The Highs:
- High quality build; great materials & paint apps used during production.
- Highly articulating core figure.
- Amor looks awesome in both full combat mode and exposed mode.
- Lots of accessories.
- Figure can be had for a great clearance price.
The Mids:
- Matte finish looks clean & refined, but it also looks rather bland (colorless).
- An awesome figure that's totally out of scale with other Macross toys.
The Lows:
- Attaching the armor almost completely inhibits the figure's poseability.

Almost half price off + half price shipping = purchase of this non-transformable figure. The biggest draw was the fact that it's a Macross themed figure. So what if it's almost the same size as a 1/72 valk! Alto's core figure is equivalent to your standard Revoltech/G.I. Joe action figure. He has numerous joints and areas of articulation and the mold itself sports a good amount of detail & high quality paint work. In fact, I would say this Bandai figure is one of the best made action figures out there. Alto has surprisingly good balance even with his little feet.

Alto's EX Gear can be fitted half-way while exposing its internal parts as well as Alto's core figure. It's a sitting position held up by the stand that comes with the toy. You can see Alto's hands holding onto control sticks within the armor. The figure comes with a variety of hands for a whole host of situations. His head is also interchangeable with one that's inside a helmet. In this half-way sitting position, Alto has almost no articulation/poseability.

The best looking version of the toy is when Alto is fully armored. His armor also comes with larger interchangeable hands that can grasp his large gun (or posed for other stuff). Alto has better stability while armored due to the larger feet. Unfortunately, poseability is very limited due to restraints caused mainly by the shoulder part of the armor. Alto can only bend his elbows (and rotate his hands) this way, making his poses look very wooden. His head can barely move from side to side due to the flight visor, and his knees have a semi-decent amount of bend. It's best to have Alto set on the stand so he can be posed in a flight position; still, his stances are very limited.

Overall, I really have to commend Bandai for making such an impressive looking toy. Alto himself is made of semi-glossy plastic but the armor is made with matte plastic and sturdy diecast. Attaching the armor to the toy is a dream compared to attaching a VF-25 to its armor. The matte materials also look much more refined and less cheap than Bandai's glossy Macross Frontier valks (it just needs a bit more paint detail… kinda bland looking with just light-gray). Seriously, what the heck was Bandai thinking using cheap-ass looking plastic for their premier Macross products?!? They should have just stuck to the same materials that they've always used (like with EX Gear Alto here). I would highly recommend this wicked figure to anyone who can still get it on sale. His fun factor/playability drops when you attach his armor, but the impressiveness of his looks greatly increases. Below are the score totals.

Mold Quality: 9.5/10
Articulation/Poseability (w/o armor): 9/10
Articulation/Poseability (with armor): 5/10
Articulation/Poseability (with armor exposed): 1/10
Accessories/Gimmicks: 10/10
Value for the Price (varies): 9/10
Intangibles: A super-fun action figure without armor, an impressive looking "statue" with.
Overall (not an average): 9/10 (Excellent)