TFARCHIVE FORUMS

This excludes gifts due to trying to keep impartial, aside from that anything I've bought this year qualifies.

10. LIGHT LIGHTAN (Chogokin/Popy)
I wasn't that blown away by the second batch of Plex-designed Lightan in general, but Light Lightan deserves a mention despite the terrible name (why not Torch Lightan?). A neat, clear sensible design as a gimmick that works in both modes.

9. CASH (Convertors/Select)
C'mon, he turns into a cash register. Big points for innovation, a good disguise if you're one of those idiots who can't think outside of Transformers, and he looks adorable.

8. DYNAMAN (Godaikin/Bandai)
The DX version is just an awesome chunky Sentai toy. Bright colours, funky vehicle modules, an excellent combination, hefty diecast and blockier than a C64 game.

7. MSZ-006 ZETA GUNDAM (Gundam Z/Bandai)
A 1986 'Super Duty' figure at around 1/100 scale (or about 9" tall) this all-plastic beauty blew me away. Complex (so many moving parts) without getting annoying, good quality plastic, decent articulation - all-round awesome.

6. SUNSTREAKER (Transformers/Hasbro)
Last year Classics served up two incredible moulds... so far Universe has only managed one, but when it's this good it doesn't matter too much. Proof of what Hasbro/Takara can do when they actually put the effort in, Sunstreaker looks good and combines articulation with genuine posability.

5. VOLTES V (Soul of Chogokin/Bandai)
My belated introduction to Soul of Chogokin, and it's a genuine masterpiece. Five funky vehicles, one awesome robot. Superbly balanced, hella fun to combine, a huge variety of accessories and extras, and it looks dynamite.

4. RX-78 GUNDAM (Chogokin/Bandai)
Proof that simple works if you put some craft into it. Gundam doesn't transform, seperate or combine, and doesn't even have the same level of articulation as off-the-peg things like Revoltech. However, it is beautifully made, with diecast parts adding to the weight. Add in a whole cache of weapons and excellent articulation, and you have a winner.

3. VOLTRON I (Voltron/Matchbox)
I've had an ersatz Voltron for a while, but this year I finally got one in C10 totally complete condition. A design classic, huge and durable enough to clown around a bit with. Great clunk-clink combination and an excellent bunch of vehicles too.

2. DAITETSUJIN 17 (Godaikin/Bandai)

I have no idea what exactly makes One-Seven so cool. He turns into a squatting robot, after all... But something about the colours, the 80% diecast ratio, the surprisingly good robot articulation and the design just clicks. It probably helps that it's a 6" figure, keeping everything simple and on a decent scale. Genius.

1. IDEON (Soul of Chogokin/Bandai)
No surprises, but then there's no point in debating such obvious quality. The design is excellent, the combination intricate but sensible and the sheer size is a killer. On top of that Ideon's dynamic, built to last (my cat knocked it off the shelf and it dented the floor) and just all-round impressive. The weaponry does miss the mark a little, but the inclusion of a number of scale vehicles makes it a great piece for play or display.

Cliffjumper wrote:my cat knocked it off the shelf and it dented the floor

Now I gotta see this. Can you take a picture of that? Ideon apparently can destroy planets AND floors.

EDIT: Also, Where the hell is Fracture, or are repaints not eligible?

I'll give it a go when there's a bit more light tomorrow... It was a five-foot drop and the thing is completely undamaged... It 'docked out' to the three components and that was it...

Possibly the least surprising result ever.

Cliffjumper wrote:On top of that Ideon's dynamic, built to last (my cat knocked it off the shelf and it dented the floor)

Did the cat survive?

You think I'd go on about it if it was crap, or if a piece of shit like Alternators Wheeljack was better? With a completely straight face, the toy is simply awesome and it's a shame most of you are never going to own one to find this out. It's probably a good thing the Ideon Gun and Swords don't come off, because there just wouldn't be much point in collecting figures after buying Ideon otherwise. It should probably be held in mind that I'd only dipped a toe into the series at the time I first got it on something of an impulse due to a lack of other affordable figures being around, and it still made an impact without really being able to appreciate the accuracy.

And Fracture's really good, just not top 10. It's probably the best TF recolour for years and years, though, as it actually suits the mould much better than Mirage.

EDIT: And yeh, she got out of the way fairly sharpish, though she hasn't gone near the shelf since. Thank God she picked that one to knock off, basically...

EDIT: And yeh, she got out of the way fairly sharpish, though she hasn't gone near the shelf since. Thank God she picked that one to knock off, basically...

Short an Ideon, I've found that squirting the cats with a water pistol will ward them away from the toy shelf for at least four years.

Cliffjumper wrote:You think I'd go on about it if it was crap, or if a piece of shit like Alternators Wheeljack was better?

Have you already hocked it off to some poor rube, or can I buy it now?

