ThreeA WWRp JEA Bertie MK 3

WWRp JEA Bertie MK 3 was part of the resident sale on Bambaland some time in August 2011. Basically unlike the usual drops, he was available for purchase over a couple of days. I took the opportunity to get this baby, having decided to give the huge WWR version of it a miss (a good decision, seeing how limited space is in my home). I have, however, seen the WWR version in my friend's house, and understand what he means when he tells me that the weathering's different, much darker to be precise, for the WWRp version. While the overall colour scheme still remains JEA, I would say that whether or not a darker tone is better is really subjective.

The Bertie MK 3 stands shorter than I thought, only slightly taller than the WWRp Martin. Compared to the Bertie MK 2, however, he is significantly taller. The MK 3 Mode A is equiped with a large shotgun, which the articulated fingers on the robot have no issues holding. I hope that one day the WWRp Deep Powder Mode B will see light of day. My WWRp collection is really centred around my 2 favourite colour ways: Deep Powder, and JEA. This helps to keep me focused and limits the collection size. More importantly, squads are cooler than a collection with a wide variety of colourways, imo...

Overall I think the figure is quite nice, though there are a couple of details that I thought could be improved on. If you have fooled around with the figure, I'm almost certain that the pouches have fallen off the robot unintentionally a couple of times, even if the figure has been kept upright. It is very irritating, and a problem that didn't really occur to me for all his predecessors. If you would take a closer look, the problem really lies with the design of the J-shaped hook that these pouches are so precariously hooked on. Comparing between the MK 2 and 3, as photographed below, the J hook on the latter is almost 1mm wider, giving the strap on the pouch plenty of room to move and fall off. MK 2 had a belt going through all the pouches before being hooked on to several hooks, which probably helped alot, but the J hooks aren't so wide as well. A better model of hooks might be the WWRp Bramble, which is wider, more squarish in shape. A wide and narrow J hook does hold the pouches better, and is something that 3A should consider using in future releases. If you ask me, the gap in the hook should be the same size as the thickness of the pouch strap, so there is some friction to help keep the pouch in place.

Another issue I had was how fragile the fingers seem to be on the MK 3. While I had no issues moving the fingers around to whatever positions I want 'em on the MK 2 (or the WWRp Brambles), and absolutely no worries about them breaking, I do feel like a bull in a china shop handling the MK 3 (and with AP Ascended for that matter). Granted, these figures aren't meant for kids and should be handled with extreme caution... but if they start to bother an adult so much that it simply makes a collector not want to touch it too often for fear of them breaking, it is a problem to be addressed.

I find that the ball-jointed 'stem', on which the double hinged fingers attach themselves to the palm of the hand, are almost too narrow and fragile. Furthermore, unlike the MK 2, which has sculpted sleeves to rest these stem portions snugly within the palm (as photographed below), these stems are exposed in a significant gap away from the palm of the MK 3. I think this increases the chance of them breaking. The thumb's ball joint is very tight, and takes quite some 'persuasion' for it to rotate. A tight ball joint and a fragile stem is really a mishap waiting to happen.

Another obvious difference between the MK 2 and MK 3 palm is the size of the screws. I'm so anal! I dunno... in this case, I like 'em screws as small as possible, despite it being a slightly bigger palm. Under scrutiny, you would also notice that the screws on the palm of the MK 3 are screwed in to differing depths in their pockets, whereas in the MK 2, all the screw depths are consistent. Perhaps this is a little too much to ask for, but small screws with consistent depths takes the cake for me, and MK 2 did come before MK 3...

I did mention at the beginning of this review that it is kinda subjective when it comes to weathering. But take a look at the left hand fingers of my MK 3 Bertie. The colour scheme is supposed to be white base fingers with black grime / rust weathering effect. So far, I have never seen huge blotches of black on the fingers, quite like what is happening here in the following photograph. For comparison sake, I would expect the weathering to be more refined with smaller spots, such as that in the forearm of the MK 2... To me, it is either a creative difference, or sloppy workmanship... and honestly, I'm inclined to think it was more the latter.

In conclusion, the WWRp JEA Bertie MK 3 leaves more to be desired for in several aspects:

With regards to articulation, the numerous joints in the fingers of these robots produced by 3A is one of its unique features and adds to the poseability of the figure. But, for the case of the Bertie MK 3, and AP Ascended, their fingers are really fragile. For the latter, I can understand, cause his hands are really tiny and it is a marvel in itself that it can actually be so well articulated. But for a palm the size of Bertie MK 3's, I think there is something wrong with the size of the stem used and the design of the palm.

With regards to accessories, the falling pouches are pretty darn irritating... though I do appreciate the huge ass, newly designed shotgun.

With regards to paint job, I think the weathering should be more refined, and especially for something smaller like the WWRp series. A darker colour scheme is totally acceptable for me, as long as it is not to the extent of being out of place amongst his brothers from the same colourway, which, in this case, isn't. I'm sure most, if not all JEA fans would agree that the Bertie MK 3 is a great addition to the WWRp JEA family.

Posted in: Toy Review