I promised myself I'd quit the hobby... especially now that I've hit 30. And yet here I am, with a new Model Kit from a movie that popped up early this year. It's been released for quite sometime now but was only made available last week locally. Here's a review of probably the most recognizable Japanese Super Robot of all time: Mazinger Z in it's Mazinger Z Infinity guise.
I'll be honest here and say this: As far as Japanese Super Robot Mecha is concerned, Mazinger Z isn't my favorite. The Getters are my prefered mechas. But for some reason this Movie version appeals to me.
As far as design is concerned, it's a love it or hate it affair. The classic folks prefer Mazinger with clean lines. As a fan of surface details (though not too much like those participants on GWC), I am drawn to this design a lot more.
The body is literally covered in panels, gaps and details in all of the surfaces and yet, as a whole, still looks proper Mazinger Z. It gives it a bit more realistic aesthetic.
For this kit, there are no stickers on the kit itself. Everything is molded in plastic and in color.
There are 2 things I wish they did though. I wish it had transparent yellow eyes to make it look like the box art. And it's preference, I wish there were stickers on the chest to reflect the breast fire blasters. It's a nitpick though since the solid yellow eyes makes it look alive.
Build process is also relatively simple... which makes sense as this is just a HG. Sure it's quite a bit more expensive but as you'll see in the size comparison, this thing is massive for a 1/144. And rightfully so as most Super Robot are much much taller than their Real Robot Counter Parts.
There are quite a few seams that are obvious despite the abundance places where this could be hidden: forearms, lower legs and the shoulder armor are very obvious locations. The semi gloss plastic doesn't help hide the nubs either. You're going to have to be creative in cementing and masking parts because of the way the joints are assembled.
Overall, the kit itself is a very accurate representation of this version of Mazinger. the colors are all there and the details on the kit itself is very good and crisp. You will need to sand this kit though to make it clean of nubs like in the show.
Mazinger Z's design doesn't really lend itself to poseability. It'll require joints that'll pop in and out of sockets to make it look accurate while making it poseable.
The head though is very articulate. The fact that there are no collars like Gundams means it's easy for the head to emote. The base of the neck is on a hinge and the head itself is on a ball joint. It's engineered so it can look way up for flying poses.
The grey torso piece houses 2 swiveling joints. The top half of the torso is on a ball joint, and the waist is just a giant peg.
While the upper torso movement has good range (especially as you can partially pull out the torso), the peg waist is a bit limited. I don't know why they didn't just make it a ball joint as well as it seems it can support the accessory.
The pieces that connects the arms to the chest are on moveable plates and the shoulder itself is on a ball joint. I was expecting the shoulder joint to go way higher but no, it's just that rectangular opening.
The swivel on the shoulder plates allow the arms to get out of the way a bit from the chest trim.
The shoulder armor can swivel up unnecessarily as it just reveals the shoulder's ugly seam.
The shoulder joint's limited movement means that if you want Mazinger to lift it's arms higher, you need to rotate the shoulder instead of relying on the shoulder joint. I guess this is to preserve some of the aesthetics.
The hip design of Mazinger will always be a problem since it's basically a diaper. The kit makes it a bit more difficult since the 2 tiny pieces that's connected to the hip joint that's suppose to be part of the waist can snag on the waist itself. The solve this by being able to pull down each leg.They can rotate though.
And it can move way down. The hip armor can also get out of the way.
The elbow and knees have double joint but the knee can only muster a little over 90 degrees.
The top of the ankle is on ball joints. You can pull it out a little bit to give it more range. The base is on 2 swivels: one to rock the ankle left and right and another front and back.
The feet design and the joints don't really go far enough though as wide legged poses means that the kit will be standing using the edge of the feet.
One of the main issue I have is the balance of the kit. The uneven feet couple with the rather light legs (it's just 3 pieces per shin + 2 more for the joint), means it's rather top heavy. You need to fudge with it a bit and can sometimes result in weird ankle positions just to make it stand.
Overall, articulation is decent but there are soul of chogokins better than this. the kit is top heavy and the ankles have limited range so posing this on dynamic ground poses is quite difficult. It's by design limited and the kit does as much as it can to make is poseable. If you can, I would add some putty on the shins to weight it down a bit.
