The first of a new line of Chogokin had been released, and it was in America, right under our noses. Who knew?

In 1996, Bandai Japan released a toy called the Kabuterios Chogokin DX (超合金ＤＸ 大甲神カブテリオス), from the series B-Fighter Kabuto. This was the first toy released in the new Chogokin line, and it was dubbed GD-01.

B-Fighter Kabuto was brought to the USA as Beetleborgs Metallix. Bandai America imported the Kabuterios Chogokin DX and renamed it the Deluxe Transforming Roboborg.

This toy is pure gokin. It's heavy as hell, weighing in at 1lb, 4oz, and it's 9" tall. The shoulders and lower body are solid diecast. It even comes in a styrofoam tray!

Roboborg transforms from beetle to robot. In beetle form, it features moving claws, and barely articulated legs. The legs are prone to falling off. Also, due to the weight of the toy, the legs don't actually support it. Roboborg looks like a squashed bug with its legs spread out.

In robot mode, Roboborg features a giant sword that unfortunately droops due to the soft plastic used. Articulation is great in the arms, but non-existant in the legs. The head does not move.

Although Roboborg looks cool, he has some serious quality control issues with the paint. Mine has paint bubbles anywhere paint is applied over metal. Big, 1cm bubbles. Attaching the stickers helps, but some cannot be covered. Combined with the floppy sword and weak legs, Roboborg just has too many flaws.

Roboborg could have been a great toy. The design is beautiful, but the paint issue really kills it for me. Maybe there are some that have not bubbled. These things are inexpensive for being DX chogokin. It's worth gambling on one; maybe you'll luck out and get one with good paint.

Bandai America took this mold and bade another toy called Boron. This toy was not released in Japan.
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This toy is pure gokin. It's heavy as hell, weighing in at 1lb, 4oz, and it's 9" tall. The shoulders and lower body are solid diecast. It even comes in a styrofoam tray!

In 1996, Bandai Japan released a toy called the Kabuterios Chogokin DX, from the series B-Fighter Kabuto. This was the first toy released in the new Chogokin line, and it was dubbed GD-01.

B-Fighter Kabuto was brought to the USA as Beetleborgs Metallix. Bandai America imported the Kabuterios Chogokin DX and renamed it Roboborg. They then took the molds and created a new toy, called Boron. It is essentially the same toy, with some minor differences such as head sculpt, paint and stickers.

Boron was never released in Japan.

This toy is pure gokin. It's heavy as hell, weighing in at 1lb, 4oz, and it's 9" tall. The shoulders and lower body are solid diecast. It even comes in a styrofoam tray!

Boron transforms from beetle to robot. In beetle form, it features moving claws, and barely articulated legs. The legs are prone to falling off. Also, due to the weight of the toy, the legs don't actually support it. Boron looks like a squashed bug with its legs spread out.

In robot mode, Boron features a giant sword that unfortunately droops due to the soft plastic used. Articulation is great in the arms, but non-existant in the legs. The head does not move.

Although Boron looks cool, he has some serious quality control issues with the paint. Mine has paint bubbles anywhere paint is applied over metal. Big, 1cm bubbles. Attaching the stickers helps, but some cannot be covered. My Roboborg also has these issues. Combined with the floppy sword and weak legs, Boron just has too many flaws.

Boron could have been a great toy. The design is beautiful, but the paint issue really kills it for me. Maybe there are some that have not bubbled. These things are inexpensive for being DX chogokin. It's worth gambling on one; maybe you'll luck out and get one with good paint.
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The Platinum Purple Battle Vehicle is one of three new giant armored vehicles custom designed by original 'Beetleborgs' comic book creator Art Fortunes.

After the Big Bad Beetleborgs win the battle against their comic-book foes, the Magnavors, the three kids think that their lives can go back to normal. However, Les Fortunes- the twisted brother of the man who created the Beetleborgs comic book- has plans of his own, and decides to create a new kind of original villain to get revenge for all of his brother's success! So, as Les and his new army- the Crustaceans- move in on the city, the original Beetleborgs comic book creator, Art Fortunes, draws up designs for a new type of super hero, and the funny phasm Flabber brings them to life with his special brand of magic. Now, with new armor, new weapons, and new giant beetle-shaped machines, the Beetleborgs Metallix are now charged with defending Charterville from evil once more.

