I am sure new collectors of vintage Japanese Soft Vinyl toys believe that many classic characters might be out of their reach or price range due to high demand and a diminished supply of figures available. Rightfully so many of those high dollar figures are worth their value but there are quite of few high quality soft vinyl figures of classic characters still available for mere pocket change.

Gatchaman Mini Soft Vinyl by Leonardo Flores

I am sure new collectors of vintage Japanese Soft Vinyl toys believe that many classic characters might be out of their reach or price range due to high demand and a diminished supply of figures available. Rightfully so many of those high dollar figures are worth their value but there are quite of few high quality soft vinyl figures of classic characters still available for mere pocket change.

Take this original 1970's Popy produced mini soft vinyl figure of Gatchaman from Gatchaman II. These regularly appear on Y-Auctions between $5.00 and $15.00 with my example being purchased for 500yen.

As far as I know these figures were released in a set of five on a blister and card packaging and were released when the sequel to Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Gatchaman II was aired. I always believe that these figures were missing their capes but upon viewing a photo of a still sealed package of the figures the capes were never included. There are another set of mini soft vinyl Gatchaman figures but they are actually smaller than these later figures and they have a permanently stretched up arms although they do come with capes.

The figure itself is a great and classic representation of Gatchaman. I love the colors and sculpt all around and it is a fantastic period representations of this classic character with all its out of scale funkiness. Articulation consists of moveable waist and arms. I particular like the anime look of the face sculpt. Although these are mini-soft vinyl figures and are smaller than your average sized soft vinyl figure they still at a reasonable size and look great in the display case.

For around $10.00 how can you miss out in these? Keep in mind I am sure a sealed package of all five or trying to locate Jun the Swan or Ryu The Owl are more difficult to aquire and cost more but if you are like me and not particularly concerned with packaging for soft vinyl figures this is a great inexpensive purchase of an original Popy 70's produced figure of a classic anime character.

©2009 article and pictures Leonardo Flores and CollectionDX.

Robotman reborn.

Though Microman birthed the transforming robot explosion of the eighties, it was also a casualty of that explosion. After a decade of innovation, Microman died a quiet death in 1984, never achieving the sort of international devotion enjoyed by the bowdlerized Transformers, Micronauts notwithstanding.

After lying fallow for another fifteen years, Takara resurrected and re-booted the property for the new millennium. Takara meant business, introducing three different toy lines (Replica, LED, and Magne Powers), a Manga series, an anime, and generous amounts of ancillary product. Takara typically excels at reinterpreting its older toys for a new audience. Would this massive gamble work? Ehhhhh.

Reaction to the re-boot was tepid. A new generation of kids with no recollection of the original collectively shrugged. Adult collectors were turned off by the dramatic deviations from classic Microman. The ambitious multi-media blitz limped along without generating any real enthusiasm. The millennial Microman quietly expired.

What about the toys? Exquisite, if sometimes flawed.

Robotman Dean was introduced at the tail end of the Magne Powers series. Magne Powers toys incorporated magnetic gimmicks, including magnets in the limbs of the figures as well as interchangeable parts for larger robot and monster building. These toys were like the older magnemo Micronauts on steroids, the magnetic ball construction technique was taken to wild heights.

Dean is packaged in one of my favorite boxes of all time, die-cut with an inner metallic gold sleeve. You can tell that Takara was going all out here.

On the inside: not so much. Dean’s components are twist-tied to cheap corrugated cardboard. There’s no way to store him after you’ve removed the pieces other than to just shove him in an empty box. The later Korean releases of the combiners use a white plastic tray.

The limbs and torso go together intuitively. Dean in his combined form:

In the tradition of the first Robotman, Dean has a cockpit in his chest.

You can see the pilot’s head through a clear window. Also notice that Dean’s chrome face is covered with a clear shield.

Circular metal plates provide connection points for microman figures.

In keeping with the interchangeable ethos of Microman, each limb can be reconfigured (not transformed), into a vehicle or weapon.

Further, each of these can be further broken down and reconfigured into anything you can imagine. The sheer quantity of parts is impressive. Everything breaks down into tiny, detailed pieces. Even parts which could be duplicated, like the feet, are different.

Many parts have metal balls and magnets. Furthermore, these parts are compatible with the rest of the Magne Powers toys, providing nearly endless possibilities.

As a building toy, Dean is very successful. As a figure, he’s a mixed bag. While the magnetic connections are detailed with detented sockets, the whole bot feels ramshackle.

