An unusual, but appealing vinyl from M1.

This figure is another one of those toys that when I first saw it, I thought it was stupid. "A shirtless guy with Godzilla legs? What's the point?" But a few years in the hobby and I've come to understand the appeal of the more unusual things like this. And fortunately, unlike when I fell into this trap with other toys, I didn't have to pay a premium to correct my mistake. In fact, I think I got this and two other vinyls for about $50 a couple months back.

As you might guess, this toy depicts legendary actor Haruo Nakajima as he may have appeared half suited up on the set of the original Godzilla movie in 1954. At 9" tall and 6 points of articulation (waist, tail, hips and shoulders), the figure, like most vinyls, is basically a display piece. Especially considering the subject matter. I can't imagine anyone really playing with this. I mean, what are you gonna do, re-enact the coffee break the guy took? And in case you're wondering, the watch on his wrist appears to be set to five o'clock. I'm not sure if that means he's just beginning or just ending a day's worth of shooting.

As we've come to expect from M1, the sculpt, paint apps and vinyl thickness on this toy are all top notch. There are at least a couple different versions of this sculpt. This blue "Irasawa" version, and brown and green event exclusives. For the initial release, Mr. Nakajima was available to sign autographs. (Thanks as usual to Club Tokyo for the info.) In fact, one of the reasons I finally broke down and bought mine was because he was supposed to be making an appearance at a Godzilla festival in San Francisco around August, I think. So I was thinking of getting mine signed, too. But unfortunately, the event had to be canceled. Ah, well. I'm not a big autograph collector anyway. It just seemed like a good opportunity to enhance a toy I was already planning on buying anyway.

If you need a Kanegon for your kaiju shelf, you could do worse than this Yamanaya vinyl. But you could also do better...

I recently picked up a couple of lots of 3 vinyls each and in one of them was this 9" Kanegon (カネゴン,) from Yamanaya. I already had a Kanegon from Bandai and a miniature glowie of the Bullmark sculpt, but this was my first vintage style standard size Kanegon.

It's an ok sculpt, neither great nor terrible. And the color scheme is similarly average. The vinyl is thick and solid, but otherwise, it's just another kaiju to blend into the crowd. Nothing too special.

But just before I went to put him away I noticed something that I hadn't before in any pictures. Kanegon has 5 very obvious points of articulation (hips, shoulders and neck) but can you tell where the 6th is?

One of the small "rings" on the top of it's head can actually rotate, allowing you to turn the eyes in whatever direction you choose! It's a small detail, but one that I found to be pretty cool.

One thing that I just now noticed well typing (and long after I've taken the pictures) is that underneath it's chin is a bunch of small indentations that are not on the rest of the neck. So I think these are probably meant to represent where the actor was likely breathing through the suit! Not a big deal by any means, but a neat little attention to detail.

According to Club Tokyo, this Kanegon was the 13th figure in this line by Yamanaya. It shares the same header card as others in the line.

This is a decent figure and if you like Kanegon, I don't think you'd be disappointed in it.

Marmit's Heavy Gokin Devilman may be cheapest in price but has a great deal of diecast, looks great, and is a fantastic value.

I don't know much about Devilman other than it was created by Go Nagai in 1972. Honestly the fact that it was a chogokin made by Marmit was the main reason I bought it. I read somewhere that Devilman was Marmit's first "Heavy Gokin" and decided to buy it. The box was small, almost the size of a book and got me nervous.

I opened it and was happily surprised! The figure was the size of most SOC, around 6 inches and had a very nice heft to it and a ton of diecast. The face, extra hands and wings came in simple plastic tray.

This figure is the blue version, the normal box and regular version is green... I liked blue better so I bought this one.

It has a nice presence and tons of articulation, everything, I mean everything turns, moves, tilts, you name it.

You can switch the closed fists to the karate chop hands, pop the wings on his back and he is ready to go. The waist turns, the legs tilt, ankles turn, and toes tilt.

The arms move into tons of positions.

I really like this chogokin for its price, originally angloz.com had it for only 12 USD but sadly I missed out on that and bought one for 20 USD plus US shipping. Have to say for the amount of diecast (the chest, forearms, legs, feet, everything other than wings, head, hands, and joints are diecast!!!) for 30USD or less seems a better deal than some of the crud I have bought.

Of course there are minor paint flaws, and plastic joints have off colored look but I still love it.

As you can tell with the pictures utilizing the joint articulation, you need a stand to keep it upright, as the legs and feet are so narrow that in other than normal poses he falls over... adapt is the key to life.

