My eyes! They Burn!

I got this bootleg on the same shopping trip that yeilded the Spider Man Adventure hero. However, while the Spider Man was out in the open on a street corner, this one was harder to find.

Bored and looking to score (a bootleg), I wandered in and out of shops in chinatown. Some stores had toys hanging from pegs outside, others just had festive paper lanterns dangling from fading awnings. In between a fish market and a bag shop, a small shop caught my eye. Did I just see what I thought I saw?

Dan and I went in and my bootleg sense was tingling. I was led around by a strange force until we saw them hanging on pegs.

Bootleg Soul of Chogokin Dancouga toys, labeled "Wild Force Chariot".

I wanted one, and Dan wanted one, so we began haggling with the old Chinese lady working there. $25 each she said.... too much. How about if we bought both? Anything?

I think we knocked a few bucks off the total but it took a while - she drove a hard bargain. Were these worth $25 each? Hell, the discovery alone was worth it.

Dan tore his open back at the hotel, but I must resist. I must open mine in a controlled environment, somewhere where I can document it in all of its bootleg craziness.

So I waited. And waited. Eight months later I finally get the chance to open it.

The verdict? It's terrible. But in a wonderful kind of way.

Packaging

If the idea of a bootleg is to make a cheap knock off of the original item, why make the cards so damn big? This card is easily 20 inches tall, twice the size of the figure? Cut that in half and bootleggers can save a ton of trees.

But I digress - back to the package. Wild Force Chariot comes blister-carded on a HUGE backing card. The card features images of the real SOC Dancougar, but the differences are immediately obvious. I like how the bootleggers photoshopped in the bootleg labels onto images of the real toy.

The back of the card features the barely discernible instructions. The warnings are all in Chinese, but a sticker has been placed over a block that has an age warning in Spanish.

Big Moth

Out of the package the toy is already in humanoid mode without the feet animals attached. The toy has been radically simplified, but the transformation is essentially the same. The Big Moth can be transformed into all of his versions - humanoid, tank and animal.

Land Liger and Land Cougar

The two tiger robots are here, and those too are simplified with some awesome decals. Both can also transform from humanoid to vehicle to animal, as well as becoming the feet for Dancougar.

Eagle Fighter

The Eagle fighter, in this case, is totally different. Here it is just a hollow shell, only able to form Dancouga's head, and a crappy bird mode. Oddly, two Eagle Fighters are included with the bootleg.

Combined!

All the parts combine alright, but the final form is sloppy and unrefined - in other words - typical bootleg quality. The plastic feels like brittle styrene, and the paint applications are messy.

The only included weapon is a gun, and parts of the gun aren't included. Also omitted is the giant wing that attaches to the back.

No sword either.

So yeah, it's a pretty horrible toy. But someone had to cover it, to document it, and we are those people.

Super Beast Machine God aka God Bless The Machine Dancouga! To find out what that means, read more inside!

Here's a little bit of trivia for you that I bet you didn't know. The full Japanese name of Dancougar is "Choju Kishin Dankuga" which translates to "Super Beast Machine God Dancouga". However, for some reason, the Japanese companies chose a different English name for the character, which is "God Bless The Machine Dancouga". Why? I have no idea. But until Yamato released Dancouga as a GN-U figure, I had no idea that it had a different name.

Dancouga comes courtesy of Angolz.com.

This GN-U figure adds a lot of play value into the equation, but it is still struck with a few flaws.

First of all, Dancouga is not transformable. The toy is typical GN-U in that it has an internal skeleton with ABS parts covering it. Dancouga's design limits the poseability, but it does well with whats available.

Some interesting things of note: The trunk in the front is articulated, and can move depending on the pose.

The large gun (DankuHo) on his back can unfold and be positioned over the head. and the two smaller Beam Launchers on his back can be swung around he sides near the waist.

Included with Dancouga is the giant DankuKen sword, which actually comes in two pieces. Variant hands are included, including one to hold the sword. First the hilt goes in the hand, and then the top of the sword attaches. It's big, but not as ridiculously oversized as with the SOC.

OK so I mentioned flaws. Most of the figure is really great, but the armor over the hips does not stay on at all. I'm sure a drop of superglue would keep the two halves together, but i don't see why this couldn't have been one piece. Let's not over-engineer what should be a simple toy, okay Yamato?

