12.01.06
Bandai Third Mission Gashapon
Review: Somewhere between toy and decoration
Packaging & Extras (1/5)
I don’t believe a box exists for these things. I know the Kaiyodo/Movic figures came in boxes but the Bandai pieces only seem to come in a clear plastic bag. There’s one large plastic bag and within it are all the pieces within their own smaller sealed baggies. The larger bag also holds a small pamphlet with Japanese text that looks to be touting all the points of articulation on the VF-1 Battloid pieces (there is only one type of pamphlet but one is included for each figure present). The picture above shows one of these figures within its sealed baggy.
Charm & Collectibility (2/5)
I don’t know that there’s much collectibility here but the toys are cute and they can be found at bargain basement prices. Unlike the Kaiyodo figures that transformed via part swaps, none of the Bandai figures do anything like that. Honestly though, the Kaiyodo figures looked horrible to accomplish what they were doing whereas these Bandai figures look pretty darn good for their size. Honestly though, I think people will buy these things because they want something for their cube, desk, or filler for their display cases and that’s about it. Since these can also be bought and sold individually I would suspect that the Q-Rau and Glaug might be more collectible than the rest. Of course, if you buy them all you can build yourself a VF-1S Max (shown above by swapping heads with a Hikaru 1S).
Sculpt, Detail, & Paint (7/10)
For the most part these things really look nice. Sure, at their tiny scale there’s a lot of detail that simply can’t exist but they pack a visual punch for being bite size (see picture above for a size comparison to a AA battery). The paint jobs tend not to be perfect but again, it’s at least average. Check out the detail on the battloid VF-1 series below.
Design (8/10) VF-1 Battloid, (5/10) VF-1 Gerwalk, (4/10) Q-Rau, (8.5/10) Glaug
There are lots of different toys here so lots of different scores.
The VF-1 Battloid Pieces: These pieces are actually exceptionally poseable. They’re a bone white (unpainted) which may make them look a bit more yellow then some painted toys (barely be noticeable). There’s a pretty good bet that the gun will be warped as is the nature of any vinyl product. The joints are often cut at odd angles. For example, the neck will be cut at aproximately a 30 degree angle. What this means is that if the toy looks left it will appear to be looking downard but if it looks right it will appear to be looking upward. The same phenomenon is present at the waist which affects which way the toy is arching. Beyond that, this thing has poseable feet, wrists, extremely poseable knees, hips, and a swivel point beneath the shoulder. An additional nice touch is the fact that the armor can be removed. Unfortuantely, giant pegs were put on the toy to hold the armor and they look pretty hideous when the armor is removed. A better solution would have been to place the pegs on the armor and left holes on the toy. Since these are snap together toys you could always pop the head off one of the VF-1S and put it on Max’s VF-1A if you’d like to have a Max VF-1S.
The VF-1 Gerwalk Pieces: These pieces look sharp but there’s not too much to them. The wings can be moved and there’s a little bit of adjustment that can be had in positioning the legs for the downward slope of the overall craft. Unlike the battloid figures these Gerwalk ones aren’t much fun at all but they too feature armor that can be removed.
The Queadluun Rau: Before I opened this toy’s baggy I was very curious as to what the clear piece was… once I realized it was necessary to get this figure to stand I was extremely let down. One of the all-time fan favorites of villainy is the worst represented of the figures in this set. The legs are immobile and the only fun that can be had is moving the arms at the shoulders. It’s a good-looking rendition of the mech but only a paper weight beyond that.
The Glaug: The one major downer when it comes to this piece is how likely it is that the giant gun above the canopy will be warped. Other than that this is a fantastic piece with heaping quantities of poseability. The hips are actually ball-socket joints, there’s a swivel point at the waist, a swivel point at the knee, an ankle, a swivel point below the shoulder, the shoulder rotates, and the gun up top rotates as well. The only let down is that the gun on top can’t be angled upward or downard. How great is the poseability on this toy? You can actually stand it on one foot!
The level of detail on these things is definitely impressive but clearly some pieces are far more fun than others. The Glaug and the battloids can be really fun to pose for a display case. If your display case has some empty spots this is one of your options for filling them without a large monetary outflow.
Durability & Build (5/10)
As you may have noticed, my Glaug has lost a nose gun. Getting my Hikaru 1A Battloid to stay together for anything was extremely difficult. It seemed like the super parts wanted to jump off the backpack and the plugs for the hips were too small so the legs kept falling off. On some the toys would stay together fine but on others it was a real hassle which leads me to believe there are some serious build issues here. Of course, when you’re dealing with soft vinyl toys you should pretty much expect that sort of thing. Expect warped toys before you touch them and don’t expect all of them to be completely sturdy. Check out the gun the Max VF-1J is holding below. I’ve also included pics of Max and Hikaru’s VF-1A to show you can swap the head laser around to get it to face whichever way you prefer… and it also shows off more warping.
Articulation (See design)
Since these toys are so tiny, they don’t transform, and they largely feature no gimmicks whatsoever, I reviewed their design completely from an articulation standpoint; that is to say, I based the design section purely upon how well the toys could be articulated including issues of balance and poseability. The pics below show off the removeable fast packs. In the total score below I will be simply doubling the design score in arriving at the total, feel free to recalculate however you like based on your own preferences.
Total Score (31/50) VF-1 Battloid, (25/50) VF-1 Gerwalk, (23/50) Q-Rau, (32/50) Glaug
The level of detail on these things is definitely impressive but clearly some pieces are far more fun than others. The Glaug and the battloids can be really fun to pose for a display case. If your display case has some empty spots this is one of your options for filling them without a large monetary outflow. Special thanks to the folks at Macrossworld for clearing up Bandai’s release order for me. Bandai’s First Mission consisted of three VF-1J Hikaru figures (one for each mode), one VF-1S Focker Battloid, and one Tomahawk Destroid. Bandai’s Second Mission came with four TV Valks in battloid mode (Cannonfodder, Max, Miria, Focker), Two fighter mode valks (VF-1S Hikaru and Focker from DYRL), and a Regult figure. Should I ever buy either of these first two missions I’ll be sure to get a review up.
