MODEROID 5th Anniversary Project! Five MODEROID recommended kits to look back on with voice actor Yuuki Tai!

Since the series started in 2018, Good Smile Company's plastic kit "MODEROID" series has been delighting hobbyists with its unique lineup every time.

The "MODEROID" series is showing more and more excitement as 2023 is its 5th anniversary year, and Akiba Research Institute's popular serialization "Seiyu Taiyuki's Weekend Plastic Model Kit" has also been following MODEROID since its first installment in 2019.

Let's take a look back at the history of MODEROID with voice actor Yasuyuki Tai, who has been pursuing the path of plastic modeling together with MODEROID!

Mr. Yuuki Tai

What was your first impression of MODEROID?

Tai: At the time, I had the impression that Good Smile Company was a figure maker. When I heard that Good Smile Company had decided to produce a new plastic kit, and the character they chose was "Mazinkaiser," I thought, "I see," and was the first to put it together. The edges are sharp, the surface gloss of the armor is superb, and the clear parts are bold and sharp. What made me want to believe in MODEROID was when they released "God Mars," a character that struck a chord with our generation (laughs). (laugh) I thought, "They do combine characters properly.

Then came "Raijin-O" and "Bakuryu-O," and I thought, "If we don't support this series, it may not continue. In the end, I bought enough "God Raijin-O" to make four sets. But then I realized that new items were being released every month, so it was no longer necessary for me to support the purchase (laughs).

MODEROID Raijin-O: Absolutely Invincible!: View on Rakuten Ichiba View on Amazon.co.jp

MODEROID Bakuruo: View at Rakuten Ichiba View at Amazon.co.jp

─ ─ I think that robots from the mid-80s to the 90s have not been developed as plastic kits so far.

Yasushi That's right. But around the time MODEROID came out, there was a trend in the plastic model industry to make plastic kits of robots from the 80s and 90s. With alloy toys, I think it is difficult to re-issue and mass-produce them, but with plastic kits, they are re-released at a less slow pace, and I am grateful for that. I think it's very significant to commercialize the characters of the time in the plastic kit series, in the sense that they are available at affordable prices and sizes for people who come to know about them later.

I am sure that there are many older brothers and sisters who were not able to build the characters in the old kits, but now that they are adults, they are thankful to have new kits that they can build again.

The range of ages in the lineup is also amazing. I recently came into contact with "Molker," and it's amazing how much nostalgia there is in the MODEROID lineup.

MODEROID PUI PUI Morker Potato: View at Rakuten Ichiba View at Amazon.co.jp

After a lineup that says, "Oh, this is the kind of thing that will come out," there comes something like "Icarga," for example, and you say, "That? is the reason why I can't take my eyes off of MODEROID.

The same goes for "Inbel," "Eldora V" and "Techno Voyager," which were announced recently. I didn't know about "Taccom" until it came out on MODEROID.

I think you are also very good at gathering fans' opinions through surveys. Of course, there are things that can and cannot be commercialized due to rights issues, but you can put everyone's dreams into it. If the gears work well together, miraculously, some of them will be commercialized. Bren Powered, Raideen, Estévalis, Big O, Vilkis, and so on.

So if you haven't heard of the MODEROID series yet, you should check it out. You will be looking forward to seeing what kits will be released next every day.

─ ─ I feel that MODEROID itself has become a form of entertainment.

Tai: For the past five years since MODEROID was born, we have been continually surprised. Just when you think you've had an unexpected lineup, there's "GOLION"! I had forgotten about ordinary super robots! I thought MODEROID would be a series that only produced strange robots, but "ZABUNGLE" was a good idea to coincide with the 40th anniversary, and the "GOD GRAVION" and other superheavy god series also came out with things that I thought would never make it into a plastic kit. I was also thinking that "Zabunguru" would be good for the 40th anniversary.

─ ─ In addition to the lineup, one of MODEROID's characteristics is that you feel a kind of split in its production for beginners and as character goods, isn't that right?

Yasushi: That may be one of the things that convinced me that Good Smile Company was going to release this product. I feel that the figures can be played with after they are assembled, so they are fun to a certain extent even if they are not painted. People who paint their figures can enjoy them even if they are painted, but if you try to paint them, there are some parts that are hard to paint.