So basically Devilman a nice "Old School" chogokin that is simple and artistic. Surf Ebay and get one if you like diecast, Marmit... or Devilman (I know, I know I should watch some cartoons of him on youtube)

The one and only model from the epic live action Gundam movie, and probably the only good part.

Conspiracy Nuts, Recycled Military Costumes, and a Plot out of SeaQuest.

G-Saviour claims to take place in the far off ends of the Universal Century. So far off, it is too young to remember anything of the One Year War, and long out of touch with anything that might have occurred after the ends of both F-91 and V. Mark Curren, a retired soldier turned reluctant deep sea harvester piloting a mobile suit, becomes entwisted in the conflict of the current Earth Federation and the Side 8 “Gaia” colony over possession of the solution for a growing food shortage. Branded a traitor, Curren escapes with members of Gaia’s resistance forces into space where a chance encounter with an old military friend in the secret organization called the Illuminati, is bestowed with the mobile suit G-Saviour. For any more details, I highly recommend observing Destroy All Podcast’s show on the subject.

According to what was available to US audiences, the G-Saviour was a prototype mobile suit, as all Gundams of the Universal Century often were. Calling the G-Saviour a multipurpose suit would be stretching the limited information, as it was supposedly outfitted with different armors for different engagements. In the film, viewers were introduced to one type (Space Mode) with a cameo by a second (Earth Mode). Despite being something to explore with models, Bandai did very little to promote the different modes of the G-Saviour. Instead only one model for the entire G-Saviour project was ever produced: a sad, lonely, underwhelming 1/144 scale model of the G-Saviour itself. I think I can safely, and boldly say that I actually found this kit to be enjoyable more so than the movie.

So Bad, Yet Somewhat Good

For its only model, the G-Saviour -Space Mode- is reflective of the post F91 age with its stripped down, ventilated frame and the fish-scale like thrusters on its back. In some instances of Gundam models; the box art reflects a completely different version of what is produced in plastic, which can be a toss up of quality issues in terms of accuracy. In this case, the G-Saviour’s starship-like, textured plating is nonexistent and replaced with a bare white body with some panel etching. As such, the colors of the G-Saviour are very basic: dark gray, turquoise, and the previously mentioned white, with two added clear injection blue parts and a single red piece. While the colors are rather dull, the plastic incarnation of the G-Saviour does give you a better appreciation for the design as opposed to its cinematic, disproportionate bulk.

Construction of the G-Saviour is very much in tune with late 90’s HG and early HGUC (High Grade Universal Century) lines. In 1/144 scale, it lacks much of the detail one could hope for. To its credit, the kit is really simple with paintwork needed to bring out just the right details in the right spots. As the only model from the G-Saviour franchise, the G-Saviour Space-Mode has a few points that showed they were preparing to expand on the single design into multiple forms. Whether canceled or just abandoned, those additional forms were never brought to fruition.

Starting with the G-Saviour’s head, construction is fairly basic with two halves making the outer shell and the face constructed in two parts: the unpainted mask and the ‘chin’ piece. This is then crowed off with the traditional Gundam “V” crest. Without paint, the head is almost solid white, with exception to the two turquoise blue pieces sticking off the front.

The G-Saviour’s torso makes up the fair bulk of the whole design and continues this in plastic. To its credit the torso is slimmer than it appears on screen and the overall mass comes from the backpack. In typical 1/144 scale fashion, the torso is built in layers: starting from the lower abdomen which is then topped off with the chest. The basic construction is simple, with polycap ports in the bottom of the abdomen which connects to the waist, and the ball topped stem to connect the head to the neck. The backpack is a multilayered assembly, starting in its core with a basic back-plate. Connected to that is a fantail arrangement of plates that make up the G-Saviour’s main thrusters, in a circular pattern laying flat. This whole section is then fit over the back-plate and locked down with two strip shaped rails that extend over the chest and lay over the top of the backpack, bringing both sections together as a single unit.

The G-Saviour’s waist is fairly basic, an inner two piece assembly formed on the front and back with two polycap points to connect the side skirts with two layers of armor on the front and back. The rear is a hollowed square block, which adds bulk to the very skeletal interior. The front skirts are a pair of thrusters arranged in the same fantail fashion as the backpack. The front skirts have no independent articulation or room for modification to allow it because they are joined by a solid rod. The hip mounted thrusters follow the tradition of the G-Saviour’s flight assembly bulk. The design of the thrusters resembles a pair of thick tuning forks with two jet engine intakes on the front. The components are molded in the blue plastic so both parts benefit with a touch of paint which adds depth to the simple two part shell construct. Although larger than the other parts of the kit, these hip mounted units help to keep the model standing upright and centering its weight at its core.

