I'm so in love with the internet sometimes. In the pre-internet days, collecting was an often difficult, frustrating, and restrictive hobby. I didn't collect toys back then, but my Pez and Comic addictions were equally confined to a small bubble of local shops, regional trade shows, and the occasional reference book. I remember the day I decided to search for my favorite old toys on the internet and realized I was wading into a deep pool. That fateful first step was about 13 years ago, and honestly, since then I've often thought I had explored every inch of the toy internet. But every once in a while I stumble across a whole new unexplored facet and that old feeling rushes back. Over the Christmas holidays this year I discovered Chinese action figures. Not the type that show up on eBay, but weird quirky toys made in China for the Chinese market. I spent hours and hours discovering dozens of figures that I'm excited to review. The first figure will be this awesome pink and Purple fembot, Lingyao. Let's check her out below!
This toyline translates to "Machine Change British Union" - that's probably a horrible translation, but blame Google, not me! The company name is Jia Qi, but is often phonetically written as Jaki.
A note about the overall quality: Her joints are tight and the transformation works well. But the plastic itself seems to be a lesser quality than Transformers from Takara or Hasbro. It's not cheap or flimsy by any means, but it just doesn't seem as durable as other robot figures. Also, the pink wings are made of metal.
This figure has an excessive amount of kibble. I normally don't mind this, but the wings mounted on her thighs actually severely limit where you can position her arms.
Ling Yao comes with a gun that is articulated. I'm honestly not sure if I've seen this done before.
Her vehicle mode is a cool jet.
My favorite part of this figure is the headsculpt. It reminds me of a cross between Transformers, Gundam, and Appleseed.
Time for a Comparison Pic!
Cheers!
I was just pondering ordering this figure the other day! It looks like there are elbow joints in the arms... but I take it those are useless?
ReplyDeleteThey can bend inward so she can hold her gun with two hands tommy-gun style (which is actually the pose for display) . Overall I think she's a great figure and worth the purchase.
Deleteist a good find! what page do u check?
ReplyDeleteHahah! Thanks for the review on this. I did one a few months ago (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnP1kqIctC8&index=5&list=PL1XJnqaRgyx3uizL8XGufDckYpzOz1vDT) but had NO idea what her name was. Aliexpress gave no identifying name, just a product number. I wonder what that cyber-baby thing is she's holding in one of your images. Almost makes me think there's a show with a story to this or something. Did you happen to notice if there's anywhere for the gun to go in jet mode? Like, I thought it MUST, since it transforms...
ReplyDeleteI asked some Chinese friends if there was a show back when I posted this, but they searched around and said they didn't think so. I remember fiddling around with the gun and trying to find a home for it. Funny thing is I thought I found a place for it to clip but I can't remember. There is a blue boxy female robot in this series as well, but I didn't get her yet.
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