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Soul of Chogokin - XS-01 Soul of Chogokin Spec Evangelion Unit 01
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| Series |
Soul of Chogokin |
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| Title |
XS-01 Soul of Chogokin Spec Evangelion Unit 01 |
| Release Date |
January 2007 |
| Manufacturer |
Bandai |
| Suggested Price (JPY) |
6,400 |
| Scale |
Non-Scale |
| Height (cm) |
head height: 21 cm |
| No. of Parts |
1 figure + 38 add-on armor parts + 6 weapons + 12 extra hands + 1 umbillical cord + 1 instruction manual |
| My Rating |
Very Good |
Related Items:
Comment
It seems like the popularity of Eva never subside as so many companies have been releasing the same old
mecha under different variety in sizes and gimmicks. This goes to Bandai who had released
Evangelion 01 Test
Type on June 2003 under the Soul of Chogokin series, which was a hit featuring a die-cast figure that comes
with excellent articulations and a shiny metallic paint job.
After 4 years, Bandai is re-releasing the same mecha again under the same series. As a collector, we all
knew that Evangelion are one of the most overuse mecha for toys and it is hard for any toy manufacturer make
appeal to the collector with this item again if there are not enough enticing gimmicks on it. What does Bandai
have up their sleeves to re-release this same old mecha under the same series? I am curious to know and that
is why I bought this.
Packaging
This item comes with a fancy packaging where it is design in a ‘Book Box’ that opens with flaps revealing
photos of EVA-01 in action and a semi cutout window revealing the figure and its armor parts.
The contents are place on 2 plastic trays stacked on top of one another. The upper tray contains the EVA-01
‘Naked’ body with its external armor pieces where the second lower trays holds its weapons and arsenal with
an additional 6 pairs of hands.
The additional hands are as listed below.
- 2 open hands
- 2 fists
- 2 hands for gripping the Pellet Rifle
- 2 hands for gripping the Pellet Handgun
- 2 hands for gripping the Progressive Knife Mk-I
- 1 left hand for holding the Mogoroku E short sword,
- 1 right hand for holding the Mogoroku E long sword
A colored instruction manual is provided along with an umbilical cord made from soft PVC tucked nicely together
in a plastic bag.
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| Box with flaps open partially revealing its contents. |
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| Box Back Cover |
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| Upper plastic tray |
Lower plastic tray |
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| Instruction manual and umbilical power cord. |
The ‘Naked’ Body
One of the tempting feature of this Tamashii Specs is Bandai is providing a naked bare body of EVA-01 body.
The body itself is not without gimmicks. It comes with enough detail to display EVA-01 itself on its own. The
silver mechanical details on its back are quite cool.
I guess the concept here is somewhat brought over from the other Bandai’s Saint Cloth Myth series where having
a PVC body to wear on the provided armor parts. If you are familiar with the Saint Cloth Myth series, you will
notice quite a few joint design are copied from there. Take the plug-in feet, waist joints and the elbow joints
as an example. Although, the idea is not the most original concept but then it works. Bandai is able to deliver
a mecha that comes with the most natural joints and articulations that a mecha could have.
The EVA-01 Figure
The naked body is cool but it is not the main emphasize for this release. In order to get the EVA-01 Test
Type mecha to be on display, one has to put in a little extra effort by assembling the 38 pieces of armor parts
provided onto the naked body. It is not really a tough process where all the armor parts are sorted in order
on the plastic tray. It simply requires following the instruction manual and the usual dismembering all the
limbs to put on the armor parts procedure.
It is surprising that the armor part is not restrictive at all. You can get almost the same level of articulation
that you received in the naked body. Moreover, 6 pair of hands are provided for you to go crazy with its poses.
There are some gimmicks on this figure in this mode of display. Firstly, the jaw is movable and secondly,
you can swap the chest armor to reveals EVA-01 core depicted by a clear red plastic piece. Finally yet importantly,
it is the signature ‘entry plug’ at the back of the mecha.
The arsenal provided for this EVA-01 includes a pallet handgun, pallet rifle, progressive knife, and a pair
of Mogoroku E swords. The pallet gun comes with moveable piece to represent the handgun in recoil action. Both
swords come with sheaths and can be attached to the shoulder fins via 2 small plastic connectors.
Other accessories include the power plug and a pair of thicker shoulder fins. The bulkier shoulder fins comes
with hidden compartment where the right fin opens to reveal its missiles pods and the other fins opens to reveal
the compartment to store a smaller version of its progressive knife.
Comparing to the previous EVA-01 release, Bandai make a few improvement over here. Beside the natural joint
system and the add-on armor to a naked body, I am grateful that Bandai ditch the magnet attachment for its shoulder
fins. It is now employing a simple slot that slots the fins onto the shoulder. The overall look and feel is
differs from the previous release too. Thanks to the now non-metallic paint job, this EVA looks truer to the
anime color scheme.
The only letdown on the accessories department is that Bandai decided to exclude the cool mechanical base
for this figure. It is sad to see that the previous version enjoy the convenience of displaying the figure along
with all its accessories where this figure does not.
Metal Composition
When the term ‘Soul of Chogokin’ is mentioned, the first thing that comes across our mind is a mecha figure
that made of die-cast. Bandai is releasing this under the same series and it is natural for anyone to think
that this guy is made of at least 70 to 80 percent of die-cast. Bandai is again playing some marketing stunt
that misleads collectors to think that this EVA is a Soul of Chogokin. After running a metal detector test on
this guy, I believe this is more like a ‘Soul of PVC’ to me. There entire item is made of 80 to 90 percent plastic!
The only metal that I can find on this figure is its feet, the lower leg add-on armor and 2 out of the 3
pieces of its thigh armor. Beside the mentioned parts, the rest is your usual non-environmental friendly non-biodegradable
cheap plastic. What a cheat!
Conclusion
This item is very nice Evangelion figure comes with superb articulations and natural joints system that
might be the best Evangelion mecha figure ever if not being letdown by its poor metal composition. Moreover,
the concept EVA-01 constructed from a bare body is somewhat interesting.
If you ask me, I do not think this is a value buy. With the price tag of 6,400 for the ridicule metal composition,
you might consider the smaller Revoltech series.
This item is purchased locally at Berjaya Times Square.
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| The naked EVA-01 front view |
The naked EVA-01 rear view. |
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| Mechanical parts at the rear. |
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| Elbow joint bend in a natural way. |
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| EVA-01 with armor put on, front view. |
EVA-01 with armor put on, rear view. |
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| Pose with Pellet Handgun |
Pose with Pellet Handgun |
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| Pose with pellet rifle |
Able to hold his pallet rifle with both hands |
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| The umbilical power cord connector plug into the rear. |
EVA-01 and his double 'Magoroku' sword. |
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| Both 'Magoroku' sword sheath attached to the left shoulder fin. |
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| Pose with his pallet handgun and his progressive knife. |
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| Pose with both his Mogoroku swords. |
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| Jaws can be opened. |
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| Rear opens to reveal socket for its entry plug. |
Rear opens with its entry plug. |
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| Shoulder accommodate his progressive knife. |
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| EVA-01 with his crystal red core exposed. |
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Document Date : 2007-07-16 |
Responses to this page:
Hey bro, dont u think the neck is too short? i got the movie version and its neck is slightly taller... metal coposition, yup true, why bother having a few metal parts if they can go all metal parts, esp the armor