There’s an awful lot going on. Pieces frequently fall off. But Dean is so ambitious, and so nearly great, that I forgive his short-comings and just appreciate the work that went into him.

Many of the Magne Powers combiners were later released by Sonokong and are easily obtained. Dean, for whatever reason, was not, which is a shame because he’s the coolest one.

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The saga of Saint Seiya continues and Bandai has new Saint Cloth Myth to show for it. I take a look at the first release from Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas. It's Pegasus Tenma.

Review sample provided by HobbyLink Japan.

Saint Seiya has a long and rich history and the main story is still not finished. While fans wait, for the stories of Heaven and Chronos to be told a prologue story was created under the supervision of the original creator Masami Kurumada and written and illustrated by Shiori Teshirogi.

The Lost Canvas takes place 250 years before the original Saint Seiya saga and tells the story of three orphans that grew up as children only to assume their roles in this cosmic battle of good and evil. It touches upon plot points and themes from the original series while chronicling the previous Holy War between Athena and Hades.

First up in Bandai's line of Saint Cloth Mythology line for The Lost Canvas is Pegasus Tenma, the series's main character and this generations Pegasus Saint. With the series being written and illustrated by a different artist the anime adapts this new look and Bandai took and ran with it. Creating a striking new look for the Saint Cloth Mythology line.

The packaging continues the look of previous Saint Cloth Myth, a book style package that opens to reveal the figure and all the armor parts and pieces neatly arranged.

The Tenma figure features an all new body type and a new “style” to the look of the head sculpt. I love how it captures the look of the new series yet fits in with previous SCM releases.

The body features over 40 points of articulation as well as interchangeable faces (for different expressions) as well as 8 interchangeable hands.

Also included is the flower bracelet Sasha (Athena) made for Tenma, Alone and her as children to signify their bond as children.

Each warrior wears an armor in the series. Athena's warriors wear “clothes” and are all named and designed after constellations in the night sky. So when the Cloth is not being worn be our heroes they form a statue or “Object” to be more accurate. Tenma's armor being the Pegasus saint turns into a Pegasus statue.

You may notice that the figures themselves are fairly spindly and thin but all that changes when you put the parts on for the armor. Everything sits and looks properly in proportion once on and looks stunning on the shelf.

Most of this release is die-cast metal with only the skirt plating and head-piece being made of plastic. There's not a lot for armor on the figure as this is how it appears early in the show before it's first repair/evolution.

Not a lot of surprises with this release. Saint Cloth Mythology has been a top quality line from Bandai for many years now and Pegasus Tenma is an excellent start to The Lost Canvas line of figures and a good place to start if you;ve ever wanted to check one of these sharp looking figures. You can get yours at HobbyLink Japan.

On a side note, I have finally had a chance to see the 6 first episodes of the series, fan subbed. It's really well done and a bit more mature in tone that early Saint Seiya. It is an excellent place to start if you have ever been interested in the Saint Seiya Mythology but have been overwhelmed at the rich and long history of the series. It's an excellent beginning point without knowing a thing about the history.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water....Dun, Dun....Dun, Dun....Dun, Dun......

From Wikipedia

The Brave of Gold Goldran is a Japanese anime television series series begun in 1995, created by Sunrise under the direction of Shinji Takamatsu, and was the sixth in the Yuusha meta-series funded by Takara and produced by Sunrise. Goldran follows the adventures of three young boys who are tasked with finding alien robot fighters, or Braves, that are sleeping in the form of crystals. Their major antagonist is the flamboyant and thoroughly incompetent Walter, and the villains that follow him are often similarly humorous. The entire show is extremely focused on comedy and silliness almost to the exclusion of much in the way of storytelling, although the series does develop some running plot lines towards its end. In terms of television ratings, Goldran was the peak of the Brave series' popularity.

Today I will be reviewing the Captain Shark DX re-issue, made by Sonokong/Takara. The sample for review can be purchased rather cheaply from our friends over at Big Bad Toy Store, Please check them out or just click on the Ebay links at the bottom of the page for links to help find any live auctions for the item reviewed today.

Captain Shark is hails from the anime The Brave of Gold Goldran. Captain Shark is basically a space pirate/battleship in the familiar shape of a shark, hence the name. He has an excitable demeanor with a keen mind and will often play the straight man. His right eye is hidden under an eye-patch until it is used as a targeting scope for the HYPER GALACTIC BURST MODE ATTACK.

