Interest

Figure Build Close-up: Ingram 1 Mobile Police Patlabor Action Figure

Anime News Network's merchandise coverage sponsored by Tokyo Otaku Mode.

Figures are provided courtesy of Bluefin Distributors

How do you know that 1989's Patlabor withstood the test of time? Well for one, they're still releasing high quality action figures inspired by it. I've been marathoning Patlabor during the slow in-between space after Fall 2016 and before Winter 2017 anime, and now I have a companion to watch it with me, the Bandai Hobby Robot Spirits Ingram 1 Mobile Police Patlabor Action Figure, distributed by Bluefin in North America.

The front of the box prominently displays the metallic Bluefin seal that indicates this is an official product and not a pirated copy. Unless you buy this figure directly from a retailer in Japan, the absence of that sticker means you might have a counterfeit on your hands.

The back shows some description of what you get—a Labor, a Labor Command Car, and a few accessories like the Labor's gun and stun baton. The figure itself is 125mm (5 inches) tall.

Here's everything inside the box. There's two plastic containers, a promotional flyer, and some instructions. Yes, even though it's a prebuilt figure, there are instructions.

The instructions are in Japanese, but you can get by on the visuals. The plastic hands are fairly flexible, and pliable enough to squeeze accessories into. I was surprised because I usually build Gunpla, which are hard plastic and usually have the fingers separate from the palms—you have to snap the parts of the Gunpla hand around the accessory to get a firm grip.

My least favorite part of the model was the leg holster. I am not sure you can tell that I put the gun inside this one. If I snap the leg shut, it doesn't rattle around, but while it's open it feels very loose. I had to hold the Labor upside down to get the gun out again.

The instructions also showed me that I could snap off an entire piece of the command car to put the antennae in. Otherwise I probably would not have tried because it looks breakable!

Speaking of breakable, there are duplicate parts for all the antennae—both the two on the car and the ones on the Labor's head and neck. I'm guessing they ARE breakable, so the kit has helpfully provided some backup pieces just in case.

Pardon the silly pose, but I wanted to share how flexible the Labor is. Notice how when the arms are extended out as far as they can go, the shoulder pads are almost dangling off. Hard plastic casing covers a rubbery blue interior, which makes this figure very poseable.

Here's a tip from one mecha fan to another—for the most realistic possible pose for your figures and kits, just copy what's on the front of the box. Scenes from the anime would work, too. Labor 1 is Noa's unit, but I decided to pose the action figure with the gun (more like the way Ota would use it!) because that's how it looks on the box.

Here's everything that comes in the box, aside from spare parts, extra hands, and the stun baton. Notice it has no trouble standing on its own, partly because of the flexible plastic, and partly because this is pre-built to perfection and I usually spend my time attempting to pose models I built myself. Since the pros put this one together, it has a lot of impeccable details—from multicolored green and red clear pieces, to perfectly legible labels, to one metallic gold police badge—that you just don't get when you make it yourself.

Not that I'm going to stop building mecha kits any time soon, and I'd jump at the chance to build a Labor! But if you're looking for a lot of quality, and very little effort, you've found it here.