Toy Review - Revoltech Eva-01 Test Type

For the past few years I have been buying many of Kaiyodo's Revoltech Evangelion figures. Most notably sculpts from the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series starting with figures that were made in correspondence to the release of Evangelion 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance as well as their more recent Evangelion Evolution (EvaEvo) series. However, I have not yet delved into acquiring any of the original figures from the anime series. That is, until now. My prior intent was to get the Revoltech Mass Production Evangelion first, however the ones I found were quite out of my price range therefore I decided to start with Unit 01. The box for this figure is pretty basic. It's a tall window box, white on the front with some neat graphic design for brand name as well as the figure itself. It's pretty neat, and simple. But it's something that I can easily store away after taking the figure out.  

The figure itself stands at around five to six inches tall. The figure itself is sculpted based on its appearance in the original Neon Genesis Evangelion anime, not from the recent movies. For those unaware of the differences in the design between the anime and movies, Unit 01 in the original series sports less neon green highlights. It also is not as streamlined and its shoulder pylons are bigger. The differences may be subtle to the untrained by, but if you watch Evangelion as much as I do, you'll immediately catch the differences. The detailing on the figure is average. It perfectly represents what we see in the anime, no more, no less. With this being one of the earliest Revoltech figures, articulation is not as dynamic as in their later figures. However, it is still quite impressive. It can easily perform stances seen from the anime and much more. Also, considering that Revoltech's earlier figures did not come with stands, the figure is pretty sturdy and durable, capable of being posed without needing such a stand. This is something I wish Revoltech would return to. A lot of their later figures, especially the Evangelion figures have become way too flimsy to the point that it has to be displayed using a stand regardless.  

Accessories for Eva-01 are pretty good. Besides what is already on the figure when you take it out of the box, it also comes with various sets of hands, an umbilical power cord, pistol, rifle, progressive knife, and alternate head with an open jaw. It also comes with a sword. Though a sword was never utilized by any of the Evas in the anime, I believe in one of the video games Eva-01 used on. It's quite a neat addition. For a figure such as this, that is pretty much a satisfying compilation of accessories.  

Overall, my expectations for this figure are above and beyond. It's got to the point where I favor this figure over those in the EvaEvo line. I am really tempted to acquire myself the rest of the original Evas from the anime – Unit 00 (both Yellow and Blue versions), Unit 02, Unit 03, Unit 04, and the MP Eva. My final star rating for the Revoltech Eva-01 Test Type is 4.5/5. For anyone who is getting into collecting Evangelion figures now, this is definitely a great start. I managed to acquire this one for $38.00 over Amazon.com.