This was my first experience with Medicom and this type of toy, so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, I just knew that I wanted it in my collection just from looking at its green and purple splendor. I was very delighted by the high quality and overall fun factor of this toy, and I have turned into a real fan of Medicom’s work.
http://youtu.be/of8yyxSmRf0
The RAH in the name stands for Real Action Hero. The NEO line is to be geared towards more robotic properties, and fewer human-like figures. The figure itself was designed by Yumiko Noda of Perfect-Studio and So-ing. They have worked extensively with Evangelion franchise already, designing other RAH figures that includes Rei, Shinji, and Asuka.
So why should you buy this Evangelion toy? You probably already have two or three iterations of this Cyborg “mecha” already, so why would you spend so much for a giant version, other than it’s size?
To answer with one word: Articulation.
Many Eva toys through the years have tried to mimic the sleek and somewhat unnerving movement of the Evangelion, but most have all fallen somewhat short. The Soul of Chogokin spring to mind. While they were nice and articulated for a diecast toy, the line was just too blocky to capture the spirit of the mecfha in my mind. When this piece was first unveiled a lot of people cried that it was too skinny. I think it’s a case of people having an idea of the character should be from older toys vs what is actually in the line art and animation. Medicom’s piece incorporates a lot of the modern design gimmicks of the Robot Spirits offerings for the Rebuild of Evangelion, however, it goes a bit further and has higher quality materials, not to mention the sculpt is superior.
The Eva stands about 16 inches tall and is made of high quality plastic armor, a black rubber suit, and a plastic articulated skeleton underneath it all. The quality of the plastic on this toy feel amazing. It’s smooth and solid, and very durable. The paint and colors are some of the best I’ve ever seen on a toy, and the iconic color scheme of Eva unit 01 really impresses on any shelf or display case. The neon green especially stands out with the contrast of the black and purples.
Articulation is everywhere. Shoulders, neck, wrists, biceps, knees, ect. All the places a modern toy should be articulated, this one does it in style.
The two main points that I want to mention when it comes to articulation on this toy are the Spine, and the Hips.
The spine is probably the coolest part of posing this toy, as you can get a lot of great hunched over stances, swaying back and forth motion, and even re-create a screaming Eva with it’s upper body reared backward. I really enjoy pushing the spine forward and side to side.
The hips are a little tricky, as I mention in the video. They pop up like an “H” to allow for more extreme bends and squats positions. The joints are covered in rubber so you really can’t see which way it bends. You feel like you are working blind and it can be a bit scary to move it when you first pull it out of the box. I got used to moving the joint and really enjoyed the set-up after a few handling sessions.
And that’s one reason I love this toy. I handled it for about an hour or more the first day I got it, and I pick it up at least once a week to pose it and enjoy the sculpt. It’s just fun, and I feel it is worth every penny. For a toy that doesn’t transform it keeps you busy just playing with the articulation. My favorite features are the detailed opening mouth, the sleek and simple design of the pallet rifle, and the real rubber umbilical cable that locks in securely. So many Eva toys have umbilicals that just fall out, or are too stiff and get in the way of posing the figure, but again, Medicom nailed it.
Speaking of Pennies, the sane going rate right now is around $330. For a toy that sold for around $250 at launch, that’s not a terrible mark-up. Of course, places like ebay will be asking double for no good reason. I also wonder why this version is called the limited edition with the AT field, since I haven’t seen one released that wasn’t a limited edition with the AT field. I wouldn’t pay more than $350 or so before shipping. I think at that price range it’s worth the cost. When you start to climb into the $400 range it’s really not worth the price.
The 02 Red version Eva is going on sale in June, so keep an eye out. Expect to pay $300+ for it as the pre-order is long gone. The pre-order for the 08B Pink Eva from the 3.0 episode is already up, so if you’re into this line I suggest you grab one while the price is low. Personally, I don’t think you can mess with pink robots on any level.
To me, this is the ultimate Eva incarnation. After owning it a few weeks I sold off all my other Eva toys because they just were not cutting it anymore. It moves and poses like an Eva should in my mind, and it looks amazing. I’m really looking forward to having a few more of these units to create a display, as I think it will push each individual piece to a new height of awesome.
I own one too.
This is the best EVA I’ve ever had, but I think it lacks the possibility of hiding the progressive knife in the shoulder just like in the series.
I also have “problems” with mine:
– a small part of the chest felt down, I’ll have to glue it somedays, right now I keep her in her box because I’m about to move to another place.
– left foot keeps falling down whenever I lift her up since she got out the box, I thought it was me but the system seems loose, I’ll have to stuff the inside of the leg one day.
– the paint job, is very good overall but on some parts it could have been better, I spot little paint scratches on her first time out of the box.
– I would have love to get the sword.
But don’t misunderstand me, it is, just like you said, the best Eva I’ve ever had, those little problem do not make think that I could have save my money for something else, they recall me the toy is a bit fragile and destined to carefull collectors.
I agree with all your points. I think for a first effort it was really well done, but from all the improvements I’ve seen with the 02 unit, I think Medicom has taken these issues into consideration.
Apparently it’s a bit heavier and has more free movement/better durability.
I know the 00 unit looks amazing. But, I won’t know for sure until I get my 02 in a few weeks. It’s on Backorder unfortunately.
Thanks for reading!
Yes, this EVA-02 looks also very detailed but Wallet, a not-friend-of-mine said “no, you cannot even buy one” ;-)
I hope you’ll get yours soon and that we’ll get a review (she’s got two rifles!!! Yeahh!!)
Last thing I forgot to say on my first post is that on the EVA-01, it is important to take time “learning” the articulations, I’m still scared of breaking a leg while giving her a pose. Heroic pose ^_^