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.

496123

Great, detailed little set. It reminds me of one of those small commercial-grade excavators.

-- WARNING --

According to the manufacturer, this product is not recommended for children under the age of 7 years as it contains many small parts which a child could potentially choke on.

All around the world, earthquakes are becoming increasingly frequent, threatening the cities and towns above! A geologist, nicknamed Brains, determines that these earthquakes may not be natural occurrences, and wants to investigate further. So Brains works with a mechanical engineer, Rex, and a veteran miner, Duke, to create a team of brave & intelligent explorers to drive special tunneling and gathering machines deep into the Earth’s crust to investigate the strange rumblings. But, as they dig, the Power Miners (led by Doc) come across several types of squat rock monsters which eat exotic crystals to make them more powerful! Though not very smart, they are numerous and seem to be the cause of the earthquakes. So now, it is up to the Power Miners to learn more about the rock monsters… and find a way to stop them before it’s too late!

Rex drives Machine #3, also known as the Granite Grinder- a small vehicle with caterpillar tractor treads. It features a single large twin-pronged hydraulic jackhammer, which vibrates back-and-forth quickly to break up boulders that may have slipped past some of the Power Miners’ larger drills. It can also move for extended times away from the main mining teams along with the Stone Chopper and Mine Mech thanks to its natural gas tank and larger hydraulic fluid cache, leading the charge with its large removable spotlight to shine the way. A pack of dynamite blasts apart rocks that the machine punches through. Then the fragments can be collected by the Mine Mech and placed in the Granite Grinder’s towed rock sled for analysis back with the main team by Brains. It is fortunate that Rex designed the Granite Grinder to be durable and compact because it means when he’s driving it, he can avoid serious damage from rock monsters and the boulder that they hurl at him!

The rubber tractor treads are tied together by a Technic rod, and cannot twist independently of each other.

When rolled forward or backwards, the orange jackhammer slides forward and backwards, the rubber band contracting it each time.

The two tanks in back can be removed.

The rock sled’s plastic chain can be hooked onto the back, and dragged along behind it.

LEGO Set #8958 comes with the first version of the Rex minifig. The back of his helmet hides his second facial expressions- a look of surprise; (His helmet is capable of accepting a fold-down visor, but this set does not come with one.)

The common gimmick in the Power Miners line is the rock monsters. There are five smaller generic swarms-

• Firox (orange) - sneaky, devious, and fast
• Boulderax (green) - strong, slow, and dumb
• Glaciator (blue) - bossy, brutal, and greedy
• Sulfurix (yellow) - similar to Firox, but able to burn straight through rock
• Meltrox (red) – tough, angry, and aggressive

-with three larger unique ones appearing in separate sets [that have been released so far]. They all have larger bodies and arms.

LEGO Set #8958 comes with a single Glaciator rock monster minifig. His arms can swivel at the shoulders, and his hands can accept any minifig accessory. His head can be hinged upwards, and one power crystal can be placed inside!

On LEGO’s official Power Miners homepage, you can download the instructions needed to combine Set #8958- Granite Grinder with Set #8960- Thunder Driller to become the Aero Shredder vehicle!

You can also watch animated videos of the Power Miners going up against the rock monsters with their vehicles!

Wow- LEGO’s third attempt at a fictitious underground/mining theme… just that now they have dedicated characters rather than generic minifigs. And a collecting gimmick in the form of multi-colored monsters. And it takes place on Earth rather than on an alien planet on the other side of a wormhole in another galaxy. I digress…

I stand by my position that small LEGO sets offer up just as much fun as the larger ones. This one has a single feature, if you don’t include the retractable roll cage. It rolls around easily on any flat surface, but it isn’t that bad an issue that the tractor treads don’t swivel independently of each other. That the tanks have an internal support so that you can remove them is also nice. Really, the only part that I kinda scratched my head on was the rock sled. While the chain was nice, why not put some wheels on it so that it doesn’t actually drag on the ground collecting lint and dust and getting scratches on it? Great, detailed little set. It reminds me of one of those small commercial-grade excavators you see sometimes. The Granite Grinder is a win in my book. Highly recommended!