Most of Mazinger's weapons are built in: Breast fire, Rust Hurricane, eye beams. And you get no effect parts for those which is understandable. What you get though is pretty good with one caveat.
That caveat? Hands. You get 2 right hands: one for chopping and one for shaking the hands of Great Mazinger (kit coming soon). The shaking hand can be re-purposed for an open palm hand but there are no alt hands for the left which is annoying, thus limiting posing options.
The other is not really an accessory but rather the essential part of Mazinger. The Hover Pilder is removable! The Pilder has a slot and the head has a peg to secure it in place.
The left wing on mine though is super loose though.
Now on to it's weapon accessory: You get pieces for the Iron Cutter. You 1st need to remove 2 panels from the forearms and just plug the silver blades. You get 4 blades, 2 for each arm.
You then use the karate chop hands with it.
For it's signature move that's copied by almost all Super Robots in one form or another, you get affect parts for the rocket punch attack. It can attach to an arm of the newer action base 5.
You get 2 of these and it has a peg on the end where the forearms can securely attach.
And you get an extra piece to cover the peg on the arm.
With a little perspective, you can sort of make it look like it fired it's rocket punch.
For the last of the built in weapons, you get another cover piece but with a peg.
This allows you to show Mazinger firing it's drill Missiles.
One of the reason it's also a bit more expensive is because it comes with an action base 5, a review you can read here. This one has a black base, but transparent arms. You get 2 special pieces for Mazinger to use: This grey one where you can sort of slot in Mazinger's crotch as it has not peg hole like the HG Gundams.
The other is a clear cradle, made especially for the last accessory...
That being the Jet Scrander. The stickers provided to you all go to detail up the scrander.
To mount it to Mazinger, you get a few more extra parts.
The grey piece you use to connect the scrander onto the back. The scrander will always have these holes. there are no piece to hide the holes.
The back piece of Mazinger can come off to reveal a peg hole and a vertical peg.
The connection is very secure. The rest of the connection is just for reinforcement.
The grey piece has some slits to peg in the waist "clips".
You just need to fiddle it around the waist.
The 2 pieces, while having what looks like a connector, doesn't really secure the 2 "clips" .
To finish it, you plug the yellow piece onto the "clips". here it's on backwards because I'm an idiot.
Since the wings are as wide as the kit is tall, this thing will take up a lot of space. It's now also quite back heavy.
The Wings themselves have some articulation i.e. the wings can swivel a little.
The flying pose requires you to use that clear piece, but it doesn't really securely holds it in place. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.
That's pretty much it. You don't get the giant belly missile so that's a shame and no effect parts but given the price (it's a unique mold after all) it's fine. You get a free action base 5 too. I just wish it had an open palm for the left hand.
As mentioned, this 1/144 kit is yuge despite being supposedly 18 meteres tall. It's does not have the heft of an MG but it sure has the size. Here it is compared to 1/144 Gundams.
Next to leader class soundblaster. It's about a head shorter.
Next to Super Robot Chogokin Gunbuster. It's a bit too big for your super robot chogokin collection but should fit in your Soul of Chogokins.
There are plenty of Mazinger Z merchandise for anyone who wants one. Chogokins, Revoltechs, Riobots, Sofubi etc. For this version of Mazinger, you have 2 options: This kit and the Metal build. The Metal Build if obviously the better one but it is very expensive. If you want a kit version of the Infinity design at a decent cost, then this version is not bad. If the legs have a bit more heft, it would have been almost perfect but the sculpt itself is excellent. You can go OOB and it'll look decent as there are no stickers at all on the main robot. If you're a fan of the design, I would suggest picking this one out.
Good:
- the cheapest option for a Mazinger Z infinity design
- quick build, not too stressful
- excellent parts separation
Bad:
- some obvious seams and nubs
- uneven balance makes posing difficult
- lacks heft
 |
| he's even lazier now at 30. Look at those spark effects |
I'll be honest here and say this: As far as Japanese Super Robot Mecha is concerned, Mazinger Z isn't my favorite. The Getters are my prefered mechas. But for some reason this Movie version appeals to me.
