I know there were a lot of debates about whether or not it was painted, but I can confidentally say the vast majority is just bare plastic. Most of my issues are with stability. The legs on mine came so loose that if I tried to have it stand it would do a split at the knee. The swing-pivot knee joint is terrible and if you articulate it more than 45 degrees it pops out and becomes a floppy mess. The weird thing is that the manual refers to this as "locking" the joint. So I tightened the legs up an massive amount and it helped with stability but it still can't stand without support. I'm tempted to tighten the crap out of them and see how it works but there are dozens of warnings in the manual about overtightening breaking things... Other weirdness: - It comes with painted on solid color earrings and "accessory" clear plastic earrings. The way you install the clear ones? Use a nipper to cut off the solids, drill a hole, and glue it into the hole. - Fit on the black shoulder pieces is awful. I spent a solid half hour on four pieces that are supposed to just slide on and even after than I only got 3/4 of them. The general molding and details of the design itself are nice and sharp. All in all I definitely doesn't live up to its lofty promise of detail and stability though. It'd basically a Metal Build that is twice as large, four times as expensive, and half as good. |
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Post by Mark on Jan 4, 2020 11:46:58 GMT -5
Hey knolly, good to hear your impressions. But are you sure you tightened the screws enough? You can take off the armor on the lower legs to tighten those up too. The Japanese impressions on Twitter have been largely positive about the solidity aside from a couple loose elbows that the screws can't tighten. Obviously there's a learning curve with a 40-cm tall goliath standing on stilettos, but you even have some mavericks pulling off the heels and letting it do the "smooth criminal" with its tiptoes:
Tightening the screws can be the difference between the solidity above and this (from the same person):
The figure itself is held together by metal wires, so ideally you shouldn't be able to break the joints unless you literally yank the limbs apart. Heck there are people who claim their joints won't sag until they put into the 180-degree bend: From what I can see so far, my disappointment comes from the surface finish of the figure. The figure was supposed to be made in Japan but got sent off to China in the last minute, and it reflects in the finish. I still stand by my older comments about the paint (the entire figure is painted barring the gunmetal plastic frame and obviously the clear parts), but what isn't painted isn't finished off in a pretty manner. Lots of swirls in the gunmetal plastic, and the nubs are quite visible, especially in the clear parts. I suppose it can't be helped because these are issues I see even with Metal Build and Composites, but it's magnified on a figure that's this more than double their size. Even the parts that are painted, the nub placement is in-your-face and so you can still see some trace of where it was cut off. Had it been made in Japan with Dollfie Dreams quality as originally promised (since this thing is pretty much a Dollfie, right down to the wire joints), I think it would have been worth the $800 as with most of those expensive Dollfie products. But the feeling I get with the finish is closer to the IMS model kits made in China than the higher quality Volks items from Japan. Maybe getting it made to Dollfie standards would have indeed made it the price of a Dollfie ($1500), and so corners had to be cut by sending it to China. |
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Post by mpchi on Jan 4, 2020 11:48:55 GMT -5
Over the weekend I'll be spamming photos and further thoughts on my Instagram at www.instagram.com/fulldetolf/ but here is my first impressions. Basically... It's not great. I don't even know if I can call it good. It's so heartbreaking to have to type that as I've been looking forward to this figure for literally years. The design has flaws and the quality of production isn't great. I know there were a lot of debates about whether or not it was painted, but I can confidentally say the vast majority is just bare plastic. Most of my issues are with stability. The legs on mine came so loose that if I tried to have it stand it would do a split at the knee. The swing-pivot knee joint is terrible and if you articulate it more than 45 degrees it pops out and becomes a floppy mess. The weird thing is that the manual refers to this as "locking" the joint. So I tightened the legs up an massive amount and it helped with stability but it still can't stand without support. I'm tempted to tighten the crap out of them and see how it works but there are dozens of warnings in the manual about overtightening breaking things... Other weirdness: - It comes with painted on solid color earrings and "accessory" clear plastic earrings. The way you install the clear ones? Use a nipper to cut off the solids, drill a hole, and glue it into the hole. - Fit on the black shoulder pieces is awful. I spent a solid half hour on four pieces that are supposed to just slide on and even after than I only got 3/4 of them. The general molding and details of the design itself are nice and sharp. All in all I definitely doesn't live up to its lofty promise of detail and stability though. It'd basically a Metal Build that is twice as large, four times as expensive, and half as good. That is very unfortunate. I would suggest not to tighten the crap out of those joints you mentioned. Plastic can't take a lot of tension, and can crack after some time even if not right away. I assume this figure just have to live with the supportive display stand (hopefully it has one?). Even if the figure didn't turn out great, it is still nice to look at. Keep it as a display piece and avoid overworking the joints. It is still one of a kind. Look forward to your photos. |
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Post by Mark on Jan 4, 2020 11:55:25 GMT -5
That is very unfortunate. I would suggest not to tighten the crap out of those joints you mentioned. Plastic can't take a lot of tension, and can crack after some time even if not right away. Cracking joints shouldn't be an issue as it's 90% metal wires.
