Toybox REVIEW: Revoltech Zurg (Toy Story)

Release Date: March 2023

RRP: 11,880 yen

Even without appearing in the first Toy Story movie, the name "Emperor Zurg" immediately latched onto me. In amongst all the other fantastic things going on in the film I wanted to know more about Buzz Lightyear's sworn enemy, and when he finally appeared in Toy Story 2 I was not disappointed. That love continued on with the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command cartoon (where he was brilliantly voiced by Wayne Knight) and the Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin Disney Parks ride. Not so much 2022's Buzz Lightyear movie, but the less said about that the better. However despite this love I've never owned a good Zurg toy, so naturally Kaiyodo made my dreams come true when they announced Revoltech Zurg (Toy Story) would be joining Woody and Buzz as part of the Revoltech line. Despite releasing not too long after Buzz's solo movie, this figure is based on Zurg's original appearance as the sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance.

Top 5: Toys I'm Looking Forward to in 2023

There's been a lot of fantastic toy releases this year (and as usual I'll be counting down my personal top ten at the end of the month), but as 2022 draws to a close many collectors will start looking forward to all the things they've got preordered for the coming year. So for my final top five feature of 2022 I'm looking forward to the five toys I'm looking forward to most next year. All the entries below have a confirmed release date so we're certain they're coming in 2023, and I'm pleased to say I've secured preorders on them all as well. Will any of them make the top ten toys of 2023 list? Only time will tell…

Toybox REVIEW: Figure Complex Amazing Yamaguchi Spider-Gwen

Release Date: June 2017

RRP: 5900 yen

Between Infinity War, Venom, the Playstation 4 game and of course Into the Spider-Verse, 2018 was truly the year of Spider-Man. My enjoyment of that last release in particular found me wanting to go back and pick up some of the Spidey figures I've missed over the years, and Figure Complex (aka Revoltech)'s Amazing Yamaguchi Spider-Gwen seemed like the perfect place to start. Parallel universes have always been my absolute favourite sci-fi trope, and from what I've read of the Spider-Gwen comic the writers have done an excellent job of twisting pre-established Marvel characters into something new and exciting. Both the comic and her design itself have proved exceedingly popular, and between her appearances in both Into the Spider-Verse and Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors it seems Spider-Gwen's popularity will just continue to rise.

Favourite Toys of 2018

It's that time of the year again! Before we usher in 2019 it's time to look back at all the purchases I've made this year and pick out my ten favourites. This year's offerings are a little different that before in that it also features I few things I haven't reviewed on the site (either because I just never got around to it or it's a relatively recent release and it's on the backlog), but like before I've tried to make it as varied as possible so it isn't just a list of ten Figuarts. It's also worth noting that these are my favourite toys of 2018, so not necessarily the best ones I've bought. So while there may be ones that didn't make the cut I've perhaps rated higher, they don't necessarily have as much emotional significance to me as the ones I've listed here.

While most of my purchases for the year have arrived and been inspected to see if they'd make the list (including the ones I haven't put up reviews for yet), there are a few that are exempt either because they haven't arrived yet or (in the case of model kits) I haven't got around to building them yet. These are:
- Super Mini-Pla Kakure Daishogun
- Super Mini-Pla Gridman & Assist Weapons
- S.H. Figuarts Gudon
- NECA Bride of Chucky Ultimate Chucky & Tiffany 2-Pack

But enough of that, on with the list!

Toybox REVIEW: Figure Complex Amazing Yamaguchi Carnage

Release Date: May 2018 

RRP: 7452 yen

Once upon a time Kaiyodo's Revoltech line ruled the roost when it came to collector-orientated affordable, articulated figures from Japan. But with the rise of competitors such as Figma and S.H. Figuarts, Revoltech's trademark clicky revolver joints began to lose their charm for many buyers. However the line never stopped, and in recent years Revoltech technology has branched off into a number of lines under the "Figure Complex" umbrella. The most popular of these has been the Amazing Yamaguchi line – where sculptor Katuhisa Yamaguchi gives his take on various characters from the Marvel Comics universe. Its latest release is another addition from the Spider-Man family, logically following on from the success of its Venom figure with the release of the symbiote's murderous offspring. With a design evocative of 90s comic edginess and all manner of possibilities when it comes to posing and accessories, Amazing Yamaguchi Carnage is the perfect addition to Revoltech's big comeback.

Favourite Toys of 2016 & Happy New Year!

Another year has come to an end and though it seems to have been a tough one for many people, there's been some great toy releases nonetheless. Thank you for reading the blog throughout 2016, it's been a big year as readership has grown exponentially and there's some big things in the pipeline for 2017.

