rico soul: It looks like Gundamit hasn't fully updated the listings here. This is NOT a metal build style figure.
This is supposed to be a model kit with an alloy frame, similar to the Zero_G Judge or MN AoBing.

Out of the 3x model kits MoShow announced, this Butcher-SC is probably my favorite. It just looks like a big beefy boy and probably acts more as artillery support. Heavily armored and heavily armed, my favorite combination for mechs.

The updated BG render has much better proportions than the original concept art and the Bazooka and Missile rack gives it more a more coherent identity than just the pistol from the concept.

Can wait to see them show of the grey models in the coming weeks

Man this alloy frame model kit market seems to be really taking off in China. I wonder if any of this will lead to Bandai upping their game. Competition in the market is always good for us consumers.

rico soul: This is a KO of the Bandai Metal Robot Spirits Kshatriya.

Honestly I prefer the proportions of the HG Kshatriya over the MR Kshatriya but the MR is a nicer figure to play with, since it's an alloy frame figure rather than a model kit.

Gundamit will probably link the video overview soon but until then, you can watch it here: youtu.be/Ous_XrbcIp8

Screenshots from the video to show this (on the left) vs the HG Kshatriya (on the right)

rico soul: After the long wait, this collectors version is....not really worth it over the regular edition.
The base Genesis is an amazing kit, but the metal parts are not really worth the wait, and arguably aren't even worth using.

The plastic molding is great, but the metal parts in the collectors edition are not up to the same standard and have some rough edges and unlike plastic, which is easy to sand and clean up, this you have to file down the metal to really clean it up.

The other problem is that there are no POM parts included in this, just the regular plastic of the base kit. For those that don't know, usually the more durable POM plastic is used to connect to the metal parts in metal frame kits in order to minimize wear and tear on the plastic. With the regular PS plastic on metal connections, the joints wear down extremely quick.

All this results in kind of a loose mess when using the metal frame parts. It's a good thing that the Ruling went with the metal inner frame instead of these half assed metal frame parts.

The full base kit is included in this so you can just use the plastic frame parts so it's not all bad. It just somewhat disappointing after all the extra wait time for the collectors edition.

In any case, the Genesis kit itself is definitely worth experiencing so if you can't buy the normal version, then definitely it's still worth getting this version. The metal frame parts are just a bit of a wasted cost.

rico soul: Ok, I see Gundamit has updated the photos but haven't really explained things so I'll add some details that were released about the Apocalypse.

In the latest render, the mobile suit is show to have all the wings deployed. To confirm our observations from before, each funnel further separates to form a front blade part and a rear beam funnel part. The backpack should turn into this glowing halo after all the funnels are deployed and active so a clear effect part will be provided for the backpack to display this. To me it kind of gives it a bit of a Stargazer Gundam vibe.

For the render of the alloy frame, the grey parts are the metal parts, the dark blue are POM plastic, and the light blue are ABS plastic. Typically the approach nowadays is to have metal on POM for durability of the joints rather than have the metal wear directly against the softer plastics used in the model kit. We can see the Apocalypse takes this a step further and use some ABS to POM for the plastic to plastic joints to hopefully offer even more durability and wear resistance.

The color separation details of the model is going to be achieved by the layering of different parts. This is a pretty typical approach nowadays and vientiane fusion provided several pictures showing the frame, the different layers of plastic parts (inner frame parts, clear green parts, gold painted parts, outter armor), and how it all looks layered up. I've combined the images here so you can see how that looks.

Finally, some additional details were provided about the action base, like how there are storage compartments and how the design is kind of reminiscent of the popular IN ERA+ and action base 3 designs with the picture panel. Multiple bases can be connected together. I wonder if this is hinting at future projects.

Vientiane fusion also posted a short clip to show some of the leg hatch openings and thruster linkages. The calf panel opens up and there's some connected articulation on the calf thrusters. No one's reposted it on youtube yet so here's the weibo link directly: weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4907415997448233. I've also seen clips of a physical printed leg prototype floating around that demonstrates this actually works as designed.

All in all, this seems like a pretty ambitious design but progress is looking good. Still no confirmed price yet but the manufacturer had previously said under 238RMB so if that holds true and the quality of the kit turns out to be good, this is looking to be one of the standout deals of the year. It'll really put some pressure on other manufactures, especially YJL/Einta with their Sky Defender which we've still seen no updates yet but would have originally been planed to be priced much much higher.

The current Chinese mecha model kit market is just crazy this year.

rico soul: So this one flew under my radar a bit but it's actually something I'm quite interested in. The YuJiao Impulse is probably one of my favorite resin kit designs so seeing it get converted fairly well into a metal frame model kit is pretty exciting. For the most part, this is a faithful product and does a solid job of realizing the YJL Impulse design in plastic.

