Something a tad different this time!
Courtesy of the Toku Dealer, I have here one of the very popular SODO Series figures!
This one is one of my favourite combinations from the Ex-Aid series, Robot Action Gamer Level 3! Or Ex-Aid Mighty Action X Featuring Gekitotsu Robots :D
Buttobase! Totsugeki! Gekitotsu Punch! Gekitotsu Robots!
So, this figure comes in kit form, meaning some assembly required.
It's not as complicated as I'd hoped (I'm a sucker for big model kits), push here, click there, sticker sticker sticker! Took maybe 5 minutes to assemble and sticker up.
Should probably say, these sets come in two parts, one with the body, one with the armor.
The armor part goes together to make a little robot dude, the avatar of Gekitotsu Robots in this case, I'd imagine the other armor sets do similar, but without getting my hands on them i can't confirm this, so please don't quote me on it!
So should you just want the armor sets decorating your desk, or to go on display with your figuarts collection, have at it!
(Above information is vaguely accurate for the Ex-Aid SoDo series, and may or may not apply to the figures from other series such as Build, Zi-O etc)
To start off with, carefully remove the parts and sticker sheets from the bags.
Be like me, and make out that the little red robot is coming to destroy the world, and get some very confused looks from your dog...
Then, you can either unfold the box and read the instructions printed on the inside, or be bold... and just jump straight in!
To be fair though, it's pretty straight forward :P
Remove the grey Ex-Aid head that came on the body, from now on you'll be using the red one that came with Gekitotsu Robots.
After pegging on the new head, you can either go straight on to the stickers, or assemble everything and then question if you want to build it at all or just leave it as the little robot dude who you've named Bob...
For this anyway, I opted to build it :D
Now, I'll skip putting on stickers, that's your own little headache to enjoy, and I really wouldn't want to take anything away from that ;)
Since it's a kit, my experience with it compared to everyone else will be different, it's all down to your skill, patience and general drive to make things look right.
So unlike other reviews where I detail every little thing, I'm actually skipping to the impressions part!
In terms of pose ability, you're looking at an Olympic Gymnast here.
Not me, the figure.
Hips go the full 90 degrees to the side, with a swivel in the thigh, knee's go a tad further than 90, and ankles can swivel around and have a fair bit of tilt in them. You won't be able to pull off Figuart level of posing, but its not that far off.
No waist or lower chest movement, its all one solid piece, and the neck has full left/right motion and very limited up and down, this guy won't be looking to the stars for inspiration one night, not unless he's lying on the ground!
Arms are again pretty decent, 90 degrees outward in the shoulder with full rotation up and around, upper arm swivel, elbow hyper extends just a little but does... you guessed it, a little more than 90 degrees (seeing a pattern here?). Also no hand, wrist or forearm motion.
The Gekitotsu Robot parts have a little movement too! The big hand that goes over Ex-Aids little hand has movable fingers, or rather two of them move, they're on little pegs so can easily be removed.
The Gekitotsu Robot arm is actually two parts (this is to allow use as both arms in Robot mode), the underside of the arm pegs in to the bottom of Ex-Aids hand, and the upper part clips in to the lower part of the arm, quite a nice system really as it doesn't put too much peg strain on one particular part, and is easily removed when changing things around.
The shoulder pads also feature a little movement due to how they connect. And lastly the little arms attached to the Robot head, which is now attached to Ex-Aids butt rotate. You can leave these facing any way you like when everything is assembled, but they can get in the way of the actual arms... so dealers choice there.
And now the stickers...
Quite honestly, I have a low opinion of stickers. If you can't get them in the right place, first time, they either tear when trying to peel them off for attempt number two, lose their stick and just peel, or barely stick at all...
For me, this was the latter.
In the hour or so since assembling the figure, nearly every sticker has started to peel, only ones that haven't are the eyes, ankles, white parts on the Robot hand and shoulders... everything else is about ready to drop off!
Really makes a case for painting details on!
(Painted picture will be added to this review at a later date)
Overall, I do actually like this thing, it's quick, its simple, and it's a very nice stand in until you can afford a Figuart version... Or if you just want something to decorate your desk with :D
Stickers for me might have been a one off, so I'm not marking them down too much, and as a notorious model painter it actually works out well for me! Gives me an excuse to try and colour match Ex-Aid green! (stay tuned for total loss of sanity!)
