Review – World War Robot – Desert Bramble

When I first spotted images from Ashley Wood’s World War Robot — especially photographs of the first toy based on the artwork — I immediately fell in love with the robot designs. Large, clunky, and kinda retro in style, these robots look like terrible war machines with little in the way of grace and a hell of a lot in the way of strength and firepower.

Earlier this year, the Desert Bramble was offered along with a membership to ThreeA Toys and, after a little debate, I plunked down my $150. About four months later, four long months of waiting for my robot toy, Desert Bramble arrived. And now, after weeks of conflicted feelings about this plastic work of art, I’m ready to tell you all about him.

Packaging

Holy crap, this is one impressive box. Twelve-inches wide, nine-inches tall, and five-inches deep, this is a solid, massive box with a beautiful, minimalist graphic design. A spot varnish gives you invisible-like writing on the front and back while a sculpted, three-dimensional Bramble sits dead center on the front of the box.

And lifting the telescoping box lid off reveals a simple tray design that holds all of Desert Bramble’s bits safely in place. It’s a high-end, amazing package with no unnecessary waste; every scrap of the packaging protects the toy during travel and I’m quite impressed with how snugly — and securely — everything fits into the box. That, plus the attractive graphic design, makes this one of the more impressive toy packages I’ve ever seen.

Desert Bramble, Reporting for Battle

Ashley Wood did a great job in painting this character and I’m happy to report that Desert Bramble is an amazing representation of Ash’s artwork. Standing about eight-inches tall, this is easily the most attractive robot toy that I’ve ever owned. And it’s easily the most articulated robot toy I’ve ever even held. Each finger is articulated in multiple places (look at the two photos below, each showing a different hand), the arms are ball-jointed at the shoulders and include hinged elbows and twisty points at the wrists and elbows, the waist twists, and the legs are ball-jointed at the hips. Reportedly, the knees are also articulated but I refuse to force them since — and this is the part that makes this a crappy toy — every time I pick this up I feel like I’m going to break him.

You see these fingers? You see the joints on these fingers? Wow. And almost every finger is the perfect stiffness; none are too stiff and only two of them are too loose to be useful. The hands are amazing but, as with the rest of Desert Bramble, I feel like I’m going to snap a finger off every time that I move him. This may be the only toy I own that I will not let anyone else handle; when he breaks — and I just know he’s going to break (again, but I’ll get to that) I want it to be my fault. I don’t want to blame anyone for breaking my expensive robot sculpture.

Sculpture? I Thought this Was a Toy?

Well, I sure as hell thought it was a toy when I ordered it. It’s not. It’s a massively articulated sculpture that cost $150 and is in danger of falling apart if I look at it wrong. Trust me, this thing is as amazing in person as it looks in the photos, but less then twelve hours after owning Desert Bramble the super thin pin the holds one of the gun handles in place broke. Drop even one piece of this toy and you’re looking at needing repairs.

And I’m not the only one who is having problems with the toy’s durability. In the review at toybot studios we find:

“But my biggest gripe of all is the top handle for the Gattling Gun. I literally was trying to get the Bramblebot into the very first pose for a shot and the thing falls off. When I went to examine it, I don’t think it’s possible to find a smaller, more flimsy pin to attach the handle to the gun.”

That’s the exact same piece that broke on my toy. Damn, that’s one weak joint. Mine has been repaired — Ben, at the office, has repaired my gun handle twice now — but it would be nice if the toy had left the factory with a more durable design. I recommend rare earth magnets for future toys in the series; if such a tiny point of articulation is needed then strong magnets would at least be easy to use and the toy would be a hell of a lot less frustrating when a piece separated (the magnets would allow motion and could be pulled apart/put together as necessary).

An Amazing Gun

You see Desert Bramble’s gun? Of course you do, because the thing is massive. Belt-fed, the ammo belt included with the toy is another point of frustration, since the soft plastic is difficult to properly position in both holes and it has a tendency to fall out if the wind blows; say, when opening a door. I’m debating on whether or not I glue the belt to the gun, since I can’t see myself wanting to display this guy without his gun/ammo belt.

The gun must be held in position by two handles, an upper handle that Desert Bramble holds in his left hand (this is the handle that has broken off twice now) and a second handle. Both handles rotate, which gives you a lot of control over how you pose the toy with its gun.

The only thing that would have made the gun look even better than it does would have been if the factory had painted the holes in the barrels black.

Painted by An Artist

Did Ashley Wood paint my Desert Bramble? Probably not, but the masterful paint job was done by either someone with a hell of a lot of skill or a team of people under close supervision of a talented artist. The photos here give you an idea of just how beautifully painted the toy is, with layer after layer of paint giving the robot a weather-beaten, realistic look that you don’t usually see in toys. Of course, for $150 you would expect a great-looking toy, but Desert Bramble goes above and beyond when it comes to the paint application.

I Love this Statue!

Despite the fact that I’m afraid to touch him, Desert Bramble is great and has fast become one of the favorite pieces of art in my collection. On the toy shelf he dominates the space, looking better than anything else that surrounds him. The fact that I can position him makes him one of the most exciting statues I’ve ever owned.

I Hate this Toy!

Whatever you do, don’t try to touch Desert Bramble because something’s going to break and you’re gonna be upset. For $150 I expected something a lot more durable than what I got; I’m amazed this guy survived the shipping process (I told you it was a good box). For someone who likes to open toys and even pick them up, Desert Bramble is one of the worst toys I’ve ever owned. He looks so awesome that I want to take him outside and play with him, but it feels like every time that I pick him up I break that damned gun. And I’m afraid to pose him, because moving his arms and legs is always a stressful event because I can just feel everything starting to snap.

Highly Recommended, but Only if You Promise Not to Play With It

If you’re looking for a display piece, and you love Ashley Wood’s artwork, I highly recommend that you buy one of his robot toys (if you can afford one, since they are admittedly expensive toys). The secret to happily owning one of these is to not touch it after you put it on display. If you’re someone who wants to play with your toys, though, avoid this series entirely. There’s no reason for you to suffer the frustration I feel every time that I see this guy on the shelf.

Closing Thoughts

As you can tell, I’m pretty conflicted when it comes to Desert Bramble. It’s annoying that it’s such a fragile piece of work, because if he were more durable you would start to see this guy appear in a lot of my toy reviews. As he exists, though, Desert Bramble must forever remain on the shelf.

This is not a toy. And that makes me sad.

Philip Reed wants more toys from this series, but he doesn’t want more toys because they’re expensive and he knows that he’s going to break them if he buys them. Just the fact that these toys exist is frustrating, because the temptation is there calling Philip.