Captain Shark is a very formidable adversary, his weapons include:

Shoulder Cannon
Captain Sword
Spiral Launcher
Spring Shot
Shark Cannon
Hook
Harpoon

To start off with, Captain Shark comes to you in the now familiar, beautifully illustrated, heavy corrugated cardboard box shown below.

I wanted to show you a close up of Captain Shark's head. Notice the pirate hat and eye-patch. Its an unusual design to say the least. Even though it is unique, who doesn't like pirates and giant robots? They go together like chocolate and peanut butter!

Captain Shark stands approximately 11.5 inches tall in robot mode and made of quality heavy plastic. He weighs in at a stout 1 1/4 lbs. Articulation is limited to the elbows and upper shoulders.

Heck, who needs articulation when you have some much firepower? This guy is heavily armed! His giant shoulder mounted cannon can fire 16 of the 48 included red missiles by a simple twist of the back of the cannon. But wait, the eye poking goodness doesn't end there! He is also equipped with a wrist mounted firing harpoon and hook. Also, lets not forget his 4 rotating cannons mounted on both shoulders and his swashbuckling sword.

Here is a feature that I really like about the Brave toy line so far, Every accessory has a place to hide. The sword attaches to a clip located on the Captains backside, hook, harpoon and extra missiles store in a shoulder compartments, even the cannon mount can be concealed away neatly. The designers really thought of everything.

If you don't wish to store the sword on the back of the figure, you can always put it clenched in the Shark's teeth.

I know this is showing my age, but you older Saturday Night Live fans might get a kick out of my "Land Shark" mode LOL!

OK, enough fooling around and lets get onto the Space Battleship mode of Captain Shark. In this mode he actually has two different configurations, Spaceship and what I would call a Shark Tank.

In Space Battleship mode, Captain Shark kinda reminds me of something you might see in a Captain Harlock anime. It really looks cool from all angles. I especially like all the guns mounted atop its Shark body.

Moving along to the land based, Shark tank mode. You can see that the cannon mounts atop the body and it now has caterpillar treads that fold out from underneath.

Here is a close up of the caterpillar treads, unfortunately they do not move. However, it does have wheels on the bottom. I really wish that they put rolling treads on this toy.

Here is a close up of the bridge area. I think this could have been alot cooler if they included stickers for the windows. I have been seriously considering doing some custom work to add these.

Finally we have the last few pictures. In these pictures you can see that the shoulder cannon can also be mounted underneath the shark body. You would think that the round shape of the cannon would make this very unstable. Surprisingly, it actually turns out to be very stable due to the fins on the sides of the cannon.

In conclusion, I really enjoy this toy for its design and play value. It is very sturdy and displays really well with my other Brave figures. Furthermore, I think the price of $29.99 at Big Bad Toy Store really makes this toy a steal, so pick one up already!

"I love GOLD!!!!!"

-Goldmember
from Austin Powers

From Wikipedia

The Brave of Gold Goldran is a Japanese anime television series series begun in 1995, created by Sunrise under the direction of Shinji Takamatsu, and was the sixth in the Yuusha meta-series funded by Takara and produced by Sunrise. Goldran follows the adventures of three young boys who are tasked with finding alien robot fighters, or Braves, that are sleeping in the form of crystals. Their major antagonist is the flamboyant and thoroughly incompetent Walter, and the villains that follow him are often similarly humorous. The entire show is extremely focused on comedy and silliness almost to the exclusion of much in the way of storytelling, although the series does develop some running plot lines towards its end. In terms of television ratings, Goldran was the peak of the Brave series' popularity.

Today I will be reviewing the Goldran DX re-issue, made by Sonokong/Takara. The sample for today's review was provided graciously by our friend Jeff Stein over at High End Transformers. Please check them out or just click on the Ebay links at the bottom of the page for a direct link to the item reviewed today.

Goldran is the main mecha character from the anime "The Brave of Gold Goldran" He is essentially a two component robot. One component being a robot that can turn into a car (Dran) that becomes the chest of Goldran. The other being a Mecha Godzilla like robot (Golgon) that turns into Goldran when combined with the first.

To start off with, Goldran comes to you in a beautifully illustrated, heavy corrugated cardboard box shown below.

