Following on from our previous post about a forthcoming E-MF-LZ-00X-2 Layzner Mk2 toy, it turns out in fact that we will be likely getting it as a Soul of Chogokin Spec iteration (something we hoped and suspected). On top of that, it seems that demand is high enough for the suitably bling SPT-ZK-53U Zakarl (shown above) to get the same treatment. What’s interesting about this is that fans wanted continuity from the previous, and thoroughly excellent, Soul of Chogokin Spec Layzner. We wholly endorse this request. No word on pricing or release as yet but once we know more we’ll let you know.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan we’ve been sent the Robot Damashii Nu Gundam and Robot Damashii Sazabi as seen in the climactic film Char’s Counterattack. In addition, we’ve also included some game and anime footage of the mecha in action at the end of the review.

Following the Tamashii Nations 2012 poll where the wonderful Layzner came out on top, Bandai have been working hard to fulfill the wishes of their fans. As we already have a thoroughly excellent Soul of Chogokin Spec Layzner toy, it now looks like we’ll be getting an E-MF-LZ-00X-2 Layzner Mk2 figure too. This was the designed but never animated version of the titular upgraded and transformable Layzner that was meant to appear at the end of the second season. Due to all manner of funding issues, the series was cut short and the Mk2 never appeared. However, as is always the case in gaming, the Mk2 has graced many games over the years. From Super Robot Wars to the Another Century’s Episode games and as such the Mk2 is very much a fan favourite (so it makes sense to have a figure made of it finally). No word on release, toyline or price but Bandai have followed this announcement up with asking people to fill in an online questionnaire. It is interesting to see Layzner still endure like this though. Especially as the series is very influential when it comes to mecha gaming. If only the PS2 game had been finished, oh well.

There have been some interesting reveals at this year’s All-Japan Model Hobby Show as well as via Kotobuikya. In regards to the latter, Kotobukiya’s output has birthed the rather incredible kit above from Armored Core V (as was mentioned a while back). The sculpt being something of truly amazing finesse and it seems that there will be all manner of other kits available for it too (including tanks and helicopters from the game), so you can build your very own diorama.

Moving on from that, Wave have shown a variety of new garage kits. From Galient to Vifam, though what has really peaked our interest is this lovely Layzner Mk. II kit. Hasegawa even previewed a new Kagekiyo kit from Virtual On Force. If you want to see more of the hobby show, then AmiAmi has lots of lovely photos here, here and here.

Whilst it was recently revealed at this year’s Wonder Festival, Kotobukiya have officially announced the release of a truly gorgeous 1/100 scale Metal Gear Rex kit in December of this year. This is not to be confused with the huge and hugely expensive threeA toy, as this kit is smaller and costs a lot less (as well as needing to be assembled and painted obviously). The sculpt also looks spot on and for the money this is something I’d rather have over the threeA toy, as the latter has no diecast to speak of (which at that price is fucking disgraceful). As always, you can pre-order the kit here for a very reasonable 6,240 yen.

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).

We first saw threeA‘s gorgeous looking Metal Gear Rex exactly two years ago today. But virtually nothing been said or seen ever since. To the point that those who still remember it have naturally assumed that the statue was quietly cancelled. Then earlier this year, threeA passed along a blog post of what looked to be a rail gun, one similar to what Rex was sporting, but which also lights up. A feature that no one knew about, at least based upon the prototype pics.

No further information was given, but at least it was evidence that Rex was still alive. And just a few days ago, another update was provided, with concrete info at long last. Aside from looking better than ever, we can also see that the cockpit and its “eyes” also lights up. A timeframe in which all interested parties was also given: this upcoming January. No word how much it will weigh, but it sure looks heavy, especially since we do know its height: 42 cm, or 16.5 inches.

And according to Ashley Wood, who is not only Hideo Kokjima’s go to illustrator for all things Metal Gear these days (aside from Yoji Shinkawa, of course), but is one of folks who runs the threeA empire: because every part is ABS and requires injection molds, the price tag will be steep. It’s also worth noting that he still considers Rex a toy and simply a statue, which given its size and cost is what most of us were viewing it as. The rumoured price is somewhere between $400-500.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent the Robot Damashii L-Gaim Mk. 2 toy from Heavy Metal L-Gaim. To help give the toy some context we’ve also included some videos of it from the original anime and a few games it has been featured in over the years at the end of the review.

Along with a slew of other toy announcements today, Bandai have finally come clean on the fact they are indeed going to release Robot Damashii toys of both the L-Gaim Mk.I and Mk.II respectively. If you remember the Heavy Metal L-Gaim mecha, designed by the glam-rock-tastic Mamoru Nagano, topped the wishlist of fans for new Robot Damashii figures not that long ago.

Unsurprisingly, with such a classic Yoshiyuki Tomino real robot series it’s been featured in numerous games over the years. From a variety of Super Robot Wars titles to the more recent first two Another Century’s Episode games (not to mention Real Robots Final Attack, but we prefer to ignore that little “gem” if we can).

L-Gaim has also had quite an impressive toy history too, from lovely HCM figures to a very recent and utterly amazing Soul of Chogokin Spec toy. These new Robot Damashii figures will hopefully be a bit more affordable though. Currently there’s no word on whether the L-Gaim Mk.II toy will retain the transformation but it’s quite a simple sequence so it’s quite likely it will. Both toys will be release early next year in Japan and can be pre-ordered here and here. What with us being massive L-Gaim nerds, we’ve also linked the lovely openings from the series as well as a few game clips of the respective mecha in action below.

Update: GAGraphic has some nice shots from the current Tamashii Nation show.

As part of Bandai’s increasingly infuriating Tamashii Web shop exclusives, they have finally announced that they’ll be releasing Soul of Chogokin Spec toys of both the Dragonar 2 and 3 units from Metal Armor Dragonar. Now, Dragonar has had somewhat of a resurgence since it was featured in all three of the PS2 Another Century’s Episode games (though it had obviously been featured in a multitude of Super Robot Wars games prior to that). Up and till this point however, Bandai had only released toys of the Dragonar 1, specifically two variants of the design; one with original proportions from the show and another that was stylised by Masami Obari. These new toys obviously seem to fall into the latter Obari stylised camp, not that we’re complaining. At present it’s not clear whether these toys will also sport the “lifters”, backpacks with wings on effectively, that were used in the show but we may see more options surface in the oncoming months. Both toys will be released in December, though you’ll obviously have needed to pre-order them online first. Personally, we’re holding out for the day when they finally release a Dragonar 1 Custom.