Review: Taito Captain Harlock Arcadia - Galaxy Express 999 version

This is Taito's Galaxy Express 999 movie version Arcadia. It measures some 35 cm long, and pretty much all you see is all you get here, it sells for 1500 yen originally, but I picked up mine on eBay for $24 USD.



As you can see, the three main turrets rotate and the cannons can elevate, and that's as far as action goes on this piece.

Having said that, the sculpting is tremendous, and it's a very faithful reproduction of our good captain's ship.

It's made of high quality plastic, with softer slightly bendable PVC used for the antennas and the flag.

Unlike the Taito TV version Arcadia (you can click the captain harlock label to read my review of it), it doesn't come with an impact knife for the bow of the ship...mmm, which makes perfect sense since, this is the Galaxy 999 version and not the Outside Legend version.

Somehow, I think there is a chance that a variation of this will be released in the future.

If you are a fan of captain harlock, snatch it up if you come across it.

Review: Taito Super Mechanics 1/665 Space Battleship Yamato Flash Edition

By now, you probably have heard that there is a new CG Space Battleship Yamato movie on the horizon, after producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki won the court battle on legal rights over Leiji Matsumoto.

The marketing machine is picking up speed too, with Bandai has re-releasing a few sets of mini plastic kits under the Yamato banner, and is also re-releasing their Soul of Chogokin Space Battleship Yamato.

So, I thought, what better time than now to do this review.


Here is Taito's Space Battleship Yamato (Flash Edition), released in December 2008, for 1500 yen. Not a typo, it's 1500 yen.

This is made in high quality plastic, with a light bulb inside the ripple cannon bay (hence, flash version). There is also an accompanying piece to this ship, the wave motion trigger, which I will review shortly - in fact, to show what this combo can do, I am planning a video review, my first.

So basically, you get a pretty well made ship with a decent "weathered" paint job, that lights up, and made sounds if you also got the trigger.

The 3 main turrets rotate, and the cannons in the main and secondary turrets can move up and down (in unison though). The landing gate in the 3rd bridge (under the ship) can be opened.

For 1500 yen, it's a real steal. To make it more complete, I will try to source out some vehicles like the cosmo zero (still sounds like a drink to me), cosmo tiger/tiger II, or a tank...

Just a word on the paint job...it's not going to be as good as a DIY, for 1500 yen, there is a limit to expectation, but I highly recommend this even though there are slight imperfections here and there.

Unlike the Soul of Chogokin version, the mini turrets do not rotate or move.

You'll noticed I also got extra weathering on this side of the ship.

The overall shape and sculpt is very decent, very sharp. This also comes with a display stand.

It begs the question, why didn't the 4500 yen Robot Damahii Nirvash Spec 2 come with a stand.

I got mine from Anime-Export.com, they may still have stock.

Review: Taito Super Mechanics Arcadia from Space Pirate Captain Herlock

So here is the Taito TV version Arcadia from Space Pirate Captain Herlock. It's made of pretty good plastic material and measures roughly 40cm long. I am sure you are aware that this is the product line of UFO catcher prizes that Taito also sells in limited quantity, I got it at the original retail price of 1500 yen.


It came pretty much complete, all you have to do is to slide in the wings, and the antenna in the front, there's also a jack knife that can be attached to the front tip for executing that special pirate surgical move in battle...It also comes with a stand for display.

It's a pretty good item especially when you take into account of the price, but you can see it's lacking some details and could use an upgrade. I am planning a few simple enhancement on this and the next time you see posting of this ship it will look, hopefully better.

If you missed out on the original release, you can find it on eBay for may be $35 to $50 USD. However, I've got a feeling that the three Taito releases from Captain Herlock (this TV Arcadia, movie version Arcadia and Emeraldas' blimp) will be re-released with lighting...It's just a hunch, cause Taito did the same thing with Yamato and Galaxy Express 999. So if I were you, it may be wise to wait a bit. Also, the Taito releases are all made of plastic, don't confuse them with Aoshima's New Century Gokin version when shopping on eBay. I mentioned this cause I saw a Taito Yamato being sold at $150 USD, when you can get the Chogokin from Bandai for about $200.

Review: Taito Doronjo Real Figure from Yatterman

Retails for 1450yen and based on the live action Yatterman movie that opened in March 09, this figure from Taito is created using the likeness of actress Kyoko Fukada who plays Doronjo in the movie.

Overall, this figure has a nice finish and good details through out, and even the fishnet stockings are sculpted and not just painted on. Accessories include her pipe, a custom stand with Doronjo's name on it, and that's pretty much it.

May be because of the eyeliner, I'd say that the figure really doesn't resemble Kyoko Fukada a great deal. Although it's not a highly priced piece, unless you are a fan of Yatterman or Ms. Fukada, I wouldn't say it is a must have piece.