I ended up ordering through KarumaToys. I've used them for Gundam in the past and they've been pretty good.

You know me, I'm not big on model kits. But sometimes the stars align and there's a character which I think is made to be one and it's cheap and I can throw it in with another order and... yeah. Well that last part didn't work out hence why it took 2 months to get here, but it is now!

And I love it. Amazing engineering, everything on this guy moves, in more direction than one too. Balancing this thing is a joy; it's almost like clay that you can mold into whatever shape you want.

Both thumbs hurt from building this, but I will put them up for this release regardless. And the candy - I will take it to the office with me, quietly distribute it and take joy in living with the thought that whoever ate it will never know it came with a Japanese robot model kit. Or maybe they will know. Maybe someone will recognize it. Intriguing train of thought.

https://i.imgur.com/FKVP3zx.jpg

Pre-ordered Dragon Caesar and LiveBoxer from Kurama Toys. I'm hoping Daizyujin pre-orders open up again so I can get my hands on one of those as well.

I'd hope that they would, given the popularity of these kits, but im skeptical given p-bans weird thought process on what stuff they produce additional runs of and what they dont. In any case, NinNin is looking to open preorders for all of them. They look to have improved their service considerably. I ordered a bunch of stuff from them during golden week, shipped and arrived in like 4 days. If you dont want to order from ninnin, theres also FullCarttoys. They sell more than just shf upgrade kits and currently have 2 slots left for each of the zyuranger SMP kits. The price for Daizyujin is only 4-5 bucks more than kurama and NinNin and shipping is like 38 bucks to the U.S, for any orders weighing less than 4 kg, which isn't bad. Shipping is also only like 6 bucks more than what it would be from NinNin, but worth it just to have a preorder on lock for Daizyujin, and less than aftermaket lol.

I personally went with FullCarttoys for both SMP Dragon Ceasar and Daizyujin after ppl on here and discord had favorable experiences with them for stuff. I would have gone with NinNin tho (for the slightly cheaper shipping) had they put up preorders sooner (as of this writing the preorder pages are up, but they haven't opened through NinNin yet). Hope this helps.

Cool, I'll definitely have to look into those. Thanks!

SMP Dragon Ceasar is also up at TFSource, I preordered mine there.

What kind of nippers do you all use for your kits? I'm looking to pick up a pair of single-blade, and have narrowed it down to DSIPAE ST-A 3.0 and Godhand-PN-120. Do any of you have experience with those? Are there any cheaper nippers that are more affordable without sacrificing quality?

I use two nippers but probably have like 6 different kinds. Tamiya Alpha Cutters to remove the part from the runner, then Tamiya Sharp Pointed nippers to remove the nub.

The Alphas are like a workman's tool, I use to cut anything without fear of breakage. The sharps are for precision. I've had the alphas for 8 years and the Sharps for 4 being replaced once after 4 years.

I've used the God Hands before and they are really great but you must understand they are a high precision tool and therefore somewhat fragile. They don't break easily, but they will break and/or dull before your average $30 nippers.

Personally I would spend the $60 for God Hands on two less expensive nippers and upgrade to the God Hands in the future when you want to do single cut builds or feel more experienced in model kits (for example never cut clear plastic runner with God Hands).

I ended up grabbing the Godhands, they were $40 with free shipping. I've heard that this particular pair is a little less ultra-precise and a little more durable, so I'm hoping that they hold up. I do have another pair that's more of a workhorse pair. They're great for clipping the runners, but they leave stress marks when I cut off the nubs.

With these SMP re-releases and the Ideon that I just picked up, I want to make sure that my "rare" kits actually turn out well. I'm about 20 kits deep, so I think I'm ready.

Having a pair of cheap nippers just for removing parts off the sprues and using Godhands/single blade nippers for nub removal is the best way to ensure cleaner cuts as well as a longer lifespan on the latter. Only downside is it's more tedious.

I definitely put more effort into the SMP kits versus the mainline Minipla kits. The gate placement on any of these kits are really hit or miss and I snip the runners on a case by case basis.

Yup, that's the plan!

Honestly though I wish model kit makers were smarter about where they connect parts to runners.

