Posted on July 12, 2023

CMs Mecha Action Series toys

“Isn’t it more interesting to do something that has never been done before?”

Developer interview with Takahiro Miyazaki

Director of CMs Corporation. After being in charge of development for Eugene Co, he founded CMs Corporation in 2003. He has worked on Dougram and Neon Genesis GPX Cyber Formula Collection figures, and the Yusha [Brave] Alloy Series.

Interviewer: What is the concept behind the Sunrise Mecha Action Series?

Miyazaki: In addition to Votoms, there are currently Galient, Vifam, and the Yusha series. The concept is different for each series. Votoms has products that come from various sources, so the main concept to make it different from others was to make it “playable.”

We also focused on the landing pose. Even if the visor doesn’t open, the opening and closing of the cockpit is always reproduced. Even when I was working on Galient, I thought transformation was essential. The primary purpose of a toy is to play with it.

Also, the reason the Blue Knight series is non-scale is that the unified standard in-house is that they’re designed to be played with side-by-side.

Interviewer: It’s important for them to be full-action figures.

Miyazaki: Although it’s not possible to reproduce 100% of the movements you see on screen, we want to accommodate this to some extent by increasing the number of joints. We have to compromise in some areas due to cost, but we aimed to make it as playable as possible.

Also, in the Blue Knight series, I wanted to do mecha that would not normally be commercialized. There are no so-called “enemy characters” in this series. There are many supporting characters, so the more items you include, the more the worldview expands.

Votoms is the only work of this kind that we’ve done. When we first created the Berserga, we were still in the process of trial and error. It was like, “Is this as far as we can go?” I reflected on that, and made changes on subsequent products. That’s why the current items work much better than the Berserga. We got requests saying, “I want you to do a little more of this,” so we’ve settled on a form that incorporates those requests.

Interviewer: I have the impression that the Shadow Flare has changed a lot. Have the prototype designers changed?

Miyazaki: I think it’s natural that once a format has been established, you naturally say, “It’s better to do it this way.” Zerberus and Shadow Flare didn’t originally have a design for a landing pose, but we thought, “Wouldn’t it be more interesting if we could do that?” That’s the spirit of this project.

Interviewer: With Zerberus and others, I didn’t expect that you could reproduce an illustration-like balance.

Miyazaki: I guess people would say, “An A.T. doesn’t have this much going on.” (Laughs) In this worldview, Berserga is the one that most comes to mind. Death Messenger, which will be released soon, has a lot of range for the Scopedog series. You can get a lot of movement from it. Please look forward to it.

Interviewer: When you started the series, did you think the Votoms boom would become as big as it is now?

Miyazaki: I didn’t think that there would be as many large and small products as there are now. There is nothing that doesn’t exist now, is there?

Interviewer: Among them, the Mecha Action Series is not only for Blue Knight fans, it’s also been accepted by Votoms fans.

Miyazaki: Yes, it has. Votoms has been released by various makers in a variety of scales, and you can play with it in many different ways. Blue Knight is kind of a maverick. I think it was good that we released something playable.

Interviewer: Do you have any stories of difficulties that other products didn’t have to face?

Miyazaki: One of the difficulties with the prototype is that the lines don’t connect. If you arranged it in the modern style, it would be different. After all, that visual is Blue Knight for everyone, and it’s really hard to capture that image without destroying it. The person who made it was really crying. (Laughs)

A blueprint was done, but it was very difficult to match it. That’s what took the most time. After the prototype is completed and brought to the factory, we adjust the strength and movability. The prototype is about 80% complete as a product. From there, the cockpit position is shifted to match the figure, and it’s remade so it can be produced at the factory. The joints are also adjusted so that conventional parts can be used.

Interviewer: You have a prototype, and then you make it consistent at the factory…that’s different from the way toys are generally made, isn’t it?

Miyazaki: I really want to emphasize the form that the sculptor created. I don’t think we should compromise that. If someone says, “I can’t do this!” We consider how to make it so it doesn’t lose its shape at the site. If the person who makes it gradually repeats it, he will understand it to some extent. However, there are still some details that need to be adjusted.

Interviewer: You build the prototype while also pursuing playability, so you’re not compromising on the degree of perfection of the figure.

Miyazaki: On the other hand, if we don’t do that, we can’t complete the project within the time frame. It takes about three months to complete a product. If we didn’t use that method, we would need another two months.

The mold makers and production workers on the Chinese side have become accustomed to the process to a certain extent. However, the number of parts has become much larger than the initial products. The red and green Calamity Dogs are no longer assembled at the factory. (Laughs) For example, the green version has about 8 parts just for the arms. I was once asked to assemble a test shot that was in pieces. In that respect, I was so particular about it that I began to wonder, “am I overdoing it?” It’s a bad habit. (Laughs)

Interviewer: Please tell us about the future development of the Blue Knight series.

Miyazaki: Thanks to everyone’s support, it has been well received in terms of sales. We’re going to do everything from the traditional items, including Testa Rossa, to the ones that make people say, “Why are you releasing that?” Isn’t it more interesting to do something that has never been done before?

Also, I would like to remake the Berserga. To be honest, it’s difficult to make it in three dimensions, so I’d like to do something like the Grey Berserga with the current quality. I don’t think too much about whether it’s good or bad, just try anything and see what happens. (Laughs) I’d be happy if you all could follow me patiently.

Interview conducted November 1, 2006 at CMs Corporation.

Published in Armored Trooper Votoms Real Toy Collection (Mediaworks, December 2006)