Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent a toy from the Lost Planet series of games to review. Specifically, the PTX-140R Hardballer vital suit. In addition, to give the toy some context, we’ve also linked some gameplay footage of it in action in Lost Planet 2 at the end of the review.

In much of the original Lost Planet’s marketing, many of the game’s unique “vital suits” were depicted in various action poses. The most prominent of these was the Hardballer, the closest of all of them to something like a traditional anthropomorphic real robot mecha. Unsurprisingly, in-game the Hardballer was pretty beastly and also underwent a brilliant – albeit comical – transformation towards the end.

Lost Planet was a rather interesting, though flawed, take on the third person shooter. As it used both massive alien monsters and human as opponents, with the mecha linking the two. It’s sequel, which we reviewed, removed much of the unnecessary restrictions seen in the original game whilst also merging the core game with a rather refreshing online setup.

The sequel also featured a panoply of transforming mecha, from quadrupedal tanks to vital suits that mirrored elements from the variable fighters in Macross (as they can transform between three distinct modes). Despite all this new variety, the mighty Hardballer still sits atop the vital suit food chain. Not only is it very well armored but it’s also lightning fast. Plus, anything that wields an energy based chainsaw is normally made of win.

This toy then is a long time in coming and for the price it doesn’t disappoint. Considering that most Robot Damashii figures cost more and are smaller scale, this Hardballer toy is really quite a bargain. It’s also one of the few toys that Kotobukiya has produced, as they have been historically a model kit manufacturer.

Toy: PTX-140R Hardballer
Price: 4000 yen
Size/Weight: 24.0 x 22.0 x 12.8 cm / 430g

As you can see, Kotobukiya have pretty much nailed the sculpt and for a toy this cheap the articulation is both solid and thorough. However, there is no diecast in any of the joints and some of the plastic isn’t of that high a quality. This is especially noticeable on the join for the fins at the back, as you could easily and accidentally tear one off without much effort.

That said the toy is sturdy and, despite the plastic’s cheapness, obviously well-made. Even the VS weapons can be attached via polycaps on the rear, which is a nice touch as these are interchangeable (just like in-game). Bar that though, there aren’t many gimmicks on the toy and the awesome energy chainsaw is nowhere to be seen as it’s molded into the shield on the left arm (the cockpit doesn’t open either).

Overall then, this is a faithful recreation of the vital suit seen in the games. It’s well made for the most part and the sculpt is as accurate as you’d expect from Kotobukiya. The price is also great and the toy is surprisingly large to boot. However, you do feel that if the toy had cost a bit more they could have done so much more. Along with the Hardballer, there’s also a Drio toy. So it seems that at least the budget and scope for these toys hasn’t been blown on just one, with any luck we may see more in the future. For the time being though, the Hardballer is definitely a worthy addition to any gamer’s collection.

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn4Gfng-5oA]