Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan we’ve been sent the Riobot Blodia as seen in the classic game Cyberbots. In addition, we’ve also included some game footage of the mecha in action at the end of the review.

Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan we’ve been sent the Super Robot Chogokin Shin Getter Robo 1 as seen in Change!! Shin Getter Robo (though its origins predate that by quite a bit). In addition, we’ve also included some game and anime footage of the mecha in action at the end of the review.

There’s a rather interesting Virtual On Memorial Event being held online this Saturday. It will feature various exhibitions of the various games (basically top players kicking the shit out of each other for your entertainment). As well as talking head type segments with various people to do with the series (though Juro Watari appears to be absent on this, which is odd). Some people from Hasegawa and Volks will be present too, though Kotobukiya aren’t for some reason. In any case, the event will be streamed via NicoNico. As this is a week before TGS, our virtuaroid sense is tingling somewhat. New game perhaps?

The forthcoming BluRay boxset for the amazing Blue Comet SPT Layzner that we previously talked about has received two promo videos. These are of the respective openings for the TV series, comprising of the first and second season. These are both credit-less, though with a nicely placed advert for the boxset mid-video (and if you’ve seen the anime then that should make sense). However, what is worth noting is that the picture quality is astounding. If the whole series is like this then we’re picking this boxset up regardless. Both promos are linked below and you can pre-order the boxset here.

At a Tamashii Nations event in Hong Kong, Bandai have revealed all manner of new toys in their Robot Damashii line. Notable of which are the NZ-666 Kshatriya and the majestic RX-93-ν2 Hi-Nu Gundam (pictured above). Whilst it is called a “GUMDAN” in various photos, that spelling mistake can’t dampen our palpable joy at knowing a Hi-Nu toy is on the way. Whilst there are no release details present, such as date and price, we are guessing that these two figures might end up as a web shop exclusive (though we’re hoping they won’t). Either way, today is a happy day as the Hi-Nu is probably our favourite Gundam design and as soon as we know more about these toys we’ll be sure to post it.

At the Chara Hobby 2013 show this weekend, Bandai will be bringing along a 3D printed version of the planned Soul of Chogokin Spec Layzner Mk2 (shown above). This is the updated CG model based on the first round of feedback, though there is another questionnaire now to give feedback on these changes too. It seems that the newer iteration is somewhat chunkier and beefier looking, this we approve of. Still no word on release date or pricing but we’ll be keeping an eye out as we want this toy pretty damn badly!

There will be an Armored Core Convention held on the 7th September in Washington DC. Apparently LAN games will be supported as well as the chance to win Armored Core figures (plus the opportunity to drink booze). The convention also marks the series’ 16th birthday, which is nice. More details will be forthcoming closer to the time but you can go to the Facebook page to show your support and interest. Talking of Armored Core, there’s a pretty interesting interview over at 4Gamer about Verdict Day.

Following on from Bandai’s reveal of a Super Robot Chogokon Shin Getter-1, we’ll also be getting a Mazinkaiser too later in the year. Whilst this design was featured in an OVA, its origins stem from the Super Robot Wars games. Over the years we’ve bought all manner of toy variants of this design from the Aoshima figures as well as the Max Factory and even Revoltech versions. However, this looks like a great little toy and unlike the previous bigger releases this won’t cost crazy amounts either. Priced at a very reasonable 6,800 yen and released in November, this Mazinkaiser looks great. If you’re at all tempted you can also pre-order the toy here.

Bandai have done the decent thing and announced a BluRay boxset for Blue Comet SPT Layzner. This will include the TV series and OVA as well as a variety of other trinkets (such as a 32 page booklet). However, all this will come at a price as the boxset will cost pretty close to 50,000 yen when it is released September 18th in Japan. Unlike the recent Macross Plus BluRay Boxset, this release of Layzner sadly won’t come with English subtitles. This begs the question on whether any Western distributor will do the right thing and pick this classic series up. As to why Layzner matters, well when it comes to gaming the series has been consistently and hugely influential. From Anubis to Armored Core For Answer to Omega Boost and even Bangai-O, Layzner’s functional parameters have inspired all manner of mecha games over the years. That aside the series is also thoroughly excellent in its own right and considering that the last release of Layzner (on DVD) was over 10 years ago now, this announcement is very welcome.

Following on from their VF-1J re-release it seems we’ll be getting a YF-19 toy in 2014. Now it’s not clear whether this will be a re-release of this. What we do know is that it will come with FAST packs, which were originally sold separately on Yamato’s version (though it was packaged together in a later release). Personally, we’re hoping the updated engineering seen on the Macross 7 era VF-19 toys will make it over to this new Arcadia release. The fact that the toy will be available next year also helps to indicate that as well. In other Macross Plus news, the awesome Japanese BluRay boxset (with English subtitles and dub) is now out in the wild. So pick that up whilst you can!