[REVIEW] 1/12 Scale First Order Stormtrooper from Star Wars The Force Awakens by Bandai

       Greetings! It's 2017 and we have our first review of the year! In celebration of the announcement of Star War VIII's title, We're going to review Bandai's 1/12 Scale First Order Storm Trooper. I bought this one together with the Kylo Ren and the RG 00 Raiser and 00 Qan [T] (Since some early a-hole bought the MG RX-78-02 Gundam The Origin weeks ago). And be sure to watch out for a review of those kits. But for now, let's start off with this Stormtrooper.

       Building this First Order Stormtrooper was really fun. The color separation is good, the nub marks can be easily removed (and not that visible because it's color white), and it's pretty much straight forward. At first I was scared that I might have some visible white nub marks on the black parts but my black Gundam marker saved the day.

       Here's all of the accessories that it comes with (minus the stock part that you can put on the blaster). We have 3 pairs of hands; a pair of trigger finger hands, a pair of open palm/resting/holding the gun hands, and the classic closed fist hands. The hands that they include are pretty decent I like the fact the they included a trigger finger hand for the left hand but I wish they just replaced that with a standard holding hand for the baton. And with that, you have to use the trigger finger to hold the baton, which might be a problem because the pegs might get really lose and not hold on together from changing from time to time. Also another gripe would be the stickers for the closed fist hands. As you can see it's all black because I didn't attach the white stickers for it, it's kinda hard and the instructions for it is not clear (for me at least).

       Moving on, it also includes a figure stand (or like a mini-stage or some sort), a connector for the stand to attach together with other stands, a F-11D Blaster Rifle, a Z6 Riot Control Baton, and a Betaplast Shield. (And yes I've done my research LOL). Overall I like the accessories, they are pretty decent but I hope next time they'll add more.

That's how far it can lift it's arms and how far the elbow bends. 

       For the articulation, they are really really nice. Very well articulated and easy to pose around. I also like those flaps at the shoulders. The articulation on the diaphragm is really nice. It can bend really far up ward but bending it forward is quite of a problem. A reviewer said that it has better articulation than the other kits but I can't have a comparison because I don't have any of those. But still I do think that it's articulation is one of the best.

       Be careful not to move the shoulder joints too inward, the ball thingys tend to pop off easily if you pull it out too much. Careful you must.

And I also like the fact that this Stormtrooper can do facepalm.

wheeeee~

       Now for the lower part/legs. The knees have a decent double jointed bend that is hindered by the armor, but it's still fine. The feet though are amazing and that is because it has an ankle pivot. Good for open leg poses. One of the things that I forgot is to give it a splitting pose. It can really do the splits because I've done it a plenty of times but I wasn't able to take a photo of it. (sorry!)

       Let's go now with the appearance of the figure. The assembly of the head is pretty easy and nice, it only took me minutes to complete the whole helmet itself. The sculpt on the helmet is really nice. Though there are some parts that you must paint yourself but seeing it as it is still looks clean. The thing that I was really surprised with this one was the part for the helmet's eyes are black clear parts. I thought Bandai will provide us some plain old black part. The small circle thingy on the left side of the chin is supposed to be a silver colored part which you have to attach either a sticker or a water slide decal. I tried none of them and used my metallic silver Sharpee, but I think I failed.

       The upper body part is just spot on. For me its really accurate with the one in the movie.

       The waist part consist of some small packs that who in the universe knows what's inside of it. Those black lines on the packs are supposed to be attached with either a sticker or waterslide decal but I highly recommend filling it in with the Black Gundam marker. The tube like piece above this guy's butt must also be attached with stickers and they were fine. Just be carefull

The arm part has this really cool pattern thingy in it. (I hope you guys can see it)

       The leg part is also nice. There's a connector on the right leg that connects the blaster. The black rigged parts for the knees are very well sculpted too, just be careful when removing nub marks be cause it might destroy some of those rigged surface.

       Here it is now equipped with the Z6 Riot Control Baton and the Betaplast Shield. They are both good looking snap built but of course with lots of effort and paint it'll look better. The Betaplast Shield looks simple but epic. The black clear part is a really cool addition. Somehow, I think this is the only First Order Stormtrooper (in it's scale) to have the shield, so this one is really a good purchase.

"Traitor!"

       The baton are comprised of 4 parts, two parts for the black part and three parts for the white parts. Sadly the white parts hollowed and the only detail that you can add are either the stickers or the waterslide decals. I used the mettalic silver Sharpee to give it a try and it's a no go. So I just settled with the stickers and they're just fine. I know they might detach one day but thank God Bandai provided us with a water slide decals. But of course with lots of effort and paint and so sanding and molding, you can make your Z6 Riot Control Baton look like this.

