overtime kotobukiyas hmm zoid lines are getting much more accurate and compact. unlike the old ones that look stylized and tend to explode if you handle it roughly.
Yeah, the engineering has improved incredibly since the line started 17 years ago. I still think some of the older models are gorgeous, like the Blade Liger and the Genos, but those kits in particular are also insanely fiddly to build and basically detonate if you look at them too hard.
I saw the Reddler a few months ago, but I haven’t had money and more importantly I’ve got a big backlog of models. I’ve got 2 ships, 4 planes, a couple wooden models, a ROKR clock kit, and HMM Liger Zero Empire, Pteras Bomber, and Death Stinger limited edition.
@@spacehamsterZH I actually can rattle off the WHOLE thing (not including what was already listed): 1:350 USS Massachusetts and Hancock, 1:72 Thunderbirds Demo Team, KC-135, and F-104 and 1:48 F-14, and bat and crow mechanical kits (though the bat is my girlfriend’s). But yeah…also I built 2 Alice Gear Aegis models (Sitara Kaneshiya Ganesha, and Desktop Army Rin Himukai), finished my HMM Great Saber finally and built an HMM Storm Sworder (I think you may already know about those from a previous video).
Its taken them quite a while but they finally seem to be putting in a lot more focus on the build quality of hmm's. While they're still no gundamn in terms of sheer build stability I enjoy not fearing something coming loose or falling off nearly as much in these more recent releases
They're just getting better at it, I guess. Don't forget Bandai Namco is a massive media conglomerate and they just have resources that Kotobukiya doesn't. What's really cool to see, though, is that if you've built most of these kits in sequence, it's very clear that they're putting a lot of time and effort into improving the designs, and learning from what did and didn't work in the past. I still think the older kits look just as good as the newer ones, but the newer kits are just objectively better in terms of how they work and how they go together.
Great informative and detailed video! As a newbie, I learned a lot! As someone who grew up with the original early 80's releases, I was excited to discover this HMM line, (which does for Zoids what the Masterpiece line does for Transformers.) But as someone who has NO experience with the 1998 line, I was hoping these HMM ones are meant to be a throwback to the original ones. But I've noticed that the Iguan one shares the same number (EZ-017) as the 1998 ones, while the original lists EMZ 22. (I'm guessing these numbers reflect release order, but I don't have a guess regarding the lettering.) With your expertise and experience, I thought I'd reach out in case you have some insights as I'm new to this line! Thanks! 😎
Hey - I'll just answer here because you posted a similar question under my HMM Zillon video, but this one's more recent, so let's talk about this here. For the most part, the HMM line has been an adaptation of the NJR line - it follows that numbering and (more or less) those color schemes as well. The NJR Zoids were just numbered 1-76 preceded by either RZ or EZ depending on whether the Zoid was affiliated with the Republic or the Empire. The Reddra and the Godos have been somewhat unusual in that the Godos came with waterslide decals modeled after the 80s designs, and the Reddra is even being released in two different colors - the one I'm reviewing here looks like the 80s version, but there's also one with "Redler" on the box that looks like the NJR. Hopefully we'll see more of the HMM acknowledging the 80s versions in the future, but the reality is that most of the audience that's around today grew up with the late 90s/early 00s anime, and that's what they're nostalgic for. As for the numbering of the OJRs, you can find a complete list on the Fandom Zoids Wiki (I think if I link to it here this comment gets auto-deleted, so you'll have to google it yourself, I'm afraid - they were also numbered consecutively, but had a wider variety of letter designations before the numbers denoting different categories. As for the OER, they had the OJR stickers, but due to the faction switches and other changes, none of it made much sense. The numbering also only existed on the stickers, the boxes just had names and no numbers on them. Hope that helps!
@@spacehamsterZH Thanks for the info! It was indeed a big help! For me those early Zoids hold a special place for me because they, (along with Transformers,) were that early taste of Japan at a time when anime culture was not NEARLY as accessible as it is today in the U.S. I typically am an in-box collector who collects figures (like Nendoroids) and has ZERO experience with models. I mainly wanted to proudly display one of these amazing HMM retro releases (in its killer box art) along with the rest of my figures, (as those early Zoids played such a large role toward my lifelong love of Japanese anime etc.) 😎 You are right that is so often the case that the more recent iterations often get the spotlight. It's rare to see anything for the ORIGINAL Full Metal Alchemist (instead of Brotherhood) and the same can be said for Evangelion (as opposed to the "Rebuild" versions.) That said, I did hear great things about the Chaotic Century anime, and that it thankfully strove to be inclusive to the original adult fans (like not being overly "kiddy" etc.) Thanks again so much for the info, and fingers crossed we get more OJR releases!
