XAM-007S Fairlion Type-S

Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is my first non-Gunpla review!

This mech, called the Fairlion Type-S, is from the Super Robot Wars: Original Generations 2 game for the GBA, which was released in Japan in 2005 and then in 2007 for the US [thanks for that, Chag!]. I don't know anything about the game other than that it was a tactical RPG with robots fighting each other ALL THE TIME. Not that I've ever been near a copy of the game...

I saw this purple and pink feminine mech sitting in the local anime store a few months ago, and took an immediate liking to it. Building Fairlion doesn't take all that long, but take your time building her because she's made ENTIRELY out of ABS plastic, which is tougher to cut off of the runners [the plastic sheet that the pieces are molded on].

I really like the way Fairlion looks, honestly. Her arms aren't very posable because of the strange arm build, but they're definitely posable enough :D. Other than the slightly hindered arms, Fairlion has the articulation of a HG kit from Bandai [Gunpla, of course]. Additionally, her skirt can move a little bit and the large spikes coming off of the sides and back can be repositioned, but I don't really see why you'd want to move them [but I like symmetry :) ].

And this is Fairlion without the skirt. Personally, I think the skirt is necessary, but to each his own~

Fairlion has a bit of difficulty standing on her own, unfortunately, but Kotobukiya was kind enough to include a little custom stand for Fairlion. I'd think Fairlion was meant to be more of a flight-type than a ground-type anyway...

~*~GIMMICKS~*~

I think adding a gimmick section for Fairlion is an appropriate decision, since she's got a few worth mentioning.

First up is Fairlion's shoulder gimmick. The long spikes on the... back[?]... of her shoulders flip forward to produce some sort of MEGA BEAM CANNON DEATH MACHINE OMG [according to the game, anyway]. It looks pretty cool, and I'm sure with a Fairlion and photoshop skills you could make some sweet laser effects :D

Fairlion also comes with two arm swords, but the joints have since broke [read: battle damage] so I'm not gonna talk about them at all.


~*~ACCESSORIES~*~

In addition to Fairlion's two weapons that are already mounted on her body, she also comes with some sort of CHAINSAW SWORD THING WOAH. She comes with an extra hand [a right hand] that holds the monstrous sword weapon, so just swap whatever her right hand is out for the one holding the sword and you're good to go.

It looks slightly out of place on such a dainty mech, but at the same time it looks like it belongs with Fairlion. It's almost comically big for her, and I'm a fan of that!

Also, since you now have the ENTIRE arm to work with, as opposed to just the shoulder and elbow, you can get a little more posability and can do some pretty awesome "I'm going to chainsaw sword you through the face" poses~

~*~FINAL VERDICT~*~

Fairlion Type-S is a pretty awesome kit, even if it's not gunpla from Bandai. She's got a pretty nice amount of posability and has a stand to get some sweet mid-air poses with, too. If you do want her to look as good as she can, though, she does require a little bit of painting and panel lining to really bring out the detail. She's a bit on the expensive side, though, coming in at around $35. I think she's a worthy purchase if you've got some extra money and want to build something that a bit different than your standard Gundam.

And that's all for now! Hope you've enjoyed the review~