Okay, so after seeing KA's thread about his newly acquired Mugenbine, my curiousity has grown. I've seen these at a local toy shop in SF about a year ago but didn't know what they were. Now I'm actually thinking about getting into this line thanks to Gen. Magnus. So what's the story behind these? Why are they associated with the alphabet? I saw on one site that Gen. Magnus sent me where it listed A-Z. Some of them had the letters on the side of their heads but others didn't. Is there an anime from this line? What's the average cost of one? I've seen anything from $8 to $20 for one.
Mugenbine? I just googled "mugen" and wiki says that it means "without limit". Maybe Mugenbine means, roughly, "combine without limits"??? Dunno. Do these figs feature interchangeable parts and combination features??
No, there is no anime that accompanies this series. The particular series I collect is based off of the English Alphabet. There is a similar series that is based on some characters of the Japanese alphabet. Those are subseries in Machine Robo Mugenbine. There are also series such as Machine Robo Rescue and others. Mugenbine, in the form that I collect, with mugenroids that make little boxes, are done, I think. They have moved onto a series that uses small figurines and cockpits. You can check the official page I set you for that.
Yes, they are meant to be like Legos + TFs in one with a number of official modes and unlimited fan modes. I have like 9 or so right now with one on the way and I have my eye on a few more. Here is the official page. This is the list of Mugenbine figures avalaible (from that page). Here is a great list of the figures available (up to a point) with a detailed breakdown of their parts and details. Finally, this site has some awesome fan modes. If anyone would like some pics, I'd be happy to take some.
This should answer your questions guys. Machine Robo Mugenbine is the latest toyline of the Machine Robo series; the same toy line licensed by Tonka that was released in the states as Go Bots. Machine Robo Rescue was the previous Machine Robo series but the figures (and some of the newer Power Ranger gestalts) are compatible with Mugenbine. Fschuler is on the right track with the name Mugenbine which translates to "infinite combinations". The figures with English letters and Japanese vowels on their heads are called "Mugenroids". I am speculating here but I believe that Bandai chose this numbering scheme in a similar way that Takara uses the C# and D# for their Transformers; to make it easier to know which sets you have and which ones you need to get. The first letter of the figure's name corresponds to the the letter on its head. Therefore Mach Petra has an "M" on his head while Fang Tiger has an "F" on his. Figures A-N,T-Z follow this pattern. Figures O-S are a completely different type of figure called a "Turboroid". I do not know why Bandai changed to this type of figure. The Turboroid has a sculpted head without any letters. It can turn side to side too; something the Mugenroids can't do. The Turboroid has wheels on its arms and legs for its vehicle mode while the Mugenroid has to rely on wheels being on the extra parts. Along with O-S, there are the Juuki Gattai sets. Three sets come with a Turboriod (the fourth, Juuki Gattai Hercules comes with a Turboroid and a Mugenroid—only one without a letter of some kind) and a box that is like a "garage" while in its "base" mode. Last year Bandai released two types of sets, one set of standard Mugenroids with the Japanese vowels on their heads (I don't know them so I'll just list them: Impact Dile, Wing Bat, Gear Tortoise, and Spit Cobra). The others are called Mugen Engine sets. The smaller core robot was removed and replaced with a cube with a single wheel sticking out of it. Gears inside the cube would rotate special connector ports and would let special parts spin or flap when rolled on the floor. These Engine sets had a vehicle mode and a robot mode and was "teamed" with the standard sets for the release (Gear Tortise & Guard Kong for example). The sets for this year have gotten rid of the Mugen Engine entirely and replaced it with a small pilot the size if the SWTF pilot figures and a cockpit. There is a smaller robot mode and a larger combined mode that uses all of the pieces for the set. At the moment I do not know what the name for this new subseries but it is still Mugenbine. Mugenroid and Turboroid figures transform into a cube of sorts with small pegs that allow the "Bine Parts" to attach to it. Differnet sets have different parts and each part has a different number of pegs and peg holes. Some sets also have parts with bigger heads molded into them so big gestalt figures have porportionate sized heads. Also of note is there are candy Mugenbine toys. These figures, like most Japanese candy toys, are kind of cheap, especially the Mugenroid but its Bine parts are 100% compatible with the official figures. Mugenbines are a bit tricky to track down since they are available only in Japan and Asia. I was lucky when I started collecting these figures about 10 months ago and came across an eBay store that was clearancing a bunch of them for $5.99. Some figures are more rare than the others due to Bandai over producing the first few sets and underproducing some of them. The common figures that I see on eBay are around $8 are A-D,F,H,J,K, & X and that's about what they are worth. E&G are a little bit rarer and would cost more. I & L are really hard to find but Bandai released repainted versions last year that make getting these two a little easier. M-P are slightly rare. Q-S are a bit rarer than M-P. T, U, W,Y are about the same as M-P. V&Z are bigger sets and are really hard to find. The Juuki Gattai sets, Police and Fire are the most common with Hercules and Builder sets very difficult to get. The figures from last year and this year are easier to get but you will have better luck finding them on online toystores than on eBay. Whew...hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions on these things, I have all of them except for the candy sets and a few store exclusives.
when I was a kid I had a bunch of "letterformers" that I think we got from a dollar store. Were these related?
I forgot which site this came from. But all due credit goes to whoever: Mugenbine Metroplex! well, you can call him Metrotitan if you think he's too colorful to be Metroplex....
you guys are bad, look at what KA's elephant thread made me do: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=300082030238&rd=1&rd=1
I don't think so. The letters on the head started with the Mugenbines as far as I know. Nice starter haul there ckhtiger . Not a bad price for getting nine of them. oh yeah, apparently the little pilots of the new Mugenbine sets are called "Roiders"
Awww man my wife is gonna kill you guys, as much as i tried to fignt it with KA's thread, these are just makin my mouth water. Ah well what's another product line to obsessivly and cumpulsivly stalk and collect over the internet from half way around the planet... maybe she;ll think their just more TFs.
That lot of 9 is a good deal. I would have snatched that up a while ago if I didn't already have all of those volumes. Actually, I got 6 of them from that very seller! Joe (JC's Comics) is a good man. I'm glad that KA's thread managed to make a bit of a stir since my threads never managed to. Now I guess I have some competition on some of these figures though.
nope, no competition from me. I really don't have the place for these, and should be saving most of my money. but like you said, it was a great deal for a starter set, I love animal-bots, and have actually been looking at the machine robo series for a year or two. I figured this would just be a nice little taste, but no more.
Do you know how popular these things would be if they came to the USA/UK? Well, at least I'd buy the crap out of em.
Meh, KA just gave us a filler obsession until the movie toys come out. You kind have to get two or three to truly enjoy them anyway.