Now that the Robot Damashii Dunbine is in the wild, Bandai have created a rather wonderful page for their new Aura Battler toys. Showing the previously released Billbine as well as the forthcoming camo-coloured Billbine too. Not to mention the wing calibur attachment has been revealed in detail finally. What’s especially lovely about this toy though, despite the fact we love Aura Battler Dunbine, is that people like Hidetaka Tenjin have been posting pictures of the toy squaring off against cats. In any case, the toy does look lovely and we can’t wait to get ours in the post.

Bandai have announced the later alternate colour version of the Billbine as one of their premium online shop only items. Pre-orders start today and the toy will be released in February of next year. Costing 4,275 yen it’s in the same price range as the original, though if you can find the latter at that price then good luck (as it’s already pretty rare now). If you live outside Japan then getting a hold of this will be a bit tricky but we will be nabbing one for sure. As “upgrades” go in anime, the alternate colour for Billbine didn’t actually do that much. Rather it was the supposed result of field maintenance and parts replacement during the extended battles back on Earth. Personally, we prefer the original colour scheme but the dark blue and green colours do make it look pretty tough.

Well, we now know how much the forthcoming 1/60 scale VF-4G Lightning III will cost. That of an eye watering 26,985 yen. In addition, this will only be available to purchase via Yamato’s online shop. Whilst the toy will be released sometime this December, orders will be opening up later this August. Despite the price tag, we will be getting this as we’ve always loved the VF-4 and this toy looks to have a really remarkable sculpt.

Update: Yamato are now taking orders here.

At this summer’s Wonder Festival, Sentinel have definitely revealed something rather cool in their increasingly awesome Riobot toyline. That of the mighty Blodia (pictured above) from the classic arcade game, Cyberbots. The mecha was also featured in the Cyberbots sequel Kikaioh as well, though as a slightly pimped up unlockable. If that wasn’t enough, Kotobukiya are also apparently releasing a kit of Metal Gear Rex as well. Though, Sentinel still steal the show for us as the recent reveal that the exquisitely designed Tsugumori from the Knights of Sidonia manga (by the simply brilliant Tsutomu Nihei) will be also getting the Riobot treatment. If you want to peruse the rest of the Wonder Festival coverage, then have a look here and here.

As you know, we’re fans of the lovely Dreamcast game Rise from the Ashes and we especially adore Yutaka Izubuchi’s fantastic design of the RGM-79SP GM Sniper II. We’ve also already reviewed the Robot Damashii toys, both of the classic design and the White Dingo variant. Well it now seems we’ll also be getting a limited release HGUC kit of the latter. It comes with more guns and even a Minovsky tank too. Unfortunately it’s one of those premium Bandai shop items. In any case, the kit is release in September and will cost 1,890 yen.

Over at the Yamato website they’ve announced a pre-order bonus for the forthcoming 1/60 scale VF-4G Lightning III toy. If you’re a normal member of the public you’ll get a 5% discount but if you’re a Yamato Fanclub member you’ll also get an additional 5% discount (amounting a nice total of 10% in all). The deadline for all the pre-orders is midday on the 30th July. Whilst the price point still isn’t determined what is more worrying is that Yamato are using this pre-order setup to gauge demand. So if they’re aren’t enough pre-orders we won’t even get this toy. If you’re curious as to how the development of it has gone thus far, then have a look here. It looks really quite lovely and there’s clear diecast in the joints too (this being a very good thing obviously). Either way we’ve got our fingers crossed for this one as we want it bad.

As we mentioned previously, the positively regal Billbine will be receiving a Robot Damashii toy this July. Even more wonderful is the fact that Dunbine will also receive similar treatment later this year. For long time readers of this site you’ll know we seriously wub Aura Battler Dunbine and these toys are just exquisite. The fact we’re also getting a Dunbine and one of this quality is really fantastic as far as we’re concerned. In any case, this Dunbine toy will be out in October of this year and will cost 4,410 yen.

This year’s Shizuoka Hobby Show is now in full swing. Among the many new items shown, with a mention of a Kagekiyo kit being pretty cool, is the reveal of Yamato’s next 1/60 scale variable fighter toy. Specifically that of the VF-4G Lightning III. The mecha itself has an interesting history, as it was originally (though very briefly) shown as a toy in the original Macross TV series. A more substantial display was then later included within Macross Flashback 2012. In both instances though the mecha was only shown in fighter mode. For years this produced all manner of speculation as to its transformation sequence, as well as what the battroid mode would actually look like. In 1995 the questions were answered as the variable fighter was featured (fully transformable) in Macross Digital Mission VF-X. Whilst the game was a steaming pile of bobbins (despite having a damn sexy intro) it did at least lay much of the fan inquiry to rest. Since then, the VF-4 has been a staple of pretty much every Macross game since. All that aside though, it’s one of our favourite designs from Macross and we’re so very happy that Yamato are doing the decent thing and making a toy out of it. No word or pricing or release date as yet but considering that the VF-4 was operationally rolled out in the Macross timeline around September 2012, expect Yamato to try and hit that date. Yamato also have a very nice page detailing the toy’s engineering in regards to its transformation. If you want to have a look at the rest of what the hobby show has on offer, then feast your eyes on this, this and this.

Bandai have finally updated their product page for the forthcoming Robot Damashii Billbine toy, set for release this July. As revealed recently, the toy will indeed transform into wing caliber mode as well as afford a nice effect for the aura sword (pictured above). What’s not clear at present is whether the cockpit will contain a figure of Show Zama (or even if it will open) and if the aura cannons at the rear will fold down as they do in the series. We still love the sculpt of this toy though, especially as it’s been posed pretty consistently as per our favourite piece of Yuji Kaida box art for the old 1/48 kit (as seen here). To be fair we are huge fans of Aura Battler Dunbine and especially of Yutaka Izubuchi’s mecha design for the series, of which the Billbine is one. So we really can’t wait for this toy. As always, you can pre-order it here and it will be retailing at around 4,500 yen at release.

There are few games that can define a console’s gaming worth, that make people go out and buy the hardware just to play that one game. As a series, Virtual On had suffered somewhat in its console renditions. With the first game being seriously hacked apart to make it run on the much less powerful Saturn. Whilst the game was still excellent it wasn’t what the original arcade version was like to play, even with the TwinStick peripheral.

So when SEGA announced that the sequel, Oratorio Tangram, would be ported to the Dreamcast there was a collective sharp intake of breath amongst fans. Could they really pull it off this time? Porting from Model 3 arcade board down to the Dreamcast, wouldn’t that just be as bad as what happened to the first game on the Saturn? More importantly, would it have a new TwinStick peripheral?

All those questions were answered come the game’s release and, for us, this game ultimately ended up defining the console in so many wonderful ways.