By Loran
Okay, time for an unpopular opinion: I don’t like Evangelion.
I mean, okay, it has plenty of aspects that I like. I like the look of the EVAs themselves, I like the world, but the characters and the whole “deep” story just annoy me. I guess I’m too much of a traditionalist when it comes to my giant robot shows. That’s not to say I don’t like intellectual giant robot shows—far from it, but when you do all sorts of symbolism and crap just for the sake of having it… I don’t know it just bugs me. Especially when you have one of the most annoying main characters ever.
But I digress… especially since I’ve been genuinely enjoying the movies.
I’ve set a goal for myself: Get as many “main character” robots as I can for a Super Robot Wars group, preferably around the same height. As a result, it looks like I’ll be going for quite a few Robot Damashii and Super Robot Chogokin releases—I’m not complaining, they’re both great toylines!
Representing Evangelion I have the movie version of EVA-01, which, well, isn’t that much different from the regular EVA-01 in terms of color scheme. But hey, I like having the most recent versions of designs. It’s a very well-put-together figure, coming in quite tall and lean, standing pretty tall above my only other RD figure. But I’d expect no less from an EVA.
The paint applications are INCREDIBLY nice. I was expecting to see some poorly painted or smudged edges, but for the most part this toy is really clean.
I really like the proportions on the arms. Merchandise of the EVA units usually end up with arms that are too long (the model kits) or too short (the Revoltechs). But here, they seem to get at just the right length.
The torso is very… wormy, if I could use that word. The various segments help it achieve a very wide range of poses, which help for its next feature…
…the alternate head. Berserk mode, of course. Personally, I prefer having a figure with a hinged jaw, but those can break easily. Also, the head swapping can be kind of… scary. It’s hard to get out, and I’m always afraid I’m going to break it by accident. Two sets of removable horns are included, one in soft plastic and the other in hard plastic. I much prefer the hard plastic ones in this case.
The feet use rocker joints, which also really help with dynamic posing, since with these, the figure can actually stand!
Though, I do find the hip joints to be quite hideous, and they aren’t the most stable. I actually popped one of them out when I was first fiddling with it. I mean, they function well enough, but my god they’re ugly.
A whopping thirteen hands are included with this figure! Geez, it’s like I bought a figuart instead. Unfortunately, like some figuarts, switching them can be a pain. I actually popped one of the wrist joints in half. Oops.
Its weapon compliment is light, but you do get doubles, so you can have it dual-wield machine guns of knives. Naturally, the plug is included as well, but I really wish they’d put an end on these things. I hate how they always just end up trailing off in the distance without something to come out of.
But the crown jewel accessory is the AT Field. This thing is awesome. It’s meant to be “ripped open” by Berserker EVA-01, and comes on its own little tamashii stage. It’s a great accessory, and a big draw to the figure, in my opinion.
The Robot Damashii EVA-01 is a great figure, and I’d say is a pretty good introduction to the line’s non-Gundam figures. I’ll definitely try to get the other three sometime. Remember to come to FPNYC for all your Tamashii Nation needs!