But without further ado, here are my favourite ten toys I've reviewed this year on the site. There are a couple of I'm either yet to review or receive, but I'm fairly confident that this list wouldn't change either way.

Toybox REVIEW: Figure Complex Movie REVO Stitch

It wasn't that long ago that Kaiyodo's Revoltech line was one of the most talked about and eagerly anticipated Japanese toy lines among collectors, providing a wide variety of mecha, anime girls, tokusatsu kaiju and Western movie characters among its various divisions. But times change, and as the likes of S.H. Figuarts, Super Robot Chokogin, Robot Damashii and Figma became more and more prevalent Revoltech figures started to die down a bit in popularity. However the line never truly went away, and has recently reinvented itself with a number of different lines all working under a "Powered by Revoltech" tagline. Among these is a new Figure Complex MOVIE REVO line seemingly dedicated to Western film properties, including Back to the Future and The Avengers: Age of Ultron. The third entry however is a Disney character that's proven just as popular in Japan as he has in the West, going as far as to receive a long-running anime spin-off series that. He is of course Experiment 626, aka Stitch from Lilo & Stitch.

Toybox REVIEW: Revoltech Fraulein Yoko Sailor Uniform Ver.

Although Gurren Lagann has received some pretty spectacular figures in the last few years courtesy of Sentinel and Bandai Tamashii Nations, I can't help but feel it came out at a pretty bad time for poseable figures. The only line to complete the various forms of the titular robot (as well as do some of the other Gunmen that appeared in the show) is Kaiyodo's Revoltech line, which was pretty great at the time but has now dated horribly thanks to its insistence on using its trademark revolver joints for everything. Revoltech also produced a Yoko Littner figure for their anime girls-orientated Fraulein sub line, but even that is a far cry from the likes of Figma or S.H. Figuarts. Yamato also produced their own Yoko figure a few years ago, but other than commanding a pretty high price tag there's also plenty of stories of it being a rather flimsy and breakable piece.

Anyway, nearly seven years after its original release Fraulein Yoko has made a surprising return - but this time with a twist. Limited to only 5000 pieces and bundled with the third volume of the present-day school themed Gurren Lagann Otoko Doahou! manga spinoff (which itself is an adaptation of a trilogy of previously produced drama CDs), this version of Yoko ditches her trademark bikini top and hot pants in favour of a Japanese sailor school uniform. In this universe Yoko's full name is actually Yoko Utsuwa, and is a member (and even president) of every club in Dai Gurren Academy. As well as being the gunner for Dai Gurren of course. Some things never change.

Toybox REVIEW: Riobot R04 Gurren Lagann

Can you believe its been five years since Gurren Lagann? Well it has, and while Gainax haven't shown any plans in celebrating the anniversary of my favourite mecha series lesser known toy company Sentinel have given fans something to celebrate about. Revealed nearly a year ago to much excitement, the fourth installment in their Riobot (Riot Robot) line has finally been released. While Sentinel might not have quite the extensive resume as lines such as Kaiyodo's Revoltech and Bandai's Robot Damashii or Super Robot Chogokin, the few figures they have put out are said to be of superb quality (which is reflected in their hefty price tags). Costing a whopping 9500 yen RRP (£75/$120), Riobot Gurren Lagann has quite a lot to live up to before being compared to previous incarnations of the robot.

Much like how the packaging for RIO:Bone (Sentinel's human character line) Panty and Stocking impressed with their fantastic graphics, Gurren Lagann also has a box worthy of praise. The front features a nicely stylised Gurren Lagann image along with the name of the figure, while the spines give the box an element of class with small 5th anniversary Gurren Lagann logos and serif fonts. The top has a much larger anniversary logo, while the back has the figure in various poses without any obtrusive text in the way. Another thing to note is that it is a book-style box, with the front flap opening to reveal a window to see the figure (not that you can very well because its covered by a load of plastic wrapping) and the Team Gurren emblem. The box is HUGE, carrying both a tray with the figure and its accessories and another holding the wingpack and stand.

Onto the figure itself. Sculpted by Chemical Attack, who worked on the previous Broken Blade figures in the line, Riobot Gurren Lagann has a much more stylised look than the animation model. It's not quite as obvious as the KA version's tribal tattoos, but is still instantly noticeable. Rounded sections such as the hip guards (which have also been lengthened), lower legs and feet are much more angular, giving the design a much more real-robot feel than its super robot look in the series. All the yellow on the design has been replaced with a muted gold colour, and darker red panels compliment the traditional Gurren Lagann crimson colouring. I really like the liberties taken with the design because it isn't so intrusive that it will put off potential buyers, but is different enough that people (like me) displaying multiple versions of the robot will have an obvious bit of variety to their shelf.