There are various products in the MODEROID line, but I don't think that all of them, especially the Shinkarion, should be painted, I have decided that if I want to collect and enjoy it, it should be limited to Sumirelle. That is still enough.

Also, although the transformation gimmick has been omitted, the proportions are excellent. Also, the gimmicks that can be done as a plastic kit, such as the ability to easily cross combine and reassemble, have been kept in mind.

So I am grateful that I was able to learn about the fun of the Shinkarion in the first installment of the series.

─ ─ The placement of the pre-painted parts is exquisite in each installment, isn't it?

Yasushi: That's right. I think the advantage of MODEROID is that it can transform and combine, but if you paint it yourself, it is difficult to play with transforming and combining because you are afraid of the paint film peeling off, but with pre-painted parts you can play with them without worry because the paint will not fall off as much as if you had painted them yourself. I feel that while MODEROID is a plastic kit, it can also be enjoyed as a figure or toy after completion. Thanks to this duality, I feel that the range of users is expanding.

─ ─ In this way, there are high expectations for anime robots that have not yet been sculpted. Especially in the 80's, many robots were created through OVAs.

Tai: One that hasn't been made into a 3D model yet is "Dancuga Nova! As for OVAs, I had high expectations for "Ixer Robo. And then there's Oni of Steel. ......The lineup is still a mess! (lol) In terms of mecha by Masami Ohari, I feel like it's only a matter of time before we get "Detonator Organ" or something like that.

─ ─ The feature of MODEROID is that it also covers mecha that appear in Western movies.

Tai: "Robocop" and "Alien 2" are both very major movies, but I had never seen plastic kits of them. Power Loader, it's quite big, isn't it? I thought that the size, which is not too detailed and would satisfy overseas fans, is exactly like American toys. I used to work part-time at "Manga no Mori" in Shibuya, and I think they used to carry those kinds of things there (laughs). Now that the "Robocop" series has come to an end, I wonder what will happen to the foreign films.

MODEROID Alien 2 Power Loader: View at Rakuten Ichiba View at Amazon.co.jp

Taiyuki's selection of the 5 best kits of all time!

──I guess we can't take our eyes off MODEROID just yet! Now, we would like to ask Tai's choice of the 5 best MODEROID kits from here on.

Zero

Yasu: First of all, the "Zero" from "Mobile Police Patlabor". The style is honestly good! The Reaver is a mechanical industrial product, so the finished product will vary depending on the approach taken to sculpting it, but I think Good Smile must have made it more like a character kit, because it has a great style.

I was also happy to see the high degree of color reproducibility in the assembled figure, since the character originally had a small number of colors. Also, the edges of the ears and finger tips are amazing.

The second arm is a very simple assembly, but I was surprised that it moves quite a bit. The movable joints are excellent.

Because of the simplicity of the construction, some modelers have created the fight scene with Ingram at the climax of the movie version, but the quality seems to be able to be reproduced to some extent just using the plastic kit as a material. If it were a figure, I think I would hesitate to break it or make it dirty, but I think it's possible because it's a plastic kit.

The wrist and head development parts are also properly prepared, so you can scratch that itch. It is a masterpiece kit that leaves no worries in terms of Zero if you have this.

MODEROID Mobile Police Patlabor AV X0 Zero: View at Rakuten Ichiba View at Amazon.co.jp

BRIGHTER

Tai: "Braiger" is a title that you have to ask everyone, "Do you know what J9 is? But it's in "Super Robot Wars," so I'm sure many young people know it from there. There used to be a recombinant deformation toy from another manufacturer, but this is the first plastic kit since the show aired.

Originally, the deformation of BRIGER was physically demanding, and the toys at that time were also recombination deformation, so I think it is inevitable that this MODEROID will also be recombination deformation. I agree with that. However, I thought that if it was going to be a replacement, I wanted the style of each form to be better, and I found that ...... had a good style. That's why I bought three of them to make three forms! They are soooo well styled. It really recreates the action of the play.

