Today’s I am reviewing Dragon Shiryu from the Saint Cloth Myth line. Saint Cloth Myth is Bandai’s premium line of collectible figures based on the Manga and animated series called Saint Seiya.

This figure came courtesy from Angolz.com who have been nice enough to provide us with all of our Saint Cloth Myth figures for review.

If you are just joining us and want to know all about what is going on with Saint Seiya I suggest heading over to wikipedia and checking things out.

Now on to the actual toy - Bandai has consistently banged out some quality collectibles with the Saint Cloth Myth line the figures are always well produced and loaded with ton’s of accessories. Figures are made of plastic, stand about 6 inches tall and feature lot’s of poseability. The armor the figures wear are always made of a high amount of die-cast metal and honestly I am running out of nice things to say about this line.

This time around I am reviewing Dragon Shiryu, one of our main heroes and a Silver Saint of Athena. Shiryu is the oldest and wisest of our band of heroes. Shiryu wears the Dragon Cloth (armor for those not in the know.)

From Wikipedia:
“The Dragon Cloth represents the constellation Draco, which is associated to Ladon, the hundred eyed dragon who guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides, in Greek mythology.”

“The Bronze Cloth of Dragon is legendary for its large shield on the left arm guard. Its reputation is unmatched by any other cloth among Athena's saints, and only very few have ever shattered it. The Dragon Cloth itself is noted for its ultimate durability, as it had spent the last 200 years bathed under the mineral-rich waterfall of the Rozan mountains, which made it harder than diamonds.”

This is Dragon Shiryu as his Cloth appears later in the series and Hades OVA’s. The armor is almost all die-cast metal with only the waist skirt and head piece being made of plastic. Paint detail is nice with no chipping or flaking.

The figure itself is made of plastic with over 40 points of articulation with the feet being made of die-cast metal. Included in the package is an alternate head which sports Shiryu with his eyes closed (Shiryu goes blind in the later part of the series and tends to have his eyes closed.)

Lastly the armor pieces do assemble into a statue when our heroes aren’t wearing them. In the series the armor shrinks a bit to make the statues small, because these are made from the armor the figure wears the statue stand about as tall as the figure.

As you can see from the pictures, Dragon Shiryu looks good and as always Bandai has made a fantastic collectible. Fans of the series should run, not walk to add Shiryu to their collection and if you don’t watch or read the series it may still be a sharp enough design to pick up. The Saint Cloth Myth line always delivers a quality product and it is well worth finding a design you like and giving one a try.

I have included a video review below and as always you can get your Saint Cloth Myth figures at Angolz.com.

Does your toy collection suffer from too many robots? Too many manly blocks of zinc with firing fists and missiles? Have we got the toy for you. The Revoltech Jun is just the thing to get in touch with your feminine side.

Does your toy collection suffer from too many robots? Too many manly blocks of zinc with firing fists and missiles? Have we got the toy for you. The Revoltech Jun is just the thing to get in touch with your feminine side.

Jun is yet another character from Sony’s Japanese PS3 game, Doko Demo Issyo (どこでもいっしょ). Jun is a Rabbit who loves curry, noodles, MTV and Karaoke.

Jun is the self-proclaimed Master of Love.

This cute pink bunny comes loaded with accessories. There are three extra faces that can be swapped out for a variety of expressions.

Jun is all set for Karaoke with a microphone and a mug of beer.

The next day she can relax with sushi and green tea. Each piece of sushi is removable and can be attached to the arms.

Included with Jun are new arms for Toro so that he can join in on the fun.

But look out, Toro is a mean drunk!

The usual Revoltech quality applies here, and like the other figures with swappable faces, it can be difficult to get the face off. This is my favorite of all the Doko Demo Issyo – it’s just so stupidly cute.

You can get Jun as well as all your other Revoltech at HobbyLink Japan.

Revoltech Jun at HobbyLink Japan

Revoltech Suzuki comes from the Japanese video game "Doko Demo Issyo", which means "Everywhere Together"

What we have here is the Revoltech Suzuki (ジュン) from Doko Demo Issho (どこでもいっしょ), a popular Japanese Playstation and PSP game. Doko Demo Issyo roughly translates to “Everywhere Together” It’s an everyday life RPG based around the lives of the cute characters within. Revoltech Suzuki arrives courtesy of HobbyLink Japan.

