rico soul: This is the Tyrant Sword, which is actually from Gundam and even from the Universal Century. It's just from a photo novel and not a more well known design. Overall, the aesthetic update looks good here in the render but the feet feel too small. Attached are some old Bandai pictures of earlier customs.

This is another new brand and I'm not sure if the name is a play on the suit itself being a cold/lesser known mobile suit from Gundam. The announcement post certainly hints at this being potentially the first of many designs that may be recreated later.

Interesting subject matter to tackle since it's not a gundam looking gundam but it still will tread on the gundam license. This will be a metal frame model kit and they said they will be releasing this within the year in Q4.

rico soul: lol wow really, $77. I hate to be that guy but Gundamit didn't even omit the retail price announcement photo like they usually do so it's sitting right there. First print price 135RMB, mass retail price 188RMB.

The kit is a nice follow up to the Estailev and people that are fans of this aesthetic will definitely enjoy this kit. But 300% the retail price seems a tad extravagant for logistics costs.

For reference, Estailev was 238RMB, a larger box, and at the time it came out, I believe Gundamit had it initially for $60 before demand inflation kicked in. Logistics costs have gone up slightly since then but I would have still expected this kit to come out around $60 given the smaller box and lower retail price.

Maybe there was some pricing error as the original Estailev box was much larger and so maybe Gundamit is still using those dimensions for estimation?

Well, I don't want to be too much of a debbie downer here so lets get positive and talk about the kit. This kit should be very much what people that enjoyed the Estailev are looking for. The fit and finish should be good and this kit still retains much of both what people criticized and loved about the Estailev aesthetics. There are no particular mechanical molded details on this and the inner frame is a relatively simple purpose build skeleton. The outer armor also lack any functional mechanical detail so the aesthetics gives it almost a video game polygonal look to it.

Size of the kit is the same as the Estailev as one would expect, which is to say it is a good large MG sized unit. Without the extra high mobility backpack that the Estailev ended up being packaged with, the frame holds up much better on the Cassowary and the kit doesn't have the awful balance issues. However, it also does not appear to come with a display base, atleast not in review copies. Considering the msrp is well below what is typical for a kit this size, the lack of a display base is certainly acceptable. But it may still be something to consider since we're looking at gundamit prices rather than msrp.

rico soul: So the reviews coming out of China on this is interesting. Overall, it looks to be average KO quality but there seems to be two separate levels of quality on the parts. half the parts are below average and looks like gaogao levels, with lots of flash and shrinkage. However, the other parts are solid and passable. People are saying they likely purposefully planned it this way to put more effort into the main F90 and less effort into all the panels and parts that will either be covered up or removed to attach all the different weapon packs, making this essentially a glorified display mannequin for the various F90 weapon packs.

Price wise, the F90 is late UC and a very small mobile suit so despite being MG, size wise, it's in between the average HG and MG, similar to other small suits like the crossbone. The original F90 reprints frequently for US p-bandai and is $50 retail.  Bandai actually have it and all the weapon packs still open for pre-orders currently as I'm writing this. So if you want purely a good looking naked F90, for this price difference, I'd probably still go with the original. However, if you're like me and have the original already and want to get a few more to use as a display rack, or you live somewhere where p-bandai isn't easily available, this looks to be an ok option.

This is a pretty good comparison of it against Bandai www.bilibili.com/video/BV1GMDYY5EMM/

I'll post a couple highlight screenshots from the video, left side Bandai, right side 012. Interestingly enough, the vent netting actually looks better on the 012 KO. I'm tempted to pick one up purely to replace the vent part on my Bandai F90 lol

rico soul: MoShow is also jumping in on the alloy frame model kits now. So these are supposed to be 16-21cm tall which puts it at a pretty solid MG size. These have been confirmed as part of the 2023-2024 product lineup for MoShow during their recent announcements. Pretty excited to see how these turn out

This Butcher-2 is probably the most Gundam-like out of the three announced for this year. The CG render in the announcement materials seems to have changed a bit from the original concept art. It's gotten quite a bit bulkier and now comes with an axe for close range combat.

