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Meat and Potatoes; 5.0 Perks; 5.0 Homer Factor; 5.0
Meat and potatoes... at this level, it's not a question of how accurate you are. That's a given. Yeah, that's Aragorn. That's Batman. The question is how much MORE detail do you add. What else do you do to the piece to make it head-and-shoulders better? In this case, you start with just the material this thing is made of. Die-cast metal is surprisingly heavy, so as you slip this out of the box, you're thinking 'Daaaaaang... this thing is hefty!' As far as I can tell, parts of the chest/engine intakes, and the legs/engines are die-case. Why die-cast metal? Well, part nostalgia, and part the simple fact it can take a pretty good beating. In this case, considering the intricate transformations, that's a good thing. Ah, but more on that later.
Ok, so it's well built, so what you may wonder. Well, next is the fact the articulation is very, very good. No, it's NOT Marvel Legends good. More high-end Gundam good; enough to get a LOT of good poses, but not so much you can do Yoga. Naturally the sculpting on the piece is also very detailed; vents, panels, the works.
The clinchers for me are the missile hatches. Yes, MISSILE HATCHES. In the 'toon the Alpha was notorious for opening about 12 missile hatches which could launch about 64 missiles. An awe-inspiring sight for any anime fan. Rather then sculpt panel lines on this thing, Toynami built missile hatches along the shoulders, forearms, and legs. Open the hatches and you see little painted missiles. Is this necessary? Of course not, BUT the fact they went to this level of care is just amazing.
The details don't stop with the sculpting. The Alpha comes with a label sheet with about 100 labels to apply. Yes, 100. Yes, it takes a LONG FREAKING TIME TO PUT THEM ON. Why bother? It's all about detail. Now you may wonder why not have these just painted. Keep in mind how many there are and the weird placement for some of them. It would probably jack up the price of this thing by double. (Ah, more on the price at the end. Eeek!) This way, you have the detail BUT lower the cost. So why bother? Remember the Gundam figure? Yeah, THAT one. The beauty of it was the detail, which makes the piece look more 'real'. Sure, you can spare yourself the time and eyestrain, but seeing the call numbers, the 'danger' and ''rescue' labels add so much to the figure.
So what are the perks for this baby? Well, naturally there are the three transformations. Each one SEEMS hard to do, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty straightforward. And each is a great combination of being 'functional' (Well, as functional as a 30' tall transforming robot is) and unique. A few other neat extras are the triple-barreled rifle with removable clip (Even the accessories are that detailed. Wow!), a removable pilot, and a tiiiiiiiiiiny piece of cargo that slips into a specially designed bin in the chest.
The clincher is the packaging. I know normally who cares; you bust it open, keep the instructions and squish down the plastic tray so it fits in your garbage. Not the case here. The box is designed to look like a giant, hard-back novel; a curved spine, even the edges of the box are painted to look like 'pages'. The 'cover' is emblazoned with the 'Robotech' Mars Base logo, and the spine has a nice portrait of Scott Bernard on it. This gets better. The 'cover' opens to show beautiful color shots of the Alpha in all three modes, the certificate of authenticity (Yes, this was 'limited' to 15,000 pieces. Sigh.) and last but not least, the Alpha in a SPECIAL plastic tray. The entire tray is constructed to be removable from the 'book' case without any tears. You have the option to either leave the piece out at all times, OR you can place the Alpha in the box and take it out just when you wish without destroying the packaging. And unlike most boxes, this is a beautiful way to display your Alpha. Wow!
Cont. to p. 3