After months of waiting, 3A’s Action Portable, 1:12 scale Slicers are finally shipping out from the hatchery. These guys went on sale back in July, and, based on feedback I’ve read across the Interwebs, this was one of their more popular AP sales, with many people buying at least a couple of them. And thanks to whatever shipping gods are up there, mine arrived way sooner than expected, so either 3A is more on top it these days in terms of shipping, or the post office is. Either way, the wait is over and we can finally dedicate half a day (at least) to attaching a billion little grenades to these fellas.
Of all the Tomorrow Kings that have been released so far, AP or otherwise, the Slicers are the most visually interesting, particularly Baka here. Everything from the hair to the grenades to the straps to the bandanna just looks so darn cool. And I appreciate that they come with their own unique weapons, rather than the standard set of swords that many of the TKs have come packed with previously. Baka’s box is another small box in the same style as the box AP Tracky JC came in last month, and, once again, I was so happy to see this little box instead of the huge blister cards we were getting for AP figures. I’ll say it again — this is a very welcome change; it looks better and it stores better.
Everything about Baka screams cool. He has so much going on and it all looks awesome. And, thankfully, all of it is functional, or at least movable, and doesn’t get in the way at all. He comes with 22 tiny grenades that attach to the straps he’s adorned with, and two swords that are attached by wires to the pack (a generator?) on his back. The grenades are a bit of a concern since they don’t attach in a way that’s 100% secure, but they do hold on well enough that they don’t go flying everywhere every time he’s picked up. They can still fall off, however, so if keeping all 22 grenades in place is important to you, you’ll want to keep an eye on them. There is a prescribed order for them in terms of placement, at least it seems as though there is, but I eschewed that for a more random approach. I think it adds to his raggedy look.
The wires that attach his swords to his pack give me pause as well. They’re flexible enough to handle being posed, but I can’t really get a read on just how sturdy they actually are, so I am a little worried about the possibility of their snapping off, since the spot where they attach to the sword handle looks especially delicate. They do look cool, but because they’re so small and light, there’s no real weight to them to help them hang naturally; they just look as though they’re floating at his sides, which can look a bit odd. The same can be said for several of his straps — they don’t hang naturally because they’re practically weightless. It’s not really that big a deal, but it makes him look like he’s perpetually in a state of action, but maybe that’s your thing.
The container on his back sports some signature 3A weathering effects and it looks good. I’m not sure what’s supposed to be in this container, but the wires lead me to believe it’s some kind of power supply for his swords. Electric swords? Gimmie.
I will cut you!!
I also picked up Kyuuketsuki, a repaint of Baka in darker and even more muted colors. It’s essentially the same exact figure, but for our purposes here I left the grenades off — attaching all of Baka’s made me a bit crazy, and I do sort of like the way he looks without the grenades; it adds a little more variety to the shelf.
Kyuu’s box is much larger than Baka’s because he comes with a ‘bot head.
Of the two, I definitely prefer Baka, but Kyuu has enough going for him to make me happy I picked him up. The darker colors work and I like that he has brown hair rather than black. It’s one of those design choices that probably doesn’t matter much, but I like how it breaks up all the black and grey.
One problem that both these guys share is the pants/shorts — they restrict movement in the legs a LOT. It’s tough to get them in cool poses because the pants limit their range of motion so much. Their arms don’t suffer from the shirts they wear, but the pants are a problem. Since they are soft goods, though, I imagine it would be possible to take them off and soften them up a bit by kneading them with your hands or something to break them in, but if you’re a vanilla poser, then this is probably a non-issue. I like to play with my figures when I first open them, so the pants bothered me.
The main selling point for me here was the ‘bot head, and I really can’t explain why. It looks cool, bu that’s pretty much all it does. It’s really just a prop to pose Kyuu on all victoriously as though he had just slain a giant robot. I was also a bit surprised by how small it is. It’s about the same size as a Nabler, which means Kyuu stands a bit taller than it. I have no idea why I was expecting something larger, but I was, so I’m sort of disappointed in the size. Despite that, it’s still a sweet looking severed robot head, so if that’s your thing, you could do worse than picking up one of these guys. The weathering and the rust look great, and the single, ominous white eye stares coldly ahead. I dig it.
Some PG-13 language featured on the side there.
I take it back — it may be just a smidge than a Nabler, which was already kind of small to begin with. Honestly, as much as I do like it, I’m a bit bummed I opted for the ‘bot head instead of going for the 3-pack that included a third Slicer — Interbaka. However, the ‘bot head is a cool prop and it does add depth and variety to a Tomorrow king display, so I’m not all that disappointed in my choice.
The AP Slicers are an awesome addition to the growing AP Tomorrow King collection. They easily blow away all that came before them. But, like all 3A releases, the actual sale was quite some time ago, so if you’re interested in picking up a Slicer or two, eBay or the various 3A BSTs are the only options for you at this point. I do recommend tracking down at least Baka because he is an awesome figure. With the 3AA discount he came to $38.25, which isn’t bad for any AP 3A figure, and chances are he can be had for a price in that neighborhood if you poke around.