In the photo below we have Golgon and Dran together in their alternate modes. These are the two mecha that I mentioned above that become Goldran

First up is Dran. Dran's robot mode stand about 5" tall is made out mostly gold chrome plated platic. The Gold Chrome plating looks really sharp and has no visible flaws that I could see. Articulation for Dran is limited to the elbows, so he is basically a "static pose" figure. Dran comes with a sword that can be held in either hand via a peg molded onto the sword. Drans robot mode is rather boring and is pretty underwhelming when compared with the other figure in this set.

Dran's alternate car mode isn't much better than the robot mode. As you can see below, The car has an elongated chassis, giving it awkward looking proportions. However, the car is very solid and its wheels roll freely.

Onto Golgon! Golgon is the Mecha Godzilla looking robot you see below. Golgon stands about 10" and sports a beautiful golden chrome finish like Dran above. This figure has articulation in its arms and jaw, that's about it. Golgon is a pretty impressive figure but sufferers from a few odd proportions due to its design. As you can see, the chest area is rather large, rendering his tiny arms useless. Also, his legs just look odd because of having no visible knee joint. These issues are only minor and I can live with them.

Here is where the real fun begins! Goldran!

Goldran is a truly stunning figure, standing at nearly 12" tall also makes him pretty large. As you can see in the photo below, Goldran includes a sword and sheath. the sheath holds securely to his side and gives Goldran that old Samurai look, very cool indeed!

After examining the five photos above, you can clearly see that Goldran looks great from any angle. Heck, he even looks menacing close up! Proportionally, Goldran is awesome in this mode. I would say he is one of the better looking mecha characters from all the Brave Series.

Goldran doesn't just have good looks.....He also has fire power and tons of it! He has 12 launching mechanisms for plenty of that "you'll shoot your eye out goodness"! Don't worry if you loose a few projectiles testing it out on the family pet or wife, because he includes a total of 48 red missiles!

Shoulder mounted Gatling style launchers that are activated by turning a knob on the backside of the shoulder.

Wrist cuff launchers, just in case the shoulders weren't enough to take out the enemy.

Finally, shin mounted launchers that are almost a concealed weapons at first glance.

Yup, Goldran is alot of fun, but let me show you a few more tricks he has. In the photo below, you can see that it is quite possible to play with Goldran without Dran figure mounted to his chest. I know that this is not in the anime, but its still a cool feature whether it was made this way intentionally or not

In the next photo below we have Goldran with his buddy Sorokage mounted to his back. Sorakage is used a a flight pack giving Goldran the ability to fly. Don't you just love wings on a giant robots? Below that pic we have Goldran's ultimate form, Great Goldran! By the way, don't despair, I will be reviewing Sorokage and the Great Goldran in future reviews

Even with the odd proportions of it's alternate mode, Goldran is a wonderful, quality made toy and should be part of your collection if you love giant transforming robots. And really, who doesn't?

Having already reviewed Fire Dagwon, Power Dagwon, Lian and Gunkid from Sonokong re-issue of Brave Command Dagwon series toys. I figured I would give you a short, mostly pictorial review of what all the figures together transform into..... Get ready for Super Fire Dagwon!

Having already reviewed all the figures in the picture below, Fire Dagwon, Power Dagwon, Lian and Gunkid from Sonokong re-issue of Brave Command Dagwon series toys. I figured I would give you a short, mostly pictorial review of what all the figures together transform into..... Get ready for Super Fire Dagwon!

Please check out the video below. The actual toy transformation is very close to the video.

Here is the impressively huge Super Fire Dagwon standing nearly 15" tall! Not only is the figure tall, it is very heavy, at a little over 3 lbs of quality plastic.

You may recognize Super Fire Dagwons headpiece as the chest piece from Power Dagwon. This is an example of what I really like about the design of Brave Series toys, almost all parts have a place and purpose when transforming.

Articulation of this figure is very good considering its blocky design. Articulation can be found in the shoulders, elbows and the hands can rotate, Oh and lets not forget the articulation in the massive crane arm. Even though this figure does have decent movement, for the most part it is what I would consider a "static pose" figure, due to its size and weight.

The final combination of Super Fire Dagwon with Lian and Gunkid is really "busy" as you can see below. I don't think that he would be able to battle too well in this mode...LOL. He is very overloaded in this mode and weighs in at a staggering 5.5 lbs!

I feel that Super Fire Dagwon is possibly one of the best of all the combined Brave Series Robots. Well, maybe the second best.... I really like Great Goldran but I'll cover that later. If you dig this figure as much as I do, please check out Big Bad Toy Store to get your own!