At 9500 yen you might be expecting a figure closer in size to the Great Impact Gurren Lagann, but a large toy this isn't. Riobot Gurren Lagann stands at around 145mm tall, making it only 25mm taller than the Revoltech and 5mm smaller than the Ver. Ka. The size doesn't bother me too much the figure offers as much as it does in terms of articulation and accessories, but it's something to keep in mind if you're planning to drop money on it. Something that struck me much harder was how light it is - upon taking it out of the box it felt much more like a model kit in terms of weight. However unlike a model kit the Riobot is far from flimsy.

The level of articulation was what drew me into buying a third Gurren Lagann figure was this was originally announced, and I'm happy to say Sentinel sure didn't disappoint. There's the expected full range of motion in the head, shoulders, elbows (both in the elbow itself and the forearm), hips, knees, and feet, but it all feels so much more seamless than it does on a similar but cheaper figure. The shoulder pads also have a full range of motion via a ball joint (and the whole section can fully move from side to side) and while they might pop off once or twice when putting the figure into more difficult poses, they aren't a problem to pop back in without hassle.

On top of this there are the special bits of articulation that made the figure so interesting in the first place. Starting from the bottom up we have the knees, with have a very impressive level of engineering to them. when the knee bends, the whole section stretches open with the top leg panel also moving downward. It's a much more interesting method of articulation than simply "knee bends" and helps amplify the mechanical feel of the figure. The moving up to the chest we have perhaps the best gimmick of all. Via moving the head or a switch in the back of the figure (you need to remove the back panel for that though) the Gurren chest face's eyes have a full range of motion! This is a first for a Gurren Lagann figure, allowing for much more dynamic posing and a chest that isn't stuck in an "eyes facing forward" position. If you've ever owned one of those Action Man figures with the moving eyes, you'll know just how much fun a gimmick like this.

The Riobot also boasts more accessories than most other Gurren Lagann figures (well, maybe not Great Impact). Included is an alternate open mouthed face, four different hand sets (open hands, closed fists, holding fists and the obligatory "pointing to the heavens" set), three drill weapons (two smaller ones and one longer thin one), two sunglasses blades, drilled wrist pieces, wingpack and a clip to cover the hole left when you take the glasses off of the chest (I found this to be a pain to take off when applied though). When changing the hands and head there's no awkward Revoltech plugs, tiny ball joints or sockets too small to fit in - everything can be removed and replaced with no frustration whatsoever. The larger drills can be attached by replacing the forearm.

The first thing to notice about the wingpack is that its pointy, which probably should come expecting from something with four drills sticking out of the back. The top section also has two rather pointy spikes sticking out of it, and is wrapped in bubble wrap in the packaging which leads me to believe its perhaps the most fragile part of this figure. The wingpack clips to the back of Gurren Lagann via two quite small clips, which could possibly lead to it falling off if posing without the stand. But before clipping it to the figure, take note of the small level on the inside, which activates some more shifting panels - this time exposing the wingpack engine, complete with spiral energy green colouring. The wings are hinged, so are able to swing forward like they do in the show.

Finally we have the stand, which impressed me more than a stand usually would. The base section is pretty big, which means flight poses don't end up toppling like they would with Revoltech's subpar V-shaped bases.  For action poses you have a standard multi-jointed arm with plug attachment (which fits snuggly into a hole between the figure's legs), but an extra piece is included for additional support when posing in flight mode. This triangular piece clips to the arm, making sure it keeps straight and doesn't bend under the weight of the figure. For further support, there's also a separate grooved plug piece that locks in rather than move. Since Sentinel have put such a great effort into the stands, it's a little disappointing that there's nothing that makes it unique (I really liked the robot name/pilot tag on the Ka's stand) but after all the things I've been impressed with it really does feel like I'm nitpicking at this stage.

Riobot Gurren Lagann is undoubtedly one of, if not the best Gurren Lagann figures out there, but because of the pricetag I'd say it comes with a caution - it's not one for casual fans or collectors. It is an expensive figure for its size, and while the sculpt and accessory count justify it somewhat unless you're a serious Gurren Lagann fan it's hard to recommend it as the definitive figure when there are much cheaper alternatives like the newly reissued Revoltech (which may not be anywhere near as good, but it's far from a bad figure). However if you have the money for it, I can't recommend this toy enough. Its perfect in pretty much every single way. If you are planning to buy one, make sure to hit up the September restock of the figure as soon as possible, because I have a feeling once it's gone it's price is only going to go up on the after-market.