I have a confession to make: I've never played Halo. Does that tarnish my geek cred?

I have a confession to make: I've never played Halo. Does that tarnish my geek cred? I know what Halo is, I've seen videos of it and trailers and such, but I just don't own an Xbox 360. But I have always appreciated the designs of the characters, whether it be the militaristic USNC or the alien Covenant.

Halo Wars is a slightly different game from the rest of the Halo franchise. Unlike the other games which are first person shooters, Halo Wars is a Real Time Strategy Game (RTS) in which you control the two sides on the battlefield.

Take a look at the game trailer:

Mega Bloks got the right to produce toys from the video game, and that is what I am reviewing today.

The box is beautiful, and huge. The box designers did a great job with this with bright clean graphics.

Inside, all the parts are in baggies. The parts are all mixed up, so you have to open them all to get started.

The green blocks are molded out of a multi-colored camouflage green.

That's a lot of parts. 376 parts to be exact.

When this is all said and done, you will make one UNSC Hawk combat vehicle, one Covenant Banshee combat vehicle, gun station and four figures.

The build was pretty simple, but still a bit too advanced for my 7 year old. He could probably do it but it would take him a while. The boys helped me pick parts instead.

The first thing you build up is the Hawk vehicle.

It's nice but doesn't do much of anything.

Noticeably absent is any kind of landing gear. Does it have any?

During the build the two front lasers continually fall off, so I left the off 'till the end. The under-wing sections pivot a little, and the guns can rotate side to side.

When building these under wing sections, some parts did NOT want to go together. you push one side down and the other pops up.

The cockpit can open, but there is no detailing inside. One figure can fit inside, but there is no way to secure it.

Next up is the Covenant Banshee. The Banshee is a purple fighter made out of primary shapes and a folding cockpit that runs the length of the vehicle. Build of this vehicle is very simple.

I'm not sure which figure drives, but this is the cockpit.

I was kind of disappointed that the back was just... hollow.

A small Covenant turret is included as well. It rotates and tilts, but unfortunately, does not shoot anything.

Still there? Good. If you couldn't tell, I found these vehicles lackluster. But what makes this (and other Halo Wars sets) awesome are the mini-figures.

The set comes with five figures.

UNSC Spartan

This little guy is the one everyone knows from Halo and here he is just under 2 inches tall and fully articulated. He comes with a gun and just really is a lot of fun to play with.

UNSC Flame Marine

This is my favorite guy of the bunch. The figure comes with a backpack, flamethrower, and a flexible cord that connects the two. Still fully articulated, and an alltogether different design than the spartan. If they made just these guys on a card, I would buy them all day long.

Covenant Elite

The set only lists one, but you get two Covenant Elite figures and one gun.

Covenant Grunt

This tiny guy is about half the size of the elite, but still articulated.

All together, they make a great litte army.

Wraith Pheyden thrown in for scale.

Aerial Ambush is not a complicated set, nor is it anything revolutionary. The mini Halo figures are very cool and I will admit it was fun to build and didn't take a ton of time. For the casual fan it is a good diversion. Hard-core brick heads may have issues with some of the fit and finish, but Halo fans will get a kick out of it.

So far as I can tell, it will be the only robotic set in the 2009 beginning line, but it embodies the line’s theme as a whole enough to convince me than I need to get more of these.

(I figured publishing this on my 27th birthday could be my little present to y'all, since I used to get Lego sets when I was younger from my family... ^_^)

-- WARNING --

According to the manufacturer, this product is not recommended for children under the age of 7 years as it contains many small parts which a child could potentially choke on.

All around the world, earthquakes are becoming increasingly frequent, threatening the cities and towns above! A geologist, nicknamed Brains, determines that these earthquakes may not be natural occurrences, and wants to investigate further. So Brains works with a mechanical engineer, Rex, and a veteran miner, Duke, to create a team of brave & intelligent explorers to drive special tunneling and gathering machines deep into the Earth’s crust to investigate the strange rumblings. But, as they dig, the Power Miners (led by Doc) come across several types of squat rock monsters which eat exotic crystals to make them more powerful! Though not very smart, they are numerous and seem to be the cause of the earthquakes. So now, it is up to the Power Miners to learn more about the rock monsters… and find a way to stop them before it’s too late!