@@taylora8845 happy to help, but honestly, I would still recommend that you at least give building one of the smaller kits (like the Reddra here, or the Rev Raptor that was also released recently) a shot - you can still display the box either way, there's really nothing to see otherwise, and the small ones really aren't difficult. Watch some videos with some basic Gunpla building advice, get a knife and a nipper and you're golden. As for Chaotic Century, that was already too kid-focused for my tastes at the time, which is why I always chuckle a bit when fans from those days now complain about the more recent Zoids Wild/Zoids Wild Zero anime being "for kids". The reality is that Zoids has always done best when it was marketed to kids. There aren't enough adult collectors to sustain it.
@@spacehamsterZH Thanks for the info! With my lack of experience with models, I figured I wouldn't do an HMM kit justice, but I may have to reconsider someday!) 😀 The HMM Iguan looked like a cool introductory kit too. There seems to be a mistake with Iguan though, because it seems to resemble the 80's version with the colors etc, and also does NOT have a "blue" pilot and the "green" canopy from the 1999 version. Despite this, it is still numbered with the newer EZ-17 number (from the 1999 release) instead of the original EMZ-22 1986 release. 🤷♂
I had the Tomy/Hasbro kit as a kid back in 2004 but my model skills were awful and it broke What better way to tickle my nostalgia than to get the "Master Grade" version. ^_^ Granted i'll be getting the purple version, though this red one is neat.
Superb video,my friend,great to see you back on air!,you've answered the query I had about painting a posable model,in my experience moving parts and paint are never a great combination but it's extremely clever how these kits are engineered to allow huge pose ability,if someone had the time and inclination 'stop-motion' filming would be very possible.✌👍
I've painted Gundams and still posed them afterwards, so it's not completely infeasible, but you do need to pay close attention to how the parts go together, whether something needs to be sanded to create some clearance, etc, and it's just better to decide on a pose first and then paint it that way. It also saves a ton of time because there are a lot of sections you can paint in one piece instead of having to take them apart again. And let's face it, it just goes in a cabinet and then you never touch it again. If I wanted to play with 'em, I wouldn't paint them.
@@spacehamsterZH good point,bud,it's not like you're posing these kits 20 times a day,I would imagine once the novelty of posing the kit a few times has worn of then people generally leave them in one favourite pose,this is perhaps one of the few Kotobukiya HMM models that still looks impressive with no painting whatsoever although I know your painted version will knock it out the ball park,👍✌
@@grahamsmith2022 yeah, that's generally what I did in the past, finish the paintjob, pose them a bit for pictures, then decide on a final pose and leave it that way. It's just a question of how difficult it is to make that possible because in the end, you're complicating the painting process quite a lot for the tradeoff of a few cool pictures in different poses.
@@grahamsmith2022 Oh, I've ordered two of both, but tbqh I'm not a big fan of either color scheme. I don't know what I'll end up doing, but it won't be pink or purple...
I've just "finished" mine bud, I've only had it a year!😂,still haven't put the stickers on,panel lined it or put any "weathering" on it but hey,let's not rush the process.One thing i will say is it looks a lot better in red than that lousy pink,and obviously the "metal" parts always look better painted as we've said before.
I may do mine soon as well. I'm working on a Shield Liger for the TwoToys upgrade kit I reviewed last week, and I'm thinking I might paint the Redler or the Rev Raptor at the same time since they're relatively small, I've already built them, and I've got the airbrush out anyway.
@@spacehamsterZH it will be great to see those or any other content for that matter 👍,the Redler is a great HMM kit,I've started on my HMM Godos now but got virtually nowhere due to the usual not having the correct paint colours yet!😂
Huh. Never thought they'd do this one. Also, for an HMM kit, you'd think Kotobukiya would improve the tail articulation to be functional, instead you get those joints that end up being unused.
Yeah, I was very surprised when they announced this one... AND the CP unit... AND the Guylos version from the NJR. It's always been one of those personal favorites of mine that I thought nobody else cared about, but then along comes Kotobukiya and treats it like it's a big deal. Makes me super happy, of course.
