Aoshima @ Shizuoka - Betas & Cyclones, oh my!
We have previously discussed Aoshima's upcoming (late July) retooled release of Toynami's Masterpiece Collection Alpha Fighters, rebranded as Mospeada Legioss Fighters for the Japanese market. Now, if you will direct your attention to Yacolog, you will find photography from the Shizuoka Hobby Show, where you can see additional missiles strapped to the underside of the Legioss' torso and the central missile pod dangling from the left shoulder.
You will also see a gray prototype of the Toynami Beta Fighter in Battloid mode and the upcoming (November) Toynami Scott Bernard w/Cyclone toy. You can tell it's precisely the Toynami Scott w/Cyclone -- study the photos carefully and you'll notice he's got the Shadow Chronicles dangling bangs.
Matt Alt translating Yaco (originally here at ToyBoxDX):
You can see the improvements in the top photo. I originally wrote that one of the improvements would be that the toy could transform without removing the shoulder sensor, but the Aoshima staff told me that wasn't the case. It has to be removed, just like the Toynami version. Also, they (Aoshima) changed the coloring to be closer to the appearance in the anime, but it isn't clear as to if it's possible to achieve these colors with plastic, so they say they are currently aiming to paint the entire toys. The Tread toy that people the world over have been waiting for has been redesigned by Aoshima and it is almost 100% definite that it will be sold. The Mospeda Ride Armor has to be sold as a Robotech toy first, so its release in Japan remains undecided.
What do you think, sirs?
Labels: import toys, Mospeada, Toynami
posted by Captain JLS at
15:56
2 Comments:
JLS
I am really looking forward to the MPC Cyclone’s, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we will see the release of Rand, Rook, and Lancer, there’s so much confusion and conflicting reports as to the line up on that series(Sue Graham?). I just hope that they (Toynami) will produce something that I can actually take out of the box and handle this time around. I may be in the minority but I really like the super poseable alpha’s they are durable, solid figure’s that look great on display, sure they lack the transformability that a lot of collectors desire, but at least I can change the pose every couple of months without the fear of destroying them. I for one would have liked to see a series of super poseable cyclones. Speaking of super poseable’s, I know this will never happen, but it would be great if they produced Dana and the 15th in their body armor with helmetless swappable heads in the super possible format (Southern Cross had some great body armor designs). In my opinion this Beta Fighter doesn’t really look that great, I don’t like the way the cockpit folds down onto the chest, it conflict’s with the line art. The lower legs also seem a little on the small side. I don’t see myself spending $200 or more dollars on a Beta unless it’s perfect. Do you think a Beta super poseable or Morpher would be a good idea?
--Rosic
By
Anonymous, at 28 May, 2007 10:36
I really like the Super Poseable Alphas, too. Nice, solid, chunky bricks o'plastic -- the total opposite of the corresponding Masterpiece Collection releases.
As I've mentioned before, Toynami dangled the possibility of Super Poseable Cyclones in front of us, but when the merchandising push for the Invasion video game fell apart, they cruelly snatched it away.
Southern Cross character figures would be FREAKIN' GRAND, but it's just not gonna happen. Toynami doesn't want to make any Masters merchandise. Nobody with any authority over anything seems to like Masters. *sigh*
Yeah, the Beta looks kinda weird to me, too. However, I figure anything that looks wonky on it is the result of necessity, since Aoshima has had a chance to redesign and retool it. I'll wait and give my own final judgment on it once we see it in full, final color.
A Super Poseable Beta would just be weird, and would probably be a little on the expensive size given how big it would have to be to look right next to the Alphas. (I know the Super Poseable Valkyries and Alphas aren't in the same scale, but I figure since the Beta is from the same series they'd want a certain amount of consistency.) I don't think it'd sell. The Battloid mode's too odd looking. A Morpher might be cute, though, especially if they made it so that it actually could dock with the old Alpha Morphers. But Toynami seems to have completely given up on the cheap end of their Robotech merchandising. More's the pity.
By
Captain JLS, at 30 May, 2007 02:23
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