World War Robot Museum: End Of An Era

Nothing lasts for ever and all things must eventually come to an end.

The company 3A, the combo of Ashley Wood and Kim Fung Wong's ThreeZero, which produced the WWR (1/6) and WWRp (1/12) figures you see on this blog will no longer be around after tomorrow.

3A was in business since 2008 and produced collectible vinyl figures lines like Popbot, Adventure Kartel, 2000AD, World War Robot, and many more from collaborations to official licensed figures.

My 3A Story Through The Years (2010-2019)

So with the end here why not talk about a beginning? The beginning of me collecting 3A. Without it you would of never have gotten this blog. So let's take a trip down memory lane and remember the glory days.

It starts off a little hazy but if I'm recalling correctly I discovered 3A sometime in 2010. At that time I was just a freshmen in high school and had hardly a penny to my name. Exactly where I spotted 3A on the internet is a mystery but I did find the 3A Hyperboards which was the unofficial 3A forum. On those boards I was introduced to the legion (some of whom have been guest posters on here like illproxy and Gar) and entered into my first fandom. I fell for the World War Robot line first and even tracked down a copy of World War Complete at a nearby Barnes and Nobles.

It was late 2010 that I was able to acquire my first 3A figure. I earned around $40 bounding in fence posts the old fashioned way for a friend's dad and that $40 was sure burning a hole in my pocket. Enter the 3A BST Hyperboards since there was no figure for pre-order from 3A at the time that I could afford. I eventually found a cool little 1/12th Armstrong called Dawn Patrol for around $50. Got my parents to cover the $10 I didn't have and completed my first BST transaction. Now I waited until it would arrive at my front door.

I would get Dawn Patrol on October 4th (yay for photographic records) and I was hooked.

My awesome photography skills showing off Dawn Patrol on the kitchen table upon his arrival.

The World War Robot Complete acting as a backdrop would become a staple of my 3A photography.

Messing around with insane articulation.

Who said robots can't be cute?

The good ol' middle finger pose. Seen as a passage among first time 3A collectors or maybe they just can't help themselves.

The magazine detaches? This thing just keeps getting cooler and cooler.

Getting artsy now with a night shot and a shit ton of camera grain.

Luckily for my young impatient self I wouldn't have to wait long until I could grab another 3A figure. My birthday was right around the corner and what better time to press on my parents to feed my new found addiction.

So who was next to join my collection? Well, 3A had just released their retail 1/6th Dropcloths and oh boy I could pass up a chance with one of them. The first hope was to get two of them but that was shot down (not my money being spent after all). So the hard choice came down between Uncle 5 Commando and the Iron Panda Shock Trooper.

The winner was the Iron Panda DC.

The Iron Panda Shock Trooper on my super high end collectable shelf (an unused clothing hamper)

Super cool blurry pic of these two scoundrels.

Pie, anyone?

Now you'd think 2010 would of wound down without much fuss. Nah, this was full steam ahead for me with the awesome consumer holiday known as Christmas just being a month away!

We need to make a slight segway though before then. Since my introduction into the bigger fandom of 3A I became apart of 3A Radio which was a fan run podcast. Hosted by Devours, Chad Brock, Eric Grant, Yama86, and I. It was a wonderful crew and I had a fantastic time talking about 3A with them. However, as some kind of gesture I can't make out still Devours sent her very rare TK Interloper on a road trip to all us hosts.

He sure did travel well going from the east side of the US all the way back to Devours on the west side. His stop over with me was short and sweet but I had in my hands one of 3A's rarest figures.

When world collide...

Where's your thing that goes pew pew?

Maybe I just should of kept him...

This fence again. Froze my ass of for this shot but it was worth it.

Then two weeks later X-mas arrived and indulging in all my consumer might I gathered up some WWRp reinforcements. Say hello to the Lunar Camo Armstrong, Dam Buster Damn Large Martin, and the Phobos Defense RPG Bramble.

Lunar Camo here came with this weapon which wasn't his. A mix up by the seller that was later remedied.

A big ol' chonky boy and a very underrated colorway.

Another underrated colorway.

The 1/12 figures definitely outnumbered the 1/6 figures in my collection at this point.

At the end of 2010 I had already amassed a handful of figures in a relatively short time. This would hardly be the end though.

Roll in the 2011 nostalgia!

So, every January 3A comes out with its membership known as 3A associates or 3AA. At the time this gave members a discount to purchases, access to 3AA only colorways, and a cool membership package.

To me this was out of reach for my high school self. However, I joined in on the fandom fun and participated on the night of the 3AA release.

Dam Buster about ready to destroy the F5 key for me.

In something I didn't see coming the Legion decided to raise money for me so I could have my first membership. It would be something I would never forget.

2011 is where I branched away from WWR and explored 3A's other toy lines. My first non-WWR/WWRp figure was an NLCS Ankou from Adventure Kartel.

Pretty simple and cool figure. It was a good intro into the AK universe.

However, I must of upset some pantheon of WWR gods as they deemed my new figure unacceptable and inflicted battle damage upon the Ankou. His left claw broke off and that was followed by the wrist joint. That left the arm peg stuck in the arm...

Ouch.

This is going to require some work.

After getting in contact with 3A they told me they didn't have any spare NLCS claws but they did have some spare NLCS Commander claws. Now the color on the commander Ankou was orange compared to the yellow of the one I had. I didn't really care. I just wanted a complete Ankou back together.

Got the new claws in, some assisted surgery later, and Ankou was back in action.

I'm back and ready to kick some zomb ass!

I would play off the mismatched claw as an in field repair. Doesn't matter that it doesn't match. A claw is a claw!

Collection with repaired Ankou and properly armed Lunar Camo Armstrong. Iron Panda DC isn't feeling so lonely now with another 1/6th friend.