The legs follow the same construction method as the arms and share the same degree of detailing. Although stable to hold the weight of the kit, the narrow look of the legs displays the same dramatic change in scale and bulk that upsets the design’s potential. The feet are built in the modern fashion with a bottom and top toe formula built around an articulated ankle. The heel is a solid cast piece which fits onto the back of the ankle. The ankle guards are solid injection pieces which fit into ports on the ankle that float in place above the heel. Despite the overall kit’s stiff articulation, the legs are well balanced for holding a stable pose while holding the weight of the kit.

The G-Saviour comes with the absolute minimum accessories required; a beam rifle, saber, and shield. The saber and the shield are beam-based which is reflected in their injection recreations. Molded in clear blue plastic, painting is required for the saber’s grip and the shield’s ‘jewel’ which connects it to the left forearm. The saber and the shield have alternate parts for storage displays, such as the saber grip which fits onto the shoulder, and the jewel plug that fits onto the left forearm. The G-Saviour’s rifle is constructed in three parts: two halves for the body and the barrel. The rifle has two hexagonal shaped ports on it which are designed to dock the rifle onto either the lower leg or on the rear skirt block. To manage these accessories, the G-Saviour comes with three hands: two fists for the left and right and one right hand dedicated to holding the rifle.

Soft Garage's Karoria Tetsujin 28 from the Legend Of Gokin line.

Today I will be reviewing Soft Garage's Karoria Tetsujin 28 from the Legend Of Gokin line. Unfortunately I can't give you much of a back story on this character other than it is a mass production version of Tetsujin 28 AKA Gigantor here in the states.

Like Soft Garage's Giant Robo, Legend Of Gokin Karoria Tetsujin 28 is packaged in what I consider a classic box similar in size to the old Popy boxes. The box has an actual pic of the toy with a great lightening illustration surrounding the toy.

Removing Karoria Tetsujin from the box and you are greeted with styrofoam goodness. I know I've said this before but their is just something about styrofoam and gokin.....they just go great together!

Karoria Tetsujin 28 in made of about 80 percent die cast metal, giving the figure a really nice heft. It feels like a small brick!

The figure includes two jet flames that plug into the back of the figure giving it that cool flying effect.

As you can see in these next few pictures, Karoria Tetsujin has some nice articulation and tight joints allowing it to hold a pose.

After looking at the above pictures and the head shot below, its hard not to notice that the paint is nice and glossy and the figure is well detailed.

Check out the size difference when the Karoria Tetsujin is placed next to Bandai's Soul of Chogokin version of Tetsujin 28. Hey shorty!

LSA stands for Land Sea Air, but we know it as a bootleg of the Deluxe Voltron 1 or Dairugger XV

Perhaps one of the longest running bootleg toys around.

The DX Dairugger XV by Popy was a great toy, and one of my all time favorites. It is a remarkable toy in terms of engineering.

In 1984 Matchbox got the rights to the DX Dairugger XV and branded it the Deluxe Voltron Warrior Set. The early runs of the toy were the same as the Popy toy, just repackaged. Later runs would have different copyright information, so at some point in 1984 the molds were re-tooled. The Deluxe Voltron Warrior set had its run at retail, and then vanished from the shelves in the USA.

In 2000, something funny happened. Bootlegs of the Dairugger XV appeared in discount stores and flea markets across the country, labeled as LSA Combo. The LSA stands for Land, Sea Air. The toy is a sharp reproduction of the original toy. It came in a large box with an old-school handle. What was really great about this toy was the fact that it came with Dairugger XV’s sword, something the Matchbox version never had. Now US fans had a cheap way to get the sword for their Voltron 1.

The toy combines from 15 vehicles into the combined robot, in addition to the three teams. Construction is sharp and professional. The friction motors have been removed, the rubber tires changed to plastic, and some paint detail has been changed to stickers. Obviously, the entire color scheme has been changed, but it is done so well.

But wait, it gets weirder. This set actually appeared in Toys R Us in the mid 00’s, albeit under a different name. I wonder how they got around that? These bootleg still appear today on ebay, making a version of this toy in production in one form or another for almost 25 years.

