This thing looks amazing. I don’t have mine yet but I don’t think I need a different take on it anytime soon. Knowing Sentinel, they will improve the tolerances on later releases and we should be even better to go.
I always try put the articulation to the max. I still wish the hips were on universal ratchets and were given enough room to spread more. I'm putting some matte varnish in the ankles and will report back in a few days.
My excitement level has dropped. Could this be like Stick and Ray where V1 was a little loosey goosey and second wave was tighter? If that's the case then Imma send back to AmazonJP and wait for V2.
I assume it gets better. But really it’s pretty irritating. I really despise the wings, I hate the way they fold in botmode. I feel like the back could lock together better. It’s exactly like the Ride-Armor in terms of having an utterly joyless transformation It’s exactly like the Ride-Armor in terms of being gorgeous in all modes. It’s exactly unlike the Ride-Armor in terms of having tight modes. I love the Ride-Armor once I get it into any mode. I think the Legioss’ jet-mode feels crappy even locked tight and the tail-fins feel thin. The bot-mode is just annoying move one piece some other fucking piece slides around. First impressions though I have to run through it again maybe the playability will grow on me. And straight-up fuck that little pilot was really excited and I would punch the designer in face it’s a joke.
I agree the wings in solider mode should have tabbed into the nosecone to keep the back more solid. I would have also liked if those grey panels that move towards the back should have also had tabs that hold the nosecone. I do really like the way the cockpit folds and sucks itself into the chest. The hips transformation was annoying at first until I understood how it worked and how that contributed to the feet not sticking out in fighter mode. I also like the way the wings breakdown into components and store into the chest. The pilot design is baffling to me. I want to say the intent was to upgrade the static pilot the 1/35 gakken came with and make it articulated? But then to not fully paint it was odd and then choosing to use gummy pvc plastics was also odd too. It's like some outside designer was contracted to do the pilot and didn't give a damn. I hope for the next 2 legioss they just include a static well-painted pilot.
i'd love to have one of these, but not with the pricetag and problems it sports. looks like the AOSHIMA/IMAI-reissue variable LEGIOSS and RIDE ARMOR kits i have coming my way from Japan one of these days, -when international shipping frees up- will become my reference MOSPEADA pieces for some time to come. just living a long-belated dream here in any case, as i badly lusted after those kits back in the 90's when i had first heard about them, and, of course, like so many others at the time, had no idea whatsoever on how to actually come about any of them...
I agree with all your points. I believe you said in an earlier post they should have pinned the wings. We get a lot of hinged and ball connections. I think ultimately that’s the design choice that works well for the Ride-Armor but is annoying on a Legioss. The nature of the Ride-Armor involves a lot of swinging hinges and ultimately I would rather have a ball-connection there that would give way rather than break but in the Legioss it’s just annoying...hinges on the wings, nose-cone and jets make me pretty thin-lipped. I think the jets gray panels could have just collapsed in instead of folded around back and not locked in. But the areas that really highlights the perplexing use of ball-hinge joints are the missile-pods on the shoulders. Just why? Why? It’s a fucking hinge, there is no reason earth that it needs to me a ball-connection. First thing I do when I open the figure is start popping open cool looking missile arrays and the panel covering them is immediately out of the joint. Because unnecessary tension ball connection and I have spend a few minutes on a missile panel loosening the ball-hinge so it moves enough that pressure needed to open the panel isn’t enough to pop the ball-connection. And THAT in a nut-shell illustrates some of the questionable decisions. ....Little too much pressure on the wing and.... you have half a wing in your hand.... not ideal on the middle of a figure. A few well placed pinned hinges would make this SO MUCH better. Ultimately this does a lot right and of course I will buy the rest of the set. I think Sentinel will work out the kinks on it. My last criticism would be the scale. Pretty much all of my gripes would be significantly reduced if the thing was a little bigger. All off these movements are made a little more challenging in the confined space.
