The Alteisen released in the early days of Super Robot Wars had quite a few quality issues. The biggest problem was Kotobukiya's weak polycaps — a major issue back then — which led to all sorts of accidents like the hip polycaps cracking. A revised version did come out later, but the overall joint strength was still lacking due to the polycap quality itself. Everything was just wobbly...
That's why, six years later in 2010, a new version of the Alteisen was released under the name "ver. Progressive." In Bandai terms, you could call it the Alteisen ver. 2.0.
First and foremost, the polycap issue that had been the biggest concern has been almost completely resolved. Over those six years, Kotobukiya's polycap quality improved significantly, and their engineering skills got better too, so the overall joint strength is now very solid. The structural design itself was completely overhauled, and thanks to the unique waist and knee joints, the articulation has been upgraded as well. As a result, it's much easier to get action poses to hold.
Along with that, the proportions were revised — the shoulders got noticeably narrower, giving it that sleek modern look. It might be a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it thing for some people, but you have to admit the overall proportions are more refined. The color separation has also become more precise as befitting a new release, with finer details like the front/rear skirts, arms, shoulders, and ankle covers now more accurately matching the design colors.
The overall quality is clean and well-executed, as you'd expect from a modern Kotobukiya kit. Being such a popular mech, it seems like the original got released back when their quality was still a bit iffy, which is probably why this 2.0 version came about. Just looking at photos, it might not seem all that different from the old version, but once you actually handle it, you can clearly feel the difference. Which also says a lot about how the joints on the original Alteisen were... well, not great.
Anyway, this new Alteisen ver. Progressive does a solid job of addressing the issues people had with the original, and it's a great kit you can enjoy building without worrying about quality problems. The one thing that stings a little is the price — it jumped from ¥2800 to ¥4800, a whopping ¥2000 increase, which is a bit rough given the times. :-)
Alteisen ver. Progressive | 2010.5 | ¥4,800
AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.