Japanese review roundup
The following reviews are in Japanese but they include a generous amount of photos so they’re well worth checking out.
Momodani gets upset with the shortcomings of the Max Factory Votoms Light Scopedog and Ecrevisse set.
Otaudo reviews the Bandai Kamen Rider Den-O Plat Form and Momotaros Imagin set.
Prominence reviews the Kabaya Dash Vehicle GO! figures. [via]
Ebi reviews the impressive Bandai Gekiranger DX Saiblade play accessory.
Kuronuko Yamato takes a look at the Takara Microman Military Force Night Recon figure from 2004.
Esuyu goes retro with a review of a Transformers G1 Tracks figure from 1985.
Elsewhere
Stikfas kung-fu. [via]
Errol Elumir’s video of Stikfas in action is 2 minutes and 38 seconds of pure, undiluted awesome.
Fabric of Time and Space.
Vikki is a custom doll seamstress with some impressive creations. We paticularly like the pirate and Doctor Who customs.
Transmetals 2 Razorclaw fanmode.
An anonymous Japanese Transformers fan shows a fanmode for this repaint of Beast Wars Transformers Transmetals 2 Tigatron. (See also.)
Toy design and safety.
“Some have been talented at drawing or sculpting, but Nuccio says they don’t grasp that design is about more than appearances or a cool sketch — that it involves problem-solving and understanding the consequences of not getting it right.”
In Prime We Trust
The Halloween costume blog.
“… it’s time for Optimus Prime (the real one, not that mish-mosh of CGI triangles) to rise again. I have until October 27th (the date of the party) to complete the costume.”
Good enough to eat.
Cake technology has clearly taken large strides since our childhood days. More: 1, 2, 3.
Optimess Prime: Autorot.
“Rubbish in disguise.”
Optimus Prime bowling arm.
Just remember: there’s a thin line between a strike and a foul.
Optimus knows how to party.
We note Elita-One is nowhere to be seen in these photos. Troubled times in Iacon?
Review roundup
Nekrodave goes old school with a review of the 32-year-old Popy Jumbo Machinder Raideen figure. Excerpt: “In the anime, Raideen could transform into a flying ‘God Bird’ mode and you can represent this by turning the robot on its side.”
Michael Crawford hails the king in a two-for-one review of the NECA Cult Classics S-mart Ash and Krishna Zombie figures. Excerpt: “S-Mart Ash is a clear winner … the zombie isn’t quite as exciting …”
yo go re has pun with his Hasbro Optimash Prime figure review. Excerpt: “… since the front of the helmet can be removed separately, you can pretend that Michael Bay was right, that Prime has a mouth behind there.”
Jager reviews three versions of STRANGEco’s Luey vinyl figure. Excerpt: “Rage is… well, raging with a big smile and an evil look. He’s not just evil, he’s happy about it.”
Ben Yee bestows a “jAam!” to the Hasbro Transformers Elita-One figure. Excerpt: “A redeco of a figure is perhaps not the most glorious way for a character with such a powerful pedigree, but it is a start and makes ‘Elita-One’ an official transforming figure at last.”
Busou Shinki: Links
Updated 29 Jan ’08 with Flickr group
For further information on Konami’s Busou Shinki line, check the following sites out.
Official site.
Konami has separate sites for the figures and online components. You may want to check the online instructions for the figures (e.g. Xiphos’ instructions) since they’re more detailed than the terse instructions included in the package. The Diorama Studio screenshots by fans are also worth a look.
Konami America’s official site.
It includes a translated assembly guide.
Konami video promo.
It’s 5 minutes long and covers the different aspects of the line.
Battle Rondo.
There are two preview movies on the official site which showcase Busou Shinki’s game element. (See this article for instructions for getting started with Battle Rondo.)
Diorama Studio.
Diorama Studio lets you play with CG models based on Busou Shinki on your PC and take screenshots of digital dioramas of the CG models in action. The official site has a section for screenshots taken by fans. (See this article for instructions for getting started with Diorama Studio.)