As a few others have commented, the blueprint for an excellent legioss is there, but it does get shafted due it's size. One more design pass could have been very beneficial here. Which missile panel covers are on ball joints? I thought there were all on hinges, so far none of those have popped off for me (knocks on wood). Some changes I'm hoping to see on future releases: -Better tension on the ankle joints -Less tension on the shoulder joints -Pins going through the wings -Make the entire assembly of the landing gear metal except the tires -Include a fixed posed well-painted pilot OR change the materials and tolerances on the poseable one -Mold the medial side of the forearm in white plastic over painting it white -Make the groove for the gun and handle bigger so the peg can and hole can really get tight. (hmmm that sounds kind of dirty) Wishful Thinking: -Add tabs to the wings to plug into the nose cone in solider mode -Add a clip to tab the nosecone into the chest / back area of solider mode. -Revise the hip design slightly so one side doesn't easily rotate too far back and become difficult to rotate it back. -Add tabs to those grey panels that slide back to the back in solider mode.
I don’t even know where to put this is my personal ranking of Legioss toys. For looks its at the top for sure, but for handling and transforming its dead last. I really am considering returning it to Amazon for a refund and then waiting for a reissue with improvements. Many of the things that are problematic could easily be fixed with minor tweaks.
And Sentinel is costly to boot. I'm still patiently waiting for my AJ PO to be fulfilled. But expectations have been lowered for sure. The curse of the Legioss toy lines continue to linger on it seems...
Oooh I would say your “wishful thinking” list is a should have happened in the design list. It would be great if they could tighten up the whole back / nosecone area. It’s by far the biggest deficiency. I apologize in my earlier rant I misspoke it’s not a ball connection, I am sure there is a name for this but I leave that to fans more versed in toy engineering like you. But either way it’s another tension connection that fails on me, consistently. I cannot open these missile ports without this connection failing which is really a bummer. Cause you know, you just want to pop open a missile-bay and smile at the simple pleasure.... not wrestle with this bizarre choice. I know transforming is going to be hard but some basic blocking and tackling stuff like opening up weapons panels and holding the middle of the figure are just executed poorly. It’s just joyless, and it’s weird to look at something you want so much and looks so good and have that be the takeaway.
I actually like the transformation process with the exception of the hips/thighs bar that you rotate around for every mode. I'm just wondering, do Macross/Robotech fans prefer a simplistic transformation process that has been a norm with past and current Macross/Robotech/Mospeada/etc. products as they have come to expect that and somewhat dislike something a bit involved that is similar to a Transformers product?
I hope you have a better experience with it. I think I would be more forgiving of the issues if this wasn’t the 4th attempt (5th if you count the Aoshima reworking of the Toynami) at a modern Legioss.
I didn’t experience near the QC issues you did. My Stick’s shoulder is shit and I can connect it but it feels terrifyingly tight and I know if I move it, it’s going to sheer that ball-joint, so he lives in the thermoform tray, for the time being. I have a sort of loose-ish hip. I don’t mean to sound like an asshole when I say this but... if I have to pay $250 or whatever and that leads to Sentinel executing this design better.... well fine. I am sticking with them and I am hope all this is reflected in a second go round. Cause there is a lot to like but damn this thing needs a second pass in a way even the Ride-Armor didn’t.
I don’t think the complexity is the issue so much as the unintuitive nature of it, the fragile parts, the overly tight parts and the overly loose parts. I’ve got plenty of figures far more complex than this that are a joy to transform because everything makes sense and works properly. I even like the DX Drakken transformation that everyone complains about because even though it’s complicated, it works, and it results in a fighter and battroid mode that is solid and enjoyable to handle and pose.
I like what Bandai did with the Bandai DX Valks. Didn’t reinvent the wheel it’s big, it’s intuitive, it’s a solid build. You walk away satisfied not feeling like you worked a full day. In my limited experience the DX Valks are the perfect balance.
