This is the category for machines that never flew and are recognised by half the planet anyway. Evangelion units, variable fighters from Macross, the patrol robots of Patlabor, Ultraman and the Gunbuster class of super robots: Japanese anime classics meet the odder corners of cinema here. Most kits hold together without glue and arrive with parts moulded in colour, so the result looks convincing without any painting background at all.
Because the subjects come from so many different series, the deciding factor is usually which universe you know. The notes below sort the range by that, and by how the kits are engineered.
The centre of gravity sits in the Japanese universes: Evangelion humanoid weapons in several editions including multi-coloured releases, the transformable VF fighters of Macross, Mazinger and the super-robot classics, and rarities from the lesser-known series. There are oddities from outside anime too, among them 3D-printed curiosities. Compared with the Gundam category, which has a section to itself, the variety of franchises here is the widest in the branch.
The safest pick is a machine from a series you have seen, because then the build doubles as a piece of collecting. Editions differ mainly in colour breakdown: multi-coloured versions look finished out of the box, single-colour releases leave the painting to you.
Articulated snap-fit figures take posing and handling. Fixed models are display pieces and belong behind glass. With the transformable Macross machines, check your own patience first — converting from robot to aircraft is a genuine engineering puzzle and some of them do not love being converted twice.
Part of the range is tooled in 1:72, which means a mecha can stand next to a conventional aircraft collection. The contrast between a real fighter and a walking machine at the same scale is one of the more effective things you can do with a shelf.
Machines that actually left the pad — launch vehicles, shuttles and spacecraft — are in rocket and spacecraft model kits.
