Godmars
Review by JoshB
The latest big Soul of Chogokin has arrived ! Godmars is here, and he is fantastic.
The program "Rokushin Gattai God Marz" (aka Six Gods Combination God Mars or 六神合体ゴッドマーズ) debuted on the NTV network on October 2nd, 1981 and ran for 64 episodes until December 24, 1982. The Titular Robot was named Godmars – a giant robot made up of six smaller robots. Other than that, I got ‘nuthin.
Godmars was never broadcast in the west, so American audiences wouldn’t know of this character’s existence if it weren’t for it being part of the Godaikin line of toys in the 80s. Godaikin toys were repackaged Bandai toys that were assembled from a wide variety of sources. The GB-68 Popy DX Chogokin Godmars was sold under the line in mainstream outlets such as Child World and Toys R Us without any frame of reference.
The series wasn’t hugely popular and it is remembered more for the fantastic toys spawned from the show than the actual show itself. As Bandai’s Soul of Chogokin line progresses, it has to dig into the second tier characters. But this allows the designers to do a little more I think, because people are less concerned about the character and the accuracy than they are about if it is a cool, well-engineered toy.
I’m happy to say that Godmars is a great toy on many levels. Where the original Chogokin had a great transformation there was a lot to be said about what happened to the extra bits, or “kibble” that hung off the back. Bandai took this opportunity to right the wrongs made so long ago. This toy is a great homage to the classic Chogokin and is available at BetaToys.com
The box is very different from your average SOC. The big, bold title of the robot is spelled out in giant chrome letters, with all the characters flying in from space. Open the box and you get a styrofoam tray with an old-school insert, identifying each of the robots. Even more, lift off that tray to find that the Styrofoam has been embossed with the name and logo of the toy. That is awesome.
Each part of Godmars comes wrapped in plastic, and each unit is self-contained. No assembly is needed, and Godmars is ready to go right out of the box.
Godmars is made up of six robots.
Gaia is the core of the robot, and it hides inside the chest of Sphinx. It is microman sized, and is fantastically poseable. He comes with no accessories other than a set of variant hands. The lower legs and feet are metal.
Sphinx makes up the torso of Godmars. As a stand-alone robot, he is blocky and inarticulate. The head can turn, the arms have a decent range of motion, and the legs can swivel at the calf. The front and rear panels are metal. Sphinx also has a set of variant hands.
Uranus is the white arm of Godmars. This robot is really nicely done, with good articulation and metal content. Bandai did some great things with this toy in regards to hiding the arms so that it looked smooth from all sides.
Titan is the green arm of Godmars, and although he looks different, he transforms exactly the same as Uranus.
Shin is the black robot and makes up the right foot of Godmars. This is one heavy bot, with feet of solid metal. In robot mode his articulation is limited, but he is light years ahead of what was done with the old Chogokin version.
Ra is the blue robot and becomes the left foot of Godmars. This toy has the same transformation as Shin.
Assembling Godmars is as easy as it gets. Each robot folds up neatly with little fuss and no parts swapping. The arms of the smaller robots are hidden in a mechanism similar to Gold Lightan – each arm is collapsed and folded in to the torso, hidden inside. Once assembled, you’ve got a solid, fun toy that feels like it could have been made in 1982. The only thing that spoils the sense of nostalgia is the lack of firing fists.
Godmars has one weapon – the gigantic “Mars Flash” sword. The sword can be held in the existing articulated hands, or in the variant “sword holding” hand. Also included are two larger closed fists. Honestly, the hands that come stored inside the arms are good enough – the other fists are just clutter to be lost.
But wait, there is more. What SOC toy would be complete without all kinds of other accessories that are easily lost?
First off there are three small jets that can combine into one larger jet.
Cosmo Crusher 1 is a long slim gray jet.
Cosmo Crusher 2 is a stubby jet
Cosmo Crusher 3 is a microscopic ship that hides in the underside of Cosmo Crusher 1.
The two larger ships can combine to form the Cosmo Crusher. The toy is all plastic and has a cool transformation mechanism, but it doesn’t feel like it goes with the toy, and will probably remain in the box.
Godmars also comes with what looks like a large stone sarcophagus. You can place part of the display stand inside to pose the Gaia robot. Each of the Godmars robots rests in a hidden place, such as inside a statue or under the sea. It would have been cool if a container for each robot was provided as was shown at Tamashii Nation.
Lastly, A small stand is included, with pegs on the base for holding the hands. The stand has two parts that can be used for various displays. You can attach both parts to create a cradle for the sword, or you can attach the stand to the back of Gaia to replicate a flying mode.
