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.

As was announced a good while ago, those pretty nifty people at Sentinel have finally previewed the forthcoming Riobot Jehuty (shown above). The Riobot range are primarily made of plastic but are normally beautifully sculpted with amazing articulation. Compared to the recent Revoltechs, which are nice enough for the price, this toy will be in a whole other league in terms of quality. No words on a specific release date or price, but the figure will be around 15 cm tall. In any case, this is one of our hotly anticipated toys and the pictures above only help to cement our conviction that it will be pretty damn awesome.

Few of the Super Robot Wars games have had a continued and concise narrative arc. Starting in 2000, the Alpha trilogy took five years to run its course. With the finale being nothing short of epic, as it had one of the largest ever series rosters at the time (a whopping 33 series in total) and contained the most potent of all super robots; Ideon.

That wasn’t all either, Alpha 3 was the first Super Robot Wars game to feature mecha from another gaming franchise. With the mighty virtuaroids from Virtual On Oratorio Tangram and Virtual On Marz present in the game, the overall mix was a very interesting and most definitely a diverse one. All that aside, Alpha 3 remains to this day as one of the greatest Super Robot Wars ever made.

Hot on the heels of their massive Metal Gear Rex replica is an equally impressive Metal Gear Ray from the same craftsmen at threeA. It was first publicly unveiled a few weeks back, at a showcase in Hong Kong, alongside upcoming figures for Halo and Portal.

But it was difficult to get a real sense of Ray’s size, though the safe bet was that he’s just as huge as Rex (if not more so.) So thanks to close up pics, via Kojima’s Twitter, we finally have a better idea. Mostly due to Square Enix’s Play Arts Kai Gray Fox, which stands close by and offers a true sense of scale. Anyone familiar with that figure knows already how big it is, so seeing it appear relatively diminutive speaks volumes.

Details are scant, other than what the pictures tell us. Like how its mouth can open; it remains to be see if he’ll shoot water, which was a primary means of offense in Metal Gear Solid 2. Ray is also without a tail, a key defining trait of the mass production unit. Perhaps one will be included in the final package, which can be applied at will? Like the battle scars that one can apparently adorn Rex, according to previous pictures.

No word yet on availability or price, but it appears to be coming along just swimmingly, and will more than likely have the same $500 or so price tag as its predecessor. Even though Rex is the most popular among Metal Gear diehards, Ray has plenty of fans nonetheless, who would be more than willing to give it a home as well. Provided that they’ve managed to pay his older brother off at that point. Also, Arsenal Gear next, please.

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.

Hasegawa have announced the first of possibly three new Myzr kits from Virtual On Marz. Specifically that of the YZR-8004 Myzr Delta IV Type R “Fair Bianca” as piloted by Sylvie Fang. One of the Three Splendid Roses, the the mecha were distinctly moe (even back in 2003) and having them swing their sassy mecha hips was pretty odd even back then. In any case, we’re just glad another splendid Hasegawa VR kit is on the way. This is also obviously based on their prior Myzr kit and as such will similarly transform. Our personal favourite VR from Marz is still the godly Shirokis Temjin. In any case this Fair Bianca kit is out in June for a reasonable 6,720 yen and as always you can pre-order it here.

A new event has been announced for the forthcoming Zone of the Enders HD Collection. Called “Zone of the Enders HD Night Fastest in the Universe Reboot Preview” it will be held on May 25th at the Shijuku Wald 9 theatre. Most of the key staff will be there too. Tickets for the event will cost 3,000 yen and will be purchasable through Konami Style starting May 2nd at 10am. Following on from this, more places have started to show off the upcoming Jehuty HD Edition kit from Kotobukiya. As always, the sculpt looks utterly spot on. Considering that over ten years have passed since the original game was released and the only models available were hideously expensive garage kits, it’s nice to think that we’ll actually have a choice now. You can pre-order the HD edition kit here.

In typical Hideo Kojima fashion, yet another Revoltech Jehuty has been revealed but this time sporting an all new colour scheme and a very beefy Vector Cannon (pictured above). The latter is probably one of the most powerful weapons the player had access to in Anubis and was an actual necessity on some enemies (as shown in the video below). However, in contrast to the emphasis on mobility that the game was focused around the Vector Cannon required the player to be grounded and stationary in order to fire (it even had a rather long charge time too). Considering that this will be the third Jehuty Revoltech we are starting to feel that Kojima et al are milking it a bit now. Like with all Revoltechs though, this toy likely won’t break the bank thankfully. It will also be on sale mid-June with any luck too. Unfortunately, there’s still no word on when the HD collection will be out nor whatever happened to the mysterious 3DS game but in the meantime they seem fine to placate us with more toys.

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.