Fewture Ex Gokin Gatchaman Vehicle Set B

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I am surprised that there is still a lot of interest in the Fewture/Artstorm Ex Gokin recent release of the Gatchaman Vehicle sets, so I decided to put this together and hopefully help answer a few questions.

This review is on vehicle set B which includes units G3, G4 and G5 in God Phoenix mode. Starting with the god Phoenix, it is an image accurate design, meaning from certain angle, it looks just like it was in the anime. I stressed this point because I also have the Unifive God Phoenix and that one is longer and feels narrower, and overall, the proportion is more natural.

However, as you can see from these pictures, the Ex Gokin God Phoenix does look fantastic and extremely sharp. All the vehicles in these two sets have very high metal content, just like the usual standard that you'd expect from Artstorm and Fewture.

On the gimmicks side, there is not a lot to offer. You have a couple of options for the rear hanger cover, I have attached the closed door version, you also can put in the dual thrusters version (I think they come from Ken's G1). There are two sets of louvres for the bottom thrusters, and the landing gears round out all the extras, there aren't any moving parts elsewhere.

For comparison, the Unifive God Phoenix comes with a ton of goodies - in scale versions of G1 to G4, working hangars and receptacles for all 4 vehicles, the phoenix missile, extendable working landing gears, opening/closing thruster covers, and the fire phoenix add on for initial release.

Jun's bike is very accurate and comes with working wheels, I'd say she is roughly in 1/35 scale. There is a stand you can attach to her bike to give more stability, but that's all...and no, her costume cannot be removed.

Jinpei's G4 features rotating thrusters, the mouth opens and can be fitted with a couple of attachments. The tracks can be rotated and works independently on each side. Except for the rear tail, the mouth and the wheels/tracks assembly, the rest of the vehicle is all metal.

Despite for my love of the Unifive version, this is still a very attractive release from Artstorm, and there is no denying that all the vehicles look really great. I think they are best suited as display pieces, there isn't a whole lot you can do with them, but they will look fantastic wherever you display them. The set also comes with a black stand for the God Phoenix.

Fewture Mazinger Z 1901

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Some 7 or 8 years ago, I was browsing through a local comic book store and saw this Franken Mazinger Z. Their take on the franchise was very unique, reminds me of the industrial revolution, and I like it enough to make the purchase. Since the arrival of Gundam, giant robot took a back seat and for the most part in the late 80's and 90's, they were not cool. This item, I believe, was the one that got my retro juices going and convinced me that there might still be giant robots in my future, the rest as they say is history.

This item was made by Fewture and is approximately the same size as the more recent Ex Gokin releases from Fewture/Artstorm. It is 9 inches tall and is made by the dreaded PVC vinyl stuff that I hate, but thankfully, it was well made and the plastic used was sturdy enough to stand up against the test of time.

I really dig the 'nasty' look on the face, this guy means business. A big difference in design from the normal Mazinger series is that the cockpit is actually inside the chest of this unit. There are three overlapping panels at the back where you opened to reveal the cockpit and the accompanying pilot (his seat can rotate backwards). He is wearing a rather lame vinyl tights or ballet dancer outfit, I guessed that's what they did in 1901...

It came with a decent amount of accessories, including alternate hands with individually movable fingers, and jet engine parts for the rocket punch attack - you open the lower arm panels and slot in either the jet engines or the jet engines with the double blade parts as shown above. There is also a jet pack that can be attached to the back of Mazinger Z, and all of these can be displayed on the custom stand that comes with the figure (not shown in these photos).

All in all, I am still very pleased with this item, I like the design, the aged paint job and a rather different paint scheme. Variations of the paint scheme do exist, I think there is the standard black silver red, blue silver red, and this one, dark blue silver gold. It's worth checking out.

Bandai 1/2200 Argama (Kai) Plastic Model Conversion Update

The Argama Kai is now primed, some putty work remains and further details will be added. It's just being held together with some masking tape for the photo shoot for now. I am leaning towards a dark grey paint scheme instead of the usual white, but still undecided at the moment.

Bandai Ultra Chogokin Returning Ultraman

Came out in 2004, this was I believe the third one in the Ultra Chogokin series, the first two were Ultraman and Ultraseven.

Returning Ultraman was my favorite ultraman probably because it came out at the right time for me, and I was able to watch more of it than any other ultraman, and the guy was pretty funny. Anyway, this ultra chogokin has a good range of action, also noticed the elbow joints, I'd say this was the pioneering design to today's S.H. series of action figures.

There is a fair amount of metal content, including shoulders, lower torso, and upper thighs.

It also features probably the most accessories than any one in the series, there is (from left to right) the Ultra Defender shield, Ultra Spark, Bracelet Whip, Bracelet Needle, Ultra Lance, Ultra Cross, and the Ultra Bracelet (not pictured).

Wave 1/500 Crusher Joe Minerva

The Minerva from Crusher Joe is perhaps my most favorite spacecraft of all time, if I were to own any real spaceship, I'd like it to be modeled after the Minerva.

About 27 years ago, a company called Tsukuda Hobby / Tsukuda Bell was licensed to produce a series of models based on the Crusher Joe series, and one of which was the Minerva. The model was one of my favorites as it accurately recreated the image of the Minerva in 1/500 scale. But as a kid, I never took good care of the model and a year or so afterwards, it fell out of favor and was never seen again.

Fast forward 20 or so years later, one day while reminiscing the treasures I used to have, I told myself that if I ever get to own the Minerva again, I will take very good care of it. Then last year, Wave confirmed that they would indeed produce the Minerva as a completed collectible toy - no hassle, even better.

The Wave Minerva is extremely well done, there are a lot of surface details on the model, and it is very much a model, made of high grade abs or quality plastic material. The paint job is quite exquisite as well, in glossy white and blue, with the inside of the thrusters painted silver metallic. It comes with well painted mini fighter #1 and #2, and also the landing craft/tank in the same scale.

Unlike the Tsukuda plastic model, this Wave Minerva features several gimmicks - the hangar at the rear of the ship opens so that the mini vehicles can be stored inside if you wish. The top panel at the rear of the ship also opens up so that the beam canon can rotate out of the ship into the firing position.

In addition, panels on top and below the fuselage can be opened to reveal various missile pods equipped on the ship. The wing tips can also be moved up and down, which is a nice touch.

It looks immaculate and literally is something you can admire right out of the box, plenty of details throughout the model and panel lines are filled very nicely. The ship also comes with a black display stand, I was just too lazy to put that together.

There no metal components, but I love the Minerva and glad that Wave had made my dreams come true.

Bandai 1/144 V 2 Buster Gundam Plastic Model

This plastic model had to be about 15-16 years old, surprising, my beautiful paint job still held up after all these years ;). The VGundam series featured smaller mobile suits designed by Katoki, Kunio, etc. I am actually quite fond of the V and V2 designs, in particular, this Buster version sort of reminds me of the Dendrobium from 0083, which came out around the same time.



I did some minor modifcations on this one, such as reinforced panels on the lower arms,
reinforced panels for the buster unit and the thrusters, and also the interior cover panels for hanging armour plates.


This model also comes with a display stand so that the V2 can be shown in flight mode.