As far as quality control goes, Godmars is mostly perfect. The door on top of Uranus (the white robot) does not like to stay flush with the body, and there are a few small paint issues in the inside of the arms of Shin (the black robot). Design-wise, the toy is great, although I find the legs a little long.
I would recommend Godmars, and you can get him at Betatoys.com. I think he is worth the money, and I feel that you get what you paid for with this one, bucking the trend with similarly priced “gokin” toys.
Comments
29 comments postedThe individual robots look great but man the proportions of the combined form look so terrible. I don't like the huge legs with the G1-Transformer hips.
That is awesome!
I sometimes wish that Bandai would release a Super Sentai robot like this... Full of accurate human-like articulation in robot mode, superb detail, and standing taller than 5" like those candy toys which accomplish the same thing but are far from DX-size.
(I wouldn't be able to afford anything like that, mind you, but still-!)
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CollectionDX Staff
Say, what is the significance of that combining fighter craft to the GodMars?
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CollectionDX Staff
The cosmo jet thing is kinda the equivalent to the pimped up motorcycles sentai teams drive around in to help beat down the lesser baddies. Which I always thought were pointless. Just go straight to the zords and be done with it.
Anyway, I really like my godmars. He towers over every other SOC i've got thanks to those long sexy legs. Perhaps if Shin & Ra's legs contracted all the way to their hips it might look a bit better proportioned.
As for the arm joints, I too thought they would be fragile, but theyre solid diecast with a smooth/clicky joint system on them which feels great and holds that giant sword no problems (unlike Voltes).
I especially like the GM logo that appears on his belt when Gaia is docked. Small details like that make this SOC impressive.
One silly thing that does bug me tho is that while there is a dummy face of Gaia in the clear window on godmars face, if Gaia's head is tilted upwards while docked you can see him peeking through the blue window on his chest. BIZARRE!
"Just go straight to the zords and be done with it."
Oh, I couldn't agree more! That's the thing about the Ultraman series that I thought I'd like- it's always big [kaiju?] battles from start to finish, and no mini-battles at all with the costumed hero. However, some facets of Ultraman just don't rub me right, so after seeing only a few early dubbed episodes ("...Nexus", I think?), I dropped the saga.
However, one of the key rules to being a Ranger is that you never intentionally escalate a fight; right alongside not using your powers for personal gain, and never revealing your secret identity (the latter-most being broken first in "PRiS" in the finale, and consistently through "PRLsR" & "PRSPD"). I believe Zordon said that in the "MMPR" pilot. You can certainly activate power-ups and personal weapons, but using a Zord to crush a human-sized monster is escalation.
Ya know, I read somewhere that there are amateur wrestling matches in Japan where contenders dress-up as a favored or made-up giant monster (cosplay, perhaps?), and then they 'fight' inside an actual boxing ring amongst plaster buildings. True/false? Called?
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CollectionDX Staff
I've heard of Kaiju Big Battel (http://www.kaiju.com/) but thats in the US i think. I've only watched part of a match on youtube once and it reminded me of normal wrestling, but the guys were in monster suits and the ring was littered with cardboard boxes resembling buildings.
Im not much of a fan of kaiju, i like your godzilla types, but i'm more of a robot fan, thus the only reason i can watch power rangers. Ive been interested in watching some Kamen Rider or Ultraman, just too see what its all about, but there are too many series and I wouldnt know where to start.
My first shows watching subbed were "Tokusou Sentai DekaRanger" (2004) and "Kamen Rider Kabuto" (2006). You just have to dive in since the earliest shows in each sub-genre may not have all of the now-classic elements that make the modern ones likable.
For example there are two whole Super Sentai series- "Himitsu Sentai GoRanger" (1975-1977) and "JAKQ Dengeki Tai" (1977)- that do not have giant robot battles in them because that element was not added until "Battle Fever J" (1979). Transforming Super Sentai mecha don't appear until "Denshi Sentai Denziman" (1980), and combining mecha first appear in "Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan" (1981). (I could go on and on and on and on...)
Well, I'd say just start with the current or most-recent show, and then work your way up from there:
Super Sentai
Kamen Rider
Ultraman
Metal Hero (discontinued)
There are only one or two sequel series per sub-genre, otherwise they are all completely disconnected from each other, and their original airing date.
Some past shows from those that I would like to see are:
But, otherwise, I'm content continuing from where I am now.
