Glory to Atom!
Super super excited to receive this in the post and have been super excited to get my hands on it since ordering back in April from the Bethesda International store! Fallout 3 got me into the franchise and it's been my favourite rad-infested universe to lose myself in ever since. So, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to do a bit of a deep dive into the Pip-Boy 3000 Mk V.
I'm going to start with the packaging, because they really did not miss on the details here and I'm an absolute sucker for checking out the little things. It arrived in a pretty conventional box with Vault-Tec tape to seal it which was neat! Inside was some pretty minimal packaging containing the main product box which looks beautiful (also appreciated the 100% recyclable packaging aside from the instruction manual sleeve). I loved that they kept with the mid century modern Fallout aesthetic for the box art. Especially love the small text below the RobCo logo which reads:
"Authorised use only. Manufactured for VAULT-TEC™ under license for issue to Vault Dwellers. Unsupervised use only after instruction, as indicated."
Included in the box is the Pip-Boy, an aluminium stand, instructions, and a USB-A to USB-C lead for charging and updating (more on that later). The instructions are in colour which was a surprise, and have some nice vault-tec style introductions and explanations for the device.
So, the main features. The display is phenomenal, it uses a Monochrome green LCD TFT three and a half inch monitor at a resolution of 320 x 480. The screen size is a bit smaller than expected, in fact the whole device is quite compact, but once you adjust to it you realise it kinda feels just right. One of my personal favourite things is the bootup sequence, they've nailed the clickity clackity analogue sounds as it boots up just like the in-game computers. Their first update lets you add your own name to the bootup too! The navigation sounds and animations are also beautiful and exactly what you'd expect. There's various knobs and dials to turn and buttons to press. I'm surprised that there's no gimmicky or fake buttons here, it's all functional. The Geiger counter and radio band both light up! The radio is an awesome feature and makes complete sense, although it is weird tuning into modern radio stations, great for the alarm clock feature though. It's nice tuning into the fallout radio station too for a more lore accurate experience. There's various menus to scroll through, animations to look at, maps to view, stats to flick through etc. I'd like to see the ability to store items in your inventory though and browse them. At the moment there's just default messages in apparel and aid menus.
The Pip-Boy model is a die-cast replica from the TV adaptation, it's very nice lookin' and comfortable too. I loved the TV show but didn't really order it because of that, I would have actually preferred a F3 Pip-Boy as that was my intro to the series. I do really like the metalic look of the 3000 Mk V though! I don't own any sort of collectors item for any franchise really, so this also seemed like a no-brainer buy for me. My only concerns regarding initial impressions was that the weathering wasn't really as pictured on the product listing, but from what I understand the default weathering is apparently a temporary finish that can be easily wiped off and people can do their own version? Might have a go at that one day. The radio dial also doesn't seem to do anything as it's the top dial that tunes the radio. Might be user error though or a bug.
It fits comfortably on the arm, the memory foam feels very nice. I guess it's a little bit small if you have small-medium wrists but you can just wear it higher up your arm, or over clothing. The closing metal clasp mechanism looks a bit flimsy and awkward but so far no bending or anything like that which is good. The included stand is great, it slots into the Pip-Boy where the USB or vault door interface dongle usually sits, and then the dongle has its own holder on the back of the stand. I like the "Property of VAULT-TEC" logo on the stand too.
The device powered up fine but it did come with a label on the screen saying to update it, so I booted it up, plugged it in, and had a little play with the menu before updating. One thing I did notice was that after a while the device wouldn't power off and appeared to be bugged. The patch notes did mention bug fixes and once plugged in you can reboot the device from the website which is handy. Long story short, the update did its thing and now it works great with some added features too! I think the potential here for future updates is really neat, they've said they will add more features, more menus, animations etc. I wonder if they'll add lore drops and little easter eggs to discover, that would be really cool. The update files seemed to be in javascript and I could see an 'EXT TERMINAL' menu in the settings so there might be a way to do your own mods, not sure.
Anyway, that's my initial ramblings and thoughts on the Pip-Boy! Definitely worth the money if you're a fan, actually feels kinda bizarre to have such an iconic prop sitting on my desk, and functional at that too. I should probably go pop some rad-x now. See you in the capital wastes!
