ThreeZero ROBO-DOU Patlabor Ingram Unit 2 and 3 In-Hand Gallery

Three Zero is back with their second ROBO-DOU offering, and it’s another Patlabor release!

Patlabor is a Japanese anime from the 80’s which has carried on in various forms since. It hasn’t exploded in popularity like other lines but has a core following and continues to reinvent and expand it’s universe. The main draw are giant mechs with police markings, controlled by the Tokyo police and used to enforce the peace in a time where Labors (mechs) are common.

ThreeZero’s ROBO-DOU is their line of approximately 9 inch scale robots. For those familiar with the Transformers DLX scale robots – these take that DNA and apply it to other properties.

This is their second ROBO-DOU release, and it’s a slight remod of the first release (see our full gallery and review here). Patlabor has multiple Police mechs, each with slight variations. The first release was the main one, and this one is UNIT 2 and UNIT 3 in one set. You get the core robot, and then can swap the head, shoulders, and license plates to make it work for either 2 or 3. The human drivers for each – Isao Ohta and Shinobu Nagamo – are also included.

Patlabor as a brand was also about to ramp up promotion for the line with a new website, fan club, store and events around Japan. They also have a new project in the works – Patlabor EZY. A lot of that has been put on hold due to the COVID-19 issues globally. You can check in and keep up with things on their website – https://Patlabor.tokyo, along with Twitter and Instagram.

We’ve run the new ThreeZero set for some pics to show what it can do. Read on to check out shots and additional thoughts for the ROBO-DOU Patlabor Ingram Unit 2 and 3 Compatible Set after the break, courtesy of ThreeZero!

ThreeZero ROBO-DOU Patlabor Ingram Unit 2 and 3 Compatible Set (Early Copy)

Pros:

Great in-hand feel, quality
Very faithful to the anime
Good articulation
Light up features strobe, well done
Paint clean, well applied

Cons:

Light pieces tend to come loose easily
Articulation points are very tight, requires focus to pose

Overall Thoughts:

Generally, this release is very similar to the first one engineering wise, so I won’t go too deep into the basics of how it moves, overall build quality and the like. Bottom line, it’s good. You can see our thoughts about it here.

The key differences are the new pieces for UNITS 2 and 3. 2 new heads, 2 sets of new shoulders, 2 new drivers, and interchangeable license plates. All of these function well, easily go on and off. If you want all 3 lined up side by side, you’ll need to grab 2 copies of this release. Technically this could have been done with the first release, giving us all 3 variant pieces in one box. I get wanting to start things off with the primary character, and not forcing extra coin onto people that may only want one. So I’ll take that at least 2 and 3 are combined now and you can just buy 2 if you really want all 3 together.

As with the first, this is a high quality piece. Their Transformers DLX line is top notch and this has a similar vibe. They also have an Evangelion unit coming in the same style, keeping with the Japanese Mecha focus. You get a lot of quality for the price, and I hope they keep em coming!

UNIT 1 is out now. UNIT 2/3 featured here is due out in Q3 2020. This is an early review copy so there may be slight differences in the final release. Check out our pics below!

Useful Patlabor Links:

https://www.threezerohk.com
https://patlabor.tokyo
https://www.patlabor.info (comprehensive fan site)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J52ecXnl_EE (video recap of entire brand history)