If you’re in the hobby of collecting and building mecha model kits, then one of the more exciting events of the year is Shizuoka Hobby Show where manufacturers get to flex and display a bunch of new and upcoming kits. One of the recent heavy hitters for the show is Good Smile Company and its MODEROID line of kits. And while they’ve already announced a lot during their Mecha Smile Impact event last January, it seems like they’re not yet done.
Earlier, Tamashii Nations announced the Robot Spirits Brain Powerd figures as part of the series’ 25th anniversary. Good Smile Company will be following suit as they will be doing the same as part of their MODEROID line. Among the reveals are the expected kits of the main protagonists’ Antibodies (i.e. the mecha): Hime Brain and Yuu Brain.
Both kits look good and are fully accurate to the anime. A key difference between these and the Tamashii Nations figures is how they approached the orange bits. As you can see here, the Robot Spirits figures uses translucent plastic pieces on top of sculpted details for these bits while the MODEROID kits are solid plastic (or painted) pieces. Although just a minor nuance overall, if you have a specific preference on how these machines should look, then you have an option.
They’ve also revealed a Nelly Brain, albeit just as design drawings. But you will notice another kit that has a colored prototype here. And that represents what I really like about Good Smile Company’s approach on these kits. Most companies, well mainly Bandai Spirits, will just release the main protagonist machines for understandable reasons. But Good Smile Company is catering to the completionists and they are planning to release pretty much everything from the series.
On the right is the Gran Cher which is kind of like the cannon fodder of this series if I understood my very reliable internet research. This is the first time I’m seeing this design and I do like it. The use of a visor for its main optics really gives less personality, which is expected for a mass-produced machine.
Speaking of the Gran Cher, they’ve also revealed a couple more custom units. On the left is the custom machine of Jonathan Glenn and on the right is the custom machine of Quincy Yssa. Please pardon me as I don’t have a clue of these characters though both machines have prosthetic units for some reason. I’m also inclined to think these two are actually the same kit, just with distinct parts to build either the Jonathan or Quincy customs, unless they have different colors.
Lastly, we have the Baronz which is like the evolved form of the Gran Cher. They don’t use handheld weapons and instead have fins that extend from each shoulder armor and can be used for energy attacks or as melee weapons. The CG illustration they released has its shoulder fins deployed though I hope they also have parts to build non-deployed versions.
Much like what they did for the Patlabor labors, I like that they’re doing most, if not all, the antibodies from Brain Powered, especially the lesser-known ones. Not to mention they perfectly fit my collection as these kits, while non-scale, stand around 135 to 150mm. No release dates have been announced but I’m sure to snag a couple of these once available. Good thing I haven’t pre-ordered the Premium Bandai-exclusive figures from Tamashii Nations.
