Took me a full week between the building, the video, the photos and this review, but it's finally up (man this week SUCKS)! It's been more than a month since the kit got release and I was able to only find it last week. Here's a review on one of the more under used suit in IBO universe, the Helmwige Reincar.
Gundam universe has a penchant for weird names. Helmwige was one of valkyries (Grimgerde was another) from a music drama. Reincar is supposedly "reincar-nation". It's basically the Grimgerde wearing a new set of armor. I was a bit shocked that it was not Rustal's suit given how menacing the silhouette it. Anyway, onto the kit.
Gone are the sleek knight-like aesthetics of the Grimgerde. The armor has now been replaced with bulkier armor. It remindes me of the Heavy armor sets on dark souls... or a football player.
From the side though, you see things are not quite so bulky. Since the IBO universe frames are exposed on the back, we'll see that the thickness isn't quite there. It's a football player. American football that is.
It also feels a bit off. It's light due to the hollow bits of the inner frame. Fine for the Grimgerde, a bit off putting on something that looks this bulky.
The kit itself is molded in mostly the correct colors. The only glaring sticker would be for the yellow in between the pecs of the suit... which is weird since the yellow part underneath is a separate piece. The overall color scheme is a bit... off. It's suppose to be dull gold, but since it's plastic, it comes off more tan. Will probably paint it Gunmetal in the future.
I do like the surface detailing of the upper half of the body. The head could have been more menacing though.
The lower half is a bit more plain. It has hooves for feet. And the shin guard could be a bit more flared out. Still, it blends in to the overall aesthetic quite well. It's Alphonse from FMA.
The thrusters at the back looks like a space pod. The rear skirt is the same as Grimgerde I think. It even has a hole for the gun it doesn't have.
The head could have stayed together a bit better though. The head plate on mine tends to shift up. You can see it inherits the monoeye, but not the chin sensor.
Overall, it's a good looking suit. Sure I would have liked if the kit was a bit more fleshed out... but at the price, it's acceptable. With the Bael the last one announced with the 1/100 kit , not expecting this kit to be a 1/100 anytime soon. Maybe it'll be a P-Bandai. Maybe.
I praised the Grimgered with it's articulation. How does the valkyrie frame move with the bulky armor?
The head being this small and the collar being this huge, you don't get any restrictions at all. The head can go up and down on it's double ball joint very well.
The backpack can swivel up and down.
It retains the Grimgerde's excellent ab articulation as there's litterally no ab armor. It's also quite tight, so it can deal with the additional bulk. You can also see below the polycap ball joint sockets for the shoulders. These can swivel up and down.
That shoulder swivel and ball joint, plus the joint inside the shoulder armor means that the massive shoulder pads do not hinder articulation all that much. The only problem is when you pose the arms. The forearms will hit the giant shoulder armor when you bend it in certain ways.
You can go a Bane pose even.
The excellent lower body articulation is mostly intact. The different side skirts tend to clash a bit with the back skirts, but they're on ball joints so they can sort of move out of the way.
With the bulky upper body, and the hooves, balance is a bit compromised. Still overall, it has excellent articulation. Mainly because it's not as bulky as it seems to be as the back is pretty bare. And it can still kneel quite beautifully.
Lot's of people would buy this for one thing: The gigantic Valykria Buster sword. Because it's the only weapon it has. You also get the extended hooves for better balance (no, it doesn't help that much) and the sword connector. that's it, which is fine considering the ginourmous sword.
The combined sword handles can collapse into something more compact.
You can also separate the hilt, which forms a club. So the one weapon is actually 2 weapons.
To hold it, the new giant hand has a peg which fits into the grooves on the sword and/or club handles. The handles are thick so I've no fear of breaking them. And unlike the Grimgerde, the ball joints on the hands are thicker as well and is super tight.
Which means you can sort of pose it pretty well. The hand will eventually droop though given the sheer weight of the thing. Makes me think that maybe it should have used plastic on plastic connection for the shoulder.
You also get this feature: you can pull part of the chest plate and stick it on your face... for the lightning attack? It never did this on the show, nor did it do the lightning thing. Meh
And of course, the debut of the Helmwige featured the crotch sword holder. Yep... he keeps his Valkyria Buster on his crotch. How appropriate. You need to parts swap that piece in by removing the front crotch armor.
And you'll end up with this. You then snap in the handles onto the clip and you get Ex-S level gun storage right here. except it has a massive sword instead.
And that's pretty much it. No alternate hands, No gun, no stand. But I'm not complaining due to the sheer size of the weapon included (how many times will I repeat that). Holding it two handed though could prove difficult due to the peg on the hand and the groove only slotting in one way.
The thing about these IBO kits though is they are somewhat modular, so you swap out bits and pieces of armor from other kits. It's a feature since the original barbatos.
I recall saying that the Grimgerde was very tall in the IBO universe. Come season 2 though, everything got high heels.
It's about the same size as Grimgerde height wise, but is quite a bit wider.
Barbatos Lupus is half a head taller though.
And here it is beside a normal 18 meter suit.
It was the suit that I was super looking forward to when they showed silhouettes of the season 2 mobile suits, thinking it was the Big Baddie's suit. Turns out to be a suit with very little action and then it got drilled in a cliched way and died. It's still a pretty good kit, if a bit imbalanced. The valkyrie frame gives it superb articulation, but a part of me wishes that the armor for the lower body was thicker and covered more. Also it's only the second suit to use the valkyrie frame so it's not as familiar, build wise. I'd recommend it, especially if you want that sword.
