5 Gundam Review

From Gundam00, Kyrios and Arios 1/100. Arios is the Designer Color version.

I've always been partial towards the "transformers" in Gundam. In ship form, I love Arios way more than Kyrios. Arios in ship form looks right, and is very firm. Kyrios isn't as streamlined and is flimsy.

In robot mode, things are quite the opposite. It's here where Arios is too bulky and has too much excessive mass. Kyrios on the other hand looks quite normal. His articulation is typical of Gundams. His hands pop out of the sockets way too easily though. Other than than little annoyance, I like Kyrios robot mode way more.

Also from Gundam00, Dynames 1/100.

In Gundam Seed, I grew to love the extra-long canon wielding Buster Gundam. I pretty much instantly loved this long range sniper Gundam in 00. His shielding looks lame, so I only keep the two smaller panels of it on. His thrusters make his backside look bulky. I like the beam handles being recessed into the thrusters though. Dynames overall is pretty good.




From Gundam Wing, Wing Zero Custom 1/100 Master Grade. Pearl Gloss version.

I've bought a Wing Zero Custom 1/144 as part of my first couple of Gundams. A 1/60 Perfect Grade is too big for my liking, so I wanted a Master Grade. This Master Grade is the first time I ever saw one, and even though the white parts all look like "lotion," I had to have it.

This is the second Master Grade I've built. Destiny from Gundam Seed Destiny was the first. Even though this was a Master Grade kit, I was expecting the build to be loose and finicky as the other Gundam Wing models I've built before. It didn't disappoint. I broke a small piece that was supposed to be on the head. His arms were also so loose, that it couldn't hold the rifles in any of his iconic positions. The smaller wing pieces pop off quite easily when I try to reposition them. The rubber feathers also pop off easily.



Despite all it's flaws, it's still quite awesome. Like many others, I just love it's wings. Both the big and small wings can spread out and look amazing.

From the Gundam Seed series, Strike E with I.W.S.P. 1/100 Master Grade. Lukas O'Donnell colors.

The best for last. The best looking and most fun accessories because of the I.W.S.P. I did break a piece off of one of the guns on the I.W.S.P. Other than that blip, it was a solid build. Like Destiny, it has some cool moving parts on the legs. After doing only panel lines, stickers, and decals, it is the best looking Gundam out of all the ones I've built. The I.W.S.P. is the best looking weapons pack of any Gundam. It can only be posed with the I.W.S.P. on a stand because it makes it back heavy. With it off, it's firm and can hold some nice positions.

I'd highly recommend this Gundam.

Anime Expo 2010

I got back from Anime Expo last night. I feel reintegrated with the normal home feeling now. So now for some Anime Expo 2010 thoughts.

Some good things this year:

• Nokia Theatre was back.
  
• Tickets for main events had a booth that was available on Days 0-3. You could pick up all the tickets at once.
• This year had a ton of Guests of Honor.
• Yui Horie had a very entertaining video message for Closing Ceremonies. She spoofed Terminator, putting on sunglasses and fading the video with a red glow in her eye.
• Yoko Kanno made a surprise appearance at one of the concerts.
• I never had to wait in line to get into the Exhibit Hall.
• Free Magic the Gathering mini-deck inside attendee bags.
  

Having the Nokia Theatre meant seats were awesome no matter where you were seated, and no waiting in long lines to get into a Main Event. Letting people get tickets all at once meant no waiting in long lines to pick up tickets. Aside from Opening Ceremonies, they were assigned seating.

Some bad things this year:

• Opening ceremonies and the AMV contest were the only Main Events to be free of charge. All the concerts and Masquerade cost $20 to guarantee a seat!
• Yoko Kanno made a surprise appearance at a concert I did not go to!
• Yui Horie's panel was too short because they showed an episode of ToraDora!
• No Wizards of the Coast booth.
• Less exhibitors in the exhibit hall.
  

With having a free MtG deck in the attendee bag, I thought Wizards of the Coast would at least have a booth in the exhibit hall. There was a noticeable drop in attending exhibitors in the hall. It was definitely smaller, and yet attendance only got higher. I overheard exhibitors complaining about the cost of their booths, and I hope next year AX lowers their fee. I need more options to buy stuff!!!!!

This is the first year in which the Masquerade and concerts were paid only tickets. Before, if you had a badge and were willing to wait in line, you could get these tickets with out paying anything. I wasn't planning on going to any of the concerts or Masquerade when I read that they were charging for these tickets. Then they ended up passing out free tickets right when the events began. I ended up going to the Mell concert and got into Masquerade for free. I can see why they decided to do this. It will basically get AX the most money from people who need to get that guaranteed seat. I think it's wrong to have charges on these tickets, but if they continue to do pass out whatever is left over at the start of the events for free, then it might not be so bad.

My friends went to the concert where Yoko Kanno showed up. I did not. Had I known she would be there, I would have bought a ticket when they were first available. I cannot believe AX would not advertise that Yoko Kanno would be at a concert this year!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!

Yui Horie is my favorite voice actress/singer in all of anime. I went to the panel expecting to have a lot of fun, but before it began they wasted time showing the first episode of ToraDora! Why the fuck would they waste precious Q & A time with that?! There was a whole US premiere event for it already!! Why did you take time away from Yui Horie to interact with her fans?! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The good was, in the little time she did have at her panel, she was cute and entertaining. Her closing ceremony video message really showed how much fun that could of been had with her having a whole hour for her panel. I really hope she comes back next year.

The Loot:

$48 Gundam Wing Zero Endless Waltz - Master Grade (pearl gloss wings)
$28 Gundam00 Arios - 1/100
$20 Gundam00 Kyrios - 1/100
$24 Gundam00 Dynames - 1/100
$54 Gundam Seed Lukas's Strike + I.W.S.P - Master Grade
$20 Yuffie - Playarts Final Fantasy VII version
$20 Tifa - Playarts Final Fantasy VII version
$35 Emiya Shirou - Figma
$27 Tonfas - red oak
$30? 2 Final Fantasy XII H-doujins featuring Ashe
$10 MtG random box
$10 Gurren Lagann Drill necklace
$40 Zelda and Link fanart
FREE Lightning fanart

I was able to walk away from the charity auction without buying anything!

Pricing reference:

PoP Mihawk - $75
PoP Shanks - $60
Figma Lelouch - $100
Revoltech Yoko - $40
Trafalgar Law - $30 (6" Box figure)
Revoltech Rin - $10
Revoltech Prof. Layton - $40

Misc:

1 Pizza
4 Cup of Noodles
4 Denny's entrees
1 Curry House plate