Iron Panda

Faction: Martian Sympathizer

Nationality: Singapore
First Figure in Colorway: Large Martin
Figures in Colorway: Large Martin (1/6, 1/12), Damn Large Martin (1/12), Snow Panda Damn Large Martin (1/12), Square Mk1 (1/6, 1/8, 1/12), 4Square (1/6), Dropcloth Mk1 (1/6, 1/12), Heavy Bramble (1/12)

The Iron Panda Division was once part of the Earth Coalition but they soon followed the Germans and became Martian Sympathizers. They believed that the Martians should govern Mars themselves and that the war itself between them shouldn't be fought at all.

The Iron Panda colorway consists of black and white. Decals show up in either black or white. A variant of the colorway, Snow Panda, is blue and white with decals being white or blue.

Decals

Note the symbol on the right shoulder (our left).

It's not the most prominent decal on Iron Panda but it is one of two that isn't letters, numbers, or a saying. That's the drawing of a monster like head, with drool running down its jaw, and it's wearing a helmet. It sure isn't a panda going by the groups namesake but it might be the division's personal logo or insignia. It bears some stylistic similarities to the Deep Powder Corp cartoon character but this one is much more sinister and definitely not as cute.

Like other military units the use of disturbing imagery isn't new. For the Iron Panda are they trying to make the enemy see them as monsters or do they believe they are monsters? For their enemies they might be monsters and the Iron Pandas have grasped onto that imagery and are using it for their own benefit.

Note the teardrop under the right eye (our left).

A teardrop decal can be found on the Large Martins, Damn Large Martins, and some of the Square Mk1s.

At first this looks like a teardrop tattoo which is a common prison tattoo and has a variety of meanings (murder, lost family member or friend, rape victim, rapist, and more). Could the Iron Panda Division be a penal group? Full of criminals pressed into service to fight the war?

On the other hand the teardrop might represent the loss of a well liked commander, loss of nobility or innocence in fighting a war, or someone with some white paint thought it would look cool on some robots.

Note the word crunch on the "hand".

The word crunch can be found on the meat tenderizer hands of the Large and Damn Large Martins, the arm and cloth of the dropcloth, and the feet of some of the squares.

Simply, the word has been put next to areas on the robot that can crush (arms, feet, hands). That or it could be a written out onomatopoeia, for humor or not, of the sound that the robots cause when they hit an enemy.

On a more metaphorical level, crunch, could also be what the Iron Panda do their enemies. Crush them all.

Note the TRP 14 and star.

TRP 14 and a star seem to be a unit designation. The number 14 can be found on all the bots outside of TRP and the star.

Exactly what TRP stands for is beyond me. As we've seen with other colorways it might refer to the units commander or have a different meaning.

Not the X in brackets on the square on the right.

Lastly we have an X surrounded by brackets. For the most part it's just that but this decal can be seen on another colorway, Deimos II. Indications is this might be an EC marking.

Sayings

Note Dead Eyes Open

The most prominent saying across Iron Panda is dead eyes open. The saying refers to the eyes left open after someone dies. Eyes are usually shut manually by someone else after death as the sight of dead eyes can be unsettling. Leaving the eyes open after death is usually the opposite of what you do.

For the Iron Panda Division this might refer back to seeing themselves as monsters or creating the image of them being monsters. Are they the ones with these dead eyes open? If they did they would be presenting themselves as soulless and terrifying.

Wars might be fought physically but they can also by fought psychology. The Iron Panda Division seems to understand this well.

Note fuck the reds.

The other saying found on some Iron Panda bots is fuck the reds. This saying was an addition made by the soldiers do to it not matching the typeface used for the other sayings. Soldiers love to scribble on anything and robots are not different.

First, the reds that it refers to are not the Soviets. It refers to Martians. This saying was done when the Iron Panda Division was part of the EC. Interestingly, the saying seems to have stuck around even with the group becoming martian sympathizers. At that point the saying might of switched to the Soviets who are apart of the EC and Iron Panda has engaged them in combat.

Names

John H: John Holmes