Beast Saga Carded Action Figures
Item No.: BS-36 Manufacturer:Takara-Tomy Includes:Sword, shield, 2 dice, trading card Action Feature:Dice launch out of stomach Retail:525 yen (or about $7) Availability: March 2013 Other: Also translated as "Aljaro" early on
As a kid, I loved the armadillo. So when Battle Beasts made Armored Armadillo and as a kid, I had to have it. When this line got one as Aljaylo I got it and the clear "Burst" version too. How could I not?
His joints are tight, plus they rotate freely. The arms can go all the way around and the legs can move as freely as one might hope. I love the big detail - you can plug in 3mm weapons into the shoulder armor, and there's a massive codpiece over his junk. Adorable.
The sculpted detail is pretty good, but not spectacular. The armor has a bunch of visible (but obviously non-functional) joints befitting such a creature, complete with a snout and painted ears. The feet are kind of weird, but they match other similar armadillo toys. (See: Beast Wars Armordillo, Psycho-Orb, or Bump.) The really nifty thing about this figure (and indeed the whole line) is just how little paint is present - the purple pieces are molded purple plastic, and the brown skin is also molded in brown. The eyes, ears, and red highlights on the armor are the only paint on the toy, which is neat from a manufacturing perspective. If you like the look of the figure it's worth picking up for that reason alone.
The only place the figure falls short are the accessories. Not only have these been with numerous figures, but the shield won't fit in the hand due to the large armor plates on his shoulders. You can install the shield on the aforementioned shoulder, but there's no way he can hold it upright in his fist. As an update of an older, 1980s figure it's quite nice and a charming desk decoration - it's also dirt cheap because nobody gives a crap about Beast Saga and likely never will. Maybe some Japanese kids loved it, but here in the USA prices seem to be pretty low (less shipping) and it's more likely people will buy them and steal their weapons for use on Pheyden or Cyberverse toys. I think they're fantastic, but without full-size vehicles or playsets (and I don't much care for the game component) there's not much to get excited about beyond the whole armored animal concept, which is honestly enough for me to write about another one next week. Deal with it, missy.
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