EVA-00 Mini Revoltech

June 24, 2011 | By More


Kaiyodo is a Japanese company that has made a name for itself manufacturing toys and other collectibles based on popular anime shows. Kaiyodo is also the manufacturer of the Revoltech line, which consists on action figures that use a very specific style of articulation.

Basically, the Revoltech joints are spherical hinges with cylindrical pegs attached to each half of the hinge to connect to the corresponding ports at torso and limbs. Each of these hinge halves has a ratcheted contact surface that produces a rather nice clicking sound whenever a joint is flexed.

This type of joint can be easily concealed in the sculpture for most character designs, and is often combined with more traditional types of articulation to achieve aesthetically pleasing results.

In the Revoltech lineup, arguably the most popular segment of figures is that based on designs from the Evangelion anime show by Gainax. In fact, these mechas are so popular, that Kaiyodo decided to launch a couple of the more emblematic EVA units as Mini Revoltechs, to be sold at Japanese convenience stores as top-of-the-counter tchotchkes.

The Mini Revoltech I’m reviewing today is EVA Unit 00 (or EVA-00 for short). In the show, this is the unit piloted by Rei Ayanami, who is probably one of the most popular characters from the show, despite her evident lack of personality.

While regular Revoltech figures are only slightly shorter than 7 inch in height, the Minis are just over 4 inches and their design is so stylized that they can fit right in with regular 3.75-inch figures without much effort.

EVA- 00’s sculpt is very sleek and resembles an emaciated humanoid body covered in armor plating, which is consistent with the techno-organic look of the anime.  The EVA designs are also extremely well suited to conceal the Revoltech joints, resulting in a figure that looks good and has the following articulation model:

• Revoltech neck. Works mostly as a back and forth hinge, although there is some degree of rotation allowed by the character design.

• Revoltech shoulders. These joints provide both pegged hinge functionality to the shoulder, as well as an upper biceps swivel to the arms.

• Revoltech elbows. Again, these joints provide pegged hinge functionality, as well as rotation above and below the elbow. This last comes very handy because there is no wrist articulation provided.

• Revoltech torso joint. Here we get a decent amount of side-to-side swivel, as well as discrete ab-crunch capability.

• Swivel hips. These are angled in a way that, when combined with the next joint, allows much more versatility than I thought possible.

• Upper thigh swivel.

• Revoltech knees. Functionality here is pretty much the same as any double pegged hinge joint, meaning that in addition to flexing we get swivel joints above and below the knee.

• Revoltech ankles. Now, the interesting thing here is that the ports that connect the joints to the feet are angled in such a way that provides the feet with side-to-side movement range, allowing for improved stability in action poses.

The paintjob is fairly minimal and neatly applied, consisting mostly of solid blocks of black and white painted over the yellow and gray plastics the figure is made of. Some additional details are picked up in red and green, as well as a little bit of gunmetal silver applied to the back of the EVA-00 unit.

While regular Revoltech figures usually come with a bundle of extras like weapons and additional hands, this Mini Revoltech ships with only a black display base, an extra right forearm with a gun gripping hand and what appears to be some sort of automatic carbine.

The base is plain black plastic with only one peg on it, but the extra forearm is painted to match the EVA-00 color scheme, while the gun is painted in two shades of dark metallic hues and a couple accents in golden yellow.

The EVA-00 Mini Revoltech is an extremely satisfying figure to have. The combination of size and the tactile feel of the joints make it extremely addictive to manipulate; also the materials it’s made of feel solid enough to withstand play as well as any Hasbro figure. The overall look of this figure would make it feel right at home as a luxury/sports droid in Star Wars or as a foe for your superhero figures.

Errex Score: 97/100

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Category: Featured, Other Television, Toy Reviews

About the Author ()

I've been collecting action figures since the original Kenner Star Wars days. Nowadays, I still collect pretty much anything that catches my eye.

Comments (3)

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  1. Engineernerd says:

    How much did these guys set you back? I might have to pick up one or two if they were reasonable.

    Very cool stuff. Your Japanese items always make me envious.

  2. Errex says:

    Glad you liked it.

    If memory serves me right, these were about UDS $10.00 in 2007.

  3. Engineernerd says:

    Seems like a good deal. I’ve only ever seen the bigger ones.