Shaider for the USA!

As far as I can tell, Star Searchers was Bandai’s attempt to market Toei’s Metal Heroes to an American audience. Zeric is clearly Space Sheriff Shaider, although I’m not sure of the original toy mold.

Zeric is larger than the standard Popy size, measuring 7.5 inches high. If the back of the box is to be believed, a similar model of Sharivan was also released in America.

Zeric is a great figure, mostly plastic but with a substantial heft provided by the diecast rear leg components. The rest of the toy is executed in sharply detailed chromium, in blue and silver.

Zeric’s primary gimmick is a light/sound feature, activated by a switch on his back. His eyes and chest pulse along with a throbbing laser noise.

For a light/sound figure, Zeric is surprisingly articulated, with movement at his neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees.

The fit and finish is pure Popy. This is a quality toy.

Zeric comes with two accessories, a sword and a gun. The gun fits nicely in its holster.

Given the dearth of Metal Hero product in the US, I recommend picking up any Star Searchers product you can get ahold of.

Great Might Gaine Perfect mode is achieved through the combination of the 3 mecha: Mightgaine, Might Kaiser and Might Gunner. I will be covering these figures individually in future reviews from The Brave Express Might Gaine series.

From Wikipedia

The Brave Express Might Gaine aired during the 1993-1994 Japanese television season and is part of the Yuusha (Brave) series of anime shows produced by Sunrise. The Brave Express Might Gaine takes these newly-crafted themes to their logical conclusion. Here the robots are no longer "spirits," but have personalities granted by advanced Artificial Intelligence. These robots were designed and built from the ground up by the late father of the main character: billionaire crime-fighting teenager and railroad magnate Senpuuji Maito. He acts as a Bruce Wayne character of sorts, taking command of the Brave Express robots in the field and fighting crime himself on the front lines. A unique further step is taken by separating the antagonists into multiple criminal factions, some at odds with each other; Might Gaine especially stands out from much of the Brave Series by taking a darker approach with the actions of some of these criminal overlords, as they cause severe harm to others in the midst of following their own ambitions.

Today I will be reviewing the ultimate version of Might Gaine, Great Might Gaine Perfect Mode!

Great Might Gaine Perfect mode is achieved through the combination of the 3 figures shown below. The figures are: Might Gaine, Might Kaiser and Might Gunner. I will be covering these figures individually in future reviews from this series.

Before I get into Perfect Mode, I wanted to show you Might Gaine with Might Gunner pre-combined. Note that the Might Gunner I am utilizing in my review is a Takara re-release from a few years back. The Takara piece works and looks beautiful with the Sonokong version of Great Might Gaine

The first striking feature, well atleast for me it is how the chest piece of Might Kaiser becomes the head crest for Great Might Gaine. In my opinion, it looks odd and kinda overwhelms Might Gaine's tiny head.

Great Might Gaine is an impressive figure, standing at almost 13" from head to toe and weighing in at a whopping 3 lbs of heavy plastic goodness! Articulation is limited to the shoulders and elbows. The articulation does allow Great Might Gaine use of his single or dual swords.

Finally we have Great Might Gaine in Perfect Mode. Perfect Mode increases this huge figures height by 4", making this figure stand a height of nearly 17"! The weight is now up to almost 4 lbs! You gotta admit, its a pretty impressive figure.

I have to say that I do like this figure overall, even if I do find some of the proportions to be a little odd. The figure has some serious shelf presence and a ton of play value. My advice is to track down all three figures mentioned above to create your own! Happy hunting!

I love this toy and I am proud to have it displayed in my collection. I think the design is really cool and it just looks absolutely stunning on the shelf next to my other Brave Series figures.

From Wikipedia

The Symmetrical-Docked form of HyoRyu and EnRyu, formed when their "SympaRate", a measure of their synchronization and unity of purpose, reaches 100%. ChoRyuJin is a defensive specialist with his Mirror-Coating Chestplate (which he uses at the risk of his life) and ability to use the Eraser Head tool. He also possesses HyoRyu and EnRyu's Gun, Rifle, and Tonfa attacks, usually used in "Double" form firing from both sides at once. He can also fire both guns and both rifles at once for a full-burst-style attack. After the initial Primeval attack, ChoRyuJin is retrofitted with the ability to fire Ul-Tech beams in place of heat or cold, which appear similar to most beam weapons in anime.

