Bandai Robot Damashii or Robot 魂 entry for the Full Metal Panic series arm slave ARX-7 Arbalest, perhaps is one of a solid action figure mecha and yet affordable compared to the Alter Mechanical Model ARX-7 from my previous entry.

Packing is not impressive, as it comes with a typical Robot Damashii box.

For a fun toy which is not premium price, there is nothing more to expect from a standardized packaging.

The accessories as well as the figure is just pack in a single plastic bubble tray. At least the time taking the action figure or Arbalest out from the packaging is minimal compared to any Deluxe Transformers toys.

One of the important element is missing from this package is Action Figure stand. Which in my opinion is important to strike dynamic poses. Perhaps it is a sound business decision to up sell Action Figure stands.

Most part of the ARX-7 mecha, is made of durable plastics, the only part which is made of PVC is the fists and extra hands. Unlike, the high end Alter ARX-7, the action figure of ARX-7 is intuitive just like an action figure, there is no need to make adjustment a parts near to the joints to make full articulation. Of course this is one of the selling point in the Robot Damashii line; fun to play action figure which can take more abuse, an embodiment of Bandai brand name.

First step is to attach some back attachment to Arbalest.

True to the anime, knives and combat shotgun is included as accessories for Arbalest.

The combat shotgun have pump action as well as a collapsible stock.

The combat knife that I will highlight is a almost shaped like a combat knife, it comes with a sheath.

Both the combat shotgun and combat knife can be attached to the back of ARX-7, with help of an attachment. However, the hardpoint which is at the back of Arbalest pelvic needs to be swapped.

Other than stowing the combat knife at the back, it can be attached to a built-in hard point on either side of the mecha thigh.

Bandai has not left details in its Robot Damashii ARX-7 even it is an action figure toy that majority can afford.

One of the gimmick that comes with this toy is, it is able to be transformed converted into its super mode in the manga or Anime. In the fictional universe of Full Metal Panic, arm slaves equipped with lambda drive when would be able to do kung-fu and gun-fu attacks and amazing acrobatic feats. You have to watch the anime or read the manga to visualize better.

To start the swap, take out both armor plates from both upper arms. And remove 2 attachment at the back of Arbalest. Replace it with the opened armor plates; in the anime it indicates the lamda drive is activated and extended lamda drive component.

The converting process is simpler compared to the Alter ARX-7. The details after conversion is not too shabby compared to the premium version.

One of the gimmick that Robot Damashii outshines Alter ARX-7 is its feature to change Arbalest mouth piece with an attached anti tank dagger; just like in the manga and anime.

What is needed is swapping the lower part of the head with the head with anti tank dagger. However, Arbalest head needs to be taken off from the body.

To complete the swap, place the upper part of the head which is very closely resembles a helmet onto the half face to complete the face swap.

With the head or face swap, ARX-7 looks more ass kicking. Unfortunately, the anti tank dagger cannot be detached.

Arbalest in the Bandai Robot 魂 rendition has articulation which can simulate every Full Metal Panic! fan’s favourite scene.

The poses is due to the design of ARX-7 which the weight is properly distributed. Hence, it can be posed standing up with a single leg without support or any assistance from action figure stand.

As a summary, Bandai Robot Damashii ARX-7 Arbalest is an overall better toy which is affordable and fun to play, it can recreate more scenes in the manga and anime compared to the Alter counterpart. As long as the details such as cockpit, the build-in anti-tank dagger compartment in the body as well as the lambda drive component inside the body exclusion is not important for you.

Alter ARX-7 Arbalest.

Lets look at how much labour and love Alter has poured into this figure. Will show case its monoculer cutter, arm slave shotgun, grenade and an anti-tank knife. For the owner of this superb figure you will notice that some part of the figure has small print, in which can be read if magnifying glass is used. Unfortunately, not all word from the small print can be read.

Alter ARX-7 grenade side view.

The grenade is very small in 1/60 scale, the length and the diameter of the grenade is about 5mm, there are details pack in this tiny piece of plastics too. Of course there is no fine print but some decent paint. Which can be view from the top side. This item need to be taken with extra care you may mistakenly sniff or swallow the grenade.

Alter ARX-7 Grenade top view.

The anti-tank knife is small but it looks sharp and does not shy away from details. Let the picture below do the justice on how much details is packed in a small trivia object.

Alter ARX-7 anti-tank knife.

The monocular cutter and it sheath has its own details. There are fine print on both the cutter and sheath.

Alter ARX-7 monocular cutter.

Alter ARX-7 monocular cutter sheath.

Based on the reading on the fine print, it can be assume that in real life, the cutter is one hot object that emits plenty of heat. There is caution sign to tell operators and ground crew to stay away from it.

Alter ARX-7 Monocular cutter Sheath fine prints.

Too bad, some word is smeared can only figure out some part of the warning.

Just by observation, the most fine print other than the ARX-7 figure, the second most fine print is the ArmSlave shotgun. On top of the fine print, it has a stock that can be collapsed as well as extended. On top of that the shotgun has a pump action motion just too bad Alter did not add spring to it. The pump action needs to be slide manually.

Alter ARX-7 shotgun stock collapse.

Alter ARX-7 Shotgun details fine print 1.

Alter ARX-7 Shotgun details fine print 2.

Alter ARX-7 Shotgun details fine print 3.

Alter ARX-7 Shotgun details fine print 4.

Too bad due to mass production release, some of the fine print is smeared. For mass production toys, defects is to be expected.

Alter ARX-7 Shotgun details fine print 5.

Most of the fine print on different part is supposed to be warning to ground crews and operators. And as a reminder for maintenance crew not to fuck around due to hazardous nature of this sophisticated machinery of war. Well at least in the Full Metal Panic universe

Alter ARX-7 Shotgun stock extended.

Alter ARX-7 Shotgun stock extended pump action.

Overall the details of the Alter Mechanic Collection Model ARX-7 Arbalest from the anime series Full Metal Panic and Full Metal Panic TSR. Is truely a product of dedication and love. The only complain is during the production stage of this product, it is hard to control all the quality. The next and final post on this figure will give the details on how to play with it properly. Till the next post. Thank you for reading and visiting my humble blog