Also, do you really even need to use nippers for minipla? I'm pretty sure I've done kits where I popped it out by hand and just used my thumb to smooth it out. It doesn't look -perfect-, but it looks good enough.

Depends on the kit. You can absolutely remove pieces by hand with most of the regular minipla due to the softer, cheaper plastic they use. (This, of course, varies a bit by color.) The Super Minipla user sturdier, higher-grade plastics that aren't nearly so forgiving.

lol I should have been more specific, I meant the standard minipla. They're so soft and easy to build, I kind of love it lol.

Anyone got any experience with the LiveBoxer kit? Is it any good? Usually don't go for sentai mechs but Boxer specifically has some kind of place in my heart

I have it on pre-order for the re-release, but that's about it. For what it's worth, LiveRobo is pretty awesome, so I'm sure LiveBoxer will be as well. It's just a bit chonkier than I would have liked.

If you can believe it, that's a big selling point for me :p

It's not always as simple as putting gates wherever. It has a lot to do with the flow of plastic. More expensive kits can have better gates or even undergating as they can spin the moulds more to maximize flow when it's a more premium product, but lower cost kits won't be allotted that kind of time and need more direct gates.

There's also material concerns. ABS isn't as soft as PS and thus typically needs thicker gates aligned more directly with the shape of the piece for best flow. I've heard this on Gunpla forums and assume the same goes for SMPs since they use mostly ABS.

These Godhands + the glass files I bought are a killer combo. It's not perfect, but you can barely tell where I make cuts unless you really look for it. I love it. I'm just a little scared to actually use the Godhands, I don't want to accidentally break them :lol

Interesting. I knew none of that, but it makes sense.

Some Super Sentai Minipla Robots in Shin 6th Mini-Pla-Off Party.

Source

Where'd that Q Rex come from?

It looks like ZenKaijuOh from Zenkaiser without the Dragon Caesar chestplate and repainted into the V Rex colors.

Honestly, I'm regretting not picking up one of those kits myself.

That's so cool

Mini-pla Don Onitaijin announced! Looks like July 11 release date.

https://i.imgur.com/4SszXmU.png

https://i.imgur.com/sdc3x0F.png

https://i.imgur.com/hOmZqXR.png

More photos on the blog: https://bandaicandy.hateblo.jp/entry/20220612_sentai

That's a nice-looking kit.

I held off on the DX version for this. I'm glad I did. This thing can sit!

We are getting a Minipla Avataro Sentai Series 03 DonGokaiDragokuAlter in August. It's going to be a 7 piece set. Each box will be 390 yen a piece. A set of 7 will cost you 2,730 yen.

Now that Onitaijin has released in Japan and I've been seeing it on twitter, it occurs to me that the (yet to be unannounced, but highly likely) glister injection version of Don Onitaijin will be the far superior version.

This current version looks way too muted. The gold parts especially look rather dull. This kit is begging for that grey plastic to become silver!

You think so ? I missed out on the preorders but maybe its better to wait ?

I believe we've had a Glister Injection or SP version of every main mecha since Kyuranger.

They are almost always improved in some way or another. The only reason I don't wait for them is because I think the regular versions look more like the show/DX toy, but Onitaijin is already so different from previous Sentai. I think an SP version will look closer to the in-show image.

Attachment 62102

got gao icarus. just waiting on the large gao lion now

Mine will be arriving this week. Can't wait. I'll also be getting the big lion and elephant to complete the lineup.

I still find it a bit odd that they just went ahead and released the rhino and armadillo twice.

yeah

the lack of pants animals has always been a bummer

i plan on making the second rhino a hippopotamus if i can ever be bothered. and the armadillo a hedgehog

Oh it looks nice! Mine should be here on Thursday, question did you use the stickers on that guy?

yes i did. my hands are not steady enough to paint

SP version has been listed on BBTS https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Produ...Details/213248

That animarium stand looks surprisingly nice! As does the rest of the figure in fact...

Man I reeeeeeeeally hope they choose to do Timeranger at some point. I would absolutely adore a small, poseable Time Shadow.

Oh I agree with you on that, let?s hope that Timeranger gets their SMP in the future?come on Time Robo!

Timeranger would be pretty quick, too -- there's only three robos in total. Four if they do Providus, which I could see for preban