To get an idea of the madness that is Doko Demo Issyo, check this out:

http://www.dokodemoissyo.com/psp/indexf.html

Suzuki is a robot that goes to class with Toro, Kuro and Jun (among others). He was born September 13, 2006, making him a Virgo. His favorite things are Pottery and he is a Qualified Ship Boiler Engineer. Suzuki is a serious robot, a student of philosophy and fan of music.

Check out Suzuki in action:

The four faces of Suzuki represent his different moods and are “Normal”, “Smile”, “Vacancy” and “Frenzy”.

This is kind of an interesting Revoltech release that I think benefits greatly from knowing the source material. I had no idea what these Doko Demo Issyo toys were all about until I translated half a dozen Japanese web pages. I don’t know that the American market will latch on to these other than for the curiosity factor (or for Revoltech Completists).

Suzuki comes with a few accessories, including a book and pointing wand that attach to the claw hands via pegs. The dual drill missile arms used in Frenzy mode require the arms to be replaced after the elbow, and were designed espescially for this release by the Doko Demo Issyo staff!

The stand is purple, and comes with the logo printed on it. Suzuki can stand on the stand itself, or can be attached at the back with the connecting arm.

It’s well done, as usual, and very out-there as far as design goes. If this is your bag you won’t be disappointed. You can get your Revoltech Suzuki at HobbyLink Japan!

Great vintage-style figure or Greatest Vintage-style figure? You be the judge.

Bossk is one of the 6 Bounty hunters seen on the bridge of Darth Vader's Star Destroyer in "The Empire Strikes Back". While Boba Fett gets all the glory, the other Bounty Hunters get no love. That is, until Hasbro included them in their Vintage figure line.

This may be one of the greatest Star Wars action figures ever made.

Now I am no Bossk fanboy. I love the bounty hunters as much as the next guy, but Bossk never did it for me. The vintage version just looked lame. But I ended up reading Tales of the Bounty Hunters, a 1996 anthology of short stories based on the characters tasked with finding Captain Solo. It fleshed out each of the characters so much that it renewed my interest in those lesser characters, even Dengar.

So why is this figure so great?

First, the vintage card back. Hasbro included Bossk as part of it's vintage collection, a line that brought classic characters and packaging to the new era. The card back is the same as the vintage toy, but the figure is all new. It takes advantage of all of the recent advances in Hasbro figures.

The sculpt is awesome. Every scale stands out, every button on his outfit. Paint application is flawless. His outfit is molded out of several different pieces, with the breathing apparatus and parts of his flight suit being separate.

Articulation is amazing for a figure this size. I count 17 points of articulation in this little guy. He just looks amazing.

It's really too bad that Hasbro doesn't do all their figures like this. I'd gladly pay $10 a figure for improved articulation and detailing.

You would think at this point when I find certain product in the clearance bin I would stay far, far away. But noooooo, even at 1.99 I feel ripped off. Here’s my review of one of those silly Super Deformed Veritech’s by Toynami.

Released in 2002 with a bunch of other Toynami produced Robotech product, the Super Deformed Veritech’s ended up as peg warmers very quickly and ultimately in the clearance bins of most specialty stores.

The figure transforms between Fighter and Robot mode and isn't designed to hold any sort of Guardian mode.In fighter mode it has pull back motorized feature to make your fighter fly along which is not a feature that has ever impressed me in a toy.

Paint detail is ok, it's not great and it's not horrible. Articulation is almost non existent and the arms and legs are loose, as are the wings. I realize that this is just supposed to be a “cute” toy but I don’t really think it’s cute or fun and feels kind of cheap for the original retail price.

Even on clearance it’s a waste of money. If someone tries to give you one, say no. If they insist on trying to give you one, take it … then throw it out when they are not looking. It is better to spare their feelings than ridicule their taste in toys. Sorry Toynami, you probably should have re-released the old Bandai Super Deformed toys or at least taken more of a design nod from them.

Yamato’s Galaxy Cyclone Braiger is an interesting piece. If it weren’t so expensive it would be a damn fine toy. The Braiger has a lot of toy-like qualities. It’s fun, durable, and has a lot of play value. But at $168 USD you really can’t think of it as a toy at all. With Video!

Yamato’s Galaxy Cyclone Braiger is an interesting piece. If it weren’t so expensive it would be a damn fine toy. The Braiger has a lot of toy-like qualities. It’s fun, durable, and has a lot of play value. But at $168 USD you really can’t think of it as a toy at all.