Brains drives Machine #2, also known as the Mine Mech- a humanoid anthropomorphic vehicle that is smaller than most of the team’s machines. It features a large titanium claw on the left arm and a diamond-tipped circular saw blade on the right arm. It is meant for close-up and more detailed work- waddling to the front of a tunnel to clear away boulders, or pick up the newly-discovered, rare power crystals. Because it is smaller, the Mine Mech can also act as a messenger when radios get cut-off in the bends & twists of a tunnel, often accompanied by the motorcycle-like Machine #1- Stone Chopper and jackhammer Machine #3- Granite Grinder. With the discovery of the rock monsters, the Mine Mech got a small boost in defense beyond its safety roll-cage: adding a convenient pickaxe, and offering a spare pack of dynamite to distract or confuse the easily-distracted and -confused creatures. But Brains would still like to capture a rock monster to study it and learn about them…

The Mine Mech (back) is a small, squat, durable-looking robot. The open cockpit is protected by a newly-introduced black roll cage with a non-functional transparent-orange strobe light on top. Though there are no instrument panels, there is a pair of levers to either side of the seat. A decal has been applied in front of the cockpit, identifying this set as Power Miner Machine #2, but a sprayed-mud effect has been added to it to make it look like it’s been down in the dirt. A pickaxe and a bundle of dynamite are attached to either side of the cockpit, and can be removed and placed in any minifig’s hand. While the shoulder joints are identical, the left arm and right arm have drastically different appearances- one spotting an orange two-clawed hand, and the other a rotating orange saw blade. The legs are identical, and are both small and spread far apart, but they are sturdy, adding two more dirtied decals across the top of the feet.

. . .

Clearly inspired by the retired 2006-08 Exo-Force line, the Mine Mech takes great advantage of its six ball-and-socket joints- one in each shoulder, hip, and ankle. About the only thing lacking are knee, elbow, and waist joints, but this set isn’t missing them. The roll cage and claw can easily open and close, and the saw blade freely spins by turning a black gear behind the right ‘elbow’. Just… don’t expect the Mine Mech to do any hand-stands or stand on only one foot.

In a surprise twist- something that was not mentioned in any promotions or the instructions- the white stripes along the top of the feet can glow in the dark!

LEGO Set #8957 comes with the first version of the Brain minifig (back). He is dressed in blue overalls with pockets and a built-in harness, with a white long-sleeve shirt and white gloves. (His helmet is capable of accepting a fold-down visor, but this set does not come with one.) His head is double-sided, which the helmet hides- one normal face with sensor eyepiece over his glasses, and a nervous grimace on the other side.

. . .

The common gimmick in the Power Miners line is the rock monsters. There are five smaller generic swarms-

• Firox (orange) - sneaky, devious, and fast
• Boulderax (green) - strong, slow, and dumb
• Glaciator (blue) - bossy, brutal, and greedy
• Sulfurix (yellow) - similar to Firox, but able to burn straight through rock
• Meltrox (red) – tough, angry, and aggressive

-with three larger unique ones appearing in separate sets [that have been released so far]. They all have larger bodies and arms.

LEGO Set #8957 comes with a single Boulderax (back) rock monster minifig, which is transparent-green, with gray painted spots. His arms can swivel at the shoulders, and his hands can accept any minifig accessory. His head can be hinged upwards, and one power crystal can be placed inside!

On LEGO’s official Power Miners homepage, you can download the instructions needed to combine Set #8956- Stone Chopper with Set #8957- Mine Mech to become the Cave Cutter vehicle

You can also watch animated videos of the Power Miners going up against the rock monsters with their vehicles!

