In a recent LABO article, the box art for the HMM-16 Blade Liger AB was released! As usual, this article was filled with references and beautiful photos, but also with some concepts for other poses that the box art could've had. They went with one of the most iconic scenes, and it was an excellent choice! This kit is scheduled for a February 17th release, for 7,800 yen. It will feature a transparent, colorless sprue for both the Blade Liger canopy and the Shield Liger canopy + other transparent parts, in addition to the transparent orange.

 There are many battlestory references in this box art, which we'll cover below!

 
• The original promo poster is based off of the cover of Official Fan Book 2.
  
   
• A Geno Breaker on the left hillside references Arthur Borgman's fight against it just before discovering the Stinger.
  
   
• The heap of dead Zoids underneath of the Death Stinger reference the Zoids graveyard, in the ruins where it was found. As an aside, these ruins were also featured on the Death Stinger box art!
  
   
• The change in color tones, towards the eerie blue, was meant to give the impression that the valley was filled with the spirits of fallen Zoids.
  
   
• They even kept the red and blue moon, which matches the Blade Liger's first confrontation against the Geno Breaker. A pose concept from the Labo article also referenced this scene! In this way, they fused the two scenes, to preserve the essence of both.
  
   
• The pose chosen for the Blade Liger was a tribute to the very first ever HMM Blade Liger box art, which was drawn by Koji Nakakita. His Blade Liger was iconic for its white-trimmed cockpit, and this detail was ommitted as a reference to the original Tomy kits, which had a fully transparent canopy. The diagonally-angled Blades are a reference to numerous Battle Story images, including the one on the back of the original Tomy box art.
  
   
• Last but not least, while this isn't visible in Koto's photo, those who get this kit may notice that the box art features a pilot, visible through the canopy. This pilot has a rather distinctive beard~