@@spacehamsterZH Good for you bro. Me personally, a reissue of the Matrix Dragon would make my day lol. I can't deny that this looks good, but man that tail articulation could have been done better.
@@DarkROSkull013 ha, if they start making HMM versions of Blox Zoids, I'll be REALLY surprised. But hey, you never know. I also never thought we'd see a HMM Gojulas.
The Tomy kits always seem to have better quality plastic and builds. And them being able to walk is the best part. The Kotobukiya kits just seem to have such fragile materials that can break by doing almost nothing. However there is one major problem with the Tomy kits. The pegs used to attach weapons. They can snap off easily.
Really? I've never had a peg snap off a Tomy model, to be honest. But then again I also don't handle them much. I think in general it's worth keeping in mind that the Kotobukiya kits are really intended as model kits and thus mostly display pieces, whereas the Tomy kits are toys and thus naturally more sturdy. Although it's certainly true that Kotobukiya's plastic can be a bit on the brittle side compared to other model kits.
Yeah, but if the joints are designed like they are on the Reddra, you inevitably end up with exposed unpainted plastic. It's relatively easy to mask off the pegs/pegholes on larger kits and have the unpainted sections be more or less hidden, but with this one I'm not so sure.
YES PLEASE. I'm thinking I might do a repaint in those colors, but it won't be the same without proper clear blue parts. In fact, probably my only real gripe here is that I wish they'd included a separate clear sprue for those of us who want to paint the model.
@@spacehamsterZH which HMM has been known to do in the past, right? but that was when the clear sprue was merely the eyes and like maybe two other small parts I think.
@@KairuHakubi Yeah, they've done it with some of the recent reissues, but I couldn't tell you which ones off the top of my head. Definitely the Iron Kong, but like you say, that's a lot less plastic to duplicate. I think I'll just do candy blue for the Genesis color scheme, that's close enough.
overtime kotobukiyas hmm zoid lines are getting much more accurate and compact. unlike the old ones that look stylized and tend to explode if you handle it roughly.
Yeah, the engineering has improved incredibly since the line started 17 years ago. I still think some of the older models are gorgeous, like the Blade Liger and the Genos, but those kits in particular are also insanely fiddly to build and basically detonate if you look at them too hard.
I've just got mine from hobbyco today it was the last one they had in stock I’ve just built mine and it’s solid unlike other kits I’ve built.
I saw the Reddler a few months ago, but I haven’t had money and more importantly I’ve got a big backlog of models. I’ve got 2 ships, 4 planes, a couple wooden models, a ROKR clock kit, and HMM Liger Zero Empire, Pteras Bomber, and Death Stinger limited edition.
Haha, man, I wish I could just rattle off my backlog from memory. Good on you for actually having some self-control, that's all I can say...
@@spacehamsterZH I actually can rattle off the WHOLE thing (not including what was already listed): 1:350 USS Massachusetts and Hancock, 1:72 Thunderbirds Demo Team, KC-135, and F-104 and 1:48 F-14, and bat and crow mechanical kits (though the bat is my girlfriend’s).
But yeah…also I built 2 Alice Gear Aegis models (Sitara Kaneshiya Ganesha, and Desktop Army Rin Himukai), finished my HMM Great Saber finally and built an HMM Storm Sworder (I think you may already know about those from a previous video).
@@Hoshimaru57 I'd seriously have to look at a text file to answer that question...
Its taken them quite a while but they finally seem to be putting in a lot more focus on the build quality of hmm's. While they're still no gundamn in terms of sheer build stability I enjoy not fearing something coming loose or falling off nearly as much in these more recent releases
They're just getting better at it, I guess. Don't forget Bandai Namco is a massive media conglomerate and they just have resources that Kotobukiya doesn't. What's really cool to see, though, is that if you've built most of these kits in sequence, it's very clear that they're putting a lot of time and effort into improving the designs, and learning from what did and didn't work in the past. I still think the older kits look just as good as the newer ones, but the newer kits are just objectively better in terms of how they work and how they go together.
Great informative and detailed video! As a newbie, I learned a lot! As someone who grew up with the original early 80's releases, I was excited to discover this HMM line, (which does for Zoids what the Masterpiece line does for Transformers.) But as someone who has NO experience with the 1998 line, I was hoping these HMM ones are meant to be a throwback to the original ones. But I've noticed that the Iguan one shares the same number (EZ-017) as the 1998 ones, while the original lists EMZ 22. (I'm guessing these numbers reflect release order, but I don't have a guess regarding the lettering.) With your expertise and experience, I thought I'd reach out in case you have some insights as I'm new to this line! Thanks! 😎
Hey - I'll just answer here because you posted a similar question under my HMM Zillon video, but this one's more recent, so let's talk about this here.