Wow- LEGO’s third attempt at a fictitious underground/mining theme… just that now they have dedicated characters rather than generic minifigs. And a collecting gimmick in the form of multi-colored monsters. And it takes place on Earth rather than on an alien planet on the other side of a wormhole in another galaxy. I digress…

What I like about smaller LEGO sets is that you usually get more bang for your buck than the larger ones. Yeah- the larger ones may have more features and be bigger and more detailed, but often they are proportionately weakened, complex, and sometimes delicate. Smaller sets may be, well, smaller, but the few features they have often involve the entire set rather than just one little segment, and they can be more durable. Like with this one- it is small, but solid and performs well. The new roll cage part is appreciated, as was the orange light on top. (I immediately thought of the power loader from the sci-fi/horror sequel film, “Aliens”...) The arms don’t need to be elaborately poseable, just enough to get the point across. The poseability in the arms and legs, though, is welcome and doesn’t involve thin limbs that most of the smaller Exo-Force sets did. (You can tell from my tone I really miss that line…) ‘Bout the only thing I wish they could have done differently was find a way to make the tips of the claws come together- they slide to the side of each other, never meeting for a solid grip. If it had been three claws instead of two, on the other hand, it would have been too big and bulky for the rest of the set to allow for. Also, it needed some elbows because thy way the joint is set-up is awkward to pose with. And, posing legs that are spaced so far apart from each other is tricky, but it’s still cleaver how easily they made them. (I liked the mud splashed against the various decals, nice touch. I actually found out about the glowing decals after my initial writing of this review had been finished; it was very unexpected!) So far as I can tell, the Mine Mech will be the only robotic set in the 2009 beginning line, but it embodies the line’s theme as a whole enough to convince me than I need to get more of these. Highly recommended!

Special thanks to The Lego Group's public relations department for providing the Power Miners logo!

One of the most recent figures done by Onell Design comes from their sister company, Rawshark and Jesse Moore over at www.callgrim.com, and as the name implies this figure is known as Callgrim.

Over the past few years, Glyos figures have really become popular, and 2009 really seems to be the watershed year for Onell Design, what with the release of the Buildmen, Phase Arms, Custom Corp figures, and of course, the Armodoc, it's no wonder that these figures are selling out in almost less than a day now.

One of the most recent figures done by Onell Design comes from their sister company, Rawshark and Jesse Moore over at www.callgrim.com, and as the name implies this figure is known as Callgrim.

Callgrim is a much larger figure than any of the Pheyden or Buildman figures, and has whopping 27 pieces. He stands about a Pheyden-head taller than other figures at about 3.5" and is much more proportional to the human body, while the other Glyos figures tend to be have a more deformed and cute aesthetic to them.

Callgrim comes equipped with a backpack and several long pieces. These are Callgrim's guns which he dual-wields in fantastic fashion. Every complaint that Glyos figures don't have enough weapons has been solved with this figure. There are multiple configurations and shapes that enable many different types of guns to be made to your trigger happy heart's content.

On the bottom of his backpack is an extra head, much like the Buildman figures. The sculpt is for the other figure that was released with Callgrim, The Order. This extra head actually caught my eye initially. It very much has a space bounty hunter sort of feel to it. However something that I found was that the front visor piece was actually slightly off center. The right half is much larger than the left and initially bothered me. However it's very small detail and quite frankly I don't even notice it anymore honestly.

In addition to the usual Glyos figure articulation, Callgrim has an additional point of articulation at his legs, arms, and his head. These extra joints really help to increase the poseability of Callgrim, allowing him to strike very dynamic poses with him aiming and firing his guns.

So in terms of a figure, Callgrim is pretty awesome. He had more articulation than the past Glyos figures and has a much darker, more brooding image behind him in comparison. But some people may want Callgrim for other purposes as well. In addition to being a fantastic figure, Callgrim also has many additional pieces to use in customizing. He comes with four different types of standard male-to-male pieces along with two additional tonfa-shaped pieces. There's a lot you can do with the Callgrim's parts, whether it's making a rocket launcher, a machine gun, or just buffing up your regular Glyos figures.

Callgrim is great figure both stand alone and as a building toy as well. I would recommend picking one up if you are a fan of Glyos figures or toys in general. Only problem being... he's sold out now. However this version of Callgrim will be returning soon according to Jesse within a few months, along with additional colors and versions, so be sure to keep an eye out for this guy, because he's fantastic.

Gobon is actually the creation of Matt's wife, Michelle Doughty, who is also an excellent and talented artist in her own right. The character first appeared in issue 2 of Michelle's comic, Sidrick.

