Kotobukiya's Nineball

    An AC's exact height(excluding ACV) has always puzzled a lot of its fans, with some speculating they're several hundred feet tall while developers Fromsoftware say they're around 10 meters. In the japanese wikipedia it is said that the ACs in the AC1 era are estimated to be around 6 meters, but it's not easy to get an exact figure due to a lot of inconsistencies in the game. Based from the number of concept art that I've been gathering over the past few years, it suggests that the AC1-era AC's should be around 7-8 meters high, close to the height of the "labors" from Patlabor.

     It was only in the AC3-Last Raven era that consistencies regarding their height can be easily observed. A lot of the elements in the game seem more in proportion to each other. With powered suits and soldiers making an appearance in-game, it became more obvious that ACs are not 12 feet tall piloted by midgets. The AC's in the LR era appear to be closer to Fromsoftware's given 10 meter height, and even Kotobukiya's 1/72 AC3-LR kits easily reach that number when scaled 1/1.

     At around the AC4-For Answer era, ACs were still standing at 10 meters according to Fromsoftware in several interviews and in some images they used to highlight the size of the Arms Forts in ACFA.

     Within that period, Kotobukiya started manufacturing kits from the AC4 era(or Nexts), and their first release, AALIYAH still stands around the same height as the AC3-LR kits(15-16cm). It was by the time they made White Glint that the kits started to become larger than usual and started hovering around 17cm tall, eventually this upsizing was carried over even to non AC4 kits. This became so evident with their recent PS1 era Nineball kit.

     If my estimate of the PS1 ACs height(7-8 meters) is close to accurate(6m below is pushing it), a 1/72 kit should only stand around 11cm, but what we have here is something that stands 16cm tall, and that puts the kit's scale at around 1/48.

    
     Probably the closest thing to a 1/72 PS1 AC were those Kits produced during the late 90's.

     And it's not in the height alone that looks so oversized. Nearly every major component of Nineball is larger that it's AC3-LR counterpart.

     Apart from the seemingly wrong or mislabeled scale, I've haven't got much to rant about. There's the pre painted emblem and the addition of dual boosters instead of a single booster like in the AC1 games. I was actually surprised by the overall quality of the kit.  From assembly to articulation, a lot of thought went into this kit and it easily puts the Nineball Seraph kit to shame. Here's a quick overview of what I really like about this kit.

     Dual joints were added to the torso, shoulders, hips, and knees allowing for better posability(especially when kneeling).  Something I can only imagine back then.

     And in those joints, small details like actuators/ tubings were added.

     Articulated actuators at the foot are back, but this time it doesn't have to bear the weight of the AC. Not like what they did with the Dingo2 legs for the Oracle kit.

     Hidden laser blade compartments. And they've included the laser beam made from clear red plastic.

 
     Here's something I was expecting to be a reused MSG part. New moldings for the hands.