Good:
- good articulation
- massive sword
- a rather unique design
- minimal stickers
Bad:
- top heavy; feet a bit too small to support ground poses with the massive sword
- the colors
- a bit hollow
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| back to the horrible photo editing norm |
Gundam universe has a penchant for weird names. Helmwige was one of valkyries (Grimgerde was another) from a music drama. Reincar is supposedly "reincar-nation". It's basically the Grimgerde wearing a new set of armor. I was a bit shocked that it was not Rustal's suit given how menacing the silhouette it. Anyway, onto the kit.
Aesthetics
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| that music drama trivia? Wikipedia folks. He is not civilised enough to know those |
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| no he knows nothing on either forms of football |
It also feels a bit off. It's light due to the hollow bits of the inner frame. Fine for the Grimgerde, a bit off putting on something that looks this bulky.
 |
| He hates this week so much that this review will be sooo negative |
I do like the surface detailing of the upper half of the body. The head could have been more menacing though.
The lower half is a bit more plain. It has hooves for feet. And the shin guard could be a bit more flared out. Still, it blends in to the overall aesthetic quite well. It's Alphonse from FMA.
 |
| He only watched the 1st Full Metal Alchemist Not brotherhood. Judge him |
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| He has 'em both in the same box and he didn't even bother to fact check |
Overall, it's a good looking suit. Sure I would have liked if the kit was a bit more fleshed out... but at the price, it's acceptable. With the Bael the last one announced with the 1/100 kit , not expecting this kit to be a 1/100 anytime soon. Maybe it'll be a P-Bandai. Maybe.
Articulation
I praised the Grimgered with it's articulation. How does the valkyrie frame move with the bulky armor?
The head being this small and the collar being this huge, you don't get any restrictions at all. The head can go up and down on it's double ball joint very well.
The backpack can swivel up and down.
It retains the Grimgerde's excellent ab articulation as there's litterally no ab armor. It's also quite tight, so it can deal with the additional bulk. You can also see below the polycap ball joint sockets for the shoulders. These can swivel up and down.
That shoulder swivel and ball joint, plus the joint inside the shoulder armor means that the massive shoulder pads do not hinder articulation all that much. The only problem is when you pose the arms. The forearms will hit the giant shoulder armor when you bend it in certain ways.
 |
| And he proceeds to not mention those positions |
The excellent lower body articulation is mostly intact. The different side skirts tend to clash a bit with the back skirts, but they're on ball joints so they can sort of move out of the way.
With the bulky upper body, and the hooves, balance is a bit compromised. Still overall, it has excellent articulation. Mainly because it's not as bulky as it seems to be as the back is pretty bare. And it can still kneel quite beautifully.
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| Drinking game: Bulk |
Weapons and Extras
Lot's of people would buy this for one thing: The gigantic Valykria Buster sword. Because it's the only weapon it has. You also get the extended hooves for better balance (no, it doesn't help that much) and the sword connector. that's it, which is fine considering the ginourmous sword.
The combined sword handles can collapse into something more compact.
You can also separate the hilt, which forms a club. So the one weapon is actually 2 weapons.
To hold it, the new giant hand has a peg which fits into the grooves on the sword and/or club handles. The handles are thick so I've no fear of breaking them. And unlike the Grimgerde, the ball joints on the hands are thicker as well and is super tight.
Which means you can sort of pose it pretty well. The hand will eventually droop though given the sheer weight of the thing. Makes me think that maybe it should have used plastic on plastic connection for the shoulder.
 |
| And then he proceeds to show you a pose with the sword on the ground |
And of course, the debut of the Helmwige featured the crotch sword holder. Yep... he keeps his Valkyria Buster on his crotch. How appropriate. You need to parts swap that piece in by removing the front crotch armor.
 |
| Crotch |
And that's pretty much it. No alternate hands, No gun, no stand. But I'm not complaining due to the sheer size of the weapon included (how many times will I repeat that). Holding it two handed though could prove difficult due to the peg on the hand and the groove only slotting in one way.
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| he's easily impressed by big swords |
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| LBX anyone |
Size Comparison and Other Comparison
I recall saying that the Grimgerde was very tall in the IBO universe. Come season 2 though, everything got high heels.
It's about the same size as Grimgerde height wise, but is quite a bit wider.
 |
| Don't trust him when he says he'll paint/customize it |
Barbatos Lupus is half a head taller though.
And here it is beside a normal 18 meter suit.
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| because rulers are so mainstream eh |
Summary
It was the suit that I was super looking forward to when they showed silhouettes of the season 2 mobile suits, thinking it was the Big Baddie's suit. Turns out to be a suit with very little action and then it got drilled in a cliched way and died. It's still a pretty good kit, if a bit imbalanced. The valkyrie frame gives it superb articulation, but a part of me wishes that the armor for the lower body was thicker and covered more. Also it's only the second suit to use the valkyrie frame so it's not as familiar, build wise. I'd recommend it, especially if you want that sword.
Good:
- good articulation
- massive sword
- a rather unique design
- minimal stickers
Bad:
- top heavy; feet a bit too small to support ground poses with the massive sword
- the colors
- a bit hollow
aftaaniNorman Dan Johnson https://wakelet.com/wake/2Ratj-Rkfq8vSjNou25bN
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