A photo of a Meledyne M1, a Wanzer from Kotobukiya/ArtFX’s Front Mission 3 series of figures based on Squaresoft’s PS2 game of the same name.
This is one of my favourite figures ever. Gaze upon it and it should be obvious why. Outstanding paint and weathering, good articulation and a delicious mecha design. Instead of going into great detail, I’ll simply direct you to the same Prabal Nandy review on Usenet which convinced me to get one.
The Front Mission 3 figures were later released in the US by Palisades Marketing in Spring 2000. I don’t think the figures did that well in the States. They went on clearance and at one point, they were on eBay for 8 bucks without any takers.
Well…they tend to lose out in comparison with other mechs such as Gundams and Armored Core (now my favourite : ) ) due to their more “real world” designs. Unlike the game these figures don’t come with much accessories making them less customizable. If you don’t mind delicate assembly & fragility of a plastic kit I would suggest getting an Armored Core model kit from Kotobukiya. The datails of the finished product beats Gundams hands down and there are variety of accessories available making them extremely customizable.
I don’t mind the realistic design of the Front Missions 3 figures. I don’t like them as much as the super robot-y designs of Transformers but I think the machine-like elements make a nice change.
The thing that impresses me the most about the FM3 figures is they’re action figures that look like Master Grade kits put together and painted by a skilled modeller.
I’ve seen the new 1/72 Armored Core kits and am impressed by the look. The fragility of kits pretty much puts me off getting one, though. I haven’t bought a kit since my Master Grade Gundam RX-79(G) had a piece broken in the package and I broke the grip on the High Grade Serpent Custom Special gun while handling it.
Kotobukiya did release Armored Core 2 action figures in 2000 but there’s little chance of finding them these days. The company also has 3-inch trading kits figures with interchangeable parts in the market now but reports indicate they’re best displayed rather than played.