Here's the blaster pistol attached to the side of the leg.

"I had enough of being a Stormtrooper, I wanna be a Gundam!"

Here it is equipped with the blaster and the shield. Looking all Gundam-ish.

Very Gundam-ish.

       This figure is really nice to pose around with the action base but it doesn't fit with whole Stormtrooper thing. But it sure is fun.

Cons:

• No holding hands and hallowed parts for the baton
• Stickers for the closed fisted hands
• Some stickers are lame
• One colored blaster (as usual)

Pros:

• Great color separation (except for the blaster)
• Clear parts for the helmet and shield
• Decent amount of articulation and accessories
• Only figure in its scale to have the shield (I think)
• Easy and fun build.

       So there you go, the 1/12 First Order Stormtrooper is one of the best kits that I have. I hope they'll make more variations of Stormtroopers (no P-Bandai please) from the upcoming movies and I wish they'll have more useful accessories than this one. With this 1/12 scale figure, I hope they also make more characters like Luke, Yoda, Rey, Finn, etc. because why not? Bandai has been producing more and more variants for that useless Super Fumina that the crazy-ass Minato made, so why not make model kits for the other more meaningful characters in this epic franchise? Let's just be positive I guess.

       So that ends my first review for the year share your thoughts in the comments below and tell me what you think about this Stormtrooper. And stay tuned with some more in the next few weeks! May the force be with you!

[NEWS] Gunpla EXPO 2017 Philippines (And some first thoughts about the event)

(Gunpla Expo logo from: Gundam.info)

       And so it begins. Gunpla Expo is finally coming to the Philippines. From the rumors of Gunpla Expo going around since last year (that my very kind Gunpla fb friend has been raving about but I think no one seemed to care about it), to this leaked image that surfaced days before the official announcent, finally it's here.

photo from: Gundam Philippines FB page

       It was announced last January 19 via Gundam Philippines' facebook page about the said event. It will be held at the Main Hall Atrium in SM Mall of Asia (MoA). It is a Free Admission event that includes a raffle and will start on February 25 to March 5, 2017.

Event Highlights:

• 3 meter Gundam RX-78-2 Statue
• MG Gundam Masterpiece
• Beargguy Diorama PH Version
• Wide range of expensive Model Kits
• Fuckass expensive  Gunpla Expo Limited Items

       While most Gundam fans and hobbyist are excited about this event, some reactions are pretty mixed. Well, there may be "finally" a Gunpla Expo in the Philippines where you can see some Gunpla displays, upcoming Gunpla releases, and Expo Exclusive kits but there's one thing that most people are not satisfied about, THE PRICING. Gundam Model Kits are officially distributed by the assholes at Ban Kee Trading in the Philippines and of course they are notorious for adding high as fuck prices in the Gunplas that they sell. Talking about a High Grade Try Burning Gundam that costs JPY1800 (787 in Philippine Peso) and giving it a PHP1200 price tag. An additional P300 for a HG kit is too much. But that's not all, pricing sometimes depend on the hype of the MS. I once saw a HGBF Sengoku Astray, and it cost P2000, a very huge price tag for a simple kit that needs lots of painting that costs the same with the Try Burning Gundam. I think Ban Kee thought, "Hey, I think this'll be a fan favorite kit in the Philippines, let's sell it for P2000!"

       So with that I think the so-called, Wide range of model kits and Gunpla Expo Limited Items might cost 2x or worse 3x worth it's original value. Or to make it much worse, they'll make you buy P500-P2000 worth of kits first to buy an exclusive one, just like what they did last time during the 2016 Gundam Modelling Kit Competition:

I think this is the strategy that the assholes at Ban Kee will do for the event. But let's hope for FAIR PRICING.

       But aside from the negativity, let's still be hopeful for the very Gunpla Expo. Let's hope that the organizers will give fans what they really want and what they deserve and do a pretty good job on organizing this event. Looking at the bright side we might see really cool stuff and some prototypes of the upcoming Gunplas, diorama displays of the winners from last year's GBWC, and of course the 3-meter Granpa Gundam that might beat the crap out of this one.

      So mark your calendars, save lots of your hard earned money, and be nice to your parents so they'll let you go to the event (well, if you're a kid of course) because this might be an epic one. And of course, yours truly will be at the said event to cover it and of course post some pics here in my blog. And maybe tap me on the shoulder when you guys recognize me. See you at the event!