rico soul: the metal builds are 1/72 scale. These model kits are 1/100 scale so they're smaller. MG size roughly. One of their main marketing points in China was the extreme value of these kits at an astounding $200RMB (~$30USD). However, for the US market, there really isn't a set price and market demand has put it quite a bit above just shipping upcharge. Oh well, still a solid value with the die-cast frame. Just hope the rest of the line doesn't keep jumping up in price. This one is already $10USD more than what the AoBing went for.

rico soul: Man these beast box toys just gets more and more ridiculous. A fricken flamingo?! But damn this thing actually looks really sick. It may not be the animal anyone asked for, but it is definitely the bird we needed lol.

rico soul: The price on this increased again to now match the new Cao Ren pricing I guess. In China, this line is known for how amazing the retail price is. It unfortunately doesn't translate to a set overseas resale price as a result of the hype though.

For reference, retail for Motor Nuclear model kits are all priced at an spectacular 199RMB (~$30USD).
Infinite Dimensions Genesis by comparison is 238RMB for regular and 298RMB for collector's version.
Typically I like to estimate roughly a $30-35 increase for shipping and distribution in the US but these MotorNuclear kits seems to have now added a $10-15 "hype" charge lol.

The current Gundamit price for Ao Bing is still fair for what you get and if you want to jump into the MotorNuclear new model kit line, this is definitely the one to get. The value proposition is still there, just isn't quite as absurd as MN's original Chinese retail pricing.

These kits are highly detailed and pretty much the size of a large master grade gundam and also has that die-cast internal frame. Parts are partially painted on the runner for various details and highlights and it comes with an display stand. There's also quite a bit of plastic here, with a total of 63 runners. Articulation is good and based on the old metal builds but the overall aesthetics have been updated and in my opinion looks a bit better.

The AoBing being the first kit in this line also comes with a colored Chinese manga/manhwa that helps explain the lore of these kits. I doubt it'd be translated or anything but it's still a nice freebie. AoBing is also arguably to most interesting kit out of everything announced since the Dragon can be displayed on it's own and combined as a backpack or weapon attachment. Other kits have slightly different gimmicks like the CaoRen with it's phoenix transformation but they're pretty much all just glorified backpacks and effect parts.

So yeah, if you're going to only get one MotorNuclear kit, this is still definitely the one to get.

rico soul: Honestly I'm really torn on how to review this conversion kit. Aesthetics aside, the fit and finish is just somewhat lacking.

The pros of this kit is really just in the appearance so that speaks for itself.

When it comes to cons, well I guess it depends on what you expect from this kit.
Being seemingly a snapfit plastic conversion kit with a premium price, if you expect the fit and finish to be relatively good, you'd be sorely disappointed. The manual is awful, both in appearance and inproper instruction, and the parts fit about as well/poorly as a Daban or other bootleg. There is a lot of sanding and gluing to really get this to all go together, sometimes having to completely chop off chunks of the inner frame and armor pegs for things to fit seamlessly. Then of course there's the price. You can buy multiple full Bandai 1/100 model kits at this price or multiple Dabans.

Some of this can be excused if you say treat this as a resin conversion kit....but at the end of the day, it isn't. It's an injection molded plastic kit. It should either build up better or simply be cheaper. There is not enough plastic or proper engineering here to really justify the price point.

Take something like the Infinite Dimensions Genesis for example, that is a full model kit with resin kit level aesthetics, much more complex design, much better molding, much more and better plastic, and to top it off, it costs less than this.

I know the gunpla community really digs this kit and I fully agree that it's a great looking conversion kit, but as consumers I think we need to hold our products to a better standard. I don't regret my purchase, but I also hesitate to recommend this as widely as other people seem to.

If you want to buy this kit, just go into it knowing what to expect. It will not be a particularly enjoyable snapfit build, and it is not packaged or presented like a premium product like GKs. It will feel like you paid GK prices for a Daban. If the looks alone are worth the price for you, then go for it.

rico soul: Oh, Gundamit just updated the release date to march 2023 now. That's not too bad, especially with other kits like the AoBing starting to ship now and kits like the Judge and Assault Shadow in my backlog. I can wait another two months.

rico soul: Nice I think this is the last dog in the series? The proportions on it looks a little odd to me but I guess it's a bit harder to do small breeds properly with the same transformation gimmicks.

Should be nice to finally get the whole set to combine into the t-rex thing though.

rico soul: Yes this is a copy of the Flame Toys kara kuri optimus prime with retails for around $450USD. So this is a great value for a great looking optimus metal build figure.

