AG Tactical Mission Marshy Dog

Around a year or so ago, I watched Armored Troopers Votoms in it’s entirety, and learned quickly the show is absolutely a classic. Now being a fan of the show, naturally I wanted some decent figures based off the robots featured in it. For a few reasons, I decided the best line to chase down would be Takara’s Actic Gear line.

Before getting to the Marshy Dog, I feel some speaking is due for the toys in general. From the three figures I’ve accumulated so far, I feel I can say the figures are of pretty good quality. They’re roughly three inches tall, though very complex for a figure of this size, very similar to one of Bandai’s HCM Pro figures. It’s also worth mentioning the figures are not fully assembled out of the box, and you have to clip a few trees of parts to finish them. Mainly a little added fun more than anything, nothing too involved.

The Actic Gear Tactical Mission Marshy Dog is an impressive figure; especially should you get it at a good price (I got mine on clearance). Like most Actic Gear figures, this one features a large amount of articulation, an opening hatch (with a removable, unpainted pilot), a good number of accessories and is capable of achieving the “down form” seen in the show. As a bonus, this release feature a customizable display base, a firing effect for the gun, and unpainted figures based on characters from the show. Nothing of much value to me, but no doubt a nice bonus.

The paint was changed for this release, as the Marshy Dog now features a pretty nice little rust-wash. Something I could have done on my own, but a very tasteful choice to make on Takara’s part. The paint really brings out some of the great detail on the figure that’s easier to miss on a normal Actic Gear. I find that it really helps define this as a collector’s piece and makes it look less like a toy.

An unfortunate side effect to the pieces Takara added to this release means they raised the price. Worse however, they more than doubled the price from roughly $20 to $40, which killed a lot of demand for this one, especially when you consider a Marshy Dog had already been sold a couple times before in this line. This isn’t a huge problem today though, as this one can still be found for cheap, clearance prices. Had I been collecting these when they came out though, I definitely do not think I would have purchased this one. It’s a good figure, but only if you can get it cheaper than the normal release.

                          (I can do a better firing effect, but I wanted to show the piece included for this)