I like the fact that they have tried to make the best of each form by using the plastic kit's unique and easy-to-replace transformations. I highly recommend that you buy three of them and display them side by side. This makes me want to buy the "Bakushinger" and "Sasliger" as well. There is an expectation that MODEROID will commercialize all the figures in the series, isn't there?

─ ─ In the serialization, you reproduced impressive cuts from the play, didn't you?

Tai: The robot form moves well, so we were able to reproduce the poses from the play in the article. I think the V-shaped panel on the chest might be a hindrance to mobility, but it was not a hindrance at all when posing the figure. The bry cannon is also designed so that it does not interfere with the panels.

It is a small detail, but the way the nose piece is hooked on the back is similar to the Takatoku (Twis) toys of the time. I was a little nostalgic because I had hooked that one on my back, too. Maybe he is respecting the products of that time.

As for the face, it is unique. There is no resemblance to anything. It's a very dependable face.

MODEROID briger: View at Rakuten Ichiba View at Amazon.co.jp

Magic Knight Rayearth Rayearth, Ceres, and Windham

Tai: I was happy to see all three magical gods together, but the fact that they were released at the same time made me scream (laughs). I didn't have the frustration of having to wait, but I had to buy all three at the same time. ...... It was a combination of happiness and nostalgia.

There are both comic and anime versions of "Magic Knight Rayearth," and the design of the kit is closer to the anime version. The skirt armor, shield, and weapons are heavily made, but they are quite movable. The arms can be rotated at the elbows, and the forearms can be bent in either direction. The forearms can be bent in either direction, allowing for what is called "gawara bending.

This "Rayearth" Magus series is a kit with a basic structure among the MODEROID kits, which have been used for a variety of difficult robots up to this point. Is it because you have been developing this series for about four years now, and the way you make your products has become more stable? I guess the joints were not that difficult to make. I think the way the ball joints fit together was also very good.

─ By the way, do "Rayearth", "Ceres" and "Windham" have common parts?

Yasushi: The yellow parts are common runners, and we use different parts for Rayearth, Ceres, and Windham. In addition, some of the parts for the extremities, such as the thighs and upper arms, are shared. By sharing some runners, we were able to release them at the same time.

However, there are quite a few parts shared by the three demons, but I didn't realize that until I assembled them. I didn't realize until later that these parts were common. The kit captures the individuality of each of the three figures so well. That's why it's so brilliant.

MODEROID Rayearth the God of Flames: View on Rakuten Ichiba View on Amazon.co.jp

─ ─ Since this is an anime based on a shoujo manga, I think that people other than those who love robot anime have also purchased this product.

Yasushi: I think so. The sword hilt and other parts that I didn't want to paint were painted to some extent, so the kit was kind to those who wanted to play with the figure in those areas as well. There were no extremely small parts in the kit, so I think it is easy to make even for "Rayearth" fans who are not usually familiar with plastic models. The only small parts are the face parts, and the rest is just straightforward assembly, so I think most people can complete it if they spend some time on it. In fact, I recommended it to a female fan of Hekiru Shiina, who bought it and assembled it.

MODEROID KAISHIN Ceres: View at Rakuten Ichiba View at Amazon.co.jp

MODEROID Sorigami Windham: See at Amazon.co.jp in Rakuten Market

─ ─ I also liked the effect parts.

Tai: The roles and coloring of the "Granzort" and "Rayearth" robots happened to match, so I was glad to be able to use them for both. I think you should buy these effect parts as well, because I think you can use them for something in the future.

MODEROID Flame Effect: View at Rakuten Ichiba View at Amazon.co.jp

God Gravion

This robot seems to be a joint work of Mr. Kunio Okawara and Mr. Masami Ohari . The design was by Mr. Okawara and the animation was drawn by Mr. Ohari. It is a triumph from the box art drawn by Mr. Ohari. I could hear the theme song.

I couldn't believe that "Grankaiser" in particular could fully transform and combine until I assembled it. I thought there would be some parts to reconfigure and replace, and that there would be extra parts, but it really could transform into a combined form. I was surprised at this.

─ ─ Personally, I was impressed by the beauty of the arm storage.

