The insatiably iconic White Glint from Armored Core For Answer is getting yet another kit from Kotobukiya. In the form of a new “D-style” super deformed version to be exact. This also marks the first time any Armored Core designs have been rendered in kit form like this. The kit will be available in June for 2100 yen and it stands at a proud 10.5 cm in height. What this kit does potentially suggest, due to its new proportions, is that having AC’s featured in Super Robot Wars isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.

Over at GA Graphic there is a lovely preview of the upcoming 1/72 scale TYPE-LAHIRE Stasis kit. Despite the somewhat erroneous header that states that this is a Ray Leonard frame, it’s actually made by Omer in the games (though it was meant to combat the high speed nature of Ray Leonard’s Aaliyah frame). The Stasis was exclusively featured in the recent Armored Core For Answer and was quite a nimble opponent. The design was also one of the few that wasn’t penned by a guest illustrator, but instead created in-house. This kit ships in April for 5,200 yen and you can pre-order it here.

Like so many others, I’ve been looking forward to the next update from Danny Choo, who always provide excellent coverage of events like Wonder Festival 2010. Yet, perhaps because he’s been so busy with the show (due in part to his responsibilities with Good Smile Company I’m assuming), his blog has been a bit on the quiet side as of late. So due to boredom, I decided to check the archive, and stumbled across a great round-up of some truly incredible examples of papercraft. Click on to see more…

Model kit maker Hasegawa has announced that they’ll be releasing a Guarayakha kit in the near future. This rather cute looking mecha is a VR from Virtual On Force (though it also appeared in Marz too). This VR is rather interesting in terms of the narrative, as it’s meant to contain the terrifying force that is Jaguarandi. Unfortunately, this plan backfires and it actually allows Jaguarandi to manifest itself more readily (killing the pilot when it does so). Jaguarandi was an enemy in the original Virtual On that was triggered if you took too long on the initial missions in the game, it was a very fast and powerful VR with the sole purpose of stealing as many credits from the player as possible by being a particularly brutal opponent. Jaguarandi was replaced by Ajim in Oratan but returned in Force and Marz.

The more observant of you will realise that this isn’t a Kotobukiya kit, as this is due to Hasegawa having the rights to Force as well as Marz. As such they’ve been producing kits from these games for a while now (with the Shirokis Temjin being our favourite). On the whole Hasegawa kits are more technical in their construction than the Kotobukiya efforts, not to mention requiring a far defter hand when it comes to painting the finished kit. Guarayakha will be released later this month for 3,200 yen and you can pre-order it here.

Over at Hobby Stock there is some nice photo coverage of the current Wonder Festival. Apart from cool stuff like an SD White Glint kit, Kotobukiya also announced their intent to make a kit of SAV-07-D Belgdor from the original Virtual On. Belgdor is an interesting design both functionally and aesthetically, as it was the most real robot VR in the game (as it used solid ammunition amongst other things). It was also one of the weaker units too but that didn’t stop the versus community from coming up with a variety of techniques to keep Belgdor competitive, with the usage of rowing being notable. Belgdor also received various updates in both Oratan and Force; from Grys-vok, to Stein-vok and finally the Vox series. No word on a release date or pricing as yet but like the other Kotobukiya kits it probably won’t be that expensive.

Over at the AmiAmi blog they’re covering the Tamashii Features event, which is basically an orgy of Robot Damashii toys all neatly arranged for the discerning mecha fan. Out of the many toys on display, the Yutaka Izubuchi designed RGM-79SP GM Sniper II caught our eye. Not only because it’s a lovely design but also due to its presence in the excellent Dreamcast game Rise from the Ashes. Thankfully, Bandai are producing both colour schemes of the mobile suit (as it originally appeared in Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket). No word on a release date as yet but the good news is that it won’t be prohibitively expensive. We’ve also included a video of the GM Sniper II in action from the Rise from the Ashes Premium Disc below…

Update: GA Graphic also have a nice report up for the Tamashii Features show.

Resin kit maker Authorize have created a wonderful and fully transformable kit of Yoji Shinkawa’s design for the Vic Viper LEV from Anubis. Now, we’re not very big fans of the ZOE games but we still adore Shinkawa’s designwork for them (so this kit is very much welcomed).

It’s also worth clarifying that this is resin kit, which means it’s much more fragile than your average injection plastic efforts from either Bandai or Kotobukiya. You need to be a very experienced model kit builder in order to put this together. You can make your order at Tokyo Hunter, but move quickly as orders close tomorrow. The kit will be released on the 7th February for a very affordable 7000 yen and it’s a Wonder Festival 2010 Winter event exclusive.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent the Variable Action Zephyr from Hao Taikei Ryu Knight, a very successful anime series from the mid-90’s. The Zephyr was also recently featured in the quite excellent Super Robot Wars Neo. Interestingly, due to its already rather distorted proportions, the Zephyr wasn’t rendered in SD in Neo compared to many of the other featured mecha.

Due to the nature that this is a toy, all pictures shown are of the item out of the box. Click on to read more…

Over at GA Graphic they’ve previewed the upcoming release of the 1/60 scale DX Chogokin VF-27 Lucifer. This is the main antagonist’s variable fighter in Macross Frontier and one that has to be piloted by a cyborg, not only due to the extreme g-forces it exerts upon the pilot but also because of its unique VR cockpit. Much like the VF-25 Messiah, the VF-27 Lucifer is also based upon the YF-24 Evolution developed by Shinsei Industries (the same company that developed the YF-19 in Macross Plus in case you’re wondering).

The VF-27 was also featured in both Macross Ace Frontier and Macross Ultimate Frontier, though with the latter it was thankfully easier to attain. This new toy looks to be as sturdy as the other Bandai 1/60 scale entries though and it’s managed to convey the design pretty decently too. Admittedly, it is unavoidably bulky in places but that was always going to be an issue with this design. In any case, you can pre-order it here.

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…