You’ve seen the pictures, and you know the price. So it’s either now or never: threeA’s Metal Gear Rex replica goes on sale in just a few. At 9 am Hong Kong time, to be exact.

Which is 1 am GMT for the rest of the world (for you lazy Americans reading this, that’s 8 pm east coast/5 pm west coast, fyi). And that’s a little less than two hours from the time of this writing.

Unfortunately, at this exact moment as well, threeA’s exclusive online retailer is running somewhat sluggishly. One hopes that everyone interested in nabbing will be able to do so with minimal of technical issues.

As many have been already speculated, the production run for this is assumed to be quite low, so this might be one’s only chance to pick Rex up. Though Tomopop also notes that Sideshow Collectibles will be selling it later down the road.

But who knows if they’re offer free shipping (which makes Bambalandstore asking price of $490 a tad easier to swallow).

Bandai have announced that one of the next Robot Damashii toys will be that of the original XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero. Whilst we’re not fans of the anime that much really, we do like the designs a fair bit (barring the mecha chicken variant of the Wing Zero in Endless Waltz obviously). This release has been hinted at for a fair while now as well but we’re glad it’s finally going to happen. Released this June for a very reasonable 4,410 yen, the toy even transforms.

It seems that Bandai have decided to produce what looks to be a very nice 1/60 scale DX Chogokin of the VF-171EX Nightmare Plus in Alto Saotome’s colours. Priced at 14,700 yen and out this June, it will apparently be using much of the newer engineering that has been spearheaded by the VF-25 “Renewal” toys. From the site it’s not clear whether the full weapon set seen in the anime will be present, as the current gunpod in the shots is only that of the standard MC-17A rather than the AVPAGC/MEDC30-EX-A Anti-Vajra MDE anti-gravity particle cannon. Hopefully, the super parts will also become available at a later date too. Either way, this is an interesting choice on the part of Bandai as the design, whilst obviously very nice, is pretty short-lived in the anime and it would have also required them to create all new moulds for the toy too.

After a fair while, Kotobukiya have finally revealed their release plans for the forthcoming Vic Viper LEV kit from Anubis. Coming in at 5,670 yen and released this June, the kit will also come with its own stand. The latter makes a lot of sense as the design itself doesn’t have feet in the traditional sense and it also transforms into the classic Gradius inspired fighter the mecha takes its name from. As with all Kotobukiya kits the detailing and the sculpt look suitably impressive and considering the engineering at work here we’re surprised the price tag wasn’t higher. In any case, if you’re a fan of the design then you can pre-order the kit here.

After a fair bit of ambiguity regarding Armored Core V’s toys, we now finally have some concrete details as to what and when is getting released. Over at From Software’s official site for the game, it’s now clear that the prototype figures we saw will actually be released as part of two separate packs. The first, is the mecha itself with a fairly default weapon loadout. This will cost 5,040 yen and be comprised of ABS, PVC and diecast metal. The second pack is for the Grind Blade overed weapon, which will cost 2,940 yen and only be made of ABS and PVC (bit unfortunate that). Both packs will be available sometime this June, which is quite a way away really.

Considering that the last set of Armored Core toys we got were the pretty horrific Kaiyodo monstrosities for Armored Core 2 and Another Age, the fact Bandai are finally handling this and in their Super Robot Chogokin line no less is making us very happy indeed. The paint job looks to be suitably decent too.

What’s really interesting is that the mecha design for the game was actually partially handled by a group known as BEE-CRAFT. This is comprised of multiple members who have worked at Bandai for years, specifically helping design the various model kits for the Gundam franchise. Of these, Junichi Akutsu is especially notable as he was one of the main mecha designers for the wonderful Gungriffon games too. The latter being ironic as these were originally a direct competitor with Armored Core, so in that sense the mecha design has come full circle at least. The reason BEE-CRAFT’s involvement in Armored Core V is notable is because it means that these toys will likely have been designed by very nerdy professionals. This is something we wholeheartedly approve of.

No word on whether more figures will follow this initial set in June, as it will likely depend on their sales. With any luck these toys will also make it to the West but that will again depend on how well the game does come its March release.

If you missed out on the crazy short run for the last 1/60 scale DX Chogokin YF-29 Durandal then you’ve now got a second chance. Coming in May, the toy will be reissued. Still no word on whether the super pack set will resurface, as that was an online only purchase originally. Considering that the original toy now goes for almost three times the original asking price, this reissue is a good thing. Admittedly, this will still cost 17,850 yen but it’s a very nice toy indeed. The mecha itself was featured towards the latter part of the Macross Frontier movie The Wings of Farewell and was playable in Macross Last Frontier too. We managed to nab one of the original toys, with super pack, at release so we may get around to doing a toy review of it as some point (if people are interested). You’ll be able to pre-order the reissue YF-29 from here.

To commemorate the release of Armored Core V today and courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent the Nineball (Armored Core Ver.) kit from the original Armored Core. Our review is also of the kit in its unpainted form. In addition, to help give the kit some context, we’ve also included some video footage of it from the original PSone and PS2 games at the end of the review.

Following on from our Revoltech Jehuty (Anubis Version) review, our good friends at HobbyLink Japan have sent us the Revoltech Anubis (from the game of the same name). Now, whilst we aren’t huge fans of the Zone of the Enders series, we’ve always loved the designs that Yoji Shinkawa penned for the games. We’ve also included some game footage at the end of the review.

Those who follows the creator of Metal Gear’s Twitter feed (his main Japanese one, not the English language version) is well aware of his affinity for taking and sharing iPhone pics. And earlier morning, instead of his latest meal like usual, Hideo Kojima chose to highlight what appears to be a completed (or nearly so) version of threeA’s mammoth rendition of Rex.

In addition to being able to admire the product’s finish, one can fully comprehend its ginormous size, mostly via the pictures featuring Yoji Shinkawa, like a proud father holding up his newborn child. But the most noteworthy image is the close up of its left leg.

As Kojima notes in the accompanying tweet, it (along with the detachable rail gun) is designed to give Rex the same beat-up appearance he sports in Metal Gear Solid 4. I almost fainted when I saw the image, no joke. As for when it’ll be available, later this month is apparently the answer. But no word yet on the final price.

One of the classic Yutaka Izubuchi Gundam designs is finally getting the Robot Damashii treatment. That of the suitably majestic RX-93 Nu Gundam from Char’s Counterattack. To list the number of games and systems this mecha has appeared in would be a bit silly, as it’s basically been in pretty much everything. Like the RX-78-2 before it, the Nu Gundam is as iconic as it marks the closing chapter of Amuro and Char’s conflict and it is one of the few Federation mobile suits to employ Newtype controlled funnels. Anyway, we’re big fans of the design and normally, when it comes to Bandai’s business, the Hi-Nu Gundam normally follows suit (as the two designs share a similar base, of sorts). We’re putting money that the eventual Hi-Nu Gundam toy will be an online only purchase though, through Bandai’s premium online store. Anyway, the toy is out in April and you can pre-order it here.