EVANGELION PROTO TYPE 00′

ROBO-DUO (THREE ZERO)

I don’t talk about Evangelion much around these parts, largely because it’s very brain break-y, and I tend to need to unbreak my brain a bit after.  So, I’ve only got the one prior review here on the site, and then I took a year and a half hiatus to rebuild a little bit of my sanity.  Shortly after my own personal rebuild, I decided to risk tackling the Evangelion Rebuilds, and there was a rather timely release of another Eva that was up my alley right around that same time.  With my break thoroughly broken again, I guess I might as well just lean into it and review this here additional figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Evangelion Proto Type 00′ is part of ThreeZero’s Robo-DUO line, a line dedicated to robots from a number of anime properties.  She’s the third of the standard Evas to join the line, and started arriving in the last month or so.  As with the Robot Spirits release I looked at last year, this version of Unit 00 is based on the updated design from the Rebuilds, matching up with the other Evas from the line.  The figure stands about 10 inches tall and has 40 points of articulation.  Compared to the Spirits figure, this one’s definitely a lot larger, of course, but it’s also a fair bit less agile.  It’s partly the way the joints are laid out, but it’s also the largely die-cast metal construction of the figure, which not only makes her a bit heavier (meaning her joints need to be tighter to compensate), but also means there are some spots that just aren’t afforded the same amount of flex.  The figure is still capable of plenty of poses, especially the deeper crouches and lunges that the Evas are prone to do, but getting her there certainly takes a little more effort.  Of course, on the flip side, it does mean that this figure is a lot less prone to falling over, which I certainly like.  00’s sculpt is all-new, detailing the updated design.  Where the Spirits release had options for both early and late-game looks, this one sticks to her more armored appearance from later.  It’s my favorite of the two, personally, so that’s quite alright by me.  It means less swap-out parts, of course, but with most of the parts being metal, not swapping them around so much is much better for the figure’s long-term condition.  The sculpt is generally pretty strong, doing a solid job of replicating the animation design.  The arms are a little on the softer side in terms of detailing, which kind of clashes with the rest of the body, but on the flipside, that means that the rest of the body is quite sharply detailed, and I really dig that.  00’s paint work is pretty decent overall.  The colors are a little bolder than on the Spirits figure, which I personally like just a little bit more.  The application is mostly pretty clean, with the arms again being the outliers for quality; there’s a bit of slop on the white/orange change-overs there.  I do really dig the markings, as well as the panel lining on the bulk of the figure; it helps to make the sculpt really pop.  00 is packed with a whole plethora of accessories, which includes five sets of hands (fists, trigger finger, gripping, claw gesture, and wide gesture), two styles of plug (long and short, for displaying and storing, alternatively), a rifle, the Enchanted Shield of Virture, a removable umbilical with posable cord, and a display stand that swaps for the umbilical, and even looks like the umbilical at the end.  Apart from the cord not easily swapping into the stand’s umbilical, everything is pretty cool.  I miss the extra armor parts, but getting the shield certainly makes up for it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Picking up the Spirits Eva 00 last year got me into a pretty positive mood for Eva stuff, and this figure went up for order right around that same time, and that’s how they got me.  I was able to get one specially ordered through All Time, and from there it was just a patient wait for her to finally get released.  This release doesn’t have the versatility of the Spirits release, but it’s certainly got a presence to it, and I’m very happy to have added it to my collection.  I dig the fully armored design a lot, and I dig the serious heft that this figure has behind it.  I’m also really digging getting to try out so many of the various different styles of figure that ThreeZero offers.  They’re steadily becoming one of my favorite new companies I’ve discovered.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.