Overview
Super Robot Wars is a long-running game franchise developed by Banpresto (now absorbed entirely by Namco Bandai Games) focusing on crossing over every single mecha franchise known to man, and in recent times, going back to their roots in Compati Hero and even adding in tokusatsu series like Godzilla, Ultraman and Kamen Rider. (Before Darling in the Franxx, I might add. Good.)
The Valsione (pronounced with an “eh” at the end) isn’t one of those crossover mecha, but an original unit originating from SRW 3 piloted by Ryune Zoldark; its look is because she didn’t like the original, more robotic look, and so got one that resembled herself with red hair as a giant robot, before being upgraded to the Valsione R, which form it takes for its other appearances in the series.
Hilariously, despite being a Bandai product, Kotobukiya was the one to finally incarnate Valsione into model kit form, releasing her in 2009.
As an aside, Valsione actually plays a small part in girlpla history; the techniques used to design the Valsione were carried on by Kotobukiya into the PSO2 RACaseal kit (and the foundation of most modern girlpla), while Masatoshi Aoki, team manager for Kotobukiya’s Product Development unit, used his experience on the Valsione to improve the HoiHoi-san kits that came out after the Valsione. His experience was also crucial in building on the techniques employed in the development of the PSO2 kits, allowing Kotobukiya to firstly develop the KOS-MOS Ver.4 (itself its own article), Frame Arms Girl, and then Megami Device once Masaki Asai and the rest of the former Busou Shinki team became available.
Construction and Engineering
The Valsione is a fairly high quality kit, especially given it’s from 2009, where Kotobukiya had not quite achieved the peak of its powers in the plamo realm yet. The main issues to mention are its limited articulation and the ease with which the parts can fall out when being posed. However, for a kit from 2009, it does hold up surprisingly well. You’ll need it to, given somehow, to this day, there still hasn’t been another Valsione model kit. (Damn Cybaster and Huckebein favoritism. Bandai, you literally know how to make girlpla now. Can we have a Valsione, pretty please?)
Aesthetics:
Well, it’s a giant mecha musume with big wings, big guns and big hair, with aesthetics that hearken back to the 90s. If you’re into that, you’ll love the Valsione. Certainly, she won’t look out of place among girlpla, even if she belongs with the Gunpla in technicality, and she is a very unique-looking kit that stands out even twenty years later.
Ease of Acquisition:
Valsione is from 2009 and Kotobukiya hasn’t printed her for over a decade. Prices for her are relatively inconsistent. The seller we got her sold her for ¥4750 (£22/$30), down from her original retail price of ¥5280 (£25/$33, minding that this is in today’s money and not 2009 prices). If you get lucky, you might find her lurking around the back alleys of Mercari, Rakuma or even Mandarake.
Personal Verdict?
One of the finest examples of non-Bandai kits from before the renaissance of plamo around the mid-2010s, Valsione is a decent kit, especially for its age, and if you like her, she’s not a bad kit to get. She also holds a small place in girlpla development history as a “missing link” of sorts; without her, many of the techniques now commonplace in Kotobukiya (and thus most girlpla manufacturers’) products would not have been created.
Official Site: https://www.kotobukiya.co.jp/en/
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