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Post by mpchi on Jan 4, 2020 12:07:04 GMT -5
www.volks.co.jp/gtm/Looks like there are some assembly, tuning, and maintenance videos on the the Volks page. They might be helpful, not sure.
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Post by knolly on Jan 4, 2020 12:09:26 GMT -5
Very good info Mark, that loose leg video is what mine was like out of the box. I tightened it enough to be able to stand but it's still super tricky. I rigged up a silly looking chain of stands to give it some stability, but also the biggest tool I've found is having it stand on foam instead of a smooth surface, since the main issue is the knee joints giving and bending outward.
Interesting details about the wire construction, I had no idea.
With the comment about surface finish, honestly the thing it reminds me of is old Bionicle pieces. Something about the swirls in the plastic and whatnot just triggers that memory for me.
Time to do some more tightening! As I mentioned, the manual has a silly amount of warnings about overtightening so I was pretty wary, but seeing those videos and images helps me a lot.
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Post by Mark on Jan 4, 2020 12:16:58 GMT -5
Glad I could help. I still recommend putting it on a stand since the risk of a figure that tall with those heels toppling over is extremely high even if all the joints were static. But at the very least it shouldn't be a floppy mess.
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Post by knolly on Jan 4, 2020 12:36:33 GMT -5
Well after a lot more tightening, she stands! i.imgur.com/YOwekPD.jpgI wish it did come with a stand for safety/stability. I still have some slippage coming from the right leg but it's a lot better. I'm going to try to get a custom stand adapter made, but in the meantime as an alternative to a stand, I think I might try some double-sided tape on the table right where the feet contact with it to make sure they can slip 'n slide. |
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Post by quinjester on Jan 7, 2020 9:43:53 GMT -5
Thanks for the write-up, good to hear that you were able to get it to stand. That's a bit wild, with the wire joints - I've never heard of a figure having joints designed that way, at least not a robotic one. It's a pity this isn't mindblowingly amazing, but maybe it will pave the way for more stuff later. I'll still keep holding out for a pre-made LED V3 (wasn't there something revealed at one point about one that was going to be made? I feel like there was, an eternity ago) figure in the meantime. EDIT: Damn, 10 years ago. robotjapan.proboards.com/thread/16040/new-wave-star-stories-scale |
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Post by mpchi on Jan 8, 2020 20:28:31 GMT -5
Thanks for the write-up, good to hear that you were able to get it to stand. That's a bit wild, with the wire joints - I've never heard of a figure having joints designed that way, at least not a robotic one. It's a pity this isn't mindblowingly amazing, but maybe it will pave the way for more stuff later. I'll still keep holding out for a pre-made LED V3 (wasn't there something revealed at one point about one that was going to be made? I feel like there was, an eternity ago) figure in the meantime. EDIT: Damn, 10 years ago. robotjapan.proboards.com/thread/16040/new-wave-star-stories-scaleHa, I remember that thread! I was the 2nd reply!  It was my first hope of a FSS gokin (I'll take a Knight of Gold, even if it is not my top favorite...so I thought). LOL. 10 years later, still none for us, except this Kaiserin with an unconventional design. Guess old school FSS goodness will never turn into a gokin afterall. By the way, FSS vol.15 just came out last month, if you still following the manga. I need to catch up on all the newer stuff. |
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Post by quinjester on Jan 9, 2020 10:42:15 GMT -5
Ha, I remember that thread! I was the 2nd reply! It was my first hope of a FSS gokin (I'll take a Knight of Gold, even if it is not my top favorite...so I thought). LOL. 10 years later, still none for us, except this Kaiserin with an unconventional design. Guess old school FSS goodness will never turn into a gokin afterall. By the way, FSS vol.15 just came out last month, if you still following the manga. I need to catch up on all the newer stuff. It's still coming out? I haven't read since I bought the first 5 or so volumes from a Borders (remember bookstores?) umpteen years ago, when that was all that was available. The manga itself in Japanese isn't being done anymore though, is it? (Don't want to get this too off topic so I apologize) |
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Post by mpchi on Jan 9, 2020 12:47:25 GMT -5
Ha, I remember that thread! I was the 2nd reply! It was my first hope of a FSS gokin (I'll take a Knight of Gold, even if it is not my top favorite...so I thought). LOL. 10 years later, still none for us, except this Kaiserin with an unconventional design. Guess old school FSS goodness will never turn into a gokin afterall. By the way, FSS vol.15 just came out last month, if you still following the manga. I need to catch up on all the newer stuff. It's still coming out? I haven't read since I bought the first 5 or so volumes from a Borders (remember bookstores?) umpteen years ago, when that was all that was available. The manga itself in Japanese isn't being done anymore though, is it? (Don't want to get this too off topic so I apologize) Manga still going on in Japan, which is what I was referring to. But Mamoru Nagano is taking his sweet time so it is going very slow and was on hiatus for almost a decade around 2006. But he is drawing it again since his 'reboot' of the new style, publishing new chapters in Newtype magazine on and off, which became the manga vol. 13 - 15. I don't think his more recent stuff got any official English publication however. The English manga (big thinner books) sort of died out in mid 2000 without finish translating all there was at the time. Strange Nagano may seem, but his art and stories are very interesting and different. |
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