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| Banksy would be proud |
The Good
Initially I was very apprehensive about this release but once I had the toy in hand and first saw the beautiful job that KFC had done with the packaging, I thought I had perhaps underestimated Mugan Scope. Once out of the box, there's no other way to put it, this is an incredibly fun toy.
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| His is the wallet that says "Bad Mother F**ker" on it |
From the thigh holsters to it's incredible level of articulation, this is one of those rare toys that actually makes me want to play with it. As one of those adult collectors who usually opens a Transformer, poses it and then sticks it on a shelf it's very rare for me to actually want to handle a toy extensively, especially as Masterpieces and Third Party aren't particularly cheap. Plus I'm clumsy. Very clumsy.
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| We came here to smoke Cy-Gars and kick ass and we're all out of...oh wait, there's still one left. |
Alone,
Mugan Scope is pretty impressive but it really comes to life when
alongside other Wrecker characters. While the sniper rifle gives him his
badass look, the pistols are where it's at for posing the toy and
making it look great.
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| Big honking robot with big honking gun |
There are a couple of neat little touches, like two heads being included so you can either have badass Wrecker Perceptor or you can have the original intellectual scientist version and just like the original G1 toy, Mugan is a triple changer with both microscope and tank modes.
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| Microscope mode. Does it hold up to a closer view? |
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| Tread carefully... |
While some people have been negative about the tank mode, I personally feel it's decent and works well with the idea that Perceptor has re-engineered himself to be more combat effective, as we saw in the All Hail Megatron comics.
The Bad
It's nitpicky of me, but Mugan Scope's wide chin gives it a very animated appearance. So while the rest of the figure looks stylised (much like Fansproject's offerings) the chin perhaps detracts from the figure if placed with Hasbro or Takara Classic figures.
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| Can you see a difference? |
On the subject of the head, as above, it was great that two heads are included but perhaps the lense over the right eye could have been somewhat more prominent, because as you can see above, there really isn't that much of an obvious difference between the two. In fairness, KFC have done an amazing job with the light piping so there is a striking difference between the two if there is light coming through the eyes.
Finally, while the price is about standard for a deluxe figure from a third party company, you can't help but feel that the price is about $10/£10/10 Euros too high.
Finally, while the price is about standard for a deluxe figure from a third party company, you can't help but feel that the price is about $10/£10/10 Euros too high.
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| Which do you prefer? |
The Ugly
The joints are nice and sturdy, but the shoulders especially need care when handled as they move in a very specific way and simply moving the arm out to the side without carefully manipulating the joint could snap the arm off. Not so much an issue, as something to be aware of.
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| Hold your breath around the shoulder cannon |
That aside, the only real problem in this department is the shoulder cannon/microscope lense part. It definitely requires care because it is such a thin part and looks like it'd snap if it were sneezed on. The tiny balljoint is a definite issue as once it pops out, it will pop back into the socket but then constantly drop out. There's a very good reason why the pictures I took for this article don't have the cannon attached. So whatever you do, don't remove the ball joint from the socket!
Overall
KFC's first humanoid figure is a winner! A slight tweak to quality would be nice but the figure would need to remain the same price which is a big ask of such a new and small company. For such a small company to release a figure this good is very impressive and hopefully means that KFC will be a contender amongst third party companies once they've got some more experience. Mugan Scope is a definite buy for CHUG scale collectors or those who aren't interested in scale.
There's nothing more to say on this wonderful figure, so I'll leave you with some pictures that illustrate exactly how poseable it is. Give yourself a pat on the back if you get the relevance of the poses ;)
There's nothing more to say on this wonderful figure, so I'll leave you with some pictures that illustrate exactly how poseable it is. Give yourself a pat on the back if you get the relevance of the poses ;)