The Platinum Purple Battle Vehicle is one of three new giant armored vehicles custom designed by original 'Beetleborgs' comic book creator Art Fortunes. It is based on the real beetle, and spots the familiar small antennae extending from the front of its body. Piloted by Jo McCormick- the Platinum Purple Beetleborg Metallix- it flies with two large-diameter turbofans, a pair of powerful jet engines, and has a pair of small energy cannons built under the nose of it.

Even though it isn't a part of any of the "Power Rangers" series of Deluxe transforming robots, the Platinum Purple BV stands quite well on its own, and spots a similar lineage in toy design from Bandai.

The six small black plastic wheels spin freely at the end of the three dark gray landing gear assemblies, and the light gray laser cannons on the nose are soft PVC. The two jet engines on the long tail can each spin separately or together through 360°. The large wings pivot at the base where they're mounted, and click forward/backwards together via an internal gear set-up.

What makes the Platinum Purple BV the most unique of the three is that it has a special mounting feature under each turbofan that can lift the other two BVs like a flying crane. This way, the Deluxe Chromium Gold BV< (sold separately) fits under the left wing, and the Deluxe Titanium Silver BV (sold separately) can fit under the right wing, and all three can travel to the battle zone faster. The combined BVs are a little awkward and the connection between them is not very stable, but it's an interesting change from having to get a larger carrier-like robot or vehicle to move all three. To release the clamps from the tops of the ground-based BVs, all that was done was to pinch the tabs above the separate wings together. This is quite a convenient way to get them around the house compared to doing that juggling thing...

As far as I can tell, the Deluxe Platinum Purple BV is identical in every way to its Japanese counterpart- the DX Stealth Gyro, from the Metal Hero series "B-Fighter Kabuto".

It is a good little toy, but it took a bad drop-or-two since I got it. It's the most fragile of the three, and I had to do a little amateur repair work, so the pivoting wings on mine no longer work correctly. The few paint details are sharp, and the large & numerous decals were a little tricky in some places to apply but they still look good. In many ways, it is just as good, if not better than, some conversions that were made to some of the Deluxe "Power Ranger" zords by Bandai America. The only discouraging part may have been that it couldn't transform or combine into a larger robot like some of its tokusatsu [Japanese live-action] or Anime cousins do, but it worked out well, and I'm not disappointed. Simple, but fun!

Even though it isn't a part of any of the "Power Rangers" series of Deluxe transforming robots, the Titanium Silver BV stands quite well on its own, and spots a similar lineage in toy design from Bandai.

After the Big Bad Beetleborgs win the battle against their comic-book foes, the Magnavors, the three kids think that their lives can go back to normal. However, Les Fortunes- the twisted brother of the man who created the Beetleborgs comic book- has plans of his own, and decides to create a new kind of original villain to get revenge for all of his brother's success! So, as Les and his new army- the Crustaceans- move in on the city, the original Beetleborgs comic book creator, Art Fortunes, draws up designs for a new type of super hero, and the funny phasm Flabber brings them to life with his special brand of magic. Now, with new armor, new weapons, and new giant beetle-shaped machines, the Beetleborgs Metallix are charged with defending Charterville from evil once more.

The Titanium Silver Battle Vehicle is one of three new giant armored robots custom designed by original Beetleborgs'comic book creator Art Fortunes. It is based on the real hercules beetle, and spots the familiar twin claws extending from the front of its body. Piloted by Rolland Williams- the Titanium Silver Beetleborg Metallix- it rolls on 4 sets of tractor tread assemblies, and has a small but powerful energy cannon turret built onto the top of it. The BV is also capable of a controlled descent from high altitudes with a set of small rocket boosters built into the back of the main body.

Even though it isn't a part of any of the "Power Rangers" series of Deluxe transforming robots, the Titanium Silver BV stands quite well on its own, and spots a similar lineage in toy design from Bandai.

