One of the first Revoltech toys we bought was the pretty damn great Overman King Gainer (we even have the Xan too). Well, for those that missed out, the figure is getting re-released in October. Now whilst King Gainer has graced many a game over the years, the big gaming deal about the design is that it was penned by Akira Yasuda (of Street Fighter fame, amongst many other things). It’s also a very unconventional mecha design and that’s one of the reasons we like it so much. Anyway, we can recommend this figure to pretty much everyone, so pick it up once it is re-released later this year.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent a toy from one of our favourite anime series, that of Aura Battle Dunbine to review. Specifically, the Robot Damashii Zwarth that’s on sale. In addition, to give the toy some context, we’ve also linked gameplay and anime footage of it in action at the end of the review.

As we saw at Tamashii Nations recently, a Full Action Crossbone Gundam X2 is on the way. Released this September at 4,800 the figures looks to have had considerable work done on it compared to the original Robot Damashii release. The ABC mantle is noticeably absent however, though that might end up as an option set. Talking of option sets, the X1 Ka Kai we reviewed recently is getting an option set to match its setup as seen in the Skull Heart manga. In addition to the X2, we’re also getting a majestic God Gundam figure released at the same time and price. So it looks like September will be a costly month.

After much wait, the Soul of Chogokin Spec Layzner Mk2 has been given a price and release date. Costing 9,180 yen and out this September, it is indeed a web shop exclusive (with pre-orders opening on May 12th). It will also be on display at the Tamashii Nations event this weekend, which we’ll be obviously attending. That aside, the toy looks bloody amazing. It retains the transformation as well as a slew of other gimmicks. Considering that the E-MF-LZ-00X-2 Layzner Mk2 was never properly included in the show, due to its early cancellation, the fact we have such a nice toy of this nearly thirty years later is somewhat bonkers really (though most welcomed). It goes without saying that we’ll be picking this baby up later in the year.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent a toy from Macross Plus to review. Specifically, the YF-19 with FAST Pack from Arcadia. In addition, to give the toy some context, we’ve also linked some anime and gameplay footage of it in action at the end of the review.

Following on from the regular Robot Damashii ZZ Gundam, we’ll be now getting a new toy of the mighty FA-010S Full Armor ZZ Gundam this August. Priced at 7,560 yen it’s a bit pricier than the regular version but it comes with more gimmicks and is a fair bit bigger. It’s not quite as sleek as the version in the anime but it’s still most welcome nonetheless, as the last toy we had of this was the godawful Gundam FIX Figuration version and then in the Sentinel colours. This new Robot Damashii figure looks just the ticket and as with the rest of the line, it will likely have great articulation too.

Update: This is a web shop exclusive.

Occasionally you get to see something wonderful in terms of gaming history. In this instance it’s an interview from the early 90’s with the team behind Assault Suits Valken that has been recently translated (made all the more brilliant by lovely scans of Satoshi Urushihara’s artwork for the game). Originally in a guidebook for the game, it covers all sorts of fascinating aspects about this classic game. If you have never played Valken, then avoid the dire PS2 port and instead avail yourself of the Virtual Console release. Thanks to GSK for the heads up.

Following on from our previous Revoltech reviews, our good friends at HobbyLink Japan have sent us the Riobot Jehuty. Now, whilst we aren’t huge fans of the Zone of the Enders series, we’ve always admired the mecha designs that Yoji Shinkawa did for the game. So we’re obviously happy to see more toys made of his work. We’ve also included some game footage at the end of the review.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan we’ve been sent the Robot Damashii Hi-Nu Gundam as seen in the novel Beltorchika’s Children (one of the adaptations for Char’s Counterattack). In addition, we’ve also included some game footage of the mecha in action at the end of the review.

We now finally have details on the release of threeA’s Metal Gear Ray toy. Released this August, the toy will cost around 46,000 yen (in terms of RRP, though you should be able to find it cheaper). This is a fair bit more than threeA’s Metal Gear Rex that was released at the end of 2012. If we’re honest, we were bitterly disappointed with the Rex toy. For one the colour scheme was entirely wrong, it had nonsensical blue LEDs everywhere and, most damning of all, it lacked any diecast. This absence of diecast, especially in the joints, meant that due to its size the toy was rather delicate (as joints have been reported to sheer clear off). Thankfully this new Ray toy has the right colour scheme but it still lacks any diecast in the joints from what we can make out. Considering the price tag, this oversight is still very unfortunate.