Welcome back to BEST TOY EVER an intermittent column coming to you when the mood strikes me to snap some pictures and type a few words about an awesome new toy that I’ve acquired.
Let me preface this with the honest to gosh truth that these will not be review samples that were sent by a toy company or retailer, but instead a cool toy that I plunked down my own cold hard cash to purchase.
For our second installment I’ll be conducting a little show and tell that will ignite a unquenchable desire to track down Bandai’s Robot Damashii (or Robot Spirits for the gaijin) Evangelion 01 Test Type action figure.
BEST PACKAGING EVER?
We’re looking at another window box that shows off the figure and the additional parts/accessories with some great pictures on the back showcasing the poseability. Without damaging anything more than a harmless piece of tape you have reseal-able packaging, which I suppose is a good idea since EVA 01 here comes with a bunch of additional pieces that can be safely stored in the packaging when you aren’t using them. But if you’re anything like me that plastic tray will hang out on your coffee table so you can swap parts and weapons around as you continue to fiddle with what is one of the best toys ever.
I’ve also included an image of the SDCC exclusive Evangelion 01 “Night Combat version”, as you can see the packaging is basically the same with just a few color palette swaps / text additions / and a SDCC logo. We’ll discuss some of the other differences below.
BEST SCULPT EVER?
Of an EVA unit? It’s definitely the best one I’ve ever owned, and I’ve had quite a few.
First lets start with the articulation. It is SUPER articulated, you can get this thing into poses that any Spider-man figure you’ve ever owned would be jealous of. The range of motion is extraordinary and again we’re seeing a sort of rubber sleeve used in the hip area to hide some of the joints while not obstructing the articulation and keeping the look of the character as on model as possible. Even the armor plates above the feet are on little ball and socket joints, it really is an engineering marvel.
Let’s talk about accessories because there are quite a few. There are 13 different swappable hands, an alternate beast mode head, 2 assault rifles, 2 progressive knives, 2 additional unicorn horn things (which I guess will come in handy if you lose yours in the sandbox), the plug thingy (that’s the official name, I researched it*) and an angel AT field with a stand. The SDCC exclusive Night Ops version does not come with the AT field/stand, or at least mine didn’t.
BEST PAINT EVER?
The standard version is exactly what you’d expect, vibrant colors and clean lines. I’ve got no complaints. The Night Ops version is cast in translucent plastic but they didn’t just stop there, they went ahead and applied the same level of care to this one. The translucency is meant to capture the look of the EVA when it is fighting the angel at dusk, I leave it up to you guys to watch the Rebuild movie yourself and decide how well it pulls this off but I couldn’t pass it up at SDCC since I knew what a great figure the regular version was. Even the accessories have a slightly tweaked deco.
BEST TOY EVER?
Well it should tell you something that I basically bought the same toy twice. I’m totally a sucker for well-articulated robots and this one takes the cake and runs away with it.
These guys stand at about 6” tall, although scale is kind of a non-issue as they are supposed to be giant robots. They are far and away the most poseable and playable EVA’s I’ve ever owned that don’t have the tendency to pop apart while you fiddle with them (I’m looking at you Revoltech!).
I have EVA 02 preordered at BBTS and it looks like EVA 00 was a limited exclusive in Japan and will be impossible to aquire without spending a small fortune (lame!). There is also a preorder available for a totally wacky EVA 02 in beast mode that looks interesting. I’m really hoping they get to some Angels and that they make all of the EVA units readily available as I will buy everything that comes out in this line.
It retails between $30-40 plus shipping, if you’ve bought imports in the past you’ll be comfortable with that price range, in my humble opinion this figure is totally worth every penny and I encourage you to track it down or preorder one of the upcoming EVA’s.
Thanks again for reading, see you next time!
*it’s actually called an entry plug and umbilical cable but I didn’t want to sound too nerdy.
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