Whether you know it as Robotech, Macross, or some combination thereof, when it comes to mechs and armor in 1/12 scale, it pays to take a look.
Since DisThunder here had to pay out some massive taxes this year, I have yet to procure one of these bad boys. Luckily for you guys, I happen to know someone who did…
Hello all, Stonewall here! First a Big Thanks for DisThunder and the Fwoosh staff for letting me do my first published figure review. Be gentle! Right then, Let’s get into this review of the SENTINELS MOSPEADA 1/12 “Stick” version, aka “ROBOTECH” New Generation Scott Bernard and his Cyclone at 1/12. Now, If your wondering why not “ROBOTECH” on the box, that you’ll need to take up with Harmony Gold.
For the uninitiated, Robotech as we know it in the West is actually three independent Japanese anime (Macross, Southern Cross & Mospeada Genesis Climber) combinied into one massive 85 episode arc that Harmony Gold is the rights-holder for. And in recent years, HG has done little with the franchise other than lots of Legal battles and “Cease and Desist” notifications. Allegedly this license may be coming to an end in 2021, meaning we might get to see all manner of Macross merch at long last in the USA, and maybe Southern Cross and Mospeada to follow. For now though, we do have this Mospeada 1/12 with Stick, so here we are.
The art on the box is simple but very effective art. The front showing the rider pulling a wheelie, and the back shows the configuration to up-armoured mode and several photos.
The packaging is nicely laid out in clear clamshell type so you can see figure, bike, weapon, Spare head and hands.
Stick scales very nicely with other 1/12 Scale brands, which I will admit I was worried about with the pre-order. He’s slender, but hey, it’s not like they eat a lot steak or pork on Mars or in space. The figure is very posable considering the armour he wears. Has a good range of movement across the whole body including the feet. However, the design of the figure has a questionable feature: The thighs are meant to pop off and be placed back on. Not sure that is a good design, or even why they opted for it. Stick’s extra head and hands switch out very smoothly. Both heads have a ball-joint attached, so no need to worry when you pop the head and see no ball-joint. The wrist joints sometimes come away with the hand, just pop back in and re-angle, to keep it in the forearm. The shoulder armour I have heard pops off, not had that issue myself, though I have had the front foot armour do so. I’m not sure why they did a ball-joint there, really.
The bike is very nice indeed, and sleeker than the Anime version, more a Racing Bike style, as with Stick’s armour. Actually, I like a lot, though I wish the bike was a little bigger. That can be a problem when basing on Anime- never a true perspective of the character/item due to the style of art and the angles taken when drawing them. Still, on the plus side the bike tallies up nicely to the old IMAI 1/12 Model Kit Transforming Mospeada riders. The transformation is tricky, I will say that right now. I have the CM Brave 1/18 Mospeader riders and considering this is twice the size to the CM, it’s just as fiddly, but still very rewarding. Though, lets face it, it was never going to be a simplistic transformation.
Personally, I love the rider/Bike combo over the up-armoured rider version, not just because of the awkwardness to transform but because the figure and bike as separate parts just look amazing.
Now, let’s get the meat of this review-
The PROs:
1: Its a Mospeada/Robotech in 1/12 scale (YAY!) 2: Nice Posability with figure and overall nice Bike mode. 3: Rei (aka RAND) will be joining him. Fingers crossed for the rest of the team.
4: Transforms to the Up-armoured Rider.
5: Love the rubberish hands. Bendy fingers are the way to go.
6: Head and hand switches are nice and easy.
7: The Protoculture energy tube on the Bike is removable. Shame they did not do spares with carry handle.
Alas, there must also be- The CONs:
1: Once transformed there is limited articulation of the figure, which is a Great shame.
2: Fiddly to transform. It’s just as hard as the 1/18 CM BRAVE version, 1/15 Megahouse, 1/10 Beagle.
3: Shoulder bells and the front foot guard are prone to popping off when overly posed.
4: The bike is a bit stiff when moving parts, so beware of possible breakage. I have seen some online but thankfully not suffered any myself.
5: A minor nit, but I wish the display base had done a compartment to showcase or store the spare head and hands.
6: No classic Gallant H-90 Pistol/Rifle, and also spare Protoculture tubes for the bike. They were fixtures in the Anime!
7:The pop-off thighs. It may actually be a part of the design, but it still can be annoying. 8: Some die-hard Mospeada/Robotech fans may not like the new look Visor. I like the HUD design they went for, but it’s not for everyone, since it is a bit of HALO in its appearance. Kind of funny considering Mospeada predates HALO by a good couple decades.
All in all, I think this is one of those “love it or hate it” things, but that’s been true of any of the Transformable Mospeada Cyclones across the different scales.
I love my 1/18th CM Brave Riders, so of course, I truly am enjoying this Sentinels release. This is an essential for any Macross/Robotech collection.
