May

1

Mugen X

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Bandai Mugenbine Xenonbine

A photo of Mugenroid mode Xenonbine, a 2004 figure from Bandai’s Mugenbine line.

The basic building block of the Mugenbine line was initially the Mugenroid. This chunky 9cm-tall action figure has 14 pegs and 3 peg holes and is capable of folding up into a cube.

One of the neat things about the Mugenroid is each has a unique head sculpt and colour scheme. Each Mugenroid also has an alphabet theme. For instance, Xenonbine, as you might be able to tell from the head sculpt, is the X set.

Bandai Mugenbine Xenonbine

Apr

30

Dragon X

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Bandai Mugenbine Xenonbine

A photo of dragon mode Xenonbine, a 2004 figure released as part of Bandai’s Machine Robo Mugenbine line.

Fans of Machine Robo Rescue, Mugenbine’s predecessor, came up with all sorts of creative custom fan-modes and Plex, Bandai’s design team, must have taken note because Mugenbine was an action figure line that featured super robot construction and interchangeability as a core theme.

(Plex has ex-Takara personnel — Aoki Tetsuya worked on G1 Transformers — and it’s possible the design team was influenced by Takara’s cross-line 5mm connectivity.)

Mugenbine began in December 2003 and figures are still being released this year. This is rather unusual because Mugenbine is one of the few toy lines that isn’t being supported and promoted with an animated show.

The line has mutated and changed over the past few years but interchangeability and connectivity remain the main theme.

I fully expect Japanese toy fans will be raving about this line in a decade the way I do about Takara Blockman.

Feb

19

Dino mode

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Mugenbine Mugenbuilder

A photo of Turboroid Builder atop Mugenbuilder’s dino mode, a mammoth.

The mammoth’s front swings down to reveal a compartment in the torso which can accommodate a Turboroid in vehicle mode. So, instead of driving to a construction site, Mugenbuilder can walk there. Really slowly.

Feb

16

C-Wing

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Mugenbine fan-mode: C-Wing

A photo of a simple Mugenbine fan-mode created with MugenBuilder parts.

Feb

13

Gattai robo modo

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Mugenbine Mugenbuilder

A photo of Bandai’s Mugenbine Mugenbuilder in the official super robot mode.

The shoulders might look better with parts from IronBeetle, the legs would look beefier with parts from ZordElephant, adding LauncherZaurus’ head piece would avoid the pinhead look …

Gotta love interchangeable robots.

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