Revoltech War Machine

Edit: Wow post #200

I got Revoltech War Machine not long after my previous loot so his review got queued up. I fiddled with the Mk. VI figure I gave my brother and it looked pretty great so I went to preorder this one. It’s a decent figure but it loses out a little to Iron Man.

As is typical of the Sci-fi Revoltech line, the well-designed packaging adds quite a bit of value to the figure. There is a viewing window and the inside of the flap has a lengthy description about the character.

Removing the tray from the box, it is revealed that War Machine doesn’t come as packed as Mk. VI.

The back-mounted minigun and ammo belt are attached to the figure and the rest of the accessories have been laid out. You get the standard small name plate, 2 extra pairs of hands, 3 pineapples and a parts storage container which can’t fit all the parts in it. Why bother? Oh, and it appears Kaiyodo stopped giving away their plastic Revolchip.

Overall views. Like many other Revoltech figures, it is a pain getting him to stand properly, and the ratchet joints restrict the possible angles he can be posed in. The Revolver joints used on the ankles are too weak to hold up the weight of the figure reliably and this is an added issue because the figure is fairly top-heavy with the backpack that makes him look like he is hunched.

He’s painted in a great silver and gunmetal scheme.

A close-up of the figure reveals how practically every single part on a Revoltech figure is painted. While the Arc Reactor and the eyes aren’t made of clear parts (too high expectations from having too many SH Figuarts figures), the eyes are still quite well-done with the edges painted red to give the impression that they are glowing. I wish the same could be said for the Arc Reactor but it just looks like someone gave it a once over with some correction fluid.

A look at the arm. The markings on the figure are printed. I like them as it makes the figure look like some fighter jet. The arm-mounted machine guns can be detached. The hand guard is made of flexible plastic.

Legs. Again, the sculpt and detail are great and I especially like the single knee joints as they have much less side-to-side play than the horrible double Revolver joints and contrary to their name, they still offer a wide range of motion. You can see the tiny 4mm joints on the thighs that allow the silver plates to lift up.

The back-mounted minigun is attached via 2 6mm Revolver joints. The ammo belt is made of flexible plastic. While the joints give the minigun practically unlimited range of motion, they are a pain to pose as the joint pegs are fairly tight and the joints threaten to split apart when you try to rotate them at the peg connections.

Articulation. After playing with the figure I realised that the potential range is actually higher than it appears because you can remove the joints and re-attach them differently to pull off poses that are more dynamic. However it is a pain to do so and this seems to reduce the playability of the figure. I got the Revolpliers from the Kaiyodo store in Akihabara which helped a bit in pulling out the joints; otherwise, some gentle work with a normal pair of pliers should do the same.

Without doing any joint re-attachment, the figure has slightly hindered articulation. The neck has 2 joints and the waist is one large joint.

The shoulder pads sit on their own 4mm joints. If you pull out the neck and waist joints a little you can increase their range. Otherwise, the figure looks a bit stiff due to the bulk around the torso.

The hip joints consist of 1 peg joint on the hip and a Revolver joint on the outside of the thigh. The peg allows forward/backward motion while the Revolver joint allows the legs to bend outwards. There is a part on the inner thigh that moves along with the legs to hide the gap created when the legs are splayed apart. Unfortunately the hip joints can’t hold up the figure’s weight that well. The ankles are also very limited in motion despite the ankle area being made of flexible plastic. They are also too large and the feet cannot reach the ground.

Kneeling poses aren’t a problem. The silver plate on the thighs lift out of the way when bending the legs forward. The single knee joints offer as much range as their double-jointed counterparts and don’t have much sideways play which is great.

A shot with the muzzle flash effect parts on. These are the only accessories with the figure. They are translucent and painted in a nice gradient.

Doing it like a Guncannon.

The repulsor guns are still painted on the hands so War Machine can still shoot some repulsor blasts.

His feet are identical to Iron Man’s so you can attach the smoke effect part/stand that came with Mk. VI on him as well.

Like I mentioned earlier on, it is possible to put the figure in more dynamic poses but it involves re-attaching the joints which is troublesome. I believe this is a typical issue with most Revoltech figures. The sculpt is quite detailed despite the hunched appearance, and the paint job is quite well done compared to recent figma and SH Figuarts releases. Kaiyodo seem to have obtained the licenses for various Pixar franchises recently which means we’ll get to see more of Rape Face Woody’s friends. Wonder if they will continue to churn out more heroes-in-suits figures though – they go well alongside my army of Rider figures.

★★★★☆