Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent the latest in Bandai’s Armor Plus toy range; Tekkaman Blade. This titular mecha was also repackaged abroad as Teknoman and, due to the series’ high production standards, enjoyed a large amount of popularity across the world. Earlier this week, Capcom finally released Tatsunoko vs Capcom Ultimate All Stars (which you can buy here) and it features Blade as a playable character. So Bandai’s release of this toy is timely indeed.

Due to the nature that this is a toy, all pictures shown are of the item out of the box. However, we’ve also included comparison shots of the recently released Soul of Chogokin Spec Tekkaman and Pegas set (sold separately). In any case, it’s worth clarifying here that this toy is one of the few that falls under the category of “impossibly awesome”. Click on to read more…

We mentioned the PS3 version of Thexder Neo not that long ago but today it’s been finally released across the world via the PlayStation Network store. Now, we really quite enjoyed the PSP version but the remake was somewhat misunderstood by much of the Western gaming press – as they most probably had no recollection of the original games. The PS3 version is basically the same as the PSP game though (bar being much prettier), so I doubt they’re going to be won over but at least Square Enix have bundled the original NEC PC-8801 version along with the shinier remake to at least clarify matters. In any case, if you have a PS3 then go buy Thexder Neo (unless you are one of those people that’s dead inside and/or has flippers for hands).

We mentioned a while back about Lost Planet 2 model kits being scheduled for release along with the game, it turns out that these have become action figures instead. Now, it’s worth clarifying that Kotobukiya are excellent model kit makers but when it comes to toys they’re not overly brilliant. This is because toy development and manufacture is a lot more expensive than kits. So when you look at the pictures of the new PTX-140R Hardballer you can see that its feet don’t sit flat to the ground, this is down to reduced articulation as joints are expensive to engineer for bigger toys (especially at the collector end of the spectrum). Thankfully the GTF-11 Drio won’t suffer from this issue so much as the design is more straightforward. These new toys will be available in May for 4,200 yen each and are apparently set at 1/35 scale.

There will also be limited edition colour variants of these two toys at release in Japan, though whether these will also be available abroad remains to be seen. You can pre-order both toys here and here (at a reduced price of 3,800 yen no less).

The just released 1/100 VF HI-METAL Fire Valkyrie is getting the Sound Booster add-on in the very near future via the Bandai online collector’s shop. The Sound Booster maximised the sound energy of the respective pilot in each of the Fire Bomber variable fighters, making them a real threat to the Protodeviln forces.The Sound Booster was also featured as a playable add-on in the recent Macross Ultimate Frontier.

The upcoming Gundam Assault Survive received a new promo recently and it shows more about how the mission and area layout structure differs from the Gundam Battle games. The game engine also has received more work as has the art, as for the latter many of the explosions look more beefy compared to the Gundam Battle variants. The game is still scheduled for a March release and you can pre-order it here.

Over at GA Graphic they’ve previewed the upcoming Shrike kit from Border Break. Like the other kits from the game, this is also being handled by Kotobukiya so expect good things for the final product. The Shrike is one of the Support class frames but like everything in the game, the mecha can be re-purposed across each class. The kit will be available in May for 3,675 yen and you can pre-order it here.

Over at Play-Asia they’re doing another of their bargains, with the classic Dreamcast arcade port of Choukou Senki Kikaioh (or Tech Romancer as it was known abroad). This particular version also features the online matchmaking service, though whether that works these days is anybody’s guess. Kikaioh was, in many ways, a spiritual successor to Cyberbots (as it also featured Jin Saotome’s Blodia as an unlockable). However, what made the game quite interesting was how it hired Shoji Kawamori to pen a fictional pantheon of mecha designs, spanning both the real and super spectrum (the above picture is a sketch he did of the titular Kikaioh if you’re wondering). In any case, the game also features a lovely unlockable anime opening (shown below). Make sure you also have an arcade stick for this, as you’ll really need it.

Update: Play-Asia have sold out their copies for this – which was pretty quick!

We’ve mentioned the upcoming and reportedly final entry into the VOTOMS saga “Gen-ei Hen” before but the official site has released some new promo videos. These show that much of the same production values seen in Pailsen Files are still reassuringly present in Gen-ei Hen, and that the AT arena also makes a welcome comeback (though it’s saddening but admittedly interesting to see Chirico and Ru face off, as they were allies previously).

As for any gaming tie-ins, not much is known at present. There are rumours of a possible PSP game on the horizon, as Pailsen Files recently received a UMD video release in Japan and the excellent PlayStation 2 game could have its tech ported quite easily. As for whether Yuke’s will take the reigns of this is anyone’s guess. Considering that this series is officially the final send off for the VOTOMS saga it will be interesting to see what Sunrise and Bandai will release alongside it, games or otherwise. We’ll know come the end of March most probably, when Gen-ei Hen is finally released.

The upcoming Activision published High Moon developed Transformers: War for Cybetron will be receiving its own line of toys made by Hasbro. Above is the unfinished prototype of the new Optimus Prime and it will be part of the “Deluxe” range apparently (which will also include Bumblebee, Drift, Megatron and the Soundwave toys from the game). Considering the Japanese origins of the series, it’s sad that more experienced toy manufacturers (such as Takara) are no longer able to really get involved in the franchise (though the Binaltech and Masterpiece lines are obvious and truly wondrous exceptions to this rule). Admittedly these new “Deluxe” toys are only going to cost around $10-20 each but considering the fans they’re targeting the game at are now in their thirties, it seems that Hasbro are aiming the quality bar a bit low. These toys will be released sometime this year, to obviously tie in with the game’s release no doubt. In any case, it’s nice that Western developed mecha games are getting their own toys again finally.

The upcoming Gundam Unicorn anime received a new PV today and its theme song was also announced; “Ryuusei no Namida” sung by Chiaki Kuriyama, which will be her vocal debut (as you’ll most probably know her as an actress appearing in films like Kill Bill and Battle Royale). The literal translation of the song title means “Meteor’s Tears”.

We’ve covered Gundam Unicorn before and what makes this anime interesting is that, like Xam’d, it’s being distributed online via the PlayStation Network in a few weeks. Not to mention that the titular Unicorn Gundam has been gracing arcades and PSPs in Gundam vs Gundam Next and that the series main mecha design is being handled by Hajime Katoki (a video game veteran when it comes to mecha). In any case, we’ve linked the video of the new theme song below and we actually like it, quite a bit in fact.