DISCLAIMER: We have not built any kits from this line, and we have no intention of doing so. We have drawn our information from other reviews and so cannot provide a personal verdict. As such, this article is largely informative.
Overview
Takara Tomy is the child of the merger between toy companies Takara (founded in 1955 by Yasuta Sato and known for Beyblade, the Diaclone toys that became Transformers and Licca-chan) and Tomy (founded in 1924 by Eiichirō Tomiyama whose name graces the company’s logo, and known for backing Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh and Wedding Peach, as well as being a former competitor to Bandai), formed back in 2001. However, you may primarily know Takara Tomy for hit franchise Zoids.
Zoids is a multimedia franchise that hails all the way back from 1983, revolving around the animal-themed mecha. The series had its first anime Chaotic Century in 1999 based on an earlier manga series Kiiju Shinseiki Zoido, and among its multitude of video game and manga adaptations counts an 80s comic series penned by none other than Grant Morrison of Animal Man and Doom Patrol fame. The most iconic Zoid of all, of course, is the Liger and all of its variations.
Metamor Verse is a collaborative effort between Takara Tomy and Kotobukiya announced in 2024 through Takara Tomy’s T-Spark label. The premise revolves around players of the eponymous virtual MMO being accompanied by Buddy Armors. Kotobukiya would provide the designs of the girls (with Ao Kiriyama being designed by Nidy -2D- of Megami Device fame), while Takara Tomy would provide the mecha designs of the Buddy Armors, based on their IPs, with the first released kit being Ao Kiriyama and Zoids’ Blade Liger in early 2026. Other announced kits include Hatsune Miku1 (because of course) from the hit train mecha show Shinkalion.
Construction and Engineering
Reviews are in for Ao at least and as can be expected of two experienced toy companies collaborating, the line is of very high quality with good color separation with Koto employing a mixture of its experiences from various Megami Device lines. The line’s gimmick, having the ability to use the accompanying Buddy Armor to switch from Pretty Armor form (not to be confused with hit counterfeit bootleg line Pretty Armor) to Favo Armor mode is reminiscent of the armored and unarmored forms of sister line Megami Device and is a nice touch. Funnily enough, these kits are 1/10, despite taking clear cues from MD.
Difficulty-wise, we’re not aware of any problems that someone experienced with Koto’s other offerings might encounter, while engineering and articulation is as expected.
Aesthetics
We personally don’t really like the look of these kits, but if you’re Nidy’s strongest soldier, like Zoids (or Shinkalion) or just really want these things, go right ahead; this is Nidy’s work at his gooning second-greatest (we personally think his work on ASRA and Yggdrasis is better) with some Zoids on the side. The Blade Liger is especially cute.
Ease of Acquisition
This is the real kicker and the primary reason we don’t want these kits personally. Metamor Verse Ao Kiriyama retails at a whopping ¥14850 (£70/$93) before shipping, with most of the line expected to be hanging around that price. Hobby Search mercifully has her at a slightly more reasonable ¥12825 (£65/$80), but we don’t know how long that’ll be the case.
This, by far, is the single most expensive toyline we have covered in this guide.
From what the boxes contain, even if it is the tantalizing idea of Kotobukiya and Takara Tomy throwing their best work at each other to make a love child, for our money it really isn’t worth it.
Official Site: https://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/tsparkofficial/metamor/ (in Japanese, age restricted)
https://www.kotobukiya.co.jp/en/series/metamor_verse/ (for kit information)
- Technically it’s not Vocaloid Hatsune Miku, creator of Minecraft and Harry Potter. But let’s be honest here, who the hell are we kidding, they shrank Miku and gave her a train robot. ↩︎
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