If you know anything about CM's robot figures then you know that CM is probably the least consistent figure company than anyone else out there. And don't think that price gives any indication of quality. Many of CM's most expensive figures are their poorest designs, and might even contain less metal content than the lower priced figures. BUT, CM has had some excellent figures as well. Perhaps as a general rule of thumb, it seems that any CM figure with a complex transformation is risky at best. CM's Baangaan DX and Rajin-Oh DX weren't horrible, but far from stellar. They were OK. But then in a couple of cases CM has produced some outright defective designs. The biggest (in every sense of the word) was the Genesic Gaogaigar DX that had a price tag of $600+ USD. Really it never should have been released to begin with.
But moving on to CM's Patlabors is a whole different story. All of the die-cast Patlabor figures which includes the Ingrams and the Griffin, were of such quality construction that many collectors thought CM had perhaps forever left their rocky past behind them and would make nothing but awesome quality gokin from that point forward. This didn't prove to be the case, but regardless, the Patlabors were practically perfect. The metal content is high, the articulation is great, the sculpt is excellent and the gimmicks are well implemented and accurate to design.
Previous to this there had been other Ingram figures made, but many were small and none were die-cast. Bandai had created a set of Ingram models that are certainly deserving of merit as far as models go, but then models aren't what collectors are ideally looking for. So with all the Patlabor figures produced up to that point none of them fully captured the full package of quality, materials, size and content that collectors would hope for. CM stepped in and put together the perfect mix. It had all the weapons accessories including guns, a pilot, and changeable face plates. They implemented great gimmicks like the opening cockpit and ankle gun bay. And if that wasn't enough for gimmicks, CM also incorporated flashing LED lights on the shoulders (much as the Bandai models had done earlier). The size was roughly six inches and was solid and tight construction, and the metal content was upwards of 50%. It was all around a nice piece, and fun to mess around with.
There are a couple of maybe not-so-obvious points that indirectly helped CM make this figure a success. I came across some information on the net that briefly noted that none of CM's engineering is produced in house. All the technical aspects of CM's figures are designed in China. It's obvious how this could create problems with engineering QC. With CM being in this situation, it boils down to this: the simpler the design idea, the better chance CM has of making a successful figure. All the cool facets of the Patlabor figures are excellent, but none of them are excessively complicated either, nor do they involve elements that are dependent on another element to work. And this is the type of game plan CM should continue to focus upon. This simplified road is why many companies excel. Aoshima is a prime example. Otherwise history has shown that CM's engineering debacles will continue and collectors will get tired of it. How many times can a company not deliver the goods before a person changes brands? In my experience, maybe two, if you are lucky?
But all this aside, I recommend any of the die cast Patalbors whole heartedly. They are excellent chogokin figures with lots of fun accessories and great gimmicks. Being very poseable and stable also makes them great display pieces. Prices on Ebay have stayed close to their initial list price, so it's still a good time to pick one up before they disappear over the next few years.