YouTube.com no longer allows full episodes of any complete tokusatsu series to be put on their site due to trademark infringement (which is just whiny corporate bullsh*t from Toei), but I have found completed episodes (subbed, thank god!) from TV-Nihon on both Veoh.com and Crunchyroll.com. It takes longer down download them off the latter two, but you can do it without signing-up or downloading specialized Bit torrent software first.
(Can anyone recommend some free one-size-fits-all bit torrent programs I can download off the net?)
Speaking of which, has anyone subbed the two Metal Hero' "B-Fighter" series [upon which Saban's "Beetleborgs" were made]?
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CollectionDX Staff
Cool thanks. I've got some watching to do.
...So that's not the actual Gaia figure's head peeking through God Mars' head??? That's kinda crappy...
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Sanjeev
Yeah unfortunately Gaia doesnt dock like in the popy one.
I haven't seen Godmars, but I bet it plays a similar role in the series as Blugar played in Raideen, or any other support vehicle in all the other super robot shows of the olden days - they're there as the first means to fight off the invasion, suck at the job, allow the titular robot to step in and save the day, which leaves the vehicle to play two roles; 1) play a support role, like I said, and 2) to be made into cool toys.
Yes, I know I'm replying to a six year old post. Better late than never!
The only real important thing to know about the Godmars cartoon is that in the second to last episode Godmars flys into hell, defeats the devil, and frees all the souls that he had enslaved.
Mazinger never did anything quite like that.
Yeah, but Mazinger always had GIRL robots around.
Having girl robots vs. freeing souls from hell?
I'll take the metal ladies thank you ;)
but seriously, now I know what to do with that money I was going to spend on CM's MOSPEADA TREAD set.
the new is nicer
but I kinda like the old one where the neck of Gaia actually extends and its head fits inside the head after combination. You can even see Gaia's head behind the blue see-through mouth plate.
You mean like this?
from here
"This must be settled the way nature intended....with a vicious, bloody fight!"
Onyx Blackman
Principal, Flatpoint High
Cool! But is that the new ver. there, or the old one, NekroDave?
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CollectionDX Staff
Yeah, I agree, I think the leg is bit too long. Call me crazy, but proportion wise, I prefer the old one.
I don't mind the legs, but what has bothered me from the start was the shrunken head. I'm sure I'll still get one at some point anyway though. It looks just too cool otherwise.
"This must be settled the way nature intended....with a vicious, bloody fight!"
Onyx Blackman
Principal, Flatpoint High
Thats pretty cool for a 'Lesser Known' Robot from the 80s generation..
I wonder if Bandai has plans for a Chogokin Danguard Ace or Dangaioh.
I'm not too anxious for Bandai making a Danguard Ace, but I would KILL for Bandai to give us a SOC Dangaioh! That would blend so beautifully with my SOC Gunbuster, Ideon, and Dancouga all together. Danguard Ace I'm not too fond of personally, but I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed for a SOC Dangaioh in near development.
-Rodimus
Godmars looks great! Q: how are the shoulder joints in the combined mode? I've seen pictures of the shoulder pegs on other forums, and they look awfully thin.
God, I wanna get this! It looks so sweet. Say, do you think Bandai might make a SOC of the Mighty Orbots?
.... That last thing was a joke, folks.... ya get it?
I got God Mars a couple of weeks ago at BotCon in Cincinnatti from BBTS for about $250. Unfortunately, this means that I really don't have extra money to spend until October rolls around. Such is the price we pay to grab up such expensive toys.
Cool!
But what's this I hear that GX-43 is gonna be Daimos? If this is true, then that would be the day for me! Been waiting for this one a long time...
The elbows on all the robots except sphinx and gaia are really flimsy. They seem like they will break off eventually.
Also the connection of my Uranus to Godmars is non-existent. His left arm keeps falling out of the socket. I however do not have this problem with the other arm. Go figure.
For this price I would have expected better. Lets just say that Dancougar had a lot more detail, functional elements, etc.
For $150 this would be an almost average gokin. For over $200 this is a rip for what little is offered.
I got Godmars for Christmas and it's a lot of fun, but it has one glaring flaw. The right shoulder on mine is so loose that it can only hold the sword all the way up in the air or all the way down at the side. That shouldn't happen for over $200...
I had the Popy as a kid and I played with it pretending it to be the Mighty Orbots. This is the closest thing we'll ever see to an Orbots toy. Unless...
Thanks to all who posted. I will not get this one now- due to the comments on defects- loose joints, and the likes. C'mon Bandai! Not acceptable at this price point.
Grandzinga....