SO if you would like to get your hands on a GN-U Dancouga, stop looking at internet porn and head over to Angolz.com. Yeah, I'm looking at you.

Dancouga is one of the most hotly debated Soul of Chogokin toys released to date. Love him or hate him, you can't deny his presence on a shelf. His mech-styling makes him stand out from the other SOCs, and with his jet pack attached, he is the tallest SOC at 15 inches.

Dancouga is actually made out of 4 robots. Let's go through them one by one:

Eagle Fighter

The Eagle Fighter forms the head of the combined Dancouga. At about 2 inches tall, it is one of the most intricate robots I have ever handled. The transformation is reminiscent of origami. Despite its small size, it is fairly articulated, and even includes its own gun. It does however feel extremely fragile. It can transform into 3 modes:

• Aggressive Beast
• Aggressive Humaroid
• Head of Dancouga

Land Liger

Land Liger is the right foot of Dancouga. It's a fine toy in its own right, with solid transformation, and ample amounts of metal. The articulation is not bad, but it could have been better. The legs would have benefited from a better hip joint to allow more dynamic poses. Land Liger has a cannon on its back, and also comes with a Blaster Gun. It scores points for the little details, like the shoulder mounted cannons, but loses points for simple oversights, like non-working treads. Bandai didn't even give them wheels to roll around on.

Land Liger has four modes:

• Aggressive Tank
• Aggressive Beast
• Aggressive Humaroid
• Right foot of Dancouga

Land Couger

Land Couger is the companion piece to Land Liger, and are pretty much the same, aside from some cosmetic differences. The gloss black paint really makes this one stand out. Land Couger also has four modes:

• Aggressive Tank
• Aggressive Beast
• Aggressive Humaroid
• Left foot of Dancouga

Big Moth

Big Moth is the main part of Dancouga. He has the most metal, and the most problems. He is actually pretty solid in robot mode, but the tank mode is where it all goes wrong. To transform to tank mode, you have to fold the arms and legs around to meet each other, and you get two flimsy clips to connect them together. It took me forever to get them to connect, and I was in constant fear of breaking it. Also, you have to attach two sets of antennae on the sides of the elephant head, and not only are they a bitch to take in and out, but they get in the way of the transformation. There are some cool things about it though, such as the rubber treads and articulated guns on its back. The four modes of Big Moth are:

• Aggressive Tank
• Aggressive Beast
• Aggressive Humaroid
• Body of Dancouga

Dancouga

The combined mode of Dancouga looks really good. You attach Land Liger and Land Couger to the feet via plugs in Big Moth, and you fold up the Eagle Fighter and attach it to the head. Dancouga has two main weapons: Dankuken (the sword) and Daigan (the combined gun.)

Dankuken is made of 4 pieces and is about 10 inches long. Very cool.

Daigan uses the guns of all 4 robots to combine into a super gun. One cool feature is the ability to slide back the side handles to reveal a loading mechanism for the weapon. Daigan has 2 small pegs on the back of the gun to attach to Dancouga for stability, but it is difficult to get these pegs in, and when you do, they don't stay in place.

You can attach the Booster unit to Dancouga's back securely, but doing so makes him top heavy. Loose hip joints make him topple over easily when the unit is attached.

Dancouga has several other major flaws:

• The head will not stay on. The method to secure the eagle fighter to the body is flimsy.
• The hands pop off easily (they pop back on easily as well)
• The sword will begin to tarnish over time.
• Paint on the feet chips easily
• Low metal content (lower legs, feet and shoulders)

Personally, I don't like the toy. Heck, i'd hardly call it a toy at all, because you can't really play with it. It took me 2 hours just to transform all the modes and I'm not even sure I did it right. I got so frustrated with it that several times during the transformation i just wanted to throw it on the floor.

Is Dancouga right for you? Well if you are a SOC completist or are in love with the character, I would advise you to approach with caution. Your $200 is better spent someplace else.

In 2004, Bandai released the GX-13R at the Chogokin Expo. Dancouga got a new paint job to mimic the original chogokin toy, but did not improve on any of the above flaws.