Believe it or not, the only other Yutaka “Spiral Zone” type figure I was interested in purchasing, besides their Votom’s Cirico Cuvie figure, was their action figure release simply named “Ninja”.

Ninja was Yutaka’s first release when they decided to issue 1/12 scale 36-point articulation action figures using Bandai’s Spiral Zone bodies back in 1998. As I do not have much more information on the background of this particular figure, I am unaware if Ninja is licensed from an original manga/anime/video game character or a newly created generic figure.

Originally priced at $25.00 in 1998, the price has dropped down to $9.99 in recent years and I was lucky enough to find a sealed boxed example on Ebay for $4.00.

Ninja is an economic release. The package includes one generic box that is issued with all four Yutaka figures with two stickers denoting this figure as Ninja. The inner package includes: 1x System injection action figure, 1x cloth suit, 1x cloth hood and a small photocopied paper in Japanese.

Here’s the kicker for all you Spiral Zone collectors. Unlike the Yutaka Cirico Cuvie figure, which was released with a variation of the Spiral Zone type body, my example of Ninja came with an original Bandai 1985 body! The back of the figure is embossed with “Bandai 1985 Japan Pat P”. I do not know if I have an older issue of Ninja but I now believe it is a toss up between receiving an original Spiral Zone figure or a Yutaka “Spiral Zone” type body when you purchase a Yutaka figure. Although the face is well sculpted, the face looks to young for the subject matter.

The cloth ninja suit has a different cut than Spiral Zone cloth suits, most notable is the seam that goes up the front of the suit and the metal hook on the back of the suit. To remove the hood one must separate the head from the body. Once the head is removed one must be careful when separating the hood from the head because the hair easily separates from the head. Just a little glue will fix that that issue. The hood doesn’t completely cover the figure’s head and must be tucked under the fringe for it to cover the top of the head completely.

There are two ways one could look at this release. If it is to be displayed as “Ninja”, Yutaka did not finish with they set out to do. Ninja does not come with any shoes, gloves or weapons. The hood doesn’t come with any face covering and the face sculpt does not represent the subject matter very good. Simply putting a figure in a black suit does not make it a “Ninja.” This could have been a great release but like the Votom’s Cirico Cuvie figure release Yutaka did not follow through with the subject matter.

On the positive, I like the simplicity of the figure, akin to the original Spiral Zone extra figure releases: “No.11 White Man” & “No.12 Black Man.” Ninja is a great figure to be used with one of the four extra Spiral Zone uniforms manufactured in the 1980’s, making custom figures or to use as replacement parts for original Spiral Zone figures. With that in mind, the figure passes in my book.

$9.99 is not a bad price for the figure and is low enough priced for the above reasons to purchase. But if your looking to buy a well detailed generic Ninja action figure and not willing to put the extra time to update what Yutaka should of done in the first place, I would pass on this one.

Chirico comes in a small generic black box with only a sticker to denote this figure from the other three in the series. The contents of the package includes one orange rubber suited 1/12 action figure with knee and arm pads and wristlets, one spruce of parts, 2x rubber belts, 2x shoulder pads, one rubber hose, a neck collar ring and photocopied instructions.

In 1985 Bandai released a brilliant series of fully poseable, 1/ 12 scale, 30-point articulation futuristic combat action figures called Spiral Zone. The line was only manufactured for a couple of years with only twelve products released in total. Even compared to the highly detailed action figures available today, Spiral Zone figures still hold up very well.

I do speak for many SZ collectors that I would wish Bandai would revive this line again.

So I was pleased to hear in 1999 toy manufacture Yutaka released a new "Spiral Zone" Figure, Chirico Cuvie of Votoms fame. Keeping with the high-end aura of the original SZ figures it retailed for $40.00. As it wasn't a priority I held off buying the figure for a few years until the importer of the line in USA dropped the price to $9.99. Twenty years after I bought my last SZ figure I was about to get another. But how similar are the Bandai SZ figures to the Yutaka figures.

Chirico Cuvie of Votoms fame

Chirico comes in a small generic black box with only a sticker to denote this figure from the other three in the series. The contents of the package includes one orange rubber suited 1/12 action figure with knee and arm pads and wristlets, one spruce of parts, 2x rubber belts, 2x shoulder pads, one rubber hose, a neck collar ring and photocopied instructions.

