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.

Toybox REVIEW: Revoltech Alexander Jagi

In the second of my Revoltech Detroit Metal City reviews is the band's bassist and background vocalist, Alexander Jagi (real name Masayuki Wada). While this fact is not shown in the OVAs or movie, he also isn't a huge fan of the music DMC plays, instead preferring to be in a 'visual kei' band - but like Negishi/Krauser he is also afraid of their insane manager.

Jagi, much like Krauser, boasts an impressive sculpt that does his character justice. He is mostly black and white, but the silver sequin/studded parts and red 'eyes' of his costume help break the colour scheme up nicely. The hair on both heads (again, like Krauser) is an excellent two-tone of yellow and orange. The wing piece on the back of his costume can be removed and is also useful for holding his bass (which is the shape of a Gibson Thunderbird). Once attached, the long guitar strap provides plenty of movement for the guitar so a wide variety of poses are possible.

Besides the bass guitar, the figure includes 2 sets of alternate hands, an alternate screaming face, a microphone with stand (something I felt Krauser could have probably benefited from too) and a flame piece that can be attached to the stand to recreate his fire-breathing activities. As far as problems with the figure go, the very much the same ones that Krauser had. While his balance is a lot better than Krauser's (probably due to the absence of a cape) it's still not brilliant, and especially hard if you're using the stand for a flame piece rather than on the figure. Some of the joints are particularly obvious and spoil the overall feel of the figure - particularly in the hips and ankles.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting Revoltech to put as much love into Jagi or Camus as they did for Krauser, after all he is the centrepiece of DMC. However Alexander Jagi is just as good a figure as Krauser, and definitely worth picking up at the price he can be bought for nowadays. Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how Camus turns out.

Toybox REVIEW: Revoltech Johannes Krauser II

In the first of a 3 day special, I shall be reviewing each revoltech figure of the 3 members of the band Detroit Metal City, from the manga/anime/live-action movie of the same name. Today's installment is vocalist/guitarist/frontman of the band, Johannes Krauser II. Or, as he's known off stage, Soichi Negishi - the protagonist of the series.

The figure itself is rather basic - smooth with not too many intricate details, but it is an excellent likeness of Krauser. The silver is metallic, and the cape is a nice deep purple (as is the orange toning on the figure's hair). As is the norm with revoltech - articulation is a key player, and here its no exception. While not as articulate as some of the later figures in the line, it still boasts revolver joints on the neck, shoulders, elbows, hands, hips, knees and feet. The cape is also held together by joints, meaning it can be positioned in everything from a 'swooshing' effect to being held perfectly stable in the air as if Krauser were jumping.

The cape is removable, meaning Krauser can be posed with or without it (which adds a lot more flexibility in terms of poses). Also included are three different pairs of hands, an alternate 'screaming' head, a microphone and Jack Il Dark's signature SG guitar which he receives at the end of the anime (I'm unsure about the manga). The guitar's strap is fairly sturdy but probably would break if too much pressure was applied, and can be locked onto the body nicely if the cape is placed over it. To go with the guitar are a pair of 'speed' hands, which nicely depict Krauser's thrash metal playing. However, these aren't the only hilarious things you can do with the hands, as my pictures below point out.

There's only a couple of bad things about Krauser in fact - the first being his balance. Since he's wearing stillettos, it means it can be very difficult to pose him (but not impossible) without the aid of the stand provided. Not that this is the end of the world, but some times I like my figures to be able to hold their own in terms of balance. This is made much easier if you remove the cape, but then Krauser obviously doesn't look as imposing. The second problem, and this is one that plagued most of the earlier Revoltech releases, is that the alternate hands/head can be quite difficult to put snugly on the joints, meaning obvious sections of revolver joint are left exposed.

Despite my love for Revoltech, I've never really thought they handled humanoid figures brilliantly (for those I turn to Figma), but Krauser is an all round great figure. Plenty of character, only a few minor problems and looks great both on his own and with the rest of the band. If you're a fan of DMC in any shape or form, this is definitely one to look out for since it can be found relatively cheap these days.

SAT-SU-GAAAAAAAAAI!

Toybox REVIEW: Revoltech Professor Layton

This is it.

This is the review I've wanted to do for a long time.

Here we go.

