11.18.06
Toynami MPC Shadow Fighter (Alpha Vol 4)
REVIEW (Updated): Toynami’s final masterpiece?
Packaging & Extras (5/5)
The book-style box is back to protect these toys and most people are probably thrilled about this (I wish it wasn’t so elaborate so I didn’t feel like the box was so much of what I was paying for). As with the other volumes, this Alpha comes with some nice extras. The tiny replica Cyclone is back. No change here, still not a lot to it and it’s still more likely to end up lost then anything else. A very nice addition is the new Destabilizer gun. Whereas the original gun featured a removable magazine and adjustable stock the new gun features a collapsing handle and targeting mechanism (see pictures below). On the down side, the Alpha no longer grips the gun but rather it slides on top off its claw. The pilot is still looking hard left. The shoulder-mounted sensor array has been deleted as the lineart does not call for one.
Charm & Collectibility (3/5)
This is really hard to judge seeing as it’s the first transformable Shadow Fighter (Dark Legioss) toy that I’m familiar with. That alone might make it more desirable but it does have some strikes against it. The vehicle never got much air time, no characters ever had an affiliation with the vehicle, the vehicle failed to demonstrate remarkable ability, the vehicle is not a huge deviation from the original concept, and it is being produced in the same quantity as all the other Toynami Alphas. Had this been a limited 5000 piece run it might have been truly something! As it is, I can’t say with any certainty it will be more collectible than any other Alpha so it gets the same score as the others. Below are pictures of the certificate of authenticity and an example of the numbering on the actual toy (both are the same as provided with the original three MPC alphas).
Sculpt, Detail, & Paint (8/10)
The Alpha is as beautiful as ever so why the reduced sculpt score? The flaw in this Alpha is that the lineart for the Shadow Fighter had some differences that this toy doesn’t compensate for. The most obvious flaw in the sculpt is the Shadow Fighter’s shoulders. Toynami took the easy way out leaving them squared off like the other volumes instead of giving them the necessary bevels. As seen in the battloid pic below, the head looks great (metallic paint on the eye) and the VTOL vent has been properly deleted so some kudos are certainly in order. The chest/intakes have also received the proper modifications and Toynami decided to add a dash of red paint in the forearm jets for effect (easily seen in the guardian pic below). Finally, the new hands are relatively correct to the anime and look pretty clean considering they’re just claws.
Design (7/10)
Nothing new here as the Shadow Fighter isn’t a huge diversion from the original three volumes. Just like the others it suffers from very short landing gears, misplaced forearm missiles, and poorly reinforced joints. The removal of the VTOL vent simplifies things a tiny bit. Unlike the first three Alphas, the Shadow Fighter stores its gun in fighter mode on its back rather than under its wing. When properly positioned it appears that the gun may actually blast the top of the canopy off if fired (visible in the gallery beneath the review). It’s certainly a close scrape but only noticeable when viewed directly from the side. The handling of the gun in battloid mode isn’t really optimal but I would struggle to find a better way to have things work. As mentioned previously, the gun slides over the new claws of the Shadow fighter rather than being handled by them but that honestly doesn’t seem to inhibit anything. It’s a shame Toynami didn’t alter the door mechanism for the shoulder-array since the Shadow fighter doesn’t have one. It would have been nice if that area could simply be recessed when in battloid mode rather than retaining the flap on the shoulder that now does nothing. Below are pictures of all the nifty missile bays. The first row of pics show the shoulder missiles, the second set show the leg missiles, and the third row shows the joke which is the forearm missiles.
Durability & Build (4.5/10)
One of the biggest complaints leveled against Toynami is that they don’t stop to upgrade their manufacture process in response to initial customer complaints. The first round of Alphas saw several issues that should have been corrected. It seemed that the pause between those three and the (oft-delayed) Shadow Fighter would allow Toynami the opportunity to correct some issues and make sure that the Shadow Fighter was their best effort yet. Unfortunately, this toy is no different from the first three in terms of the problems that plague it. The only good news here is that the destabilizer gun is less likely to be posed in a manner that necessitates full arm extension so the wear on the shoulders should be slowed. The collapsing portions of the arm are all still plastic. You may still encounter the common problems mentioned in the reviews for the other Alphas – slightly cocked heads, inability to collapse the landing gears without opening or closing the feet, inability to completely collapse the legs without having the feet in certain positions, and slight extension being necessary to attach the legs to the arms in fighter mode. You also might run into a new problem as the eye of the mecha is coated in a thick metallic paint which can be rubbed off through transformations. Why does this Alpha get one point higher score than the previous Alphas? The extremely fragile hands have been replaced with sturdier claws (pictured below). On the subject of “build”, check out the pic next to the claws, I received one MPC Shadow Fighter with a hinge clearly meant for a green volume 3 MPC Alpha.
