Albegas
Review by JoshB
The last Albegas toy I am reviewing in this batch is one of the coolest - the ST (Standard) size Chogokin. Numbered GC-03, it was released in 1983 and has the rainbow band around the box, something many of the transitional toys from that period had.
In the US in the 80s, Matchbox got the toy license for Voltron, and imported modified versions of the Japanese toys for the domestic market. We know about the changes to the big diecast GoLion, the combining Dairugger, and the Albegas Denjin box but they also brough over ST versions of Golion and Dairgugger only (with modifications) - they did not bring over anything for Albegas. If they were to, this would be it. However I think the toy was too complicated and possibly did not meet safety standards for the US market. So with this toy we can dream what could have been the smaller-size, diecast, Gladiator Voltron.
The box is compact, with nice colorful graphics.
The back shows you all the combinations you can make with this toy.
All the parts rest nicely in a styrofoam tray.
So how does the transformation work exactly? It's kind of awesome and genius.
The toy consists of an internal frame, with various removable bits. The leg panels can be swapped out to any configuration, as can the chest plates. The arms however are always going to be Blue - not accutate, but it's fine.
The head swap is acheived by opening a panel on the back and rotating the heads to the desired position. It's an awesome gimmick that I haven't seen before.
With all the armor on, it's a fantastic, hefty toy. It has ball-jointed metal hips similar to the ST Laserion, and the whole thing is rather poseable. The legs and part of the chest is metal, the rest is plastic. Yes, the blue plastic is super fragile, so be careful.
The combined sword is included and the fists fire.
I didn't make every mode because each time you handle the blue plastic parts it's like playing Russian Roulette. At some point, it's going to explode on you.
I hope you enjoyed the deep-dive into Albegas toys. I have more, but you will have to wait. In the meantime, be sure to check out our Albegas toy listing here.