07.13.09

CMs 1/18 Clear/Metallic Event Exclusive Ride Armors

Posted in 1/18, CMs, Cyclone/Ride Armor, MOSPEADA/RT New Gen at 12:01 am by micronian

 

Observations & Critique (Updated): Stick, Ley, Yellow, and now including Fuke

It would seem CMs didn’t have enough time to get these exclusives together, especially Yellow’s. Stick, Ley, and Yellow all came in the same box, Stick’s regular release box, differentiated only by a colored sticker on the front of the box and having several tape strikes to seal the box (so you’ll never know if the one you’re buying is truly MISB). Fuke came in her regular release box with a large sticker clearly indicating it is the Limited Edition variant.  Stick and Ley’s armors come with a pamphlet showing a picture of the helmet and some kanji, if anyone can translate it please leave a comment below. Yellow’s Ride Armor was originally released without the helmeted head and came instead with a note that the purchaser could send to CMs for a replacement in September 2008 (Japan residents only).  Yellow’s Ride Armor was clearly rushed, not only was it missing the helmeted head but the included instructions were simply printed on plain paper.  Oddly, Fuke’s toy came with two helmeted heads, the standard version is attached to the figure, a metallic one was included in a separate baggy.

 

These are limited to 100 each at each event they’re sold at. Stick, Ley, and Yellow were available at three events (1 day at Summer Wonderfest, 2 days at F3) so there should be only 300 of each. It’s likely Fuke will have the same numbers sold, she has appeared at the CMs event on May 22, 2009 and she will also be sold at this summer’s Wonderfest.  This makes all the metallic variants slightly less collectable than CMs’ original event exclusive, the general soldier (green outfit) with Ley’s-type Ride Armor. These figures are all variants of well-loved figures from the anime itself so there’s bound to be an audience for them but many will be put off by the clear parts.  As mentioned previously, Yellow’s metallic armor originally came with a note (first picture below) that could be mailed in for a metallic helmeted head.  The second picture shows the envelope from CMs and the actual helmet as delivered.

 

CMs did a wonderful job applying a ton of tampo printing to the original figures and all of that tampo gorgeousness is retained here. The metallic accents on the bike work really well in my estimation. The rider, on the other hand, is another matter. The metallic helmet looks gaudy and I don’t understand the reasoning behind the clear parts. All not-clear parts feature a pearl essence shimmer that reminded me a lot of some import tuners’ paint jobs but in a much more subtle flavor (it’s most obvious on the darker plastics like Stig and Yellow’s guns and Yellow’s bike.  What’s the most bothersome about these toys though is how inconsistent the clear/metallic parts were applied.  Yellow seems to be the furthest from his original release with lots of metal and lots of clear parts.  Fuke, on the other hand, can barely be differentiated from her standard release.

 

Design-wise these are still way too sophisticated for their own good and CMs, very sadly, did nothing to rectify some of these issues on the 1st editions. The way the shocks attach to the forearm gauntlets in bike mode still has a nasty tendency of pulling apart the front end of the bike. The way the hip armor attaches to the rear of the bike still has a nasty tendency of popping off the most rearward pegs. It would have been great had CMs addressed these issues and made it so the bike stayed together firmly and actually rolled on its wheels but I’m afraid that didn’t happen.

 

While the bike may still be a fiddily mess that doesn’t want to hold together like it should, CMs did do some work to improve the toy. The metallic editions (Stick and Ley) marked the introduction of metal locks that hold the wheels’ swing bars in place. Sadly, of all the things that I was worried about those little locks never concerned me. Much bigger news is the modified wind screens! I can’t tell you they’re more durable because I wasn’t going to fiddle too much with a 1 of 300 collectible, but there’s definitely a difference in how the windscreens are in place and there’s no flyer informing the new owner to handle the windscreen very delicately like ther was with the Winter Wonderfest Ley-Type Standard (green) soldier. Now, if CMs could just make it so the bike mode held together better I probably wouldn’t have to worry so much about that little peg on the back of the bike that broke off of my standard Stick-type release (see updated CMs Ride Armor review).

 

There’s no difference between these toys and their regular edition counterparts. Yellow features retracting blades in his forearm gauntlets. They’re incredibly thin so use caution! They come in the extended position and take a bit of pressure to tuck away the first time. No, there are no chest missiles on the CMs Yellow Ride Armor like there are on the Mega House version.  Now that the whole group has been released you can have a lot of fun setting up group shots.  To demonstrate below, I’ve taken the header picture from this review and put it in front of a still of the show’s animation.

 

The CMs metallic Yellow version of the toy came out a bit before the standard release which added some cool factor to owning it before anyone else could own their’s.  Mega House definitely had the cooler convention exclusives with their black ride armor variants of Stick (and then Yellow).  A little note on all my pictures, all the toys had motors but some are not shown in the review because they were in their ’tucked’ position and I didn’t want to risk damaging the toy by trying to pop them out.  Obviously these can transform also but since they’re small and delicate I leave that for my standard edition reviews.

NOTE: This review has been updated – pictures of the VR-41 mail away items were included.

NOTE: This reveiw was updated again – pictures and information relating to the Fuke variant was added. 

Original post date: August 18, 2008

First Update: October 15, 2008

Permalink