Busou Shinki books
The line has a guide (Busou Shinki Master’s Handbook), a novel (Busou Shinki always together) and a digital comic (Busou Shinki Forget-me-not).
Japanese wikipedia entry.
It has a good overview of the line with links to entries for a few of the designers.
Flickr group pool.
Busou Shinki photos and screencaptures.
Fan imageboard. Site down.
There are separate sections for general figure photos, kitbashes, diorama screenshots and illustrations.
Asai Masaki’s site.
Also known as “Apsy Masaki”, the MMS figure designer is a veteran figure modeller.
Busou Shinki: Software
Updated 11 Nov. ’07 with links to guides
Konami is perhaps best known for its games so it’s unsurprising the company chose to leverage its software expertise to provide its Busou Shinki line with a software component. Both Diorama Studio and Battle Rondo are free but it’s obvious Konami put a lot of thought and effort into them with the expectation of recouping development costs through microtransactions.
Diorama Studio is a remarkable piece of software that essentially lets you play with a virtual action figure on your PC. It even includes with a free CG model, Ninja Shina (which lacks an action figure counterpart), so you can try it out without spending a cent. Once you add access codes found in Busou Shinki packages to Diorama Studio, you get to play with CG counterparts of the figures on your PC.
Battle Rondo, the game aspect of the line, involves equipping and training a CG Shinki and pitting her against another player’s Shinki in battle. Once you add access codes from figures you own, you gain access to CG versions of figures and parts. You may also purchase additional parts and accessories from the online store.
Getting started
Both Diorama Studio and Battle Rondo share a single installer and launcher. This guide lists system requirements for the programs and shows you how to download and install the programs.
Before you can use either program, you first have to create a Konami ID. You should also configure Windows XP to display Japanese text correctly although this isn’t strictly necessary.
Both programs are in Japanese but don’t let that intimidate you as there are user-created guides to help you get up and running with both Diorama Studio and Battle Rondo.
Busou Shinki: Checklist
Updated Apr. 6 with Arnval Mk. 2 Tempesta and Strarf Mk. 2 Lavina review links
One of the best things about Konami’s Busou Shinki line is that the company has used different character designers for each wave. Thus, despite having the common denominators of the same base figure design and same overall theme (i.e. “chicks ready to kick ass”), Busou Shinki figures differ from wave to wave. They may not have the incredible variety of, say, Xevoz, but there’s bound to be something in the line that appeals to an action figure fan. Medieval knight, future-tech SWAT operator, mermaid, Gundam warrior … the line goes from the past to the future, from the seas to the stars.
It must be said that despite standardised pegs, ports and joints Busou Shinki doesn’t really fare well in the interchangeability department. The problem is by playing up variety, Konami has diminished the interchangeability somewhat. Flower-inspired parts don’t really mix well with mecha parts.
The action figures are sold in two different types of sets.
Full sets
These range in price from 3500 yen to 4500 yen. Each full set includes a core MMS figure as well as many accessories and weapons to change the character’s look. The full sets also include an articulated figure stand.
EX Weapon sets
These range in price from 1500 yen to 2500 yen. Each EX weapon set includes a head, weapons, armour and other accessories but crucially, does not include a core MMS figure. The idea here is to get a new character design without paying the price of a full set. This may seem odd but Japanese toy companies have used this method to sell action figures as far back as the Henshin Cyborg line in the Seventies.
Both types of sets include access codes which can be added to Busou Shinki software to gain access to CG versions of characters.
The reviews linked below are in Japanese but they each have copious amounts of photos which are indicative of the figures’ features.
Read more
Busou Shinki: MMS
The entire Busou Shinki line revolves around a svelte 15cm-tall female action figure designed by veteran figure modeller Asai Masaki (a.k.a. Apsy Masaki). Konami dubbed it the MMS figure.