The Braiger is the first entry in Yamato’s GNU-GOU line. Yamato describes the line as follows:

“Drawing upon Yamato's time-tested experience through the development of countless high-end transformable toys, the GN-U GOU is the culmination of intensive manual labor, the latest in CAD design, and the manipulation of ABS material for sharp, precise detail to fully express the image of each individual Super Robot as it appears in the original anime without sacrificing any play value. While faithfully maintaining proportions and details, the GN-U GOU maximizes playability through an ingenious method of transformation through the combination of interchangeable parts. The GN-U Gou, a perfect marriage of form and function.”

Reading Yamato’s description of the GNU-GOU line, you begin to understand what they were going for, and why the Braiger is what it is.

My Braiger, let me show it to you.

Braiger comes packaged in a large, gorgeous box. The front has a nice painted rendition of the Braiger, while the back features images of the product in action. The front flap opens up to reveal the product through a clear window.

The components of the Braiger come packed in 2 clear plastic trays. The top tray features Braiger in robot mode while the bottom has the car mode parts. Included in the package is a DVD, sticker sheet and instructions. Before you get too excited, the DVD is just a 30-second opening animation from the TV series.

Braiger in robot mode is a fun, playable toy. It just feels like it should have come out in the late 80s, during that period when metal made way to plastic. The details are incredibly sharp and although light, the Braiger is sturdy. The parts fit is excellent with one exception. There are small tabs on the inside legs that need to be removed for transformation – on one leg this tab falls out easily. If the fit on the leg were a little better, this wouldn’t be a problem. It’s minor, but it’s a noticeable flaw on an otherwise great piece. The toy is almost entirely ABS plastic, and has a similar feel to Yamato’s Scopedogs.

While in robot mode, the Braiger makes use of several weapons. The signature Brai-Cannons are attached to the back of the figure via pegs. Each cannon swings over the shoulders and extends with drop-down handles so that the Braiger can grab on and aim.

The Brai-Sword is a yellow-bladed sword that can be held in either hand, and the Brai-Spear is a 2-part Javelin. The handle can be separated and connected with a section of chain to be held in both hands.

The jet mode of Braiger is called Brai-Star. Transformation from Braiger to Brai-Star involves so much parts swapping, that its practically a LEGO set. I won’t go into the details here about how to get from one to the other – you can watch the video for that. But I will say that it’s actually very easy. The parts are very sturdy and there is very little ambiguity as to where parts go. Sure, Yamato could have made some sacrifices to make the transformation more self-contained, but the goals is to make as anime-accurate of a toy as possible without sacrificing playability. In that regards Yamato succeeded.

The Brai-Star is sturdy and large. It features landing gear that can be plugged into to ports on the underside that are concealed by rubber panels. You can shake the hell out of it and nothing falls off.

To transform from Brai-Star to Brai-Thunder, you have to use a different set of parts, adding more parts to the pile.

I really recommend you set aside a large workspace when playing with this. Due to a fantastic system of magnetic connection points and tight tolerances, the car mode is fantastic, and maybe the best of the three modes.

Braiger’s car mode is reminiscent of 70’s muscle cars, with an exposed engine and large rear tailpipes. The wheels are made out of a hard rubber that gives it a smooth ride across your floor. This mode is also fantastic – when fully assembled you would never believe that there is a robot hidden inside.

The big problem is the price. The cost is way too much for this piece. I think at this cost there should be some metal, or something that shoots. Yamato has produced larger, more intricate pieces for less money. Perhaps the reason is that there isn’t as great of a demand for Braiger, and thus they made less, raising the per-piece cost. Maybe it was the tons of tooling and molds required by all of the parts? I don’t know. But if this toy was $50 less, it would be perfect.

Price aside – it’s a great toy. If this came out when the show was popular it would have come in a big Styrofoam tray with all the parts laid out through clear windows.. It really would have fit right in with the times, but even then it would have been a DX box set, handle and all.

If part swapping annoys you, then this is not the toy for you. But I found that half the fun of this toy is the swapping, changing back and forth between all three modes. I like it, but I wish it were cheaper. Unfortunately that seems to be the trend these days, and there’s not a lot we can do. It’s not a cheap hobby.

Braiger was available from Yamato Toys USA, but they are all out. Check with our sponsors to see if someone has it in stock.