- The arm mounting hole for the YJL talon shields goes all the way through, which looks a bit odd. It really needs some pla-plate to cover it up.
- The metal frame is mostly in the legs and consists of metal, POM plastic, and some screws to adjust tightness. It's well designed and the most can stand on it's own even with the massive backpack
- The kit comes with a huge action base, which may actually be a bit too large. Use it on one of your PG models if you have one instead lol
- Most of the YJL resin design is converted to plastic molds but the sharpness of the details aren't quite as good as resin. The fit and finish on the model kit is considered above average by reviewers but not best in class. So better than Daban but worse than Bandai.
- Plastic is all ABS and relatively hard
- Color separation isn't perfect but the details are molded so you can mask and paint
- All the typical MG gimmicks are here with the articulation and cockpit hatch opening. The core fighter is removable and even has a mini Shinn Asuka pilot inside the fighter cockpit.

Overall, it seems to be a solid 1/100 impulse and worth a buy

rico soul: As always, we have the final massive photo dump and information release from IN ERA+
Interesting to note that there is no display base explicitly mentioned with this one, but I also haven't noticed anyone saying it doesn't include a base.

In the announcement, they highlighted that all the photos was only taken after basic assembly and decals. No additional top coat or panel lining. Some of the runners are pre-painted with the overall goal of the product to achieve an almost painted level of finish with just regular snap building. That seems to be the popular marketing goal currently.

Box Contents:
- Pre-assembled gold plated alloy inner frame
- High precision metallic decals
- Foil stickers
- Plastic runners

Price: 368 RMB
For reference, Ruling was 388 RMB so in theory this should be cheaper than the $90 USD that originally launched at, but given Gundamit's recent pricing inflation, I guess we'll have to see.

Releasing January 2024


Personally, I feel like the action photos makes it look a bit too busy and the details blend together, but that may be due to the lighting used here. It is kind of the fine line IN ERA+ models tread where there's almost too much detail with squeezing resin kit level designs into a model kit.

rico soul: Ok, I have to commend Gundamit for putting a fair price so quickly for this MGSD style motor nuclear GanJiang.

This was just announced two days ago, although we did know this line of products was coming from an earlier preview over a year ago.

Anyways, details released so far:

- Height to top of antenna: 16cm
- preassembled alloy frame
- some prepainted parts for color separation
- seven total swords
- 1x slashing effect part
- new action base, with hand storage
- msrp: 149RMB
- release date: TBD

$49 is pretty fair for this, compared to the WeiYuan which had a msrp of 99RMB
This is certainly a much more fair price than the almost $80 that's being charged for the 199RMB NeZha lol.

I'll attach some of the announcement photos that gundamit missed here
but also, you can see the inner frame from MotorNuclear's youtube preview video here: youtu.be/GHYD2FHAeRo

rico soul: Zaoworkshop released a video showing the articulation and transformation of this Oracle and it does looks pretty neat. Here's a repost on youtube: youtu.be/4id5pwIFdRM

They've also released photos of the box art for this as well as some more color accurate promo photos.

Release for this seems to be kept fairly simple and there isn't any first batch bonus or anything like that.

Domestically in China, they are now cutting off the the first batch orders on 03/20 and will begin shipping in April. Lets see if Gundamit decides on a price soon. Hopefully the keep it fair.

rico soul: So this is believed to be inspired by the execution custom built godzilla unicorn which I'll attach some photos of here for reference.

Obviously, this kit retains a bit more of the original unicorn kit than the custom.

This is still early in the concept stage and the images really don't give us a good look of the godzilla aesthetics but we do have some information.

- The frame is going to be the PG Unicorn frame and will be compatible with PG Unicorn LEDs
- The outer armor is all new and will be a soft plastic like many godzilla figures
- The godzilla tail thing is removable

rico soul: This was leaks around the end of march so the prototype and mold test builds are already completed. Knowing IN ERA+ and their policy of not making any formal announcements until the product is at least 80% complete, we should be hearing a lot more about this kit in the near future. Currently the theory is that it will be available by June.

The name of this kit is a phonetic romanization of the Chinese name, which is actually a combination of a character for Kshatriya, Sazabi, and possibly Jagd Doga. Despite people seeing Sinanju in there, it doesn't appear to actually be much of an inspiration, probably just that Sinanju also shares a lot of design elements from Kshatriya and Sazabi.

This is part of the RMD series which means that like the Thunderbolt, it should have a detailed all plastic inner frame design and likely a similar price tag. 900+ parts and prepainted metal parts.

For those that haven't seen the official CG announcement trailer, there is a reupload to Youtube here: youtu.be/wUFxg_CcfcM