2011 was also the year I received my first pre-order from 3A: Bleak Mission and Custard. Everything before was acquired second hand.

The first human to join my collection.

Mmmm, moody.

I think I might be starting an AK collection...

I think I might have a problem.

Later in the year a bunch of pre-orders like the 3AA package, a Peaceday Mk2 Square, and a second hand Sand Devils Mk2 Square would grace my collection.

1/12 Naga from the 3AA membership was my first Popbot figure... if you don't count my temporary ownership of the TK Interloper.

My first squares were the Mk2s.

Don't ask me about this pose.

I think it's time for a detolf.

Lastly, Naga would get a buddy in the form of a 1/6th Popbot. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Popbot line but its titular character was a badass robot with a chain hook arm. The first thing I wasn't expecting from Popbot was how big he was. Shit, if he was that big I couldn't imagine a 1/6th Large Martin. Those things are already big in 1/12 but now scale him up to to 1/6... jeez. Oh, and I also got Kitty with him. Already had Custard the Satanic Labrador so why not add a talking cat to the collection.

1/12 Naga with 1/6 Popbot and Kitty.

That was a quick 2011 and now we turn to 2012.

Again, with 3AA and me being a high school student I couldn't afford it. Well, the legion treating me like some sort of son once again stepped up and raised funds so I could have another year of membership. The gratitude and care the legion had for me in those days could never be repaid.

The first 2012 figure for me was a 2011 pre-order... the WWRp Iron Panda Heavy Bramble.

Iron Panda HB seen here without his launcher.

Now this was the first figure that didn't arrive in ideal condition. The bot itself was totally fine but the massive launcher it came with was not. The launcher came warped and bubbled.

Bleh

Double bleh

Triple bleh

It was ugly and not worth posing it with the bot. I remember contacting 3A costumer service about it but I don't remember what they would of wouldn't do. Doesn't matter much as I just put the launcher back in the plastic shell and left it in the box for 6 years. Turns out that fixed everything.

Iron Panda HB in 2019 with his launcher. Just leave it in a corrective mold for 6 years and you'll be good!

Now my photographic record gets a little out of sorts on who was first here but the next two figures to join my collection was F-Legion from the 2012 3A membership package and the man behind all the robots in the WWR universe, Darwin Rothchild (a late 2011 pre-order).

Le sigh... what did you expect with a high schooler?

Rothchild with some of his creations.

Oh, and I finally got a detolf to properly display my collection.

Ankou and Popbot having a friendly chat.

The super mismatch shelf.

The WWRp bots.

Next I would see two pre-orders arrive: WWR Peaceday Dropcloth Mk1.5 and the WWRp Nightwatch and Daywatch Mk2 Squares.

The original Peaceday Dropcloth is one of those pieces I always wanted but finding one on the secondary market was a challenge and finding one at a price you could live with (for me at least) was a pipe dream. So, the Mk1.5 was the next best thing. Already had a Peaceday Square so why the hell not.

For Peace and War.

The WWRp shelf is starting to get a little crowded.

That would be the last of 2012.

In 2012 my biggest regrets of the year was missing out on the WWRp Caesars. I wasn't going to be able to afford one of the 1/6 ones but knowing 3A at the time they would come out with a 1/12 version. They did and I didn't get one.

Thank goodness for the secondary market though! I was able to get what I first missed out on in 2013. The WWRp Gravedigger Caesar arrived at my door and from that day I considered it my favorite piece. If I could get him in 1/6 today I would.

So sleek, so refined, so damn sexy.

Hhhnnngg.

Don't skip leg day, kids.

Now comes the best holiday for collecting... Christmas! What did the consumer gods grant me this year? A WWRp Daywatch Bertie Mk3 Mode B (sheesh... what a mouth full) and a AK Tracky Boss JC.

Where the hell am I going to put you? WWRp is taking over my collection at this point.

Tracky Boss JC is pretty cool.

Gravedigger being my favorite 3A piece in my collection was short lived after JC arrived. However, Gravedigger would still be my favorite as JC's clothing had to be decontaminated after coming from a smoker. But once that was over the chosen son destined to kick all kinds of zomb ass joined Bleak, Custard, F-Legion, and Ankou in my small AK collection.

I blame the Daywatch Square Mk2 for making me get the Daywatch Bertie Mk3... that and I always wanted a Bertie Mk3.

At this point in late 2013/early 2014 my original detolf was bursting at the seams and there was just no room for more posed figures in it. So what do you do at this point? Get another detolf.

Collection as of January 2014.

The new detolf.

With more room in both detolfs they started to feel a little empty. You know what that means? Getting more figures to fill up the empty spaces of course!

The last piece to arrive in 2014 was a pre-order from earlier in the year: WWR 4Square Iron Panda. I have no good pictures of him from that time for some reason.

To fast track this already long journey I'm going to go through 2015 - 2019 in one fell swoop

2015: WWR EVOL Rotchild, WWR Field Mechanic Paul, WWRp EMGY Caesar, WWRp Dutch Merc Bertie Mk3 Mode B

Only the strongest survive.

Paul taking a break.

Extreme close up of EMGY.

Just a Dutch Merc playing in the foliage.

2016: Nothing...

2017: WWRp Nightwatch Bertie Mk2 Mode A, WWRp Euro Defense - Oliver Bramble Mk2, 2 WWRp Dirty Deeds Bertie Mk2s

This poor guy was stuck in US costumes for over 3 weeks. Got to the point where when I went on vacation to NYC I could of just picked him up... but he shipped out the week I arrived.

These guys came along because I was at the right place at the right time. I had to pounce on this once in a lifetime chance of snagging two Dirty Deeds from a Dirty Dozen box.