When I first met Matt Doughty a few years ago, Pheyden had not yet been launched and he was working hard at Beantown Toys, cutting his teeth at toy production, learning the ins and outs of manufacturing in China. He had a few figures getting ready for production of his own, including Pheyden, Exellis and Crayboth. But there was another. This figure at the time seemed radically different than the aesthetic he was currently pursuing. This figure was called Gobon.

Gobon (Sarvonic Gendrone Gobon if you want to be exact) is actually the creation of Matt's wife, Michelle Doughty, who is also an excellent and talented artist in her own right. The character first appeared in issue 2 of Michelle's comic, Sidrick.

This portly robot is a homage to many classic robots. The arms are a bit like Boss Borot or Robocon, as is the shape of the figure. The big belly and round eyes evoke memories of Tetsujin 28. And then there's the head. There are two sets of eyes on the head. The proper front is your plain round childlike eyes. But the back has an evil glare, directly inspired by Maximillian from "The Black Hole".

Gobon in his default state stands 3 inches tall and 3.5 inches wide and is constructed out of 13 parts. The plastic is a bit softer on this version than on other Glyos releases, and this version also has a slight clear coat on it, making Gobon nice and shiny.

The silver plastic used here has a swirl in it which adds a nice texture to the color of the figure.

Gobon's big surprise is the second head hidden inside the body. Removing the top part of the body is really difficult - the fit is that tight. I ended up having to use a flat scrwewdriver to pry it off. Maybe I am doing it wrong? But be careful, the plastic is soft enough that if you are not careful you could dent or damage it.

Once released, you can see the angry cyclopean eye.

Putting the halves back together is equally challenging, but the trick is to rotate the pieces when turning.

With only one Gobon, you can make a bunch of different toys. Imagine if you had a bunch? Each Gobon connection point is fully compatible with any Glyos figure as well as any Beanbot. The combinations are endless.

This first batch of Gobon is limited to 100 pieces. In addition to the silver, Matt also had a run of 50 "rust" pieces run. This weathering looks custom, but it is actually done at the factory in china. I love it more than the regular version.

As of June 2009, Gobon is not for sale in the Onell Design store, but he has been showing up as bonuses in customers orders. Keep an eye on the store, and you never know what may pop up!

In my opinion Dygenguar is one of the coolest mecha designs from the wildly popular Super Robot Wars tactical role-playing game series....Well, except the feet.

With all the hype and excitement about the soon to be released Bandai GX-46 Soul of Chogokin Dygenguar & Aussenseiter, I thought it would be a great time to review Kotobukiya'a Dygenguar full action model kit.

Dygenguar is one of the coolest mecha designs from the wildly popular Super Robot Wars tactical role-playing game series.

Starting off with the beautifully illustrated box. The box cover really gives you a feel of the characters coolness. As you can see in the photo below, he is sporting his famous pose. Man, is that sword huge or what?

Without boring you with all the details of the build, I will just say that it is fun and at sometimes a little challenging. The kit is molded in color so you really don't have to paint it. Of course, you can paint and detail the finished figure if you would like to. All the pieces are clearly marked for easy assembly. The kit is made of high quality plastic that feels very similar to the plastics used in high end Gundam kits. The kit is basically a snap together kit but, if you plan on handling your finished Dygenguar figure you may want to glue some areas.

The completed Dygenguar figure stands approximately 8" tall at the tip of his red shoulder armor. Dygenguar features 24 points of articulation and includes 2 swords as well as three sets of hands, one closed, one open, and one for holding his weapons.

On to the pics!

The cool background in the photos was provided by our friends over at Action Figure Displays. You can get this background as well as many others at their site.

In conclusion, Kotobukiya's Dygenguar model is a great build and if you are a fan of the character and you like to build models.... Its a no brainer, you gotta pick this kit up!

Behold The American MekaRobo!

Red Fighter (full name: Battery Operated Super Robot Defender of Justice Red Fighter) belongs to a strange and obscure sub-genre of Japanese robots, the MekaRobo. MekaRobo is the missing link between tin and diecast. Each has the proportions, stature, and motorized gimmicks of the classic tin bots, infused with super robot funk.

