Robot Spirits, or Robot Damashii is a toyline of poseable mecha figures made by Bandai under the brand Tamashii Nations. Robot Spirits are poseable action figures of various mecha from different anime series, mainly that of Mobile Suits from the Gundam franchise, which is what the line is usually recognised for.
Robot Spirits are standard, poseable plastic representations of various mecha from anime, usually those of the Real Robot or standard mecha genre, no things like Super Robots are offered in this line. They don't have a lot of stylised design elements other than proportion changes, and no things like diecast metal to make them more expensive than they need to be. Robot Spirits do have metal parts in some area sometimes, but it's mainly for the joints of the figure, these are made of your sturdy ABS plastic with spots of PVC that need it. So with that said, Robot Spirits are less of a premium item, and more of your standard collectable for your mecha figures, unlike Tamashii Nations' chogokin lines for Super Robots.
A majority of Robot Spirits are those of Gundam Mobile Suits, and is what the line is usually known for, however there are also quite a lot of other mechs that have Robot Spirits figures, a few of those being from other real robot franchises, like the Ingram 1 from Patlabor, and Arbalest from Full Metal Panic. There are also numerous other mecha that have Robot Spirits, like the Evangelions from Rebuild of Evangelion, a few Knightmare Frames from Code Geass, and even Aura Battlers like Dunbine.
Robot Spirits also have a subline called Ver. A.N.I.M.E, which contains well engineered Robot Spirits of Mobile Suits from the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime from 1979. These figures have round, derpy looking proportions, done intentionally to replicate the proportions of how these MS looked in the original anime from the 80's. These figures also have small bits of extra details not on the actual suit, well engineered joint systems for maximum poseability, and numerous accessories as well as effect parts for display options. Another subline is Metal Robot Spirits, which as the name suggests, are Robot Spirits with die cast metal parts in their construction, giving them stronger joints, sturdier construction, and a premium status as well as price. There is also Ka Signature, which features Robot Spirits figures with both their looks and structure designed by Hajime Katoki, often sporting more decals, and increased detail as well as engineering, which is again reflected in price.
These figures are generally strong with their ABS constructions, and their joints are good too. While they aren't by any means tight, their joints hold quite well due to precise metal parts in areas to keep them strong, yet let them pose both easily and fluidly. Robot Spirits usually pack a variety of weapons used by the respective mech, with some figures having more accessories than the others, at minimum you can expect expressive hands plus the mecha's basic equipment.
Robot Spirits of Gundams also get compared to HG Gunpla quite often, and sometimes huge debates arise from which is the superior product. Personally I disagree with comparing these two things together entirely, as both lines offer very different things for different audiences. Gunpla are cheap kits that require time and passion from a builder, they are model kits and offer higher customisability with them, as well as the experience of freedom with these kits. Instead, Robot Spirits offer sturdier figures of MS, more detail for the scale, and are more suited for posing, playing, and messing around like a proper action figure. Besides, Robot Spirits don't only have Gundams, they offer many different types of mecha as well. Robot Spirits and Gunpla are two different toylines entirely, and one line should not be viewed superior than the other as a fact, they offer different things, to different types of audiences and should be treated as such.
These Robot Spirits figures are nice choices if you want a good, solid figure of certain mechs from different series. Some will be more expensive than others, and hell, earlier Robot Spirits are quite bad, with fragile parts, weird looking proportions, and overall they were not the best. Their quality has since moved past those early days, and now are some of the best pure plastic mecha figures on the market. If you're a Gundam fan wanting some MS however, you might want to consider Gunpla for a cheaper option since Robot Spirits are more expensive compared to them. As for collectors who want sturdy, good looking, playable figures of mechs, Robot Spirits is definitely a good option to consider for if they have an figure that appeals to you.
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