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Even the best of us make mistakes sometimes.
Designation: Coyote Tango
Classification: Mark-1
OS: Nautilus-4 Zirca Sync
Weight: 7,450 tons
Energy Core: Iso-Thor Collision Chamber
Coyote Tango isn't as famous a Jaeger as the other ones NECA's made so far, but make no mistake: she 100% was in the movie. Remember in Mako Mori's flashback, when she was running around Tokyo with one shoe, being chased by Onibaba? Coyote Tango was the Jaeger who came and saved her. Which, yes, means that hidden somewhere deep inside this toy is a half-centimeter tall version of Idris Elba as Stacker Pentecost. Crack it open and see if you can find him!*
*(Not responsible for lost or damaged Jaegers.)
Okay, let's get this out of the way right up front: NECA got the paint on this figure wrong. Coyote Tango is a Japanese Jaeger, and yet here she is with US Air Force markings all over her. Why did they do that? Well, it seems to be based on this piece of concept art, which has the same markings; but there's also concept art of Coyote laying face down on a beach, which means this design was, at some point, considered as the Jaeger that would fight Knifehead in Alaska - she's even got Gipsy Danger's number 34s on her shoulders! If that were the case, being a US machine would have made sense, but it was obviously changed before the movie came out. The details are all painted well, but they shouldn't be there. So this time, NECA messed up.
If you look past the paint, though, the sculpt is an excellent representation of Coyote Tango's design. As a Mark-1 Jaeger (launched Dec. 30, 2015), she's deliberately boxy, designed to look clunky and
antiquated as soon as you see her. Just as Cherno Alpha was based on Russian submarines, Coyote Tango is based on the Cobra attack helicopter (this kind, not this kind) - conveniently, a helicopter used by both the US and Japan. Coyote's got a big torso, broad shoulders, a waist smaller than her head, angled hips, and spikes on the knees that make the legs look like a movie Transformer. There appears to be helicopter landing skids on the elbows, and the exposed spine has a series of pipes poking out - fuel rods, maybe?
Rather than a recognizable pair of eyes (or even a visor, like Gipsy Danger had), Coyote Tango's "face" looks like a series of windows, like the cockpit of a helicopter, adding another point of similarity to her design inspiration. Unlike Striker Eureka's golden panes, CT's are blue. The face is a bit concave, too. Maybe that helps it absorb punches.
Much like ED-209 was inspired in part by Gundam's Guntank, Coyote Tango was inspired by Guntank's evolution, Guncannon. Thus the two big cannons on the mech's back that can rotate up over the shoulders. They go from pointing straight up behind the robot to pointing down slightly in front of it - about 123° of motion. The mechanism that allows them to rotate on the toy is very well designed, in that it looks like something that would be on an 82-meter-tall robot, not on a 7⅜" toy. Beyond the cannons, Coyote has a balljoints in the head, shoulders, biceps, wrists, waist, hips, and ankles; hinged elbows and knees; and swivel thighs. The long flat feet help keep it upright.
We never really get a good clear view of Coyote Tango in Pacific Rim - she's always either far away, silhouetted, or otherwise obscured. In fact, the only time we can make out any of the painted details, we're looking at the back of its head (and none of those are duplicated on this toy). The point is, it's entirely possible that the USAF markings really are on the digital model and NECA didn't err by putting them on here. But even if they are, NECA still should have skipped them - Coyote Tango is Japanese, not American. Period. In fact, although Coyote Tango is another very good toy, we're going to tell you not to buy it; you're better off waiting to see if they do a re-release with corrected paint.
-- 04/09/14
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