This is pretty damn cool. CM's Corporation is making vinyl construction labors in scale with their Ingram:

http://www.cmscorp.jp/product/pat_ty2k.htm

Preorders here:

http://www.hlj.com/product/CMS65121
http://www.hlj.com/product/CMS65122

Despite the good reviews, I probably won't get an Ingram, I've never been that crazy about the design, but these vinyls, I dig.

Review up:

http://toyboxdx.com/brog/?p=246

Cool. Reminds me a bit of the TVhead-robot-thing from FLCL (fooli cooli) anime. Maybe it's the boxiness? I wonder if anyone ever made a toy out of that..? Actually it's Japanese. I'm sure they did

Those are real nice!
and for FLCL,

http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&q=flcl+toy

Yeah, there's a billion versions of the Kanti figure now. There's some very interesting ones that have been 'customized' by other artists, as well.

Good review of the CM's Tyrant. Despite the difference in materials used, it really looks in-place with the two Ingrams. I've barely avoided buying some of the newer Patlabor stuff that has been released recently.

I know this has been beaten to death, but I'm still clutching at the hope that CM's will create some vinyl Invids/Inbits to go with the Legioss/TLead sets... They've already got the little versions of the armored people- halfway there!

Cool. Too bad I didn't have the patience to sit through any of the Pat Labor anime. Way too much narrative and very little action!

Yeah, Patlabor really isn't about giant robot fights any more than Law and Order is about police car chases. It's about the people.

Drifand's review of Our Pal Pickel is up at Toybox DX:

http://toyboxdx.com/brog/?p=544

And CM's third vinyl, Asuka, is up for pre-order at HLJ:

http://www.hlj.com/product/CMS65143
http://www.hlj.com/product/CMS65146

Thanks for the heads-up Rog. I hope these come bagged, not boxed.

Same here. I just preordered the police unit. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a mech (er, labor) in uniform...

Looks like there will be another color variant of the Asuka labor:





Plus this guy (I forget his name) is coming in December:



I love that dude, I've got an SD eraser of him.

I picked up a green Tyrant the other day. I think I was pretty lucky to find it at retail (at Sakura-ya in Shinjuku), because I haven't seen any others, not even at Wonderfest. This thing is HUGE. Pickel-kun is pretty cool, too.

Thanks for the heads-up, Rog.

I like Tyrant, and have those other guys pre-ordered.

CM's Corporation's site says that the Taisho is coming out September 29 and will be shown at Superfest:

http://www.cmscorp.jp/products/sf03_pat_taisho.html

I love the Tyrant and can't wait for the Taisho. I haven't been able to put down the Tyrant since I brought it back from The Holy Land.

Waiting on that Hercules pre-order...

Got my Taisyo vinyl this morning, a quick review...

First of all, the box is generic black and white printing, glossy, with a little grid on the side and a sticker that indicates which of the three versions it is. This is what happens when you open the box:




The glue they used on the seam was pretty weak, so the whole thing snaps open. As you can see, the figure itself is in a little bubble-wrap bag. There's also a little baggied with the hands, which you have to plug in.

Here it is assembled, with the Tyrant and some vintage chogokin for scale:




The vinyl is slightly soft, but thick, like the Tyrant. The figure's paint job is nicely done, lots of sculpted detail that obviously took a lot of effort to fill in. Mine has a wee bit of smudging under the head that can probably be fixed with a q-tip and a little alcohol. There is only one point of articulation, the WAIST JOINT.

The figure is cast in four main parts: legs, torso, and arms. Panels are glued onto the fronts of the thighs and shoulders. There's a bit of a mismatch on mine between the upper and lower body halves, when you look at the figure's waist and hips it doesn't quite line up properly. You really have to be looking for this, though.

In summary, it's the same price as the Tyrant, but it's smaller and has less articulation. However, it does have a much more complex paint job, and it is boxed instead of bagged. It's up to you whether or not it's worth it. I'm satisfied with mine, but I would have liked movable arms. If you really wanted one, you probably pre-ordered it already.

So far I haven't seen anything on CM's web site about the Hercules. I hope the sales of the Taisyo were good enough that they'll go ahead with it.

The coolest thing about the Tyrant is that it's standard vinyl size. These new guys aren't doing it for me.

Over time, I've grown displeased with the Tyrant's matte, dog-squeak-toy like Chinese vinyl.

There is something sort of "off" about it, isn't there? I think it's the mix of the softer vinyl and the matte finish that makes it very unlike the other sofubi stuff we usually consume.

(Hm, the Taisyo box lists the material as "ATBC-PVC". Interesting.)

I still like the Tyrant a lot, though. The Taisyo is a step down in terms of articulation and sheer presence, but the sculpt and paint detail is much more involved.

According to Wikipedia, ATBC is acetyl tributyl citrate. It seems to be a non-phthalate plasticizer that's designed to be a bit safer, so presumably Greenpeace won't scream about it too much.

Eeenteresting.

CM's now has pictures of both Hercules vinyls:

http://www.cmscorp.jp/products/sf04_pat_hercules.html

Lookitthat, the arms move!

Here are the HLJ links:

http://www.hlj.com/product/CMS65173
http://www.hlj.com/product/CMS65174

Got my Hercules, and I dig it. Sculpt is nice, vinyl is a little squishy, and there's articulation in the shoulders and WAIST JOINT. It's definitely nicer than the Taisho.

Patlabor vinyls on sale at HLJ:

http://www.hlj.com/product/CMS65122
http://www.hlj.com/product/CMS65121

At 1,500, these are a steal.

These would be bomb to custom hot rod out!