MMS stands for “Multi Movable System” and the figure is indeed well-articulated. The head swivels, the bottom of the neck is ball-jointed, the shoulders are hinge-swivel combos, the biceps swivel, the elbows are hinged, the wrists swivel, the chest is ball-jointed, the thighs swivel and the knees and feet are hinged. In addition, some of the extra hands include a hinge joint. Most of these joints have been designed to allow a good range of motion so posability is quite good.
The posability is further improved by the cleverly designed hip joints. There’s a conventional ball joint for each hip but it’s supplemented by an additional U-shaped piece that swings out to allow extreme poses. The reason for this approach can only be to avoid ugly hips but it must be pointed out the figure does look awkward in some poses when the hip joints are swung out.
The overall design seems mostly sturdy but exercise caution when positioning the hip joints for extreme poses. The instruction sheet also advises caution when handling the knee and elbow joints although it may not be strictly necessary to point out knees and elbows don’t actually bend in those directions.
The MMS figure is meant to be easily disassembled to facilitate the swapping in and out of accessories, costume parts and weapons. For instance, to change Xiphos from plain MMS figure to knight, you have to first remove the head, the bust, the arms at the bicep, the hands and the lower legs.
Take note the biceps, wrists and thighs have plastic washers which may have to be removed when equipping certain parts to ensure a better fit. The washers for the wrists are especially tiny and will no doubt be the first pieces to be lost in this set. Some fans prefer to store these washers in the compartment at the bottom of the figure stand when not in use but a separate ziploc plastic bag would probably be a wiser choice.
Initially, the only way to get a basic MMS figure was to purchase one of the 3500 yen full sets but Konami began selling the core figures as MMS Naked on January 25 for 1800 yen each. These are difficult to obtain outside of Japan as the MMS Naked figures are sold exclusively through Konami’s online store which is unfortunately inaccessible to fans outside Japan. However, these figures are occasionally sold on auction sites like eBay.
Busou Shinki: Intro
Boys’ toys (and even toys aimed at older collectors) have always been flavoured with machismo, aggression and implied violence. Muscle-bound he-men with snarls and grimaces wielding swords and guns are the traditional action figure standards.
But Japan also has a long-standing love affair with all things cute. Kawaisa has flavoured everything from commercial goods to military mascots. Thus, a fearsome heavily armed, battle-ready warrior with a cute face would seem to be a quirky but entirely understandable natural step in the evolution of Japanese action figures.
Akitaka Mika’s MS shoujo art from the 80s seems a likely conception point for this design style. In an interview with EX, the designer explained simply:
Well, I like drawing girls a lot. And, being a mechanical designer too, I thought it would be a lot of fun if I put Gundam armor on them.
That style has gained popularity in recent years with the rise of the moe movement. Shimada Fumikane has been at the forefront of the movement and as of writing there have been two anime OVA, Strike Witches and Sky Girls, that feature Shimada’s designs. It is perhaps unsurprising Konami tapped Shimada to be character designer for the first wave of its action figure line featuring cute girls in fearsome war accoutrements and accessories.
As a franchise, Busou Shinki (“armed princess” more or less) is Konami’s calculated attempt to separate the otaku from their money. Otaku like moe female figures so Busou Shinki features moe character designs from a variety of designers. Otaku like mecha and action figures so Busou Shinki features highly posable figures with weapons and add-on armour pieces. Otaku like videogames so Busou Shinki features an online game component.
For further information, see this article on Busou Shinki’s MMS figure design, a regularly updated checklist of sets released thus far, overview of the Diorama Studio and Battle Rondo software and this compilation of Busou Shinki links.
Elsewhere
Transformers Kickback kitbash.
Revlimit used the Deluxe movie figure Dropkick as a base to create this excellent Insecticon kitbash. More: 1, 2, 3.
Custom Zoids Blox Cannondiver.
Bai Lang’s custom paintjob on the turtle is fantastic. Here’s the original figure for comparison.
Binaltech Meister: an appreciation.
Beautiful photos of the Binaltech editions of Jazz and Shockwave by Dick Po.
Barricade en route.
sevenfloorsdown took some outstanding photos of the Transformers movie figure.