Of all the Special Weapons in Mega Man X3, Triad Thunder is the last one I’d have expected to see as a model kit. The effect piece would be just too big compared to something like Tornado Fang or Frost Shield. But hey, never say never with Kotobukiya! Released in October 2024, the MAX Armor Triad Thunder Ver. is another go at Mega Man X3's MAX Armor (AKA the Third Armor), this time with a brand new coloring and a massive effect piece!
Is the MAX Armor Triad Thunder Ver. worth a buy? Join me after the break, and we will break down everything there is to know about this kit!
Review sample provided by HobbyLink Japan. Go check 'em out!
The largest effect piece yet!
Let's get this out of the way immediately. This effect piece is huge. Absolutely gigantic. Historically large. However you want to put it, the Triad Thunder effect piece puts every previous piece to shame in sheer size alone. In fact, the Triad Thunder piece, along with the included stand for holding the effect piece along with X was so massive that it wouldn't even fit in my photo booth!
Impressive size and detail!
The Triad Thunder piece is very detailed, but also very simple. The erratic lightning effect really sells the raw power that Triad Thunder is known for. The electric balls on the corners are made of layers of plastic that almost give the balls a glowing effect. However, the greatest strength of this effect piece is also the greatest weakness. Such a large effect piece takes up a considerable amount of room, so be sure to clear a good amount of space if you intend to display X like this.
As for the figure itself, if you are familiar with either the MAX Armor or the MAX Armor Hyperchip Ver., then you are familiar with this kit. That means the red "horns" on the helmet are still tricky. However, and this may be just me, but it felt like this kit was a much easier build than either of those. It may be the new plastic that has been used with the more recent kits, it may be just me being more experienced with these kits.
Whatever the reason, this kit went together with no issues (aside from the red "horns"), isn't loose, and feels sturdier than the previous iterations. By looking at the pictures here, you may also notice that the upper arms are slightly different. This kit comes with extender parts for the arms. It may be a small thing, but they really improve the range of motion for those more tricky poses. As a bonus, the kit comes with arm extenders that are blue to go with your previous MAX Armor kit.
"Zero, I'll handle this."
At long last, a kit comes with a green blade for the Z-Saber. The saber is on the same runner as the gems for the legs, and I feel like they made them green this time around just to finally throw in a proper green saber. The color of the blade (and the green gems) is very vibrant, so get ready to use your sense & skill to create even more possibilities.
Accessorize!
Aside from the show-stopping Triad Thunder piece, the kit also comes with a Buster, the usual array of hands (now grape flavored!), a green Z-Saber, an alternate neck piece, and two alternate torso pieces. One of the torso pieces is green to match Triad Thunder X, and the other is blue to match X without any special weapons. Interestingly, this kit only comes with one face piece. As always, this kit is compatible with every face from the previous X kits, so hopefully you have some extras lying around in your collection.
Charged up!
The alternate neck and torso pieces make tricky poses like the charged Triad Thunder punch possible! Feel free to experiment and get creative! Changing out the neck can be a bit tricky, so be patience and consider using something that will help you to get a better grip on the piece.
Note: this picture has been digitally manipulated.
This kit has extra paint and parts that are not part of the kit's original release.
The blue extra torso opens a world of possibilities for posing your X kits, so start thinking of fun poses now!
Actual game footage may vary.
That's about it for the MAX Armor Triad Thunder Ver. X kit. It's really great seeing my favorite Special Weapon from Mega Man X3 in model kit form. I'm honestly surprised there wasn't an unarmored X in this color scheme to go along with it. Maybe it will happen one of these days.
Do you plan to get this kit? Are there any other Special Weapon colors you'd like to see released in between major releases? Sound off below! The next release is the long-awaited Axl, so stay tuned for a review on him next!
How did you mount the saber to the back? Is that a new part?
ReplyDeleteI can't convince myself to buy this recolor...
As far as I know, it's a custom part made by ReploidAsterisk.
DeleteIt is a custom piece made by Asterisk. Basically a copy of Zero's backpack made to fit the Third Armor.
DeleteAh.
DeleteThanks for showcasing another cool figurine.
ReplyDeleteThank you for checking it out!
DeleteIt's a good looking kit, and I like the effect parts, but I'd rather just get the regular 3rd armor colors if I was gonna get one, personally. I can say it actually has enough stuff included to justify it's price, with the saber, hands, torso(s), and effect parts, so that's good 👍! It's a still a bit too expensive for me though...
ReplyDeleteTriad Thunder is neat ‘n all, but I wish they’d fix the buster for Max/Third Armor. Shouldn’t have vents on the top ridges.
ReplyDeleteHuh? I have no clue what your talking about.
DeleteThe buster looks accurate, what are you talking about?
DeleteCheck out the original X3 artwork. Other sources have varied before, like vents only on the top for the manga, and the double vents were in TEPPEN and X DiVE.
DeleteIts 100% accurate to the X3 art.
DeleteFalse, the vents are on the top and bottom, look at the 96 artwork again.
DeleteOh, I see what he's talking about, so on the original artwork the tubes on top of the buster don't have vents on the inside of them, (in fact they kinda looked closed off in that artwork) but later artwork gives them vents like the bottom ones. I think this might just be a case of them adding details to the design over time, cause in the original artwork you can also see that none of the tubes have the little green gem things inside them, where modern art of the Max Armor depicts all the tubes with gems in them. I don't think it's a big deal though.
DeleteHmm... On second look, I can see what your talking about. I never noticed that before. Part of me wonders if it is not a perspective issue as you only really see it from one angle most of the time.
DeleteIf it bothers you, use putty. Easy fix.
It sorta makes sense as a retcon to have four. I mean, if you think about it... the 4 gems or whatever term you wanna use make sense because of the 2nd level charge shot. One gem for the big shot and then 4 smaller ones. Same thing with the 4th armor, four charge shots, four gems. Thought the 4th armor is...unique.
DeletePlus, it looks better.
Yeah you can’t really tell in the main artwork. The best view is in the Cross Charge Shot art, but that’s probably more obscure, looks like it’s from a guide or magazine, only in a few colors. Top ridges are more square too.
DeleteI've been mulling it over, it would not be very hard or time consuming to draw up a solid, more square blue piece you could 3D print and put in the upper vent. You would still have a little curve to the white bit, but it wouldn't look terrible.
DeleteI'd have to tear apart my current copy though, I really don't want to do that. (Still haven't decided to buy this one, the price is too high for a recolor I don't like and an effect part I wont use anyway)
Literally, it would take half an hour.
@Shrap, do you still have the 3d file available of the non angled buster tip you did last year for the koto max armor?
DeleteYea
Deletehttps://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6344839
@ Jack Spore, my mistake I never noticed that until now when I double checked some of the 90s Max Armor artwork. There’s a few pieces of art from one of the players guides that only shows the vents on the bottom. Now I kinda want to putty the top ones on my kit to be accurate.
Delete