Tag Archives: Robo-Duo

#3844: VF-1S Veritech – Roy Fokker

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

VF-1S VERITECH — ROY FOKKER

ROBO DOU (THREE ZERO)

Before today, you could count the Robotech reviews here on the site on one hand.  But now, you can’t!  …you know, because there were five, and this brings it up to six.  Do you get it?  Do you get the joke?  Well, I do, and that’s the most important thing.  As I’ve brought up in, I think, all of my Robotech reviews, I’m rather a late convert to the show, only actually watching it within the last decade.  So, there’s a fair bit of catching up to do, but also I try not to go to crazy and space it out a bit.  Given it’s been three years since my last review, I guess I’m doing alright with that spacing out, huh?  Three Zero has started doing some Robotech stuff in their Robo Dou line, and I do like Three Zero’s work, so I’m checking one of those out today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The VF-1S Veritech — Roy Fokker is part of Three Zero’s Robo Dou line, which handles mechas and robots from a number of different anime properties.  This one follows up on the release of Rick’s Veritech from….2023, I think?  There was a bit of a gap.  Roy’s Veritech just started hitting in the last month or so.  The figure ships in Battloid mode, which is the main look that everyone actually likes.  Well, it’s the main look that *I* actually like, and for the purposes of this site, I’m everyone.  In said mode, the figure is about 8 3/4 inches tall and has 29 workable points of articulation.  It compares well to other Three Zero mech stuff I’ve messed with in terms of articulation and build.  You can get good poses out of him without too much trouble.  The hips can be a little bit finicky, especially the first time you use them.  On my figure, I wound up hitting the folded up wings, and it popped some parts of the torso out of place, which was a bit tricky to get back in order.  But, once I did, everything stayed pretty securely together.  Like the other Three Zero mechs I’ve looked at, this figure is a mix of plastic and die-cast construction.  He’s got quite a bit of heft to him, while also still maintaining a sharp level of detailing.  The color work here is quite impressively handled.  All the base work is very clean, and he’s also got panel lining to really help sell the sharpness of the sculpt.  There’s also a ton of smaller printed details, which show a tremendous attention to detail.  The Veritech is packed with four pairs of hands (weapon holding, flat, open gesture, and fists), a GU11 rifle, and a display stand.  It also includes four sets of missiles, an antenna, and an alternate mount for the base, all meant to work with the figure’s alternate modes.

Let’s talk about said alternate modes!  As with all transforming Veritechs, you get the main Battloid mode, the Guardian mode, and the Fighter mode.  To get from Battloid to Fighter (robot to jet), you stop in the middle for Guardian, which is…well, it’s kind of silly, and it’s not really so much a mode as it is just stopping midway.  Of course, given how nerve-racking the actual transformation process is, a break at the halfway point isn’t so bad an idea.  Even following the instructions, I was left to throw my hands up a slightly improvise a few times, and I had at least one point where I very seriously considered running this review without photos of the alternate modes.  Thankfully, the rest of the transformation to full Fighter mode isn’t quite as bad, nor is the reverse transformation back to Battloid (apart from the one pin that fell out during the transformation back.  It’s okay, it’s not entirely structural…).  The Fighter mode is actually pretty nice, and I do really like the little teeny, tiny Roy figure in the cockpit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since getting into Robotech, I’ve been looking for solid figure coverage of Roy’s Veritech, since Roy’s my favorite pilot, and his Veritech is particularly cool.  I looked at the rather elaborate transforming one that All Time loaned me back in 2018, and I really liked that one, but its price point was a bit scary, so I backed off.  I’ve messed with a few of the smaller ones since, and they’re cool, but always a bit too spindly for me.  I’ve been impressed with Three Zero’s other work, so once I saw they were doing them, I was onboard for this guy here.  He’s fun, in a sort of don’t really want to mess with him all the time, but he’s still really cool to look at way.  I’m glad I got to experience the transforming, and now he can remain purely in Battloid mode for the rest of the time I own him.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3152: Evangelion Proto Type 00′

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

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.