ThreeA World War Robot Portable Retail Exclusive Large Martins

I finally got a chance to whet my appetite for ThreeA World War Robot Portables when my local ThreeA retailer (Toy Art Gallery) got their Large Martin shipment this week. Retail exclusives of WWRp’s are few and far apart that I couldn’t help but pick up more than one! I have to say, expensive as this line is (the Large Martins cost $45 each at my retailer), I experience no buyer’s remorse whatsoever! These bots are so well done and look really cool, I can’t stop playing with them! Get ready for lotsa pics folks!

Packaging

Here are some pics of the packaging and the bio of the Large Martin on the back.

Now, let’s start with details of the Large Martin robot body. The WWRp Large Martins stand about 9 inches high and the main body has a diameter of about 3 inches. There’s plenty of articulation: swivel head and neck, the cannon swivels up and down, ball-jointed shoulders, hips and ankles, swivel “biceps” and wrists, and hinged elbows and knees. The Large Martins don’t have the articulated hands that the other bots like the Bertie and Brambles have, instead they have “meat tenderizers” as hands, perfect for some enemy bashing. I love articulated hands, but the tenderizers are more fitting to the Large Martin’s heavy and rugged appearance.

All the joints are nice and tight, some too tight, especially on the legs, but still moveable. Understandable, since the legs do have to carry the weight of the big body.

Regular Large Martins have one right cannon, and Damn Large Martins have two. There is only one DLM (Damn Large Martin) included in this batch of retail exclusives, the Auspublic Region Def.

Each Martin comes with two front bag pouches, which I noticed came in 2 different shades: a darker and a lighter one.

There are 5 available colorways in this batch of retail exclusives. I picked up three: Big Red, Iron Panda and the Auspublic Region Def.

Let’s start with pics of “Big Red”!

Large Martin Big Red

The red and yellow color scheme of this Martin just makes it pop when displayed with the other robots. This is probably the colorway of the Large Martins which defended Moscow, referenced above in the bio on the box.

There’s a lot of vertical scuffing going on with Big Red here, revealing it’s silver body underneath. The Communist color scheme and decals look great, and Russian text scattered around it’s body adds a nice touch. I’d love to find out the meaning of some of the text!

This colorway and the Iron Panda seem to be the popular ones as they appear to be “sold out” in most online retailers I visited. I’m not surprised, as the red color makes it stand out from the rest.

Large Martin Iron Panda

I didn’t plan on getting this colorway at first, but the contrasting black and white, the little teardrop near the eye, and the bold lettering really sold itself to me.  There are also other nice touches like the rust patches, the “crunch” text on it’s right hand, and burn marks on the back exhaust.

I initially thought these Iron Pandas are enemies of the Big Reds based on the writing on it’s lower body. I’m not sure if “Reds” refer to Martians or the Big Red ‘bots though. If someone knows let me know! Backstories on these different colorway factions are kinda piecey and sparse. I notice Ashley (Woods, the creator of World War Robots), would occasionally let out bits of info on these factions in the ThreeA forums.

It’s easy to forget that these are made of plastic. The paint apps just do a great job of making them look like they’re heavy hunks of metal. The attention to detail is amazing, you’ll find little interesting details upon closer inspection.

The Iron Panda colorway also looks good hanging out with Noir de Plume.

Damn Large Martin Auspublic Region Def

I didn’t think much of the Auspublic colorway before, because the pre-order pics did not have any decals on them. I knew I wanted to pick it up, being the only Damn Large Martin in this batch. But when I actually saw the final piece in person, it immediately became a favorite of mine.

I love the dark olive green color they used on the body and the reddish discoloration on the front plates look great. I’m a sucker for the big, bold lettering on the front and I think the yellow that they picked is a great color to go with the green. Most WWR bots have personal names, Auspublic here has the name “Tubby Taylor” in big bold letters on the back of it’s head.

The two large cannons on both sides of it’s neck really make it look formidable and imposing. The cannons have a great lookin’ sculpt. They’re pretty detailed, and together with the detailed pouches, they blend well with the simple shapes of the robot itself. It’s a nice contrast. ThreeA also did a great job with the wear and tear paint apps, these cannons look like they’ve been through a lot.

Paint apps on all of the Large Martins are amazing. The decals, washes and the worn out look of these robots are impressive. I really had a hard time picking which ones to get as they all look great!

I do have a couple of  nitpicks on the Large Martin body. One is the distance of the cannon to the shoulders. The back of the cannon hits the shoulders whenever you try to tilt it up. You can find spots where the cannons can tilt up when you rotate the neck swivel, but I do find the cannons too close to it’s shoulders.

My second nitpick is the range of motion of the elbow hinge. I wish you could bend the arms a little bit more for the arm-bashing poses.

These are nitpicks of course, as I still love the overall design of these robots!

Although my favorite World War Robot design is still the Bertie, these Large Martins are a great addition to the ever expanding line of World War Robots. The fact that they are still around the same price of last year’s retail exclusive Berties, regardless of their size, makes them a good buy for me.

Overall, I’m really stoked about picking up some new WWRp’s. When you order online during sale drops you get them in about 4 months or longer. So it was kinda nice to walk in a store and be able purchase these robots at retail price. I just wish I had enough funds to buy all of them!  I left Frosty and Sand Devil behind, still hoping to one day pick up the Devil!

For a list of online retailers, the ThreeA forums have compiled this list: http://www.threeaonline.com/forum/index.php?topic=26.0. There are also other comic books shops and collectibles stores not listed like the ones in my area, so I’m sure if you search online you’ll find more stores.

I’ll leave you all with some group pics. I’m still new to this ThreeA stuff so I don’t have a lot, I only have this ragtag group! Day Watch Armstrong looks too clean to hang out with the gang though.

Thanks for looking and I hope you all enjoyed the pics!