In technical specifications (and finally shown in FINAL), he also has the desperate final attack "Super Nova" - in which HyoRyu and EnRyu turn their respective dials to "Infinite" and simultaneously blast the enemy with their Chest attacks. Due to the placement of the chest plates on ChoRyuJin, he could not in fact use this attack while Symmetrical-Docked.

I didn't write the above paragraphs, so please no hate comments..LOL

Today I will be reviewing Sonokong's re-issue of GekiRyuJin giftset. The set includes both symmetrical docking robots, RaiRyu & FuuRyu that make up the larger GekiRyuJin. RaiRyu and FuuRyu are one of two sets of symmetrical docking robots that appear in the anime The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, the other set being EnRyu and HyoRyu that make the larger robot ChoRyuJin. I will cover ChoRyuJin in a future review.

Since you can purchase the set combined or individually, I have included photo of all below. The packaging on the combined giftset version is the nicely illustrated heavy corrugated cardboard box with the plastic tray insert that in the norm for Sonokong Brave Series re-issue. As for the individual pieced boxes, well...they are nicely illustrated but the box is very light cardboard that I suspect will not hold up to years in storage of moving.

Lets start off the review with the vehicle modes of the two separate robots. In the first photo below you have both the green cement truck (FuuRyu) and yellow dumptruck (RaiRyu). As you can clearly see, they share a very futuristic look, which is appropriate for the anime they come from. Each truck is just under 10" long in this mode and is comprised of quality feeling heavy plastic.

The only feature or "gimmick" that RaiRyu has in dump-truck mode is the fact the dump body actually can tilt back to dump. Nothing really impresses me with his vehicle mode.

Onto FuuRyu, again, like RaiRyu above, FuuRyu's vehicle mode also doesn't really do it for me and is lackluster at best. The cement chute can be raised or lowered and the cement drum can turn, woo hoo....

Now we are getting down to the good stuff! RaiRyu's and FuuRyu's separate robot modes are arguably the best mode of these figures, due to their almost unheard of articulation for an early nineties transforming robot figure. Each figure stand approximately 8" tall, and like I state above, both have some really good articulation. The joints are nice and tight with that "click" that all mecha collectors love.

Transformation to robot mode is a snap, and as you can see below, for the most part they look great, if you overlook the kibble on their backsides.

Just like in the anime, you can turn the dials on both RaiRyu's and FuuRyu's chest to "Infinite" and simultaneously blast an enemy with their Chest attacks. You can see below that the chest changes from white to yellow or vice verse to achieve the above mentioned effect.

Now lets take a look at FuuRyu alone. In the first pic you can see the nicely detailed face and chest that really contribute to this figures cool factor.

Here is a quick shot of the articulation that I had mentioned earlier in the review. You gotta admit that it is pretty awesome for a Brave Series figure.

Well, check this out! What I originally thought to be useless kibble shown in the backside shot up above, becomes a nifty shoulder mounted cannon with targeting system. The cannon actually can fire 4 of the 16 supplied red projectiles by simply rotating it. Don't you just love toys with firing gimmicks?

RaiRyu shares the same chiseled good looks as FuuRyu above as well as the pretty cool articulation. Only this time, the play gimmick is different.

RaiRyu can actually use his dump body as a skateboard! Hang 10 dude! or whatever the skating lingo is...LOL.

The next photo illustrates how the storage of the extra ammo and the arm for GekiRyuJin are stored in the lower legs of RaiRyu and FuuRyu. I think that this is pretty cool and I love toys where everything has a place. Also, you can check out the video further below and you will see that the left arm of GekiRyuJin actually stores in the exact place as the toy! Pretty trick huh?

As you can see below, RaiRyu and FuuRyu are starting to get impatient and would like me to hurry up to the part where they can do their ultimate symmetrical docking form, GekiRyuJin!

OK boys, lets go, SYMMETRICAL DOCKING!!

Here he is, GekiRyuJin in all his glory! If you watch the video above, the transformation of the toy to GekiRyuJin is practically exact to the anime.

GekiRyuJin stands a little over 10" and is basically a solid brick. Articulation is limited to the elbows and the head does turn back and fourth slightly between his massive shoulders. Even though the articulation is limited, I still think the figure is beautiful and well proportioned. I like the way the cement drum becomes his gun and the dump body is his shield.

Maybe its just me but I think GekiRyuJin and Optimus Prime have a striking resemblance.