Tai: This is not something you can do with a plastic kit of this size (laughs). (laughs). It really is just as it is in the movie, all the transforming and combining gimmicks are exactly as they are in the movie. The transformation of the head is the only thing that was done in accordance with the anime. Only the head transformation has to be replaced for the sake of the animation, but other than that, it was done out of sheer determination. It is truly amazing that they were able to fit everything into this size. I think this is one of the answers to the question of transformable robot kits in moderoid.

Above all, it's fun to play with the combined robots. I want to play with combined robots. The "GRAVION" series is a MODEROID, so the parts are painted, and the stickers are used to make up for the parts that are not painted, so you just put stickers on and assemble it. You can enjoy this kit as a figure or a toy, and it is another masterpiece.

MODEROID God Gravion: View at Rakuten Ichiba View at Amazon.co.jp

DynaZenon

─ ─ And the best kit that Tai has chosen is the "DynaZenon".

Tai: I will reproduce the combined transformation as much as possible. I could feel Good Smile Company's passion for producing a plastic kit, even though they also released a DX version of the toy. I was actually worried that they might compete with each other, but DX has the security of DX, and MODEROID has the ease of handling of MODEROID.

─ ─ This time, you brought a kit that was fully painted, but the good thing about plastic kits is that you can paint them any color you like.

Tai DX can't be disassembled in detail, so I don't want to paint it (laughs). After painting this time, I realized that MODEROID is focused on being assembled and played with. However, if I wanted to, I could build it up to this level.

Since it is a hero robot and molded in bright colors, I wondered if it would be better to use metallic colors to match the image, as I saw examples posted on SNS.

This time, I did not plan for the robot to transform into a separate combined form or a Dynarex, but rather to be fixed in robot form, so I did not paint the parts that could not be seen.

─ ─ Dynazenon is a recent robot, but the newness and nostalgia coexist in this character, don't they?

Yasushi: As a combination robot, it was the first time in a long time that various types of mecha combined with each other, and it was very interesting. In the same way that five different types of mecha were combined in "Combatler V" and "Vortez V," Dinazenon had mecha with distinct roles (ground mecha, underwater mecha, and air mecha) and a monster as the core robot. I thought it had been a while since I had seen such a different combination of these mecha that when they were combined, they became a robot. If you try to pick up the essence of the past, it might become old-fashioned or parody-like, but that is not the case with Dynazenon.

MODEROID Dynazenon: View on Rakuten Ichiba View on Amazon.co.jp

─ ─ Since the original is based on special effects, it also has a Super Sentai robot feel, doesn't it?

Tai: It's the same with the way the images are presented. It is great that we can now make the mecha move with CG. I have never drawn animation before, but I am sure that it would be very difficult if I tried to draw this seriously using celluloid pictures. There would probably be fewer steps and such, and the design would be simpler. But in fact, I'm moving it exactly as it is in the setting drawing, and I'm able to put it directly into a three-dimensional object. I like this sense of synchronization.

──The "Rogue Kaizel Gridman" that appeared in the recent movie version is also going to be commercialized.

Tai: When the announcement of Rogue Kaizel Gridman appeared in the movie, I thought "MODEROID will never end like this" (laughs). As a voice actor, I get jealous of video works that I am doing in real time (but not appearing in). But I was looking forward to Dinazenon, because I bought "Yume Minami" and "Chise Asukagawa" from the POP UP PARADE (*Good Smile Company's figure series)!

MODEROID Rogue Kaizel Gridman: View on Rakuten Ichiba View on Amazon.co.jp

─ ─ Finally, what are your expectations for MODEROID in the future, and what are your thoughts on MODEROID?

Tai: The lineup is so fast-paced, but I think that's fine. I am happy that I want this and that. There are also mechas that I got to know for the first time through MODEROID. I think of MODEROID as a friend with a wide range of faces. I am looking forward to more amazing lineups in the future, and since each company is developing their own original mecha, I am secretly hoping that MODEROID's original mecha will appear soon. MODEROID does what is reckless and what is impossible, so please continue to support us.

Taiyuki

Born two days before the broadcast of "Invincible Superhero Zambot 3. He has loved toys (especially robots) since he was a child and started building plastic models in elementary school. After becoming a voice actor, his love of robot toys and plastic models has not changed, and he debuted as a writer at Akiba Research Institute.