Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Upper body and head.

Back and backpack.

Kobold's arm section.

Legs

Frame Arms NSG-12α Cobold - There's also a face on the back of the head. This face is used when combining with Strauss to for

There's also a face on the back of the head.
This face is used when combining with Strauss to form Weisheit.

The existing Frame Architect is split into multiple pieces and mixed into the arms and legs.

Leftover parts.

Spare parts for combining into Weisheit.

Three types of hands are included in total.

Articulation.
The legs fold quite a lot.

Frame Arms NSG-12α Cobold - Action pose (1/5)

Frame Arms NSG-12α Cobold - Action pose (2/5)

Frame Arms NSG-12α Cobold - Action pose (3/5)

Action pose

Frame Arms NSG-12α Cobold - NSG-12α Cobold cannon action. (1/4)

Frame Arms NSG-12α Cobold - NSG-12α Cobold cannon action. (2/4)

NSG-12α Cobold cannon action.

Frame Arms NSG-12α Cobold - Together with Strauss, released at the same time. These two combine to form a mech called Weishei

Together with Strauss, released at the same time.
These two combine together to form a mech called Weisheit.

Frame Arms NSG-12α Cobold - To combine into Weisheit, you first need to disassemble the various body sections and reassemble

To combine into Weisheit,
you first need to disassemble the various body sections and reassemble them.

Swap out the neck section and rotate the head 180 degrees forward.

Separate the upper and lower body briefly,
then plug three additional parts into the upper body.

Disassemble the legs and plug the middle parts into the arm section.

Frame Arms NSG-12α Cobold - Attach additional parts to the front and back of the existing forearm section to assemble the NSG

Attach additional parts to the front and back of the existing forearm section to assemble the NSG-12α Cobold cannon.

Parts organized for combining into Weisheit.

Finally, remove the ball joint gimmick attached to the shoulder.

Parts left over after combining.

In this way, they combine with the Strauss parts on the right to form...

...the mech known as Weisheit.
Check the Strauss review for a detailed look at the combined form.

The 9th entry in Kotobukiya's original mecha design series, Frame Arms, is a unit called the NSG-12α Cobold. This kit was released simultaneously with the 10th entry, a kit called Strauss, and the fun gimmick is that these two kits can combine together.

First off, the NSG-12α Cobold's design has a really clean and refined feel to it. The overall joint gimmicks are solid, and the leg articulation is pretty good too, so it holds a variety of poses well. The one downside is that because so much emphasis was put on the combining gimmick, there's almost no weaponry or accessories to speak of — though I do think the design on its own still captures the appeal of the Frame Arms series well enough.

The Frame Arms series up to this point has leaned pretty heavily toward a military aesthetic, but the NSG-12α Cobold in particular has a more futuristic design in the vein of Gunpla or Super Robot Wars, which I really like.

The build quality is relatively solid, and it's a kit that does its job well enough as a poseable action figure — so if you like the design, it's an easy enough recommendation. More than anything, the combined form Weisheit with Strauss looks even cooler, so ideally you'd want to build both the NSG-12α Cobold and Strauss together for the full experience. Check out the Strauss review for more on the combining mech Weisheit. ^_^

Frame Arms NSG-12α Cobold | 2011.9 | ¥3,200

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.