For the most part, the HMM line has been an adaptation of the NJR line - it follows that numbering and (more or less) those color schemes as well. The NJR Zoids were just numbered 1-76 preceded by either RZ or EZ depending on whether the Zoid was affiliated with the Republic or the Empire. The Reddra and the Godos have been somewhat unusual in that the Godos came with waterslide decals modeled after the 80s designs, and the Reddra is even being released in two different colors - the one I'm reviewing here looks like the 80s version, but there's also one with "Redler" on the box that looks like the NJR. Hopefully we'll see more of the HMM acknowledging the 80s versions in the future, but the reality is that most of the audience that's around today grew up with the late 90s/early 00s anime, and that's what they're nostalgic for.
As for the numbering of the OJRs, you can find a complete list on the Fandom Zoids Wiki (I think if I link to it here this comment gets auto-deleted, so you'll have to google it yourself, I'm afraid - they were also numbered consecutively, but had a wider variety of letter designations before the numbers denoting different categories.
As for the OER, they had the OJR stickers, but due to the faction switches and other changes, none of it made much sense. The numbering also only existed on the stickers, the boxes just had names and no numbers on them.
Hope that helps!
@@spacehamsterZH Thanks for the info! It was indeed a big help! For me those early Zoids hold a special place for me because they, (along with Transformers,) were that early taste of Japan at a time when anime culture was not NEARLY as accessible as it is today in the U.S. I typically am an in-box collector who collects figures (like Nendoroids) and has ZERO experience with models. I mainly wanted to proudly display one of these amazing HMM retro releases (in its killer box art) along with the rest of my figures, (as those early Zoids played such a large role toward my lifelong love of Japanese anime etc.) 😎
You are right that is so often the case that the more recent iterations often get the spotlight. It's rare to see anything for the ORIGINAL Full Metal Alchemist (instead of Brotherhood) and the same can be said for Evangelion (as opposed to the "Rebuild" versions.) That said, I did hear great things about the Chaotic Century anime, and that it thankfully strove to be inclusive to the original adult fans (like not being overly "kiddy" etc.)
Thanks again so much for the info, and fingers crossed we get more OJR releases!
@@taylora8845 happy to help, but honestly, I would still recommend that you at least give building one of the smaller kits (like the Reddra here, or the Rev Raptor that was also released recently) a shot - you can still display the box either way, there's really nothing to see otherwise, and the small ones really aren't difficult. Watch some videos with some basic Gunpla building advice, get a knife and a nipper and you're golden.
As for Chaotic Century, that was already too kid-focused for my tastes at the time, which is why I always chuckle a bit when fans from those days now complain about the more recent Zoids Wild/Zoids Wild Zero anime being "for kids". The reality is that Zoids has always done best when it was marketed to kids. There aren't enough adult collectors to sustain it.
@@spacehamsterZH Thanks for the info! With my lack of experience with models, I figured I wouldn't do an HMM kit justice, but I may have to reconsider someday!) 😀 The HMM Iguan looked like a cool introductory kit too. There seems to be a mistake with Iguan though, because it seems to resemble the 80's version with the colors etc, and also does NOT have a "blue" pilot and the "green" canopy from the 1999 version. Despite this, it is still numbered with the newer EZ-17 number (from the 1999 release) instead of the original EMZ-22 1986 release.
🤷♂
I had the Tomy/Hasbro kit as a kid back in 2004 but my model skills were awful and it broke
What better way to tickle my nostalgia than to get the "Master Grade" version. ^_^
Granted i'll be getting the purple version, though this red one is neat.
Superb video,my friend,great to see you back on air!,you've answered the query I had about painting a posable model,in my experience moving parts and paint are never a great combination but it's extremely clever how these kits are engineered to allow huge pose ability,if someone had the time and inclination 'stop-motion' filming would be very possible.✌👍
I've painted Gundams and still posed them afterwards, so it's not completely infeasible, but you do need to pay close attention to how the parts go together, whether something needs to be sanded to create some clearance, etc, and it's just better to decide on a pose first and then paint it that way. It also saves a ton of time because there are a lot of sections you can paint in one piece instead of having to take them apart again. And let's face it, it just goes in a cabinet and then you never touch it again. If I wanted to play with 'em, I wouldn't paint them.