Unlike the flametoys original, this musclebear uses a predominantly matte finish rather than a predominantly gloss finish which I much more prefer. All of the moving gimmicks and articulation are reproduced well without any significant looseness issues that I'm aware of. Still, it is still a KO so of course the quality is not going to be as consistent as the Flame Toys original. But this is just an awesome optimus design with a lot of awesome articulation.

The Flame Toys Kara Kuri transformers really are pretty much akin to a Metal Build from Bandai in their awesome design and articulation. This is a great much more affordable alternative.

rico soul: By the way, this is a collaboration between MoShow and Kidou Sentai Iron Saga, which is a mecha battler mobile game. Worth checking it out.

rico soul: I posted a comparison the Point Factory and this TieChuang Exia frame in the PF listing so I figure I'll put it here as well for people that may be wondering. Unfortunately, it appears that this frame is out of stock on Gundamit now.

In short, you can't really go wrong with either one but for me, TieChuang wins out slightly as more of a re-engineered frame for the regular MG Exia, whereas Point Factory is more faithful to the original frame and so is more compatible with different kits and may offer slightly better value since the initial run includes the HGGTO RX-78-2 alloy frame as a free gift.

Ankle and Waist Joints:
- Point Factory takes the original Bandai frame and strengthens the joints by using tight POM parts to replace the original polycaps. It does not however, redesign the joints, so the double ball jointed ankle is still there. The improved frame stability is purely from better materials.
- TieChuang redesigned the waist and ankle to use peg joints rather than ball joints. With the outer armor on, the articulation is pretty much unaffected but the new joint design is just simpler and sturdier. However, the new design makes it not compatible with the original rear calf armor so new pieces are included in 3x colors for white, trans am, and astrea red.
- Conclusion: I believe TieChuang's change is better, but both are vastly improved over the original Bandai frame.

LED unit
- PF: The included magnetic switch LED light has an extra wire that will need to pass through the pre-drilled neck ball joint to light up the head. The LED light has several spinning patterns for the GN Drive.
- TC: Also a magnetic switch LED with similar flashing modes for the GN Drive. Head lighting is achieved by a light piping neck piece but effect is weak. However, since there's no wiring, it's a simpler installation with no risk of snapping the wirings when rotating the head too much.
- Conclusion: I slightly favor the point factory design. It's brighter lighting for the head and the neck is also alloy.

Aesthetics:
- PF: The design here treats many of the completely exposed frame parts as grey outer armor and uses POM parts rather than metal parts. So this means the part of the frame that sticks out of the knee armor, and the lower portion of the torso.
- TC: The torso is pretty much completely opposite of Point Factory where the exposed part is metal and the hidden parts are POM. The exposed knee armor part is metal. The back of the knee deviates from Bandai's design and has a visible POM part sandwiched between two meta parts rather than only the two metal parts snapping together.
- Conclusion: Personal preference but I prefer the TieChuang look. I like seeing more of the metal show through and the redesigned knee looks more symmetrical even though the POM part isn't necessarily prettier.

Other:
- PF: The knee and hip joints use a ratcheting mechanism. Total weight with everything is about 230g. The thigh frame is still only a partial frame like the original so it is still compatible with all original armor pieces. The polycap inside the thigh was replaced with a whole block of POM. There are more screws used in the PF frame to keep things nice and secure.
- TC: No racheting mechanisms so the joints are more just regular smooth feeling joints. Total weight is about 235g. The upper thigh frame is redesigned to be a complete frame which looks nice as a bare frame but doesn't really change anything when fully assembled. However, it means it requires new thigh armor as well which is included in the 3x colors for white, trans am, and astrea red.

Overall:
- PF: Despite a slightly higher price, the package can offer greater value because of the extra gifted HGGTO frame if you wanted that. Because there are no frame connection changes, there are no replacement armor pieces needed so it's fully compatible with any colored Exia or compatible model kit.
- TC: The TieChuang frame is imo better as a pure re-engineered Exia frame. However, the LED performance is weaker for the head, and while the modified ankles and thighs frames are great designs, requiring to use one of the 3x provided colors for replacement armor make things less color compatible with kits like the Dark Matter or special color or clear Exia kits.

rico soul: Uh guys, that is not a chibi gundam, the meteor unit is just huuuge lol. That's a regular 1/100 scale MG freedom 2.0 in the promo pics.

This resin kit is pretty legendary so really the people that want to buy it probably know what they're getting. The thing is almost a meter long. Even without the LEDs, just the sheer size is crazy.

I'd be excited just seeing a completed version of this in person. It's such an insane kit.