Mazinkaizer SKL
Review by JoshB
You might know Mazinkaiser, but do you know Mazinkaizer SKL?
Put it this way - If Mazinkaiser was as metal as Motorhead, Mazinkaizer SKL is as metal as Napalm Death.
This guy takes the legend of Mazinkaiser to the next level. It's a darker look, but less flamboyant than its predecessor.
This toy was available as part of the Mazinkaizer SKL starter pack available only from the Tamashii Web shop late in 2010. Consequently it's a bitch to find, and when you do, it's not cheap.
You can get all your Tamashii Exclusives at Anime-Export.com
It comes packaged in a plain white outer box. Inside you have the SRC toy and a Region 2 DVD of the first episode of Mazinkaizer SKL.
The Mazinkaizer box, while attractive, is noticeably simpler than the other releases in the SRC line. While others have cool die-cut windows, this is a solid front box.
Inside, the toy rests in a cheap plastic tray.
Included with the figure are 6 extra fists, 2 Breast Triggers (guns), Ganzantou (sword), sword peg, and Tamashii stand adapter.
The figure itself is awesome. It feels so well realized, like the end result of decades of refinement.
One thing you have to look out for is the numerous sharp, pointy parts. There are so many sharp points that the instruction sheet has a whole section dedicated to pointing out all the sharp bits that you need to be aware of.
At 140mm tall, it's a bit taller than the previous SRC Releases. At this rate, they will soon be as big as the original Soul of Chogokin releases.
The head has ball joints at the neck and base of the head. The head is made of hard ABS plastic, with a softer PVC removable skull pilder. The pilder can come off sort of easily.
The chest is all plastic and features a red crest that resembles the head of Devilman. These are actually Mazinkaizer's guns, called "Breast Triggers". The unit on the chest has moveable top parts but does not separate into individual guns. This unit is held in place by a golden skull pin, which can be removed.
Included are two separate Breast Triggers that can be held as handguns or hatchets. Each has grooves that allow the skull pin to attach the separate Breast Triggers to the chest either together or on its own.
There's chest articulation too! The larger black part is on a ball joint. The middle grey section is also ball jointed. The lower grey section just swivels.
Shoulder articulation is awesome, with double jointed shoulders, moveable pointy shoulder armor, double jointed elbows, and ball jointed fists. Although not included, you can use the Rocket Punch accessories that came with the Mazinkaizer Z accessory pack with this figure. The fists easily pop on and off and can be replaced with any of the variant hands.
The hips are ball jointed and then there's a swivel joint that leads into the thighs. The knees are double jointed and there's a collapsible panel on the back of the leg.
The lower legs are metal, but the feet are plastic. The ankles feature nice tight ball joints.
The big weapon is the Ganzantou - a large, very pointy serrated sword. A small peg is included that attaches to the figure's back that attaches the sword. It's small, but it gets the job done.
The sword is huge - it's taller than the figure. It can be held by either of the holding hands but look carefully at the two sets of hands - one has a slightly extended trigger finger - those are for the guns. The handle of the sword can be pulled out, increasing the length to 22cm. I feel bad for the kikaiju that feels the bite of this massive blade.
The good things about this toy are that, of course, it's a great design, the articulation is great, and the figure is tight. The bad is the fact that it's a Tamashii exclusive, and therefore expensive and hard to find. I got mine from Anime-Export, which is the best place to get your Tamashii Exclusives aside from living in Japan and getting them yourself.
Comments
10 comments postedI am nothing anywhere in the ballpark of a fan of Mazinger, Mazinkaizer, etc. That has zero appeal to me.
But this thing is bad ass! O_o
Ha, ha...! Funny, really... 'cause that's the same way I feel about Evangelion - zero interest in it - no kiddin'! But I did pick up the SOCs and a few Revoltechs of the EVAs.
Anyway, Josh, one thing that I wanted to point out is that this guy's name is actually spelled MAZINKAIZER, versus the original MazinkaiSer. I have no idea why Go Nagai or Bandai (or both) decided the suttle name change, but I guess it is pretty much because they could. The figure is pretty awesome, but like you said, very hard to find at a reasonable price... heck, it's price was unreasonable even when it was first released - for a 14cm mostly plastic figure that is.
Oh yeah, Josh... you forgot to put the Skull Peg back in the chest after you removed the Breast Triggers. ;)
}D
The only other super robot Revoltech I have is the Getter Robo 3... just because it looks cool. But I've never seen it before either.
It has gone up to about USD 200 on ebay X)
I think bandai made this taller in order to give a correct-in-scale feeling when compared to mazinger & great mazinger.
Any word on a SRC SKL Minerva X? This robot has a few features in the anime that could use a weapons pack or just give the figure a nice SOC treatment.
Yeah, the name of the female SKL counterpart is Wingle. So far, there is no news or even a hint that it will get the SRC treatment. However, rumor is that Mazinkaizer wings are actually Wingle's head, soooo, it may be released for the purpose of accessorizing the Mazinkaizer SKL... and probably as another Tamashii exclusive.
}D
There IS another figure definitely coming from MAZINKAIZER SKL - and it's the powered-up Mazinger.
http://toyfreakz.com/blog/?p=149
One look at the toy, and you can see, it's a nice tribute to the Jumbo Machinder Mazinger.
It's getting an R1 DVD release too in a month or so.
Great design. Maybe they'll be a revoltech of it too.
A huge thanks to Josh for reviewing this. I honestly didn't think it would make it's way to CDX since its so rare as you described.I also got mine from Anime-export and absolutely love it. I have had some trouble getting him to hold the guns from the other end, but i suppose i might be able to make it work after looking at your pic there.
Also, it might be interesting to note, that in the newly released 2nd episode, the breast triggers attache to each other and a handle comes out, forming a huge axe like weapon. Fans are wondering if this is any indication plans for a new accessory pack that would include the axe handle along with the wings (scrander part) that should be introduced in the next and final episode of Mazinkaiser SKL.
I hate that this thing is exclusive. I want it but I am not willing to pay for the "collectors price" for it.
How does someone get these exclusives when they come out?