Aesthetics
As far as design is concerned, it's a love it or hate it affair. The classic folks prefer Mazinger with clean lines. As a fan of surface details (though not too much like those participants on GWC), I am drawn to this design a lot more.
The body is literally covered in panels, gaps and details in all of the surfaces and yet, as a whole, still looks proper Mazinger Z. It gives it a bit more realistic aesthetic.
For this kit, there are no stickers on the kit itself. Everything is molded in plastic and in color.
There are 2 things I wish they did though. I wish it had transparent yellow eyes to make it look like the box art. And it's preference, I wish there were stickers on the chest to reflect the breast fire blasters. It's a nitpick though since the solid yellow eyes makes it look alive.
Build process is also relatively simple... which makes sense as this is just a HG. Sure it's quite a bit more expensive but as you'll see in the size comparison, this thing is massive for a 1/144. And rightfully so as most Super Robot are much much taller than their Real Robot Counter Parts.
There are quite a few seams that are obvious despite the abundance places where this could be hidden: forearms, lower legs and the shoulder armor are very obvious locations. The semi gloss plastic doesn't help hide the nubs either. You're going to have to be creative in cementing and masking parts because of the way the joints are assembled.
Overall, the kit itself is a very accurate representation of this version of Mazinger. the colors are all there and the details on the kit itself is very good and crisp. You will need to sand this kit though to make it clean of nubs like in the show.
Articulation
Mazinger Z's design doesn't really lend itself to poseability. It'll require joints that'll pop in and out of sockets to make it look accurate while making it poseable.
The head though is very articulate. The fact that there are no collars like Gundams means it's easy for the head to emote. The base of the neck is on a hinge and the head itself is on a ball joint. It's engineered so it can look way up for flying poses.
 |
| he's captioning less now... just because he's lazy |
The grey torso piece houses 2 swiveling joints. The top half of the torso is on a ball joint, and the waist is just a giant peg.
While the upper torso movement has good range (especially as you can partially pull out the torso), the peg waist is a bit limited. I don't know why they didn't just make it a ball joint as well as it seems it can support the accessory.
The pieces that connects the arms to the chest are on moveable plates and the shoulder itself is on a ball joint. I was expecting the shoulder joint to go way higher but no, it's just that rectangular opening.
The swivel on the shoulder plates allow the arms to get out of the way a bit from the chest trim.
The shoulder armor can swivel up unnecessarily as it just reveals the shoulder's ugly seam.
The shoulder joint's limited movement means that if you want Mazinger to lift it's arms higher, you need to rotate the shoulder instead of relying on the shoulder joint. I guess this is to preserve some of the aesthetics.
The hip design of Mazinger will always be a problem since it's basically a diaper. The kit makes it a bit more difficult since the 2 tiny pieces that's connected to the hip joint that's suppose to be part of the waist can snag on the waist itself. The solve this by being able to pull down each leg.They can rotate though.
And it can move way down. The hip armor can also get out of the way.
The elbow and knees have double joint but the knee can only muster a little over 90 degrees.
The top of the ankle is on ball joints. You can pull it out a little bit to give it more range. The base is on 2 swivels: one to rock the ankle left and right and another front and back.
The feet design and the joints don't really go far enough though as wide legged poses means that the kit will be standing using the edge of the feet.
One of the main issue I have is the balance of the kit. The uneven feet couple with the rather light legs (it's just 3 pieces per shin + 2 more for the joint), means it's rather top heavy. You need to fudge with it a bit and can sometimes result in weird ankle positions just to make it stand.
 |
| no stands here though |
 |
| It can kneel though so it's a win right based on previous standards? |
Weapons and Extras
Most of Mazinger's weapons are built in: Breast fire, Rust Hurricane, eye beams. And you get no effect parts for those which is understandable. What you get though is pretty good with one caveat.
That caveat? Hands. You get 2 right hands: one for chopping and one for shaking the hands of Great Mazinger (kit coming soon). The shaking hand can be re-purposed for an open palm hand but there are no alt hands for the left which is annoying, thus limiting posing options.
