30MM 1/144 EXM-A9rk Spinatio (Royal Knight Type)

(2026 review) - This is the later released 'Royal Knight' which includes a dry-transfer style sheet of golden plastic decals that you cut out individually and rub onto flat or slightly curved surfaces. You don't have to use them on this model, you can use them on something else.

A brief primer on what a "Spinatio" is.
In the 30MM universe the alien Byron used mechs like the Portanova to invade Earth, who had their own, such as the Alto.
The Maxion are a third faction that use Spinatio/Spinatia and the reason they look like individualized mechs in the form of ninjas, samurai and knights, is because the mechs themselves are lifeforms, not piloted mecha.

It seems plausible that Bandai saw the potential of a fantasy line due to this model kit and created 30 Minutes Fantasy.

Aesthetics:
The Royal Knight uses a white+dark gold+gold colored Maxion base model with a transparent orange visor and has angular Knight themed armor pieces attached to it in bright white.

Mechanics:
This is a fairly standard 30MM model kit with the same sort of mobility range and limitations of the other types - It uses polycaps on some joints and plastic on plastic ball joints or pegs in other places, resulting in a decent stability, prone to a bit of slack, especially with age.
It has a chest crunch and a mid-waist sideways tilt, rather than a traditional ab crunch, for a middling result.
It has the standardized 3mm peg system and other connection points like the ones on the outside of the shoulders that you can attach C-clips onto.
The visor slides up and down a little on two simple rails.

Equipment:
1 Knight Armor Set
1 Kite Shield with an attachable handle
1 Sword - Longsword styled but almost as tall as the model itself with a peg and multiple 3mm holes
5 Hands - Holding hands, spread open hands and one angled right holding hand
1 C-clip to Peg adapter - To seat the guy on a mech horse, for example

Conclusion:
Now that we have the 30MF line, these guys are a little outdated, but since it fits in the 1/144 scale and the 30MF are closer to MG size, they still have their uses.
The shoulders are annoying since they don't assemble around the shoulder C-clip, instead they just slot onto them without anything to block them from being pulled off - Very odd choice.
The compatibility of 3mm pieces is not very good, you can't really take a 30MM Knight and a 30MF Knight and then just swap pieces around, they use very different double peg widths, vertical slot pegs and have different limb sizes. That means you can't really swap chest or back pieces, but you can use something like the 30MM side skirts and attach those pretty much anywhere, while the arm guards/bracers are pretty useless outside of 30MM.

All in all a simple kit with some fun additions. They work well as little robot 'minions' in the 30MF scale.

Note: The "Centaur" shown in the product images is a combination of this kit, the "Exa Vehicle Horse Mecha (White)" and the "Wing Unit 1 (Set 17)". You can make a similar version with the regular Knight, the gray horse and the newly released darker wings with purple feathers, or simply paint the white ones.

(2026 review) - This is the later released 'Royal Knight' which includes a dry-transfer style sheet of golden plastic decals that you cut out individually and rub onto flat or slightly curved surfaces. You don't have to use them on this model, you can use them on something else.

A brief primer on what a "Spinatio" is.
In the 30MM universe the alien Byron used mechs like the Portanova to invade Earth, who had their own, such as the Alto.
The Maxion are a third faction that use Spinatio/Spinatia and the reason they look like individualized mechs in the form of ninjas, samurai and knights, is because the mechs themselves are lifeforms, not piloted mecha.

It seems plausible that Bandai saw the potential of a fantasy line due to this model kit and created 30 Minutes Fantasy.

Aesthetics:
The Royal Knight uses a white+dark gold+gold colored Maxion base model with a transparent orange visor and has angular Knight themed armor pieces attached to it in bright white.

Mechanics:
This is a fairly standard 30MM model kit with the same sort of mobility range and limitations of the other types - It uses polycaps on some joints and plastic on plastic ball joints or pegs in other places, resulting in a decent stability, prone to a bit of slack, especially with age.
It has a chest crunch and a mid-waist sideways tilt, rather than a traditional ab crunch, for a middling result.
It has the standardized 3mm peg system and other connection points like the ones on the outside of the shoulders that you can attach C-clips onto.
The visor slides up and down a little on two simple rails.

Equipment:
1 Knight Armor Set
1 Kite Shield with an attachable handle
1 Sword - Longsword styled but almost as tall as the model itself with a peg and multiple 3mm holes
5 Hands - Holding hands, spread open hands and one angled right holding hand
1 C-clip to Peg adapter - To seat the guy on a mech horse, for example

Conclusion:
Now that we have the 30MF line, these guys are a little outdated, but since it fits in the 1/144 scale and the 30MF are closer to MG size, they still have their uses.
The shoulders are annoying since they don't assemble around the shoulder C-clip, instead they just slot onto them without anything to block them from being pulled off - Very odd choice.
The compatibility of 3mm pieces is not very good, you can't really take a 30MM Knight and a 30MF Knight and then just swap pieces around, they use very different double peg widths, vertical slot pegs and have different limb sizes. That means you can't really swap chest or back pieces, but you can use something like the 30MM side skirts and attach those pretty much anywhere, while the arm guards/bracers are pretty useless outside of 30MM.

All in all a simple kit with some fun additions. They work well as little robot 'minions' in the 30MF scale.

Note: The "Centaur" shown in the product images is a combination of this kit, the "Exa Vehicle Horse Mecha (White)" and the "Wing Unit 1 (Set 17)". You can make a similar version with the regular Knight, the gray horse and the newly released darker wings with purple feathers, or simply paint the white ones.