REVIEW: Yes, it does say “Macross” Legioss
Packaging & Extras (3.5/5)
There’s nothing really wrong here with the packaging. Olympus was clever enough not to include any windows so that potential consumers could see the product inside. The toy comes with the bare minimum accessories (gun) and is housed in a thin plastic tray. Everything inside the box just screams “this is a bootleg” but the box itself is pretty decent. A small sticker sheet is also provided (pictured below). The item states that it is a licensed Tatsunoko product but there is no mention of either Harmony Gold or Big West so the legality of this product is definitely questionable.
Charm & Collectibility (1/5)
It’s sold as a genuine Macross product. You read that right, a Macross product. Not a Mospeada product, which would fit the bill far more accurately. Anyway, it’s clearly a Legioss toy so Mospeada fans *might* be interested in owning one. Other than those diehards (and a few Robotech collectors) there will be no crowd pounding the streets looking for this toy. It features no diecast, no transformation, and practically no appeal.
Sculpt, Detail, and Paint (3.5/10)
It’s a Macross product (apparently) so I guess that explains the UN Spacy logo that adorns this thing. Basically, it’s an amalgamation of “that’s not quite right.” That said, the toy does resemble a Legioss… although it’s pretty clear that no one tried too hard to keep it anywhere near faithful to the lineart. No detail is painted on the toy, the color pattern is wrong (since it’s made entirely of pre-colored plastics), but some stickers (anime incorrect) do come pre-applied. The back of the toy is completely wrong. Below is a comparison pic with a Gakken 1/55 Diecast 2x Changer Legioss.
Design (4.5/10)
There’s no transformation here so there’s not much to speak about from a design standpoint. The toy is light overall with a large base so it’s pretty sturdy in the few positions you can try to pose it in. What would be the nose of the plane is removeable but not for any particular reason. There are no real frills to speak of here anywhere.
Durability & Build (8/10)
I see absolutely no reason to believe that any part of this toy is fragile and the construction is totally simple so there aren’t a whole lot of ways that the toy can be mucked up in manufacture. Joints might be expected to wear fairly quickly under considerable play but there isn’t a whole lot you can do with them so I don’t think it really would be an issue. Since no paint has been applied it won’t pose a problem for chipping. I suppose sticker wear/fade may be an issue as well as yellowing over time.
Articulation (5/10)
What you get is a head that turns, a shoulder-mount that turns, arms that move independent of each other, elbows that bend, legs that move independent of each other, and knees with limited mobility. That may sound fairly decent but without more foot articulation there really isn’t much that can be done here. If you’re familiar with Gakken’s 1/55 diecast effort, imagine that toy with less foot mobility and without the chest pieces that could be angled up or down (but with a head that could be turned) and you’ll get a good idea what this is like. There are some easy joints that are missing (the toy doesn’t transform, why not give it a waist?) and some more complicated ones (ball-joints?) so basically you’ll end up posing this toy stiff as a board. My judging criteria would dictate that this score should be higher but the articulation points are all fairly limited in mobility so I’m not giving them full credit.
Total Score (25.5/50)
The only place this toy scores average or above is in the packaging and durability departments. If you made a really neat box for a chunk of marble though you’d come pretty close in score to this toy overall. It’s really bad. If you have a child that’s getting into Robotech and don’t want them anywhere near your far more fragile Alpha offerings then you might pick this toy up to bide your time.