The other is not really an accessory but rather the essential part of Mazinger. The Hover Pilder is removable! The Pilder has a slot and the head has a peg to secure it in place.
The left wing on mine though is super loose though.
Now on to it's weapon accessory: You get pieces for the Iron Cutter. You 1st need to remove 2 panels from the forearms and just plug the silver blades. You get 4 blades, 2 for each arm.
You then use the karate chop hands with it.
For it's signature move that's copied by almost all Super Robots in one form or another, you get affect parts for the rocket punch attack. It can attach to an arm of the newer action base 5.
You get 2 of these and it has a peg on the end where the forearms can securely attach.
And you get an extra piece to cover the peg on the arm.
With a little perspective, you can sort of make it look like it fired it's rocket punch.
 |
| this is not that perspective |
This allows you to show Mazinger firing it's drill Missiles.
One of the reason it's also a bit more expensive is because it comes with an action base 5, a review you can read here. This one has a black base, but transparent arms. You get 2 special pieces for Mazinger to use: This grey one where you can sort of slot in Mazinger's crotch as it has not peg hole like the HG Gundams.
The other is a clear cradle, made especially for the last accessory...
That being the Jet Scrander. The stickers provided to you all go to detail up the scrander.
To mount it to Mazinger, you get a few more extra parts.
The grey piece you use to connect the scrander onto the back. The scrander will always have these holes. there are no piece to hide the holes.
The back piece of Mazinger can come off to reveal a peg hole and a vertical peg.
The connection is very secure. The rest of the connection is just for reinforcement.
The grey piece has some slits to peg in the waist "clips".
You just need to fiddle it around the waist.
The 2 pieces, while having what looks like a connector, doesn't really secure the 2 "clips" .
To finish it, you plug the yellow piece onto the "clips". here it's on backwards because I'm an idiot.
Since the wings are as wide as the kit is tall, this thing will take up a lot of space. It's now also quite back heavy.
The Wings themselves have some articulation i.e. the wings can swivel a little.
The flying pose requires you to use that clear piece, but it doesn't really securely holds it in place. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.
 |
| it fell from this pose about a dozen times |
That's pretty much it. You don't get the giant belly missile so that's a shame and no effect parts but given the price (it's a unique mold after all) it's fine. You get a free action base 5 too. I just wish it had an open palm for the left hand.
Size Comparison
As mentioned, this 1/144 kit is yuge despite being supposedly 18 meteres tall. It's does not have the heft of an MG but it sure has the size. Here it is compared to 1/144 Gundams.
Next to leader class soundblaster. It's about a head shorter.
Next to Super Robot Chogokin Gunbuster. It's a bit too big for your super robot chogokin collection but should fit in your Soul of Chogokins.
Summary
There are plenty of Mazinger Z merchandise for anyone who wants one. Chogokins, Revoltechs, Riobots, Sofubi etc. For this version of Mazinger, you have 2 options: This kit and the Metal build. The Metal Build if obviously the better one but it is very expensive. If you want a kit version of the Infinity design at a decent cost, then this version is not bad. If the legs have a bit more heft, it would have been almost perfect but the sculpt itself is excellent. You can go OOB and it'll look decent as there are no stickers at all on the main robot. If you're a fan of the design, I would suggest picking this one out.
Good:
- the cheapest option for a Mazinger Z infinity design
- quick build, not too stressful
- excellent parts separation
Bad:
- some obvious seams and nubs
- uneven balance makes posing difficult
- lacks heft
Nmolcocrepwa Alex Friedrich https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=9perflici-na.Descargar-Voice-Visualizer-gratuita-2022
ReplyDeletemukelasni
cuiniex-i Mary Rose https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1zJ6_rcFQnjC6OAgoBHLqRMQ91NF9PzAt
ReplyDeleteclick
click here
click here
scorculinmang
daeticred_he-1984 Latrice Johnson Cisco Packet Tracer
ReplyDeleteDisk Drill
https://4windows.net/category/system/drivers/
delatotless
batulo-mu1989 Erica Cain there
ReplyDeleteClick
scoutareshos