The thick rubber treads slip around a pair of wheels inside the back two light gray tractor assemblies, and there are four small black ABS wheels in the front two assemblies. When a small black tab on the left side of the BV's shell is pressed, the entire toy springs apart and separates into three sections- upper body/antlers, back shell, and lower tractor assembly. This new upright mode raises it up and makes it look like it's going to pounce. It can still be rolled along the ground, but only along the lower tractor assembly. Unfortunately, the rubber for the treads weren't cut very well, so it doesn't roll all that easily. Depressing a small black button under the BV's upper cannon turret causes the antlers to spring forward about another 3/4th inch. If the antlers had been individually jointed, this would have increased the BV's reach even more. In either case, just pressing the parts together again is easy. The only problem with this set-up is that the antler-spring button cannot be reached when the toy is in its normal form.

As far as I can tell, the Titanium Silver BV is identical in every way to its Japanese counterpart- the DX Kuwaga Tank, from the Metal Hero series "B-Fighter Kabuto".

It is a good little toy, and has taken a few good drops since I've gotten it. The paint details are sharp, and the few decals were relatively easy to apply and look good too. In many ways, it is just as good, if not better, than some conversions that were made to some of the Deluxe "Power Ranger" zords by Bandai America. The only discouraging parts may have been that it couldn't transform or combine into a larger robot like some of its tokusatsu [Japanese live-action] or Anime cousins do, or the claw-like antlers couldn't open and close, but it worked out well and I'm not disappointed. Simple, but fun!

The Chromium Gold Battle Vehicle is one of three new giant armored robots custom designed by original Beetleborgs' comic book creator Art Fortunes.

After the Big Bad Beetleborgs win the battle against their comic-book foes, the Magnavors, the three kids think that their lives can go back to normal. However, Les Fortunes- the twisted brother of the man who created the Beetleborgs comic book- has plans of his own, and decides to create a new kind of original villain to get revenge for all of his brother's success! So, as Les and his new army- the Crustaceans- move in on the city, the original Beetleborgs comic book creator, Art Fortunes, draws up designs for a new type of super hero, and the funny phasm Flabber brings them to life with his special brand of magic. Now, with new armor, new weapons, and new giant beetle-shaped machines, the Beetleborgs Metallix are charged with defending Charterville from evil once more.

The Chromium Gold Battle Vehicle is one of three new giant armored robots custom designed by original Beetleborgs' comic book creator Art Fortunes. It is based on the real elephant beetle, and spots the familiar t-shaped horn extending from the front of its body. Piloted by Drew McCormick- the Chromium Gold Beetleborg Metallix- it rolls on 6 large wheels, and has a powerful energy emitter built into the front of it. The BV is also capability of limited flight with a set of small rocket boosters built into the swing-wing armor on the back.

Even though it isn't a part of any of the"Power Rangers" series of Deluxe transforming robots, the Chromium Gold BV stands quite well on its own, and spots a similar lineage in toy design from Bandai.

The 6 wheels, with thick rubber treads, are all free. When two small black tabs on the back of the BV's shell are squeezed together, large arms with four of the wheels spring downwards, jacking up the main body to about a 30° angle, and pointing its large gold-plated horn towards the ground. It can still be rolled along the ground, but this simulates how the real BV could tunnel itself underground for stealth attacks. Depressing a large silver-plated button on the top of the BV's shell causes a pair of wings to spring out 90° to either side. This reveals a small set of exhaust nozzles inside. In either case, just pressing the parts together again is easy.

As far as I can tell, the Chromium Gold BV is identical in every way to its Japanese counterpart- the DX Kabutoron, from the Metal Hero series"B-Fighter Kabuto".

It is a good little toy, and has taken a few good drops since I've gotten it. The paint details are sharp, and the few decals were relatively easy to apply and look good too. In many ways, it is just as good, if not better, than some conversions that were made to some of the Deluxe"Power Ranger" zords by Bandai America. The only discouraging part may have been that it couldn't transform or combine into a larger robot like some of its tokusatsu [Japanese live-action] or Anime cousins do, but it worked out well, and I'm not disappointed. Simple, but fun!