Virtual On: Cyber Troopers One Coin Figures Series 2 by Kotobukiya
May 20, 2006*ahem*
WOOOOOHOOOOO!
Dreams do come true; I got my Virtual-On series 2!
Back for another round, I have been waiting many months for these to finally arrive. The quality of the First Series is all there, with some surprises and neat tricks thrown in. Get ready for some more Virtualoid lovin' (not like that!) (OK, maybe a little.)
Strap a Saturn on your back and let's get rolling!
Packaging
Here we go again. The packaging is indentical to series 1, but with the current wave of figures depicted. The BIG change is that these are 10 piece cases - 2 less than the first wave. Thankfully, a case will produce a full set (with less duplicates to boot!).
The outer case, note the "[2nd]" because that is about the only difference. Also, these are now "One Coin Grande" figures, a running change that Kotobukiya has made to other similar trading figure sets.
Belgdor
Big and burly, Belgdor is like a cousin to Raideen (from series 1) - note the giant shoulders! This guy became a favorite figure because he has a robo-fro. I kid you not! Look at that noggin! It's huge!
Articulation:
Fun:
Fei Yen
The lady of the bunch (until the next Virtual On game, which introduced Angelan). She's got funny hair and a frilly skirt. Fei Yen comes with a critical piece of Bal-Bas-Bow (we'll get to him in a little bit), and a flight stand, to get her airborne. The flight stand is a little odd in that it holds her by her crotch. I'm sorry I had to say it, but it's true. It works well to keep her up, but is somewhat limited in how you can pose her on it.
Articulation:
Fun:
Here's that thing I do - the Fei Yen Kaiyodo produced five years ago, and the new hotness. Keep in mind that the Kaiyodo version is based on a later version of the game, so the design has many updates. They're both hot... in a robot kind of way.
Girl Fight!
Viper II
This guy has a neat surprise I'll talk about in a second, but he is pretty impressive. In the game, Viper is all about flying around real fast, like a super-ninja. He doesn't get the transformation action that he does in-game, but he is pretty great otherwise.
Articulation:
By now, you should be able to figure out that this guy will have all the basics, and you'd be right. But what really surprised me is that the wings on his back are very poseable, so that's what all those arrows mean. He's going to show off for us in a second ;)
Fun:
Legacy:
Bal-Bas-Bow
BBB is always an interesting subject. On the one hand, he looks like he is messed up - no legs, no hands, and a tiny head in comparison to the rest of his body. However, this is because he is so advanced - go figure. Anyway, this guy is the largest of the figures, but not without some drawbacks and a little work to get him there.
Articulation:
Being so big and having no legs takes its toll - BBB is the least articulated in the line. He's special like that.
Some Assembly Required:
If you got BBB in your box, you may notice he doesn't look complete. You're right. His lower propulsion-unity-type-thing is packaged with Fei Yen! He does have a small black stand (pictured below) that will help keep him upright in the meantime. He also has some hip-thrusters that complete the massive lower body.
But once he's all together, he's got impressive size and the most powerful backside this side of Kylie Minogue.
Fun:
One of Bal-Bas-Bow's tricks in-game is that he can send his arms out as satellites and do some mean damage. Here's my weak attempt at recreating that.
Specineff had to find his way into these pics somehow, so he chased the BBB's around the block a couple times.
Chase figure: Fei Yen KN
For a second there, I was scared that there wouldn't be a chase figure, let alone Fei Yen KN. If you are not familiar, Fei Yen will go gold when she has taken a lot of damage and is near shutdown; Her powers get much better, but typically you are so beat up that the boost isn't enough. It's still fun and awesome. Even with the reduced case size, we still get this great piece. Like the other Fei Yen figures, she comes with the lower part of a Bal-Bas-Bow (the 1P version). It might have been neat to make a gold version of BBB, but I digress. Fei Yen KN also has the flight stand that came with the regular Fei Yen figures.
Fun:
All the girls together:
Legacy:
Kaiyodo produced a Fei Yen KN figure (two actually - RNA and DNA sides, with slight differences, but both are gold), but I don't own it. Kitty Fei Yen will have to do (plus, she's so cute).
And while were at it, a little face off between the chases:
All together now:
Hey, I didn't forget about the neat-o cards! Each figure comes with a very nice cards of itself.
The Collected Kotobukiya Virtual-On One Coin Figures:
My Virtual-On Collection - On Display:
The Pimphat Shot:
Pimpin' Ain't Easy.
Thanks again to Hobby Link Japan for the hook up! I'd be willing to do this all over again for all of the Virtual On series of games.
Other Links:
Here are some collector's in Japan who have some pics too.
