Another photo of Kotobukiya’s Meledyne M1 figure from the Front Mission 3 series.

(Click on the photo for a larger-sized version.)

Each figure ships with a few weapons and two pairs of hands (gungrip and clenched fists). In a nice touch, the gungrip hands have pegs which allows the guns to be clutched firmly. The figures have standardised ports so the accessories are interchangeable between figures.

I got this figure in 2001 and I regret not getting more from the series. To compound matters, Kotobukiya has chosen to shy away from making action figures so it’s unlikely we’ll see figures as great as this from the company again.

A photo of a Meledyne M1, a Wanzer from Kotobukiya/ArtFX’s Front Mission 3 series of figures based on Squaresoft’s PS2 game of the same name.

This is one of my favourite figures ever. Gaze upon it and it should be obvious why. Outstanding paint and weathering, good articulation and a delicious mecha design. Instead of going into great detail, I’ll simply direct you to the same Prabal Nandy review on Usenet which convinced me to get one.

The Front Mission 3 figures were later released in the US by Palisades Marketing in Spring 2000. I don’t think the figures did that well in the States. They went on clearance and at one point, they were on eBay for 8 bucks without any takers.

A photo of Gali, a Lego Bionicle figure released in 2001.

I’m sure everyone is aware Lego sets come in numerous parts which children have to assemble themselves. So, essentially, children are paying for the dubious privilege of role-playing underpaid Chinese toy factory workers. There are child labour laws throughout the world yet somehow Lego has circumvented these by claiming its products are educational.

It’s all in the marketing, kids.
Continued…