All said and done, I love this toy and I am proud to have it displayed in my collection. I think the design is really cool and it just looks absolutely stunning on the shelf next to my other Brave Series figures. If you don't have it, track it down. It is worth hunting around for.

“... the truth is... I am Iron Man.”

Review sample provided by Angolz.

Summary from package...

“While traveling overseas on business, Tony Stark is gravely injured after being ambushed and taken hostage. While in captivity, Stark is ordered to build a super-weapon capable of worldwide devastation. Instead, determined to escape and ultimately confront the demons of his past. Stark constructs a nearly invincible suit of armor equipped with powerful repulsion rays and high-altitude flight capability and escapes. Upon his return to America, he becomes the red-and-gold warrior Iron Man, vowing to don his powerful armor to protect the world.”

While I have always been a bit of a superhero fan, I was never that into Iron Man. Tony Stark never won me over or struck me as particularly admirable, but when the live-action movie came out it knocked my socks off. With the mix of Jon Favreau's direction and Robert Downey Junior's charm the character of Iron Man/Tony Stark won me over. The 2008 film was a critical and commercial success and Iron Man toys flooded the market. But none of them really struck me as great collector's pieces or great representations of the American designed power suit. Well it turns out Hong Kong toymaker, Hot Toys has made the quintessential Iron Man piece...

Hot Toys has been in the 1/6 scale poseable collectors market for a few years now and the reputation for quality and attention to detail has grown over the years. Well it's VERY much earned.

Let's start with the packaging. A box is a box right? Not really.

A nice package let's you know the manufacturer cares about what's inside. In this hobby very few things are “cheap” so it kind of sucks when you spend primo dollars for a piece and the package feels cheap or like an afterthought. With Hot Toys, that's not the case. Not only is the piece inside made with the utmost care and attention to detail, the box it comes in is equally as nice.

The box is made from a very thick, heavy-gauge cardboard that folds out in three panels. The outside panels of the box look like a close up of the Mk.III armor. When the box is opened it looks like the under carriage of the armor. The die cut hole for the Arc Reactor is a nice touch.

Inside is a window to see the figure and all the accessories neatly arranged and laid out with a brief explanation about the Mark III armor as well as credits for the toy design. It's very sharp and very classy. To bad it ends up in the closet stored away, it's almost a work of art itself.

Included in the box is...

• Iron Man Figure
• Tony Stark Head (Robert Downey Jr. likeness)
• 2 Closed Fists
• 2 Open Palm Hands (Flight/Repulsor Pose)
• 2 Open Blast hands ( Open Hand Blast)
• Display Stand

The figure itself is spectacular. There is no diecast metal on this piece, it is all plastic and PVC. The materials are however all top-notch and feel high quality. Nothing feels cheap here. The body and parts are primarily a hard plastic with parts near the hips made of softer PVC to ensure maximum poseability.

The figure stands just over 13 inches tall and features over 40 points of articulation, with an original build of the Iron Man suit from the ground up. It is not a 1/6 “doll” with an Iron Man costume strapped to him.

But highly poseable and well constructed isn't where it stops. The Iron Man suit is powered by a Tony Stark invention, the Arc Reactor.

Three separate light switches for three separate light-up functions are placed on the figure. Chest/Eyes, Right Palm, Left Palm. These are powered by a small stack of watch-sized batteries which can easily be removed and replaced when needed. These parts light-up brilliantly and the over all effect makes it look just like the suit in the movie.

While you can't remove the figure from the suit (not sure I'd want it too) you can swap out the helmeted head for an un-helmeted. The likeness to Robert Downey Jr. is uncanny. The sculptor,T.J. Cha is indeed a VERY talented artist.

Air-break/Opening Panels can be opened and deployed on the back and calves of the suit.

Rocket Launchers can be exposed on both the left and right fore-arms. The missile is sooooo tiny you will need a push pin (or the like) to get it to flip out.

This was my very first piece from Hot Toys but I can assure it, it will not be my last. Beautiful packaging, an even more stunning piece, exquisitely detailed and an impressive looking on the shelf. Not to mention fun to tinker with.

Now, the bad news. This bad boy has been sold,out for quite some time now. The good news however, is an updated “deluxe' version (with metallic paint, more gadgets and battle-damaged amor to swap out) is coming out soon and can still be ordered from our sponsor, Angolz. I think most of our readers would do well to add one to their collection while they can. I for one am very glad I did.