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.

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.

At this summer’s Comiket in August, SEGA will be attending and selling all manner of nifty paraphernalia. From some cool Border Break merchandise to some equally lovely Virtual On gear. The latter even including some nice One Man Rescue book sets. This was a sidestory that tracked the shift in technology and political power bases between the original Virtual On and Oratorio Tangram. Apart from the One Man Rescue books, there is a t-shirt and some “cels”. All of which seem to be very reasonably priced.

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.

For those that buy the first release of the forthcoming Macross Do You Remember Love BluRay Hybrid Boxset, they’ll also get a nice PSN download code for the original PSone shooter. Originally released on the Saturn and then ported to the PSone, it was actually a pretty damn good shoot-em-up and we very much enjoyed blasting our way through it back in good old 1999. It even came with demos for Macross VF-X2 and Patlabor: Game Edition. What was very notable about the game however was its use of some lovely reanimated cutscenes (as produced by Gonzo).

There’s also a pretty cool exhibition going on in Shibuya, Tokyo regarding Macross. Starting today and running until May 13th, tickets cost 500 yen each (400 yen if you’re a student and free if you’re a kid at elementary school) and it covers pretty much the whole gamut of the saga. If you’re in the area, then check out the Parco Museum page about the event for more details.

In addition to this news is the fact a lovely 5 minute HD promo for the BluRay was released yesterday (shown below). Voiced by non-other than Mika Doi (of Misa Hayase fame), the promo also has footage of the game in action too (around the 3:25 mark). Don’t forget you can still pre-order the pretty damn awesome boxset here.

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.

Bandai have announced that one of the next Robot Damashii toys will be that of the original XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero. Whilst we’re not fans of the anime that much really, we do like the designs a fair bit (barring the mecha chicken variant of the Wing Zero in Endless Waltz obviously). This release has been hinted at for a fair while now as well but we’re glad it’s finally going to happen. Released this June for a very reasonable 4,410 yen, the toy even transforms.

It’s been reported that Takeshi Miyaji has passed away on July 29th aged 45. One of the founding members of Gamearts, at the age of 19 no less, and the creator of the Gungriffon series (as well as Grandia and Silpheed among others) he will be sorely missed. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.

If you remember, we reviewed the Composite Ver. Ka Temjin a while back. It was suitably awesome but maybe a little pricey for some. Well, pricey it is no longer. HobbyLink Japan are featuring the toy in their current sale at a whopping 60% off the normal retail price (coming in at 1,920 yen). It goes without saying that this a fantastic bargain but they only have a finite number in stock, so if you want yours then you better move quickly!