Articulation (7/10)
No changes to articulation whatsoever with this version of the Alpha but that’s not really a surprise. Like the other MPC Alphas, this toy receives an average score. Below are some demonstrations of my best efforts. Some cool poses can still be pulled off but there’s lots of room for improvement here.
Total Score (34.5/50)
This is another great-looking effort by Toynami that doesn’t deliver such a stellar reality. If you were hoping for big improvements to the rigidity and stability of this toy then you will be easily underwhelmed. If you were looking for the first transformable Shadow Fighter toy mass-produced than here you have it… and things could certainly be a lot worse. Something to consider is how variable the Durability & Build score is. If you were to purchase a very well-built toy your opinion will likely be higher than the total I have given. If you were to purchase one broken in the box you would see things another way. The score I have given is based on the examination of 4 samples.
NOTE: This review has been updated
Original post date: May 14, 2006
Kyp Durron said,
December 29, 2007 at 2:39 am
I just bought one brand new for $48.41 shipped, I’ll post here and let you know if it was built good or not. Unfortunately, this is the only product out there that ever made the Shadow Fighter and it was always my favorite. :/
micronian said,
December 29, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Nice buy! At that price it shouldn’t let you down… hopefully.
Kyp Durron said,
January 3, 2008 at 9:10 pm
I just got it today and I am in LOVE!!! Fighter mode is perfect with the only exception of the cyclone compartment touching the ground with the landing gear deployed. Otherwise, with a little pushing in of the arms, everything matches up perfectly and goes into place exactly like it should.
This thing really was brand new, it appears that it was NEVER before removed from the tray and came with EVERYTHING including the white outer box. Needless to say, this is NEVER going to get transformed (I’ll buy another Shadow for that!) and will just sit and look beautiful and get an occasional going over with a feather duster. Oh, and it’s 1687 of 1500 according to the COA, but it’s stamped 01210… O_o Could they have put the wrong one in the box because I can easily see this thing is in mint condition.
-Kyp
micronian said,
January 4, 2008 at 7:47 am
With Toynami, anything is possible. If I had to guess though, I’d say somebody probably got two, removed them to make sure Toynami didn’t send them something already broken, and then screwed up and put them back in the wrong boxes. It’s a really easy mistake to make if you never transform the toy ’cause the number doesn’t stick out at you like it would in Guardian mode. Either way, if yours is looking great, no worries!
Kyp Durron said,
January 4, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Oh it looks fantastic, no doubt about it. I’m not even a little bit upset about the difference in the produciton # being different from the COA. I could care less about that. I’m praying that if Toynami comes out with the Tread, that they will make a “Shadow color” one like in the Shadow Chronicles movie. If they do, I will snap one up in a second.
I wish the Blue Alpha’s weren’t so expensive on Ebay…I’m still looking and hoping I can get one from there without paying too much.
-Kyp
6ene5i50l said,
April 1, 2008 at 12:47 am
well i got one via ebay… NEW and in white box packaging. mines number was COA # 02405.
i was so thrilled when i got it, but when i removed it from the plastic tray the “toe” of the right foot remained in the box when i took the rest of it out.
your review said that some were reported broken in box? will toynami replace it or is there an epoxy that i can use on this to get it fixed?
micronian said,
April 1, 2008 at 12:59 am
Toynami was EXCELLENT at replacing defective MPCs when they were first released. A few months later though Toynami appeared to fall off the face of the Earth. I haven’t heard of anyone recently having any success contacting them and getting any customer service help. My guess is they laid off their service department until they start actually selling toys again.
Thomas said,
September 24, 2009 at 6:00 pm
I bought a Rook Alpha in late 2008 from Robotech.com. The right hand broke within the second week so I contacted customer service and they replaced it. Two weeks later and the same hand broke again. I contacted customer service again, this time asking for a complete refund. They said no, so I complained to Toynami direct in a very direct email. I told them how I had other products from them and how the Alpha was the only faulty one. I also mentioned how I wanted more Macross Masterpiece VF’s and not Alpha’s. I gave my complete correspondence, and a week later I got a call from both Robotech customer service and Toynami prepared to give me a refund. It was completely contrary to the stories I heard, and read about on-line. Because of their response I decided to keep the Alpha as a reminder. Today, almost a year later I own six masterpiece items from Toynami, including a Voltron, a YF-1R, a VF-1A, a VF-1J, an Appendix-A, a VFA-6z and coming soon my VF-1S.
Thomas said,
October 15, 2009 at 6:09 pm
UPDATE- I am getting this Vol. 4 Alpha fighter after much consideration. Ill pick up a Beta later on this year or beginning of next.