Kit Review

Straight build

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Size comparison with a cigarette pack. The wings are pretty wide side to side, but the bo

Size comparison with a cigarette pack.
The wings are pretty wide side to side, but the body itself is surprisingly small.

Body section

16mm Vulcan cannons are mounted on both sides of the fuselage.

Head

Clean but bare(?) wing section

Leg section

Lots of fine detail on the back of the legs.

Wing view from the rear

Tail top/bottom

Air-to-air missile ZAAM-001 Arrow mounted on the center of the back

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - The massive armament mounted on the wings. Two laser-guided ground attack missile units c

The massive armament mounted on the wings.
Two laser-guided ground attack missile units carrying a total of 12 air-to-ground missiles ZAGM-065.

Cockpit hatch open.
The pilot is painted.

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Remove the wing/backpack section on the back and you'll find the Zoid Core inside. The co

Remove the wing/backpack section on the back and you'll find the Zoid Core inside.
The core is much smaller than those in other Zoids.

The Pteras Bomber can also be configured as a standard Pteras.

Pteras Bomber exterior armor

Standard Pteras exterior armor

Configured as a normal Pteras with the weapon pack removed.

Only the shin front armor and the wing weapon units differ.

Leg articulation. It moves quite a bit more than you'd expect.

Neck and waist rotation

Movement of the 16mm Vulcans on the sides and the hip joint guards

The booster packs and small wings on the sides of the legs also rotate individually.

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - The neck joint and the armor below the neck are linked via a slide mechanism, but... the

The neck joint and the armor below the neck are linked via a slide mechanism, but...
The movement is stiff and you have to gently work it with both hands to get them to move together.

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - The three-section tail has a fairly limited range of motion, though you can rotate the wi

The three-section tail has a fairly limited range of motion, though
you can rotate the wing at the tip.

The wings can be spread wide open like this, or folded completely shut.

You can also fold the middle section of the wings inward.

The whole thing can also be raised backward.

On top of that, rotation is possible too, so the wing articulation is excellent.

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - The weapon packs on the wings can fold 180 degrees left and right, and horizontal rotatio

The weapon packs on the wings can fold 180 degrees left and right, and horizontal rotation is also possible.

The front section of the armament moves individually.

Open the cover on the front of the shin to reveal 10 missile weapon bays.

All three toes move individually.

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Action pose. The massive armament gives it quite an imposing look. (1/4)

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Action pose. The massive armament gives it quite an imposing look. (2/4)

Action pose.
The massive armament gives it quite an imposing look.

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - In-flight pose on the Kotobukiya dedicated stand. (1/6)

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - In-flight pose on the Kotobukiya dedicated stand. (2/6)

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - In-flight pose on the Kotobukiya dedicated stand. (3/6)

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - In-flight pose on the Kotobukiya dedicated stand. (4/6)

In-flight pose on the Kotobukiya dedicated stand.

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Attack pose with all armaments deployed. (1/6)

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Attack pose with all armaments deployed. (2/6)

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Attack pose with all armaments deployed. (3/6)

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Attack pose with all armaments deployed. (4/6)

Attack pose with all armaments deployed.

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Action poses in normal Pteras form. (1/5)

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Action poses in normal Pteras form. (2/5)

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Action poses in normal Pteras form. (3/5)

Action poses in normal Pteras form.

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - A crouching shot. (1/4)

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - A crouching shot. (2/4)

A crouching shot.

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Pteras in flight. Still pretty stylish even without the bomber pack. (1/4)

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Pteras in flight. Still pretty stylish even without the bomber pack. (2/4)

Pteras in flight.
Still pretty stylish even without the bomber pack.

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. - Alongside the Gun Sniper, which is similarly sized. The Gun Sniper was already on the sma

Alongside the Gun Sniper, which is similarly sized.
The Gun Sniper was already on the small side, but the Pteras body is even smaller.

Compared to the Blade Liger, the body looks even smaller.

The Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. has been released as a new Zoid kit with a brand-new body. This kit comes out as a conversion kit that lets you build two configurations — a normal Pteras, as well as the Pteras Bomber with the bomber weapon packs added to the legs and wings.

First thing you'll notice once it's built is that it's surprisingly small — actually smaller than the Gun Sniper, which was already one of the smallest Zoids around. From photos the wings make it look fairly large, but in person it comes across as quite compact. Small size for the price is kind of a Kotobukiya kit thing, but even accounting for the part count, this one feels especially tiny.

As a flying-type Zoid, the Pteras Bomber's biggest selling point is probably the impressive range of wing articulation. The wings move in all directions — up, down, forward, back, and side to side — allowing for a good variety of dynamic poses. There are also plenty of articulation points throughout the various weapons, legs, and body, which is a hallmark of this kit. Joint strength is decent enough that nothing feels loose, which is a relief, but...

Having so many moving parts comes with its downsides too — all those articulation points make it genuinely tricky to get a pose to stick. In short, getting a good pose means fiddling with everything from head to toe, and the many linked gimmicks mean the tail, hip joint guards, front leg bomber packs, and various other bits tend to pop off easily. The hip joints in particular come apart pretty readily, so you really have to be careful when setting up action poses.

In the end, it's impressive that such a small Zoid kit packs in this much functionality and articulation — big points for that — but it does make the kit fiddly to handle. It feels a bit like they got ambitious designing all these gimmicks but didn't quite think through how solid and stable they'd actually be in practice.

The small size might make the ¥4800 price tag feel a bit steep, but either way, flying-type Zoids are a rare thing and that's not nothing. It's the kind of kit that makes you look forward to seeing the Zoid lineup expand further. :-)

Zoid HMM Pteras Bomber Jamie Ver. | 2010 5 | ¥4,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.