Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special (1/6)

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special (2/6)

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special (3/6)

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special (4/6)

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special (5/6)

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special (6/6)

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - Parts added to the back of the neck and mouth area. Looks like it's chewing on a dog

Parts added to the back of the neck and mouth area.
Looks like it's chewing on a dog treat. ^^;

AZ twin assault gun added to the lower body

Additional armor for the legs.

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - Basically the base body is 100% identical to the original Lightning Saix, with addit

Basically the base body is 100% identical to the original Lightning Saix,
with additional armor included in the kit.

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - Assembly of the front leg armor. You just attach armor pieces to both sides of the e

Assembly of the front leg armor.
You just attach armor pieces to both sides of the existing legs.

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - Assembly of the rear leg additional armor. Similar to the front legs, but the differ

Assembly of the rear leg additional armor.
Similar to the front legs, but the difference is that you remove the 2 fixing pins in the middle of the joint and plug the armor in their place.

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - The additional armor on the back of the neck and chest just clips on, but the AZ twi

The additional armor on the back of the neck and chest just clips on,
but the AZ twin assault gun on the lower chest tends to pop off easily due to a weak connection.

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - Unlike the original Lightning Saix, the clear parts for the eyes have been changed f

Unlike the original Lightning Saix, the clear parts for the eyes have been changed from green to orange,
and a pre-painted Irvine pilot figure has been added.

A pre-painted Irvine figure with a display stand is also included.

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - The replacement spread-open claw parts that came with the normal Lightning Saix are

The replacement spread-open claw parts that came with the normal Lightning Saix are included here too, but...
they can't actually be used on the Irvine Special version because of the foot armor.

Leftover parts.

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - The Lightning Saix originally had decent articulation, but the thick armor wrapping

The Lightning Saix originally had decent articulation, but...
the thick armor wrapping around the entire legs
has reduced the range of motion on every joint as well as the hip articulation angle.

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - Growling~ pose. The articulation has gotten worse so it's hard to pull off any inter

Growling~ pose.
The articulation has gotten worse so it's hard to pull off any interesting poses. T_T

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - Running pose using the Kotobukiya display stand. (1/7)

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - Running pose using the Kotobukiya display stand. (2/7)

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - Running pose using the Kotobukiya display stand. (3/7)

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - Running pose using the Kotobukiya display stand. (4/7)

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - Running pose using the Kotobukiya display stand. (5/7)

Running pose using the Kotobukiya display stand.

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special - Together with the normal Lightning Saix. The Irvine Special feels like it's wearing

Together with the normal Lightning Saix.
The Irvine Special feels like it's wearing a heavy winter coat compared to the summer version... ^^;

The Irvine Special version, which is an additional armor variant of the HMM Lightning Saix, was released as a limited edition. Kotobukiya's limited editions work quite differently from Bandai's — rather than being event or show exclusives, they're more often cases of "we're only going to run this once." This Lightning Saix Irvine Special was the same way; despite being called a limited edition, enough stock was released that you could find it at most regular shops. That said, once the initial release window passes it gets harder and harder to find, and since there's no reprint it effectively ends up being a true limited edition in the end.

Anyway, "limited edition" label aside, the additional parts have increased substantially and everything from the box art to the manual has been newly created, so right now it honestly just feels like a brand new kit. ^^;;;

This kit includes all the parts from the original Lightning Saix (except the assembly-type pilot parts and the large waterslide decals), plus 4 runners worth of Irvine Special-specific parts and two pre-painted Irvine figures. So you can build it as the normal Lightning Saix, or add the armor to configure it as the Irvine Special.

The armor is a different version, but rather than swapping out the existing armor, you simply layer the new armor on top of the existing pieces — except for the rear legs, where you need to remove two round fixing pins and secure the additional armor in their place. The armor on the back of the neck and below the chest just hooks on lightly, but the AZ twin assault gun added below the chest has a weak hold and tends to pop off...

For the legs, the additional armor clips on from both sides and isn't particularly loose, so it doesn't fall apart easily. The attachment point for the additional armor on the top of the foot is a bit iffy, but as long as you handle it carefully it won't come off that easily, which is a relief. On top of that, the clear parts for the eyes come in both green and orange, so you can pick whichever you prefer.

There are two things I find disappointing about this Irvine Special version. First, the added armor is so thick that it cuts the original leg articulation roughly in half. T_T The bending angle of the legs themselves is reduced, and especially the hip clearance is tightened up so much that even the side-to-side spread of the legs is severely limited — it basically has to stand straight. In the end, if you push the articulation too hard the Irvine Special armor feels like it's about to come apart, so you end up handling it gingerly and the range of poses you can achieve becomes pretty limited... ^^;

Also, the Irvine Special armor is originally a grey + silver combination, but the grey portions are completely omitted, so the straight build ends up feeling a bit lacking in color. It would've been nice if they'd at least included some partial paint applications where color separation was difficult — a bit of a shame, that.

Going from the normal Lightning Saix to the Irvine Special, the price goes up from ¥4500 to ¥5800 — a ¥1300 increase — but looking at what you get, it's a pretty reasonable price. And for something that's essentially a limited edition kit, it's not all that expensive in relative terms. (Though of course, by Bandai standards it's pricey...)

Sure, it looks a bit chunkier than the normal Lightning Saix and the articulation takes a hit, but as a typical HMM kit it's packed with content, and existing Kotobukiya Zoids fans should find it pretty satisfying overall. It was probably put out as a one-time limited run with the expectation that sales wouldn't be huge, but flipping that around — for Zoids fans, this is the kind of kit where if you don't grab it while you can, you'll regret it later. :-)

Zoid HMM Lightning Saix Irvine Special | 2013. 2 | ¥5,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.