Popy only released two characters in this format, Combattler and Gaiking (MR Gaiking was released in the U.S. as Shogun Warrior Zargon). These toys used a kit of parts to create the robot forms. These parts could then be variously reconfigured into other robots or vehicles. The two original molds have been extensively bastardized, bootlegged, and knocked-off.

Bandai itself released pared-down (read: bastardized) versions of these toys a few times in the U.S., as the Red and Blue Fighters; and the Red and Blue Motionic toys, respectively. The red versions are based off of the Combattler molds, the blue versions off of the Gaiking molds. I believe all four have unique head sculpts.

Red Fighter

The Red Fighter comes in a generic but winningly disco-tinged box (7.5”x 10.5”x 4”). The front features a soft-focus, gleaming photograph of the toy, similar to contemporaneous Micronaut packaging.

The top and sides feature more photographs, including parts and alternate configurations.

The pieces come unassembled in a corrugated cardboard tray. A minimal brochure is included.

The set consists of (1) head, (1) Torso, (2) arms, (2) legs, (2) feet, (2) wheels, and (1) set of tank treads. The torso has motorized rotating plugs at the shoulders, head, belly, and back, with the latter two plugs operating the treads. The Leg plugs shuffle back and forth at the hips. Everything is sturdy ABS, with added mechanical heft in the torso. The tank treads are rubber.

It all adds up to a good-looking robot with a couple of extra, largely extraneous, pieces. The original gimmick, the microman-like interchangeability of the pieces, barely remains. The original arm components were replaced with fixed, clumsy arms which clash with the rest of the design. Additional accessories and components were left out altogether.

I don’t find the limited building possibilities terribly compelling, but I can see a child still having fun with them. I’m only really interested in the bot. Red Fighter stands at a respectable 14” tall. I like the scale of these toys. They fit nicely between Popy DX toys and Jumbos.

Like most of the second generation MekaRobos, Red Fighter’s head is the best part. It’s really a beautiful and unique design, and nicely detailed. I’d love to see the rest of a robot that properly matches it.

The rest of the bot is solid and well-proportioned, if uninspired. The lack of paint applications and decals really hold back the aesthetics. Without the finish detailing, the otherwise fine sculpting looks anonymous. If you like motorized action, you can make the robot shuffle, drive, spin his arms, and so forth.

The MekaRobos are fun to collect. I like their “otherness”. Each is vaguely familiar, but distinctly different from its Popy relatives. They nicely fill a few gaps in my collection.

A quick note: Most of what I know about MR comes from Matt Alt's Excellent article here.

There’s no getting around it: This robot is grotesque. But it’s not without charm. This is Frankenstein bootleg maximalism at its most psychedelic.

Super Combination Robot

There’s no getting around it: This robot is grotesque. But it’s not without charm. This is Frankenstein bootleg maximalism at its most psychedelic. Metal plating and questionable aesthetic choices abound. The Super Combination Robot B/O 17-in-1 (hereafter abbreviated SCR) combines parts from the DX Popy Dairugger XV, the DX Popy Golion, G1 Omega Supreme (or the Toybox Mechabot-1, if you prefer), as well as “original” elements (though it’s possible that I just don’t recognize all of the pieces) to knit them together. This toy is impressive in its audacity.

The packaging (measuring 15”x22”x4”) is faux-Popy DX gone disco. The top/lid features a photograph of the toy with bizarre lighting effects and clumsy typography. There’s a handle, and beneath the box -top the contents are framed with a Popy-style window cover, though the text is upside-down. The sides of the box feature photos of different configurations.

The combined robot is overwhelming. It stands at 13”, taller than most other Popy DX gattai, though shorter than Dairugger. One has no idea where to look: the shapes and colors all fight for dominance, and the scales of individual pieces are too similar. With its prismatic decals, chrome and gold plating, and multiple clashing colors, it’s exhausting to look at. By any standard apart from whimsy, this is just bad design.