Next up for review in my Saint Cloth Myth series is another Gold Saint, Libra Dohko.

From Wikipedia:

Libra Dohko is a fictional character in the manga Saint Seiya, authored by mangaka Masami Kurumada, that was later adapted to anime. He is one of the oldest characters in the manga next to Aries Shion, as they both appear in the previous Holy War, and is most known by his role as Dragon Shiryu's mentor. He is also referred to as Old Master (Rohshi) by all of the Saints of Athena as a sign of respect, even though his only true student is Shiryu.

Why “Old Master”? You see for the first 120 episodes of the series (he looks like a little blue Yoda. His legacy as the Gold Saint Libra is shrouded in mystery for the first half of the TV series. So for all of the TV series the Libra Cloth (armor for those just joining us) like the Gemini Cloth has no known wearer. That doesn’t mean we don’t see the Cloth in action, because we do.

The Libra Cloth is the only Cloth that incorporates weapons into the suit. Athena has banned the use of weapons feeling it is dishonorable for Saint’s to use them. Despite this she has charged Dohko with keeping the Libra Cloth and its weapons for the very rare instance they are needed.

In the series the weapons are given to our band of heroes (the Bronze Saints - Seiya, Shiryu, Hyoga and Shun) at several points when they need the extra help, so needless to say when the Libra Cloth’s weapons show up it tends to be during very dramatic moments of the series.

Much like most of the Libra Cloth, all of the weapons included are diecast metal with the chain for the shield and the very ends of the Tridents being plastic. Twelve weapons come with the Libra Cloth, 2 Swords, 2 Tong-Fas, 2 Lances, 2 Nunchakus, 2 Three-section staves and 2 Shields attached with chains.

So it’s not until the later OVA series Hades – Inferno that Dohko is restored to his former glory and dons the suit. Dohko was granted the gift of long life by Athena to watch for the return of Hades Specters who had been defeated in the last great Holy War, 243 years earlier) the trade off for this long life was he had to remain in one spot near the 5 peaks in China. Leaving this spot to confront the resurrected Aries Sion in Sanctuary removes the spell and Dohko dons the Cloth.

The figure looks very nice in the suit, with the head sculpt looking very much like Dohko in the series. The suit is almost completely diecast metal with only the helmet, belt and shields being plastic. This release comes with a Generation 1 type body so the figure has limited articulation in the waist, which is fine as the design of the cloth while worn limits the characters flexibility.

While the completed figure looks very sharp, getting all the parts and pieces where they belong was much more fidgety than previous Saint Cloth Myth figures. All of the Libra Cloth’s weapons come in their full size mode and in their shrunk down mode.The shrunk down weapons go into slots on the suit and these kept popping out while trying to slide the armor pieces on, swapping hands and generally posing the figure.

Also included is a Dragon Shiryu (Dohko’s student and Bronze Saint) head so you can display him in the Libra Cloth (the Bronze Saint’s don some of the various Gold Cloth in the TV series finale.)

With that said the final figure looks very nice and the statue mode of the Cloth looks wicked. Because of the place the cloth itself has in the mythology of the show I will be most likely just displaying it in statue mode.

I really like the Libra Cloth and the Dohko figure and recommend it for any Saint Seiya fan. Non fans probably won’t be swayed to try it just based on its design, but your mileage may vary.

Saint Cloth Myth figures are always top notch, with lots of shiny diecast and great character designs I whole-heartedly encourage our readers to find a design you like and give one a try, you won’t be disappointed. You can get all of your Saint Cloth Myth figures at Angolz.com just like I do.

The second release from Revoltech's Fraulein lineup is Rin Tohsaka the very talented and powerful Mage from Fate/stay night (-gratuitous panty shot inside - you've been warned you dirty pervs...)

At this point I think most of our readers know what to expect from a Revoltech figure; above average sculpting, high level of poseability, and a decent price point. There good, cheap, robot lovin’ fun.

But Kaiyodo was not content to keep it to just robots and has launched the Fraulein line to encompass popular female anime characters. Josh has just recently reviewed their other offerings from this line, Asuka and Rei from Evangelion. Since I’m not much of a fan of the series I passed on those but decided to give Rin Tohsaka from the animated series “Fate/stay night” a try.

From the package:

Fraulein Revoltech is an exciting new series of female action figures. It consists of new idea of figure system called “E.L.F.” producing beautiful body lines and motion as natural as real lives.

