DISCLAIMER: Sorry for the potato quality for most pics, the way the plastic is molded combined with the color makes the kit extremely hard to be focused on with my camera. That combined with my tight schedule resulted in a few potatoes, please forgive them! > <
So one day, I was checking out the shop I usually go to for my Gunpla needs as they were doing a sale at the time. I was planning on picking up only one kit, but I spotted this thing at the back of the shelf as I picked the model kit I was buying (1/100 Schwalbe Graze). This thing was dirt cheap, literally $3 and when I looked at the concept of this kit, I wanted to give it a try. So I picked it up and went home to build (?) this thing.
This kit is a very different type of model kit compared to any other. The entire kit is only one runner, and it's not your average type of runner either. Instead of building the kit, you cut off sections of the runner, and fold them to form a section of the robot. This also means that the entire kit comes in one color, and stickers do the rest of the work, that or you can paint this guy, as he's quite literally a blank canvas, also meaning he's open for customisability. The Frame Robo itself doesn't come in many colors in the first place, so stickers should be good enough.
Box:
The box is very thin, literally enough space to just put a runner and a manual inside. You got a shot of the Amateratsu Frame in CGI, note that if you're seeing more color than on this than in the product shots, it's mainly just dynamic lighting. It comes pretty much 100% color accurate OOB with the stickers.
Parts:
As I said, you only get one runner, but it's a very interesting one. the entire runner is used in the build, and you fold the runner onto another to create the Frame Robo, very simple and kid-friendly assembly. Like SD kits, they're gates that connect the parts are directly next to each other, so you're going to have to have flat, one sided nippers for a perfect cut, that or you can use an x-acto knife to split the parts like I did.
You get the sticker sheet which is large to say the least. All stickers are reflective, and most go on curved surfaces with their edges/corners, so they don't look the best out there.
Manual:
The manual is very basic and has more function over flair, even the front page tells you where to cut the kit.
Note that all the cut out parts of the runner are marked in Japanese, so you'll need to rely on recognition of the parts in images when assembling.
Completed Product:
The completed product looks okay for what you get. Plastic only comes in one color, and everything else is done by stickers. But for a model kit that retails for 500 yen, i'm not too disappointed, especially due to the fact that the entire kit was just done by cutting apart a runner and folding it onto each other. It scales about a centimeter under the HGUC RX-78-2 Revive, so it is smaller than your average 1/144 scale Gunpla.
Articulation:
Taking off the backpack so his articulation is less of a pain to deal with. His head is on a ball joint, but the fins on his head do collide with the backpack which does hinder it a bit. His shoulder doesn't move up very much considering that it's just a ball joint.
His elbow bends just under 90˚, not good elbow movement, but for the price, I wasn't expecting any. The arm can swivel too.
Thighs go apart that much, and don't swivel. Not a lot of mobility but honestly not very disappointed either.
Knees bend a sad amount of about 45˚, if you've got less than 90˚ for knee articulation, you're either very bulky or very poorly engineered. This can be more excused however due to the fact that it's all still molded on one runner, and that the actual thing is super cheap.
Gimmicks:
Since he doesn't come with any accessories, we'll dive right into the gimmicks. For one, you can reposition the ring on his backpack to surround the MS via partsforming. This however, hinders a large amount of articulation, and is mainly there just for fun. You can also detach certain parts and limbs of the frame robo and turn them into weapons that can be used with other frame robo. I don't have any other frame robo, so I sadly won't be able to demonstrate this.
Verdict:
What can I say, it's certainly a unique concept and it's executed decently well. Sure, this is not your average model kit, hell, I even think that calling it a model kit is a stretch, but it's classified as one, so can't argue against that. For what it is though, it's certainly a unique experience. It's construction is very quick, probably going to take about 10-20 mins, and it's by no means complex. To be honest, i'd call this a toy more than a model kit, it's fun, kid-friendly, and simple. For the insanely cheap price, you're getting what you pay for in the end, a fun little robot toy that can be displayed in simple poses if you so wished. At the very least, the concept of this thing is a very unique one. If you're interested in this, and have other kits ready to be shipped, you can totally pick this thing up if you're interested.
Pros:
- Crazy cheap, retailing at 500 yen. (!)
- Very unique construction compared to other model kits. (!)
Cons:
- Parts are hollow and have holes.
- Comes with no accessories, made to be messed around with if you have other frame robo.
- Articulation is not very great
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