Welcome to the Samurai Mecha from High Godo. I've really liked their stuff so far and was looking forward to see how this one turned out.
1588 pieces. Normally $67 on Amazon, but got it for $48 on sale.
What drew me to this one was really the base/stand which is something I wish all sets like this (and spaceships too) came with. Oddly enough while the spear and shield have places to be attached, the mecha doesn't. The good news is it doesn't need to be.
This thing has some weight to it. Mostly thanks to the "core" of the torso. It is fucking SOLID. comprised of circular piece of various thicknesses. This is a cool design that allows the torso to rotate, but not bend forward or back like most mechs.
There are a lot of different techniques used for the joints rather than the usual ball and sockets (there are some of those too). While they restrict the movement in some ways, I really think it makes for s better built robot.
Everything on this is very well designed with only 2 pieces that keep wanting to fall off if you bump them too hard.
The joints are all good with the exception of the ones where the legs meet the body. These are super tight and make leaning the mecha forward or raising the legs really hard. I have a picture below of how they connected everything at that point. If the hinges were just slightly easier to move I think it would be better, but could easily see how it might cause the mech to tilt over.
The knees rotate and can bend. The feet have more limited movement only really going side to side. The attachments from the legs to the feet isn't the best as they want to loosen when you rotate them.
The shoulder and arm rocket launchers (that's what I'm going with dammit) are cool. The should mounted ones move up and down but don't rotate. The arm mounted once also move but don't rotate.
The spear and shield (you can't tell me that isn't the same face as Cody Rhodes' tattoo) are both good designs. The spear is sturdy without being very heavy. The shield is a bit heavier. Ironically enough the isn't a way to attach the spear to either hand, but there is one on the base. The fingers on the right hand do hold it in place really well. There IS a spot that you can attach the shield to the left hand, however you have to move the "fingers" into an open palm type pose in order for it to work.
Let's talk about that base... Holy crap it is big and really sturdy. Having a place for both the spear and shield is outstanding planning. While you can't attach the mech to it, there is a dedicated spot and the weight if him keeps it in place (I was moving it all around taking pictures and never once thought the mech was going to fall).
There were 25 stickers total, and only had some minor issues applying some longer thinner ones on the wrist pieces.
Love the color scheme and the blue really stands out (99% stickers).
The directions were good and easy enough to understand. In the box this came in 3 large bags labeled 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 and inside each of those was 5 or 6 other bags for the individual "stages". However the prining on them was small and never in the same damn spot lol. Made it interesting at first since I didn't see the numbering. One thing I REALLY REALLY loved though was each separate bag contained all the pieces you needed to finish one part so I could open bag 3-2 and know I wouldn't need parts from any other bag. I of course didn't figure that out until about half way through.
Only had 1 extra pieces which was unusual, but I wasn't missing any at all. Good job quality control! The plastic did feel a little softer than say a Lego brick, but it all snapped together well and didn't have any issues getting pieces lined up.
I liked the build a lot and the more and more I look at this, the more I love this set. I think this is my 2nd favorite mech build with only the Monkey King being better.
Overall 9.25/10
I can do the twist!
CO-DY
CODY RHODES...
This is the hip connector. Usually there is a ball and socket joint here, but they used a hinge the connects with 2 pegs to the hip (which does have a ball and socket that will only allow it to swing in and out).