Toybox REVIEW: Revoltech Evangelion Mass Production Ver.

It's been quite a while since I've bought a Revoltech, but when they announced a re-release of a figure long discontinued I'd been itching to get my hands on for a while there was no chance I would be passing it up. Appearing in Neon Genesis Evangelion's conclusive End of Evangelion movie, the mass production Eva units were build in different places around the world and were Seele's backup plan for initiating instrumentality. The original release of this figure (numbered #26 in the Yamaguchi  line) came in two different varieties - one with the wings and another with the various armaments the unit wields.

As a figure originally released in 2007, the Mass Production does seem a little dated in terms of sculpt and engineering when put alongside the newer Evangelion releases in the Revoltech line. The figure has revolver joints in the head, waist, shoulders, elbows, knees and feet while the hips move via what feels like a plug joint. While the figure's white colour is accurate to the movie, there is a little discolouring around the neck area on mine (I doubt this is a wide problem though). The hands are attached via a plug system rather than small revolver joints, and can prove slightly difficult to fit on properly. When removing one set I managed to even pull out the joint piece from the arm! Thankfully it wasn't broken and was meant to come out (probably not that easily though) - I wish the same could be said for my Revoltech Lazengann's broken hand.

Finally we come onto the accessories, which if anything are the main selling point of this figure. While originally one would have to buy both versions of the figure to get all of the accessories, this re-release comes with everything included with both editions to create a "perfect version". Included are a variety of additional hands, an open mouth head, damaged/destroyed head/limb parts, exposed dummy plug piece (bearing the words "Kaworu"), double bladed weapon, replica Lance of Longinus and articulated wing backpack. While all these things are great, special mention should go to the Lance which is over double the length of the actual figure.

The wings themselves are huge, and poseable via a revolver joint at each end for a decent range of motion. The wings can be brought forward to create a "shield" effect, and posed with the double-jointed stand included for a variety of demonic-angel poses. Not gonna lie, getting the balancing right using the stand is quite difficult, but once you get the hang of it the figure can pull off some really epic poses.

Handling an older-styled Revoltech figure does feel a little antiquated, but the fact this release contains both accessories of the original more than makes up for it. Despite the dated sculpt, the mass production Eva still shows off an extremely impressive range of motion and is capable of pulling off poses which will still fit in nicely alongside its newer, "Evolution" Eva unit brethren. If I had more spare cash, I'd be inclined to army build these, or at the very least buy another two so I can pose one winged, one grounded and another with half its body parts blown off by Unit-02.

Toybox REVIEW: Revoltech Camus

The third and final of my Revoltech Detroit Metal City reviews, today's focus is on Camus (real name Terumichi Nishida), the band's perverted, overweight otaku drummer. Probably the most dedicated member of the band, not even fire or snakes will stop his drumming!

Camus has an excellent build, showing off his overweight stature nicely. His costume is a lot more simplistic than his co-members, but has nice broken colour scheme and the waistcoat is a rather fetching vibrant red. The balance issues that were present in Krauser and Jagi are absent here, with Camus able to do a wide variety of poses without the aid of the stand included with the figure. That being said, he still shares the visible joint problem of his friends, particularly in the shoulders, wrists and ankles.

The figure's downfall is in its accessories. Included with Camus are 3 extra hands (3, not 3 pairs), D-M-C display stands, drumsticks, a speech bubble (what it says I am unsure of) that can be attached to his back via a revo joint, a set of expression stickers than can be applied to the figure (or any other Revoltech)'s face, and two highly posable snakes. The figure does not include a drum kit in any shape or form. While what is included with the figure is certainly well done, to not include a drum kit is a huge disappointment for me. It may have ended up being quite large and replacing the other accessories, but if the Figma Ritsu (from K-On!) can achieve it, I don't know why this can't. Obviously all the effort went into the snakes, as they have 4 revoltech joints each (which look quite obtrusive, ruining the overall effect of the snake anyway).

Camus is a great figure, but lacks that little extra spark that makes his band members so special. The lack of any form of drum kit is also a disappointment, as it means a really good DMC stage display can't be achieved without looking into toy drums that are in scale with the figure. Still, he compliments Krauser and Jagi nicely, and at the cheap price he can be found for at eBay is a necessity to anyone looking to own the full band line up.