This bootleg is worth getting, if only for the sword for your legit Voltron. Oh, you can also use the fists to replace any broken fists on your original.

The Daikyojin is a fantastic piece of modern gokin that manages to combine modern engineering with old school aesthetics.

There was once a time when it seemed that UniFive could do no wrong. In the late 90s they came out of nowhere with a series of high quality diecast toys. The licenses were a mix of the obscure and the beloved. Time Bokan, Gatchaman, Mach Go Go Go and even Goranger got the deluxe “Cho Shin Gokin” treatment. About half way through the line’s run they came out with what I think is the crown jewel of the series – Daikyojin.

For those of you not familiar with the character, Daikyojin comes from the TV show Yattodetaman, which was part of the Time Bokan series. Yattodetaman aired from 1981 to 1982 in japan and was also popular in Italy as Calendarman. I’ve never seen the show, or any Time Bokan show for that matter, but from what I gather the show is a mix of giant robots and really silly anime. Robot nerds would probably dig this show due to the mecha designs by Kunio Ohkawara (of Gundam fame).

The Box

The box may be one of the single greatest modern toy boxes ever made. It really is brilliant. First off you have the full color cover box showing the toy in all of its modes. Lifting the sturdy cover reveals a print of a sketch of the Daikyojin signed by Kunio Ohkawara himself.

Beneath that sketch is an amazing retro die-cut tray cover showing all of the glorious parts inside. Underneath that is a clear plastic tray, and then finally, the toy.

Daikyojin

The Daikyojin on its own is a remarkable toy. There is a lot of metal here – the toy is solid. It is big and blocky but still packs in a fair amount of articulation. There are FOUR joints in the shoulder assembly, double jointed elbows, and articulated fingers. Well, to be fair, the hands are broken up into a index finger and then the rest are one unit. The knees click and the lower legs are also heavy metal. In fact, the only glaring omission in terms of articulation is that there is no waist joint!

Daikyojin comes with a full arsenal at his disposal, including a metallic sword, a lance, a bow and arrow, and 2 shields with red metal centers.

The fit and finish on the Daikyojin is just a bit below SOC quality, but better than Aoshima quality. The paint is nice, but the gold plating they used is beginning to wear.

Daitenba

Included with the toy is the robotic horse Daitenba. This giant yellow horse is Daikyojin’s trusty steed. On its own, Daitenba is a fantastic toy, with diecast legs and a sturdy yellow plastic body.

Daikyojin and Daitenba can combine to form a number of different vehicles. First off, Daikyojin can be folded up and inserted into the front of the horse to form a centaur like form called Daibajin.

You can modify this form a bit and transform it into a sort of centaur tank called Daibajin Sensha. This mode requires additional parts such as a missile launcher assembly that actually fires missiles! Amazing!

Once separated the missile launcher assembly can go on the neck of the horse to become a tank mode called Daitenba Sensha.

Finally, the Daikyojin can be transformed into a spaceship with the help of some additional parts such as a control tower and landing gear. This spaceship form is called Kyojin-Go.

As a super bonus, included with the toy is a set of two pins. One a heart shaped lock, the other, a key.

The Daikyojin DX set is a remarkable toy, one that has modern engineering while maintaining the old school styling. I got lucky and got mine at a toy show for cheap back in the day, but I think even at today’s collectors prices this toy is worth it. I would be cautious though and pay attention to the gold plating on any specimen you are considering. This toy is also the perfect combination piece to the Time Bokan Brave Gokin robots that CM’s is putting out.

Here is my addition to all the Halloween fun. My review of Resurrection of Monstress's Mask of Phanteana , the standard version.

Here is my addition to all the Halloween fun. My review of Resurrection of Monstress's Mask of Phanteana, the standard version.

Last year Josh hit us with a flurry of reviews for the very sharp line of girl figures called Resurrection of Monstress. Each being a sexier reinterpretation of a classic monster. This would be their revamp of The Phantom of the Opera.

I thought the figures looked nice and Josh was nice enough to slip me one. Halloween had passed so I hung it on the wall and waited till now to bring you this review. That's right, I cracked the package just for YOU, our faithful CDX readers!

From the back of the package:

"Big star BELLA WINDSLOW is the most popular avant-grade industrial techno music artist with beauty. But not everybody likes her and some people felt jealousy towards her. BAMBI (who thinks BELLA is her rival) set her up the trap and made a terrible burn on BELLA's left face by the CD press machine. Automatically , BAMBI became the top star after BELLA has gone. But, this situation didn't continue for so long."

