Monday, 12 April 2010

Toybox REVIEW: Bandai Robot Spirits Devilfish


Here we have the first figure I've bought from a line I've been wanting to get into for a very very long time. Bandai's Robot Tamashii/Damashii (or just Robot Spirits) line offers a wide variety of mecha in a similar scale to Revoltech from series such as Gundam SEED, Gundam 00, Full Metal Panic, Code Geass, Macross Frontier and many more. What we are reviewing here appears in the fantastic series Eureka Seven. The only problem is these figures don't come cheap - you're looking at around £25-35 depending on which figure you're after. 70% off at HLJ later, and I've got myself a Devilfish.

The Devilfish is Holland Novak's personal LFO (Light Finding Operation) which appears at the tail end of the series and the alternate universe movie Goodnight, Sleep Tight Young Lovers (Pocket Full of Rainbows). One of the most powerful LFOs in the series, it is not equipped with a limiter, which allows it to function to the very zenith of its capabilities. However, to keep up, the pilot must take special drugs which enhances their nervous system to keep them from blacking out. Constant intake of these drugs can have dire consequences and is considered near-suicidal.

The sculpt is great, as you would expect from a highly regarded company such as Bandai. Articulation is superb - equal to Revoltech in terms of points of articulation - minus the clicky revolver joints. It feels far more fluid here and therefore less effort to get a diverse range of poses. It even comes with a few accessories - some interchangeable fist hands, a green eyed head and connectors so that its ref board can be split in half and stored on the figures hips (making some rather badass hip guards). The ref board itself is huge - even taller than the figure itself!

Sounds like the perfect figure right? Well there is one rather large oversight that is quite hard to ignore. The figure, as with the rest of Robot Spirits line, do not come with stands. Usually I wouldn't consider this a huge problem but the fact is to get the best range of poses out of this guy, and with any other Eureka Seven LFO, you NEED a stand to get some mid-flight ref boarding awesomeness. To add insult to injury, Bandai do in fact make stands for their figures, only they are SOLD SEPARATELY. And in packs of 3 none the less. So in essence you really need about 3 of these figures before you get your value for money from the stands, and even then they don't come cheap.

It's by far not my favourite Eureka Seven LFO, nor is it my favourite mecha in the Robot Spirits line. But its still a fantastic toy and convinced me that these figures are worth every penny. With the Nirvash Spec1 due out in June (yes, I've preordered it) and Nirvash Spec2 and theEND already out, I think I've found a new pet project for my robot collecting. And then I may have to move on to Evangelion, then Macross....


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