These new designs reminds me more of something like Frontline than gundam which I'm all for. It's great to see desgins that are deviating from just copies of gundams. I might be biased though. I really like the heavily armored militaristic aesthetic.

Apparently these are already in the grey model stage so I can't wait to see more.

rico soul: This is mentioned in MoShow's 2023-2024 product lineup announcement as the 6th suit in the Progenitor Effect series after the Lancelot and the God's whip. Updated CG render attached.

This Wei Guogong design is a nice departure from their previous designs. This supposedly being from the Asian-Pacific theater in the Progenitor lore. According to MoShow -the mechanical design concept is based on team battles, which can enhance the brain wave synchronization rate of the mental power mecha and the pilot -

Lore aside, I really do like how this is a distinctly different design from the others. They really have a regional theme with these suits. This more feminine design looks great and I'll be interested in seeing how their implemet the funnel weapon systems on this mech.

I wonder if we'll actually see it come out in 2023. MoShow really blew up in success and has so many other exciting projects and collaborations announced for 2023-2024. Good to see them getting some recognition.

RIP my 2023 wallet

rico soul: I was waiting for Gundamit to update the photos. IN had an announcement on this with a ton of photos and revealing the 388RMB MSRP. I'll attach a couple more of the photos that seems to be missing.

This is really feeling like a spiritual successor to the Zero_G Judge. As I mentioned in a previous comment, the inner frame appears to be very similar to the Judge, and both show SEED inspired designs.

While the Judge took inspiration from the Forbidden Gundam, this Ruling now kind of looks to have a hint of the Calamity Gundam with those backpack cannons. The face has a clear visor which also reminds me of the Gundam Astraea.

The Chinese MSRP is pretty much comparable to what the Judge was set at. So I'm expecting this will be priced pretty similar to the Judge here as well.

Looking good

rico soul: It's pretty amazing that IN ERA+ already has their next model in grey model prototype before we have even gotten the RULING fully released lol.

The Ruling is pretty sweet by all accounts and this Vanguard looks to be more of the same high quality.
It was displayed next to the Genesis as well so it looks like Infinite Dimensions is pretty much putting all these under the same lineup.

Seems to be another seed inspired design and more awesome GK level detailed model kit goodness.

Attached are some more photos from the Shanghai Miniature Art Expo that this display was at. I haven't seen any further information yet, but I'll add some comments if I find out more

rico soul: Another darkened render from the maker but this one looks quite interesting since it has the funnels / dragoons deployed. This look makes this suit look a lot more unique.

The double segmented dragoons is a neat idea and this view of the main suit gives it a bit more character.

rico soul: Ok, another image dump update from Vientiane detailing the backpack on the Apocalypse. This seems like it's going to be the main focus of this model kit.

It's a halo of blades and each component has a use. Looks like the dragoon will serve as both melee weapons. a twin spear, and flying funnels. The circular track it sits on also can rotate and articulate. Should be a pretty interesting backpack.

rico soul: This is such a badass re-release. The Takeda Shinden mech is pretty legendary for kicking off the Progenitor Effects line and really introducing a broader audience to Moshow and their magnificent metal builds. Re-releasing it in this white special version with upgraded details is awesome. Really reminds me of how Ryo from Ronin Warriors goes from the regular red armor to the white Inferno armor.

This change in color scheme also really helps highlight the details of the original armor in different way, but there are some actual part differences in details like the front skirts, the rear shoulder armor, and the ankle armor. I'll put some side-by-sides with the original red Takeda Shinden promo pics for comparison.

That new battle axe is crazy too, and really the improved color separation in the paint and the various details really helps emphasize how much Moshow has further improved since their original Takeda Shinden release last year.

Gundamit did post this in the details but seems to have left of the picture for the articulated hands so I'll put that image up as well.