Seriously it's like you can't stop me from talking about OOOs...
Whether its how awesome the series is, or jumping into one of the many many many debates about the Final Form (Which thankfully is being cleared up nicely by Zi-O!), I always seem to have something to say about it :)
Today we have something which is probably obvious to most people, but for the sake of clarity and having it all in one place instead of scattered around multiple sources, I bring you my comparison of all the different releases of Medals for the OOOs Driver!.
For this, I'll be showing examples of the Gashapon/Candy, DX, Premium release, CSM and Cell Medals. There is another variant available, with a blue edge, but they are identical to the DX Medals in construction, except the edge is blue instead of bronzey gold.
I also won't be showing the Foundation X Medals from the CSM, as they have the same construction as the CSM Medals... oddly :P
I'll start with the simplest ones, the Gasha/Candy Medals.
By far the cheapest feeling Medals available, made entirely from plastic, and using a single piece edge. The colouring is pretty similar to the DX releases, but without the shine. They scan the same way in the Driver, so if you're just looking for one or two medals to complete your collection, and can't justify the reseller DX/Premium prices, they'll do nicely.
In terms of the Medals face and back, the Face is pretty much the same molding as the DX release, but with different screw positions. The back however is entirely different, instead of bars or a cross to denote Driver position or Cell status, they have a simple pattern with a QR code in the centre. What this code is for exactly I don't know as my phone doesn't recognize it, and I highly doubt if there is a companion app that it is still available, or was ever available outside of Japan.
It's worth mentioning though, that if you're considering changing the edging out with scrap Medals to give them a metal edge, they are incompatible with them, the molding is ever so slightly different, mostly around the screw holes. This can be corrected with some created carving, but I wouldn't recommend it as this could, and most likely would, damage the overall finish of the Medal face.
Now to the Cells!
These particular ones come from the Premium release set, I would have used the more widely available ones from the Birth Driver, but they're identical in construction, and lacking a paint job.
Again these are entirely plastic, but feel much more solid in hand than the Gasha/Candy Medals.
These particular ones have a simple silver paint job with a darker grey, almost black in the recesses, this adds a very nice layer of definition to the designs, on both sides. Gives them an almost metal look really. Whereas the regular Cell Medals are a flat light grey... not very appealing to look at :P
Moving along to the DX. These are the most commonly available Medals, they come with the Driver, in Combo sets and in pretty much everything else that gives Medals. For this review I'm using a TaToBa Combo from one of the gift sets, only difference between these and the ones with the Driver is the back, which features a picture of OOOs head instead of the 1/2/3 bars for Driver placement.
These ones come in four pieces, front, back and two parts for the edge. Honestly why the edge isn't one piece, I really can't say, but it would have made way more sense in my opinion. Since these are the mass produced kind, you'd expect some corners to get cut with quality, but really, aside from needing a little more paint to add definition to the molded detail, they are quite spot on.
My only gripe with them is the transparency of the face, with some of the Medals it can make it quite hard to see the molded details. Fortunately these ones with bars on the back in case you can't make out which one is in your hand.
The Premium Medals however, are most definitely what I think the DX ones should have been. With the same build quality, but much better paint work. Well, not exactly better paint work, the added definition comes from a layer of silver paint on the inside of the face and back of the Medals, this allows the thinner part of the translucent plastic, which is the molded detail, to show up as a much lighter colour than the thicker part which makes up the rest of the Medal detail.
As with the DX, they still have metal edges, with a dull gold/bronze colour to them.
Lastly we have the Medals from the Complete Selection Modification set. These should be the best of the best, the absolute best Medal you should be able to find. However, this could just be mine, but most of them rattle... like... badly rattle...
The molded detail and paint work is next to screen perfect, each Medal looks beautiful (I can't tell you how they made them stand out so much, mainly because I didn't want to open them up like I did with the others, I mean come on, if you'd spent so much on a Driver set, would you take a screwdriver to part of it to see how it works? Even just a Medal?)
Now the molded detail is pretty much identical to the previous releases, but the plastic is a much higher quality, a lot thicker with more vibrant colour. The edges are again metal, and slightly golder than the previous releases, or silver in the Foundation X case, and it all works quite nicely together.
However as I said, these Medals rattle... not all of them, but most of them, holding the Medals with a finger on the face and back, shake it... it's like the edges don't quite fit. It could just be mine, or it could be a random design choice to make them stand out, give them a more metal like sound when handled or used in the Driver. Which to be fair, it does.
But if it's not a design choice, then I gotta be honest, I'm disappointed in the QA guys letting them through...
Now, across the entire Medal range, I give them credit for one thing, function consistency.
Every Medal, from cheapest to most expensive has a chip inside that, when scanned, triggers the sound set from the Scanner.
I won't go into how they Scan, since that would be a LOT of repeating myself, except for Cells, they say King after they're scanned and don't give a Combo.
I'll be honest here, I'm hard pushed to pick a favourite here... CSM would be the obvious choice since they're meat to be the best version of a gimmick, but for build quality and paint job, I'm leaning more towards the Premium set. Though the CSM does have Ankhs TaJaDor.. :P
Wonder what ramble I could do next time for OOOs...
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