So basically no matter how sophisticated the packaging is and no matter how high profile the line is, it’s a series of “girly” figures. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

This girly figure is Rin Tohsaka from the series Fate/stay night. Now I only recently watched a handful of episodes of the series so I can’t speak too much to it but essentially it centers on the coming “Holy Grail War” and the Magi involved in finding the Grail and winning the war. Each Mage conjures a servant to fight for them. Rin is not only a high school student but apparently a very powerful Mage.

So with all that said, “How’s the figure?” Not bad. It’s very poseable with an excellent level of detail; I do find it odd that for all its poseability you can’t get the figure to go into a sitting position. Other than that, the sky is the limit as far as poses go. Her pigtails even have Revoltech joints in them.

Since Rin is primarily a spell caster she doesn’t have a ton of accessories. The figure comes with a fantastic stand to pose the character flying/midair (which she does quite often in the first few episodes I saw), a sword and some alternate hands.

Overall it’s more Revoltech goodness with no real surprises or disappointments for collectors of the line. With that said, I really don’t think this is a figure for non-Fate fans because as a “girly” figure (yes you can look up her skirt, yes she has panties on…) it’s pretty tame for those that collect those things and obviously Rin doesn’t transform into a giant robot or a jet I think it’s a pass for most Revoltech collectors. Fate fan’s however can and should buy Rin with confidence.

You can get all your Fraulein Revoltech figures at Angolz.com.

Better than the original? Can the Legend top the Icon?

• Monday was Dangard Ace (Planet Robo Dangard Ace)
• Tuesday was Starvengers (Getter Robo G)
• Wednesday was Spaceketeers (Starzinger)
• Thursday was Grandizer (UFO Robo Grendizer)
• Friday was Gaiking (Great Sky Demon Dragon Gaiking)

Isn’t a toy that inspires use of the imagination one of the most quintessential things in making a truly great toy?

NEO Shifters are a new toy line from MEGA Bloks and are obviously designed to be competitors to LEGO’s Bionicle toys.

NEO Shifters are creatures with the power to transform from sphere to robot as they battle for survival. Their masks protect the light-up Hydrax energy core, which projects a laser blast. Controlled by the NEOzome figure that lives inside them, NEO Shifters compete for resources needed to produce the Hydrax energy that fuels their powers and abilities. But too much Hydrax changes them from a peaceful Paladin to a destructive Templar. Join the resistance and discover the codes that control NEO Shifters.

Like all previous Neo Shifter’s before, Duneskiff comes unassembled in a fantastic package. MEGA BLOKS really know how to design dynamic packaging. The box has futuristic shiny copper foil outside with great illustrations of the toy. The box also features opposed rounded plastic edged corners. Both of these features make it a real eye catcher on a toy shelf.

Upon opening the box you will find a set of detailed instructions as well as all 26 pieces neatly sealed plastic baggies.

I want to start by saying that I really enjoyed assembling this vehicle. It was together within ten minutes and ready for play. The vehicle comes with a tiny pilot that can be seated inside the nicely detailed cockpit. The cockpit seat provides a nice platform for the pilot as well as storage for both of the pilots guns.

After admiring the Duneskiff for a moment. I started running the toy through its motions, transforming it to the pictures on the direction and the box. After doing this I realized that this toy had a whole lot more play value than depicted in the pictures. Within minutes I had it transformed into a spaceship mode and a cool battle platform mode. All with just a few turns of the wrist! But wait, the fun doesn’t stop there. The vehicle includes a sandstorm ball launcher that mounts on the rear of the vehicle or it can be hand held. I found this a very cool feature but I must warn you, the launcher fires far, making it is easy to lose the sandstorm balls under a piece of furniture. I know some parents may get scared off when they see the word launcher on a toy. Please don’t worry, the Blue Sandstorm balls that launch have no sharp edges.

• Transformability
• Two-in-one toy with multiple playing possibilities
• Sphere Launcher
• Cool details and colors
• 26 fun and easy to assemble pieces

Perfect for active boys 6 years old and up

I really liked this toy. I admired the engineering in this toy that enables you to really use your imagination. Heck, isn’t a toy that inspires use of the imagination one of the most quintessential things in making a truly great toy?

You can read more about Neoshifters, including all about the on-line game at www.neoshifters.com