[Tokumonkey]

I haven't finished building Super Minipla Daizyujin, yet, but having completed the Tyranno mecha... I think I prefer the more recent standard minipla.

I still don't know whether I got a defective tail or if I managed to somehow break it without noticing, but I'll have to work out some kind of workaround for the tip of the tail.

Needing to use tools to get the pieces off the sprues isn't in itself a problem, but the leftover scoring/discoloration is. On standard minipla, this tends to be minimal and relatively easy to scrape away. Here, it's a production every! single! time! I've experimented with using various tools (exacto, sanding surface) to remove it, and doing so is rarely very effective, and sometimes makes it worse. I'm sure experience might well allow me to get better at it, but as it is, assembly is more stressful than fun, and the white marks that get left behind look really glaring to me.

This is also irritating to me because I encountered at least two pieces that had extra sprue that doesn't connect to anything attached. I assume it's a byproduct of the production process, but in practice, it meant additional ugly separation points for no functional reason. (I'm going to feel extra-stupid if there was some functional purpose to this, but the build instructions don't show those bits.)

There are little things I appreciate so far, like how the Tyranno head and neck piece fit neatly into the chest compartment. I appreciate that I didn't have to sticker the face (although the cuffs around the jaw are another matter, and the provided stickers don't look great), and the other stickers are clean and look good. The molding makes it clear that it would look great painted, too, but I don't feel the need to. I like having a separate instruction sheet rather than squeezing everything onto the box interior. I can tell the plastic seems sturdier than usual, but building the Kyuranger minipla was a significantly more pleasant activity.

Are there upsides I'm missing?