One item I was disappointed in was the figure's uniform, which was made a sticky orange rubber. Original Bandai SZ figures included one piece clothe suits in their sets. Chirico's rubber suit is molded in four parts: the pants, the shirt and both the left and right arms. Although the rubber suit does looks sharp on Chirico I never like rubber as main feature of toys as over the years it usually easily breaks apart or becomes very sticky and attracts dust. It also takes a bit time to remove the outfit because it sticks to the figure. The three other figures in this line all have cloth outfits why this one was rubber I don't know.

One feature I was happy with is figure comes with his cool helmet and pouch belt kit. But this is where I feel that the designers at Yutaka lost focus. Bandai SZ figures were like small model kits, they came with spruce of armor, belts and gun parts but after one was assembled it can be played with then taken apart to be stored back into the package. Yutaka chooses to have all the belts, oxygen tank, shoulder pads and other small parts glued to the figure's orange rubber outfit. The neck collar ring part badly designed as the hole suit is larger than the neck collar ring. I chose not to glue the parts on and will use a couple rubber bands to keep the Items on for display.

Although I had to go online to correctly assemble Chirico's helmet, it looks great when assembled. To put the helmet on you simply remove the sculpted Chirico head and replace it with the helmet head. His gun looks great and has the typical trigger finger hole on the gun as with all SZ figures. Painting is required for both the helmet and gun.

Another Item I was completely impressed with is the Head sculpt. It's well done and is one of my favorites in both lines and it's great to see such an iconic character such as Chirico as SZ figure. But keep in mind that the Bandai SZ bodies and Yutaka bodies are different. SZ bodies are made from a different type of plastic than the Yutaka figure. Although both have the same features Yutaka figure are more simplified versions of Bandai figures, mostly in the bust area, waist and shoulders. Both have the famous trigger finger and the hands separate at the wrist for "gloved" hands.

Side to side: On the left is the Yutaka SZ type body, On the right is the original 1980's Hyper Boxer Bandai Spiral Zone Figure.

I'm split on this one. I'm just glad I didn't pay $40.00 for it because it's just not a $40.00 quality figure. I wish Yutaka had manufactured the Chirico's equipment differently, with snap on belts and equipment. As is it's a huge design let down. But At $9.99 buying another and gluing the parts on wouldn't be a great loss.

On the positive it's great to see somebody finally revive the line. Chirico Cuvie was a great subject to manufacture. Yamato has released an amazing Chirico figure in the same scale for their Scopedog figure but I really love the Spiral zone charm the Yutaka figure has. It is also a great way to get parts for a broken or missing Bandai SZ figure or use the figure for one of the four Bandai SZ uniform sets that were manufactured in the 1980's. It has been more that a few years since they released any new Yutaka SZ figures but I hope Yutaka continues the line.

It's certainly different than vintage jumbos, but it's got a real neat design with some cool gimmicks and accessories.

TV Tokyo broadcast Getter Robo Go (ゲッターロボ號) for 50 episodes from February 11, 1991 until January 27, 1992. Like previous entries in the Getter Robo series, it featured 3 ships which could combine to form 3 different robots. Only one of the robots was released in jumbo form however. And like the show, it isn't nearly as popular as it's predecessors.

Personally, I really like the toy though. It's certainly different than vintage jumbos, but it's got a real neat design with some cool gimmicks and accessories. It's got a nice set of wings, two shooting fists and a shooting drill missile fist. There is also a big sword and a much smaller hatchet which can be placed in either hand.

The wings are very unique and each one has a missile launcher built right in. And if you don't care for them, they can easily be removed. Each wing has a round peg that goes into a hole in the backpack. You can also store the drill missile fist here when it is not in use.

Getter Go has just 5 points of articulation, at the ankles, elbows and neck. The elbows are on a ball joint so the lower arms are particularly poseable. But, the fact that the shoulders cannot move is the biggest problem the toy has. You can't raise the arms at all. It's a frustrating and unnecessary oversight. I mean, why would you rather move the ankles and not the arms?

The only other downside is that the design of the fists is a little bit plain. The surfaces are too flat, with little detail.

The box is mostly unremarkable, but it should be noted that it's alot bigger than the regular Popy Jumbo boxes.

The Jumbo Getter Go was the only jumbo released by Yutaka and it is a pretty easy acquisition as far as jumbos go. Since it was released in 1991, it's much easier to find than older jumbos and does not carry a large price tag. It should only cost about $100-300.

This is a small PVC figure of Victory Robo from GoGoV (aka Lightspeed Megazord from Power Rangers Lightspeed).

This is a small PVC figure of Victory Robo from GoGoV (aka Lightspeed Megazord from Power Rangers Lightspeed). It's about 5 inches tall, and makes a series of irritating beeps and whistles when you press the chest panel.

Victory Robo also includes a small rubber sword.