"Unexpectedly a mysterious industrial tecno player with enigmatic metal mask has made debut and she took BAMBI's throne very easily. That's right! She is the phantom of BELLA WINDSLOW. Revenge has begun as the "MASKED PHANTEANA"

The figure is really more of a statue with only the head, arms and wings rotating. But I think we all know these are meant to be put on the shelf and "look good". There not really meant to be "played with." (NOTE: If you are "playing" with your girl statues please seek professional help immediately.)

In all seriousness though, THIS is a very good looking figure that pays all the right nods to the original character while being fresh and original in it's own way. The sculpt and design are top notch, though she looks like her skin should glow in the dark and sadly it doesn't.

She comes with a bunch of accessories and you can see the influence of not only the original Phantom of the Opera but several of it's adaptations. Included are a keyboard, stand, base and mixer. 2 Masks (both in gold and clear for a total of 4) are included. One looks like the more current and popular half mask from the Andrew Loyd musical, the other reminds me of the campy 70's Phantom of the Paradise.

The included Owl remind me of the Claude Rains Phantom's mask and the skull evokes the classic Phantom's Mask of Red Death masquerade costume. Also included are some mannequin heads to display the extra masks.

While I normally do not collect "girl" figures I am a big fan of the Phantom of the Opera and I think the designer and sculptor came up with a neat concept. I give it a big thumbs up.

Ultraman King (ウルトラマンキング) is – big surprise here – king of the Ultramen.

Ultraman King (ウルトラマンキング) is – big surprise here – king of the Ultramen. He comes from the series Ultraman Leo, making his first appearance in episode 26.

From Wikipedia:

He is considered to be and respected as the "God" or Elder of all Ultra heroes. Despite the name, he is not the king of the Land of Light. He is supposedly all powerful and undefeatable, but lives on his own on the King Planet. Before Leo encountered him, no Ultran had ever seen him in the flesh.

His age was reviewed to be 300,000 years in the 2003 movie New Century Ultraman Legend 2003 - King's Jubilee (新世紀ウルトラマン伝説 2003 - King's Jubilee Shinseiki Urutoraman Densetsu), but the chronological order of this work is unclear. In manga, particularly Ultraman: Super Fighter Legend, he has been depicted as a legend who has defeated many monsters on his own.

Ultraman King is part of the Ultraman Hero Series. Released in 2000, Ultraman King is made of soft vinyl and only has 3 points of articulation (waist, arms).

I kept putting it off and putting it off. But when I finally bought this Jumbo accessory, I felt like an idiot for not getting it sooner.

I've never been shy about admitting that I'm not a big fan of the Jumbo accessories. Most of them have nothing to do with the toys they go on and only serve to make a very cool robot look worse than it does in it's original form. And in such a difficult, expensive hobby, why should I spend my cash on them while there are still Jumbos out there that I don't have? Especially when you consider how easy it is to get the accessories! It's not like they won't be available later. They are always on Yahoo!Japan and litter toy shops all over Tokyo. Sure, I've had a couple in my collection here and there, but mostly as the result of trades, bulk purchases or people just flat out giving them to me.

However, one accessory did always intrigue me and that is the Jet Scrander (ジェットスクランダー) that goes with Mazinger Z. Much like the Scramble Dash accessory that comes with the Unifive Great Mazinger, this makes your Unifive Mazinger Z seem like a whole new toy. It's so much cooler with the wings on. This set is a necessity, not an accessory.

When I received the package, I was surprised at how small the box was. It measures only 9"x6"x4". The toy itself comes in several parts and needs to be put together. Directions are printed on the back of the box, but it's really simple to figure out just by looking at it. Although it connects at the waist differently than I would have imagined. The yellow crest is actually a loose piece with two tabs on the back. You place the larger tab into the corresponding hole on one side of the "belt" and then slide the smaller one upwards along a curved opening on the other side. It has the effect of tightening his "belt", in a way. Nothing actually snaps into place or anything like that, yet it remains securely in place.

Like the rest of the Unifive Jumbo Machine line, this is also based on an vintage Popy toy. I've never held that one, but I assume it is basically identical to the new version. Strangely, both the new and vintage versions tend to sell for about the same price.

The Jet Scrander has a wingspan of slightly more than 18.5" across when assembled and will add roughly 4" to the depth of your Mazinger Z Jumbo. This makes it harder to display on a shelf, but it's a small price to pay for the added cool factor.