@@spacehamsterZH good point,bud,it's not like you're posing these kits 20 times a day,I would imagine once the novelty of posing the kit a few times has worn of then people generally leave them in one favourite pose,this is perhaps one of the few Kotobukiya HMM models that still looks impressive with no painting whatsoever although I know your painted version will knock it out the ball park,👍✌
@@grahamsmith2022 yeah, that's generally what I did in the past, finish the paintjob, pose them a bit for pictures, then decide on a final pose and leave it that way. It's just a question of how difficult it is to make that possible because in the end, you're complicating the painting process quite a lot for the tradeoff of a few cool pictures in different poses.
@@spacehamsterZH looking forward to seeing your painted example, bud, I'm guessing that will be the purple edition. 👌👍
@@grahamsmith2022 Oh, I've ordered two of both, but tbqh I'm not a big fan of either color scheme. I don't know what I'll end up doing, but it won't be pink or purple...
I've just "finished" mine bud, I've only had it a year!😂,still haven't put the stickers on,panel lined it or put any "weathering" on it but hey,let's not rush the process.One thing i will say is it looks a lot better in red than that lousy pink,and obviously the "metal" parts always look better painted as we've said before.
I may do mine soon as well. I'm working on a Shield Liger for the TwoToys upgrade kit I reviewed last week, and I'm thinking I might paint the Redler or the Rev Raptor at the same time since they're relatively small, I've already built them, and I've got the airbrush out anyway.
@@spacehamsterZH it will be great to see those or any other content for that matter 👍,the Redler is a great HMM kit,I've started on my HMM Godos now but got virtually nowhere due to the usual not having the correct paint colours yet!😂
Great video! Subbed:)
Thank you!
Huh. Never thought they'd do this one. Also, for an HMM kit, you'd think Kotobukiya would improve the tail articulation to be functional, instead you get those joints that end up being unused.
Yeah, I was very surprised when they announced this one... AND the CP unit... AND the Guylos version from the NJR. It's always been one of those personal favorites of mine that I thought nobody else cared about, but then along comes Kotobukiya and treats it like it's a big deal. Makes me super happy, of course.
@@spacehamsterZH Good for you bro. Me personally, a reissue of the Matrix Dragon would make my day lol.
I can't deny that this looks good, but man that tail articulation could have been done better.
@@DarkROSkull013 ha, if they start making HMM versions of Blox Zoids, I'll be REALLY surprised. But hey, you never know. I also never thought we'd see a HMM Gojulas.
The Tomy kits always seem to have better quality plastic and builds. And them being able to walk is the best part. The Kotobukiya kits just seem to have such fragile materials that can break by doing almost nothing. However there is one major problem with the Tomy kits. The pegs used to attach weapons. They can snap off easily.
Really? I've never had a peg snap off a Tomy model, to be honest. But then again I also don't handle them much.
I think in general it's worth keeping in mind that the Kotobukiya kits are really intended as model kits and thus mostly display pieces, whereas the Tomy kits are toys and thus naturally more sturdy. Although it's certainly true that Kotobukiya's plastic can be a bit on the brittle side compared to other model kits.
I guess no more rubber pc for any small kits in the future.
Yeah, I actually think I may have gotten that wrong and other smaller ones also didn't have them before. Either way, works for me.
To prevent the thing from becoming fix pose when painting is just don't paint the joints
Yeah, but if the joints are designed like they are on the Reddra, you inevitably end up with exposed unpainted plastic. It's relatively easy to mask off the pegs/pegholes on larger kits and have the unpainted sections be more or less hidden, but with this one I'm not so sure.
brachiosaurus of the room lol
awesome. now give us the genesis colors haha
YES PLEASE.
I'm thinking I might do a repaint in those colors, but it won't be the same without proper clear blue parts. In fact, probably my only real gripe here is that I wish they'd included a separate clear sprue for those of us who want to paint the model.
@@spacehamsterZH which HMM has been known to do in the past, right? but that was when the clear sprue was merely the eyes and like maybe two other small parts I think.
@@KairuHakubi Yeah, they've done it with some of the recent reissues, but I couldn't tell you which ones off the top of my head. Definitely the Iron Kong, but like you say, that's a lot less plastic to duplicate.
I think I'll just do candy blue for the Genesis color scheme, that's close enough.