I managed to hock it for something like 50p more than they were going for in Argos, sorry dude

I did find that G2 Bumblebee I promised you ages ago when soprting through my ebay stuff, though. Erm, sorry about that, I'll get the Bling-Bot out to you in a few days

Cliffjumper wrote:I managed to hock it for something like 50p more than they were going for in Argos, sorry dude

It's okay. I should have two more Mustangs in the mail shortly from a trade waaay back in June, so I'm good. Now if I can just get Halfshell to mail the two cars I paid for back in August, I should have all my outstanding trades collected and not be too wrought over not getting a 47th Wheeljack

I did find that G2 Bumblebee I promised you ages ago when soprting through my ebay stuff, though. Erm, sorry about that, I'll get the Bling-Bot out to you in a few days

I had wondered what happened to that. I figured it lost in the mail

Nah, I'm just a muppet - it looks like it got filed to be posted the same time as another figure I never got paid for, and other stuff just got put on top

So, does that Zeta manage to transform into it's wave rider mode?

Yup yup.

Hmmmm
That wave rider mode is much better than the chogokin Zeta's I found a little while ago. Lots of die-cast in mine, but the wave rider is just horrid, nothing fits right (Of course I bought them for the Green Divers/Titans paint jobs, and they will never see a wave rider mode again).

That sucks, I was kinda toying with getting the Chogokin version as I'm after one in 1/144... Might just save cash and get the 1980s HCM if I'm just going to be leaving it in robot mode...

Ummmm
I think there's an HCM Pro (new stuff) of the Zeta, if you can track it down on ebay, it's smexy. Only down side is it's 1/200 scale. On the 1/144 scale the Gundam Fix Figuration (number 24) of Zeta is awesome, just beautiful - probably the best Zeta figure I've seen. That being said, it's a "wave rider or MS mode Only" figure
I had mine in wave rider for a month and I found it had slightly warped and was very hard to get back into MS mode. So now I'm scrounging to pick up a 2nd GFF Zeta for Wave rider mode. (It does come with the Hyper Rifle though).

I'm doing a review of the Chogokin Green Divers Zeta, when I get some pics of it in wave rider, I'll post them so you can see what I mean.

Cheers, that'd be appreciated I may just get it for the robot mode, and use the big one to satisfy my transforming needs... I'm probably going to get the Chogokin Shiki, RGM-79 and Char Zaku, as I'm guessing based on the RX-78 there's not much to mess up with non-transforming ones. Did the Chogokin ones get as far as the V Gundam? If not, Ye Olde HCM for that one looks tasty.

Fix Figuration I might use as a back-up for Guncannon and maybe the Zeta, but TBH I'm trying to avoid PVC where there's a decent ABS and/or diecast alternative in the scale. For Guntank, I'm probably just going to stick with the old Clover Combination Jr version, which is surprisingly decent and probably still the best option (I don't have the skills to make kits look good, TBH, and always find them to be too lightweight).

Shiki? As in Hyaku-Shiki?

Any chance someone would know if the Jumbo grade Zeta was any good?

HCM of the V Gundam series? Find me some pics Cliffy!!!

Now we go into the sad part of Gundam collecting: Poor V-Gundam
The model kits were crap, using only 2 colours for the moulds, and the rest to be painted/stickered. While the moulds themselves are surprisingly good - they require a lot of effort to not look like crap.

I've never seen a chogokin or anything else on any of the V series. Closest I've seen was something from Japan that was a crane-game prize (it's on par with the Chogokin stuff, transformable, with Core Fighter). So there might be some hope.

At the time V came out, Bandai started something called Mobile Suits in the Pocket. Small, somewhat articulated, PVC figures. This would be the predicessor to the MSiA line. I know they released a Gun EZ, Gun Blastor, V, V-Dash, V Hexa, V-Dash Hexa, V2, V2 Assault, V2 Buster (and the parts could be interchangeable for the V2 Assault-Buster) and a number of enemy suits (MSitP had something like 30 figures). So far, I've only seen one figure from the line, and it's not impressive.

I was really hoping the V/V2 would get remade in one of the new line (FIX would be nice) - but as of yet, nada. Even the Robot Damashii line seems to be lacking, and they're doing a Turn X!

As for Jumbo Grade Zeta
Closest thing I can find is a review of the perfect grade (1/60) Zeta here
http://www.mahq.net/models/gundam/z/pg1-60-msz-006.htm
Unless you're talking about the 4' model that came out a year or two ago.

Sorry, I meant v Gundam as in the one from Char's Counterattack. As for the other one, this looks quite tasty.

Yeah, that v/v Hexa look quite nice

Heh, the easiest way for the one from CCA is to just say Nu Gundam. As for that in Chogokin... hmmmm
I've never heard of one, and a quick Google search hasn't revealed one.

Again the FIX is quite good, and if you don't mind droping $100 USD on the MG Hi-Nu Gundam, the model kit is exceptional.

But, unfortunatly, my taste for collecting is usually MSiA and FIX, with the occasional Model kit of a favourite unit that hasn't come in those forms....