Revoltech Professor Layton (which if you didn't know is the star of the Nintendo DS puzzle games of the same name) is a figure that has caught my eye and occupied my 'must buy' list for a long time now, but at the same time I never go around to actually buying him. Now, after a series of unexpected events led him to him appearing in my hands and (swiftly might I add) purchasing him, he is finally mine. It's time to see what the internet has been raving about and what pictures have been suggesting. Is Professor Layton one of, if not the, best Revoltech figures to date?

And the answer is yes. By god yes.

EVERYTHING works about this figure. The fact is proportions aren't realistically human make the sculpt really stand out and the revo joints integrate nicely into the design (something I've never really found with human/humanoid revoltech figures). The soft plastic of his coat adds some great variety to the types of materials used in the figure and (most importantly) his changeable features are easily removable. The hands are held in by small tabs which are both easy to remove and hold in nicely, and Layton's changeable faces are exactly the same. Ten out of ten so far.

His accessories are also utterly fantastic. Here we have a variety of hands (one of which is holding a teacup), an extra face, a base, a teacup and saucer, book, pen and even a table and chair set! Layton can sit down and drink tea like a true English gentlemen alongside any figure in your collection! Speaking of which, this is where Layton's full potential as a figure really comes into play....

....because not only is he compatible with his own slew of extra features, but also a ton of ones that come with other Revoltech figures! While admittedly he may not be able to hold some of them, this is a chance to see Layton as you've never seen him before, whether if be flying into the air, slashing swords or wielding pistols! And while he's doing this Layton doesn't lose any of his character, looking good in almost any situation he's put in. So far my personal favourite has been rocketing him into the air with Gamera's rocket legs.

In conclusion this figure is a triumph in pretty much every single way. Sure I prefer my Gurren a lot more, but even he doesn't hold as many possibilities as the good professor. If you're a Layton fan you should definitely own this, and if you're a Revoltech fan you should get this just for the endless fun Professor Layton offers.

Toybox REVIEW: Revoltech Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann

Finally, after missing its initial release due to lack of funding and having to scour the aftermarket in hopes of finding one, I've finally bought a reasonably priced (£30) Revoltech Super Galaxy (or Chouginga if you prefer) Gurren Lagann from ebay, thus completing my collection by owning all 5 original TV iterations of the mech. Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann is the robot mode of the giant space battleship Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren, making its first appearance in episode 25's epic conclusion.

As per usual Kaiyodo really come through when it comes to sculpt and paint detail, with the figure being covered in small windows from the spaceship mode. Its a nice blend of black, red and gold with some great neon green hints in certain places (would have been fantastic if these were glow in the dark, but I feel that might be a bit TOO much wishful thinking).

After the disappointing lack of accessories with the Arch Gurren Lagann figure, its nice to see to return to form for this figure. Included are multiple sets of hands (including my personal favourite, the "drill fingertips of awesomness" left hand as seen in the beginning of episode 26 and the Lagann-hen movie), a "Super Galaxy Boomerang" shades weapon and an additional set of shoulder spikes. The beauty of these spikes is that they can be placed on the shoulders of the figure when the gold drills are removed for accuracy, and then the 2 drills can be connected to create the DOUBLE DRILL SUPER GALAXY GIGA DRILL BREAK!!!! (sadly lacking from Lagann-hen). Another little extra I quite like is the easily removable 2-part shades piece for the torso, which is far easier to take off than the 1-piece shade plates on the Gurren and Gurren Lagann figures. The only downside to this is they can seem a little lop sided when not positioned properly.

All in all this is one of Revoltech's best Gurren Lagann figures (second only to the ever so mighty Gurren/Lagann combo) and I'm glad it was the last one I bought so that my collection could end on a high. Now I'm considering picking up the Enkidu figure to fill the void that completing this little collection has left behind.....

.......until Kaiyodo decide to make a Revoltech Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.....

.....come on Kaiyodo, you know you want to.

Toybox REVIEW: Revoltech Triple Transformation VF-1A Hikaru Ichijo custom

As promised here are a few shots of the new Revoltech VF-1A which arrived in the post today. While pretty much the same as the VF-1S, this version of the Macross DYRL valkyrie sports red markings rather than yellow and a different head sculpt. Unlike my VF-1S the head fitted on with relative ease (much to my relief!). However the arms of the figure are incredibly floppy and struggle to pull off any decent poses holding the gunpod (which adds alot of weight to the arm). It's easier to pose in battroid (robot) mode, but since I plan to display it in gerwalk mode alongside the VF-1S it's a little disappointing. As you'd expect, the same overall rating applies.

And here are the rest of the pics!