Commentaries

On Toys and Things
September 24, 2011

I was putting together the Proto Man Kotobukiya model kit that I’d purchased recently and was amused by a few things which really aren’t consequential, but I couldn’t help being amused anyway. First, a side note: The Proto Man kit that I have is the English localization of the kit. The Mega Man one I have is the original Japanese Rockman kit. There is no real difference between them other than the packaging, as you will see...

• The frames for the model kit pieces still say “Blues” and “Rockman” (in katakana) on them, because they justifiably didn’t bother to recast all those parts just to change the language.
• Some of the frames say “Rockman” on them, which means they are actually straight out of the Rockman (Mega Man) kit, unaltered except for the color of the plastic. No huge surprise here, considering how similar Proto Man is, in build, to Mega Man.
• Some of the Mega Man pieces get left over after you’ve put Proto Man together. For example, you’ve got pieces for Mega Man’s helmet decorations sitting there unused on the Proto Man frames. Again, this is amusing but understandable—they just used the entire frame as-is without bothering to reengineer it to remove the unnecessary pieces. But if I wanted to, I could take off the blue pieces from my Mega Man model and put gray ones on instead...not that this would really do me any good, mind you. I’d have a Hard Knuckle or a Knight Crush...but only on his head.
• Because of the above, you have the pieces necessary to take off Proto Man’s scarf entirely and put the (Mega Man) neckline on instead, although the instructions don’t mention this.
• Somehow, my Proto Man ended up being taller than my Mega Man. Considering they are sharing the same pieces (mostly), I’m still not entirely certain how this happened. I think it might be the torso, although I could fix that if I wanted, since the Mega Man torso is in here too, although I’d be missing out on the belt. Also, Proto Man’s helmet looks taller than Mega Man’s, especially from the front, yet I’m pretty sure they’re the same size. It must be an optical illusion...though I’m fairly certain that if nothing else, Proto Man’s face is thinner than Mega Man’s chubby cheeks, which I’m sure adds to the illusion.

I still love these kits overall because of their accuracy (they’re not perfect, but they’re close) and the effectiveness of the joints. Just watching how the knees or the elbows bend, for example, is quite neat. They’re a little pricey, but luckily the localized versions are more reasonable in price than importing, and if you have the funds, they are fun to fiddle with. Just don’t give them to a small child.

- The MegaMaster