The combined SCR uses the heads of both Omega Supreme and Dairugger (interchangeably), the heavily modified torso of Omega Supreme, the arms of Dairugger, the legs of Golion, and the modified upper legs of Dairugger as clips. Parts from, I’m guessing, a non-mecha based cheapo airplane toy have been grafted onto Omega’s chest. Boots of a new sculpt encase the lions. SCR wears an OS backpack, outfitted with a bubble and piston gimmick and rubber hoses. The set comes with Golion’s shield and sword.

Everything is lightweight ABS plastic, but respectable in fit and finish by bootleg standards, with the exception of the yellow lion’s head, which is poorly constructed.

The only limb articulation is in the shoulders, elbows, and neck. The shoulder rotors spin freely. The pistons in the backpack move up and down when activated. The tank is motorized, with two sets of articulated wings. The Dairugger components all roll on rubber wheels.

Head(s)
Omega’s head is the default head (at least based on the box art). The mold is the same as the original, but the gray plastic is now black, and the red turret is now gold-plated. The alternate Dairugger head actually looks pretty neat, having been cast in blue and nicely finished with a gold and silver paint scheme on its face. Unfortunately, the Dairugger head looks silly on the robot because of its ungainly neck, concealed in the original toy.

Torso
Omega Supreme’s tank forms the torso. As in the head, the original gray plastics are black, the red pieces gold-plated. The leg trim is red instead of yellow. The mechanics have been slightly altered to activate the backpack. The fuselage and wings of a jet have been integrated into the top of the tank. The arm joints have been totally reworked to accept the new shoulders.

Arms
SCR’s arms are straight from Dairugger, but simplified. The shoulders have different, smaller rotors, the paint apps have been eliminated and partially replaced by decals, and the pull-back motors has been removed. The fists each use the mold from the original red Dairugger fist, and have retained their rocket-punch mechanism.

The “boots” surrounding the lions are an interesting innovation for the SCR, and of an entirely new sculpt. Once the lions clip onto the tread stumps, the boots surround them, giving a better weight and scale to the legs. The boot shells clip together ala OS, but using a combination of (2)OS clips, (2)modified Dairugger ships, and (2)unique trapezoidal clips. The Dairugger clips are modified versions of the original XV red thigh ship, but with without the splitting feature and with a clip molded onto the underside. The unique clips on the front of the boots cannot attach as shown on the box, their clip interface is upside-down. I actually like the look of SCR from the waist down.

Back Pack
I have no idea where the bubble-piston comes from. The top of the bubble appears to have been painted by hand! The candy-colored pistons within move 1/4” up and down. The lower part of the back pack, here molded in white and black, is very close to Omega’s, but has been reworked to bee a static block rather than the original clamshell.

Summary
This toy is probably only appealing to most collectors as an oddity. I enjoy strange and ugly robots, and use them to liven up my shelves, but for most, getting past its ugliness will be a real challenge. The SCR isn’t especially rare or desirable, so you can probably find one in its box for fifty bucks.

Oh Big Lots, how do I love thee? Each time I enter your hallowed halls I come away with some new copyright-defying treasure.

Oh Big Lots, how do I love thee? Each time I enter your hallowed halls I come away with some new copyright-defying treasure.

I don't live near a Big Lots. There's one two towns over, but thats in the ghetto, and the place is always run down and I don't think it gets new stuff.. ever. So the next closest one is an hour away, and that one is pretty amazing. I don't get there too often, but when I do, I always find something cool.

Right now in their assortment of unlicensed robot toys are these sets called Monster King. There are two different sets on the same cards, and they are clearly from the same series.

I had to do a lot of digging but eventually I found that these are Machine Robo Mugenbine candy toys. Each individual "animal" is sold separately, and you can collect them to make certain sets.

However, the bootleggers decided to include parts from various sets, leaving you with incomplete animals. I think if you buy both sets you get a better chance of completing them.

The plastic on this bootleg is not too bad. If it weren't for the backwards arms and lack of detailing, i might not have known it was a bootleg. The combined form that it comes packaged in is kind of crap, it does not like to stand up.

But, with a little help from the internet, I found that it really should look more like this.

Don't let the pretty photography fool you - its still a bootleg. But for $10 you really can't go wrong.