VooV Gyro Fire
Review by siningy
I did a terrible video review of the Fire Gyro to go along with this review. I apologize for the quality, video editing/filming is totally new to me but I do hope to improve with some more practice.
The third and possibly my final foray into the VooV series of transforming vehicles, the Fire Gyro takes a significantly different approach than the previous entries. Instead of vehicles flipping inside out to transform, the Fire Gyro’s three core vehicles combine into a large rescue helicopter.
The Fire Gyro comes packaged in a simple cardboard box with images showing the off the various combinations and modes of the vehicle. Inside is a plastic tray with an instruction manual, small sticker sheet, gun, two claw attachments, container unit, and three vehicles; a scooter, ladder truck and fire truck.
The smallest of the three vehicles is the scooter. It has free rolling wheels, but there isn’t much more to it. It’s kind of weird to imagine a scooter being a rescue vehicle instead of a motorcycle, but not much of this set makes too much sense. All three vehicles feature a secondary mode transformation, with the scooter becoming Fire Hover by flipping out a sled underneath and flipping out wings.
Next up we have the ladder truck. Because the ladder transforms into the helicopter blades, it ends up being rather large and boxy but it is articulated on a ball and swivel joint. The secondary mode is called the Fire Spinner, in which the front cab portion folds down and the ladder partially opens. I honestly have no idea what the Fire Spinner is supposed to be, maybe some sort of satellite truck, but it could just as well be a spinning twirly ride for all I know. The Fire Spinner seems very much like an afterthought that was thrown in as an extra play feature.
Finally we have the Fire Truck which resembles an airport Fire Truck. There is a small turret on top which is molded into the body and is probably my favorite of the three standard mode vehicles. The secondary mode is called the Fire Shooter, and simply transforms by flipping open the rear of the vehicle, pulling out a nose from the front and attaching the small gun thingy to the right side. The Fire Shooter is the laziest of the three secondary modes, and is obviously just the core of the helicopter body. The official instructions show that rear hatch is supposed to stay elevated at an angle and just makes it look pretty stupid.
Combination into the Fire Gyro is a simple but fun process. The Fire Shooter is essentially transformed, and just needs the rear hatch to be folded flat onto the roof. The Fire Spinner then folds down and attaches to the rear of the Fire Shooter and the Fire Hover becomes the tail. The Fire Gyro actually looks very good as a Helicopter and the design is pretty cohesive.
The two large ports on either side allow the claw attachments to peg in and a third peg can fold down from underneath the body to attach the container unit. The container unit is fairly large and the inside is angled at a slight slope so any vehicle put inside will automatically roll out when the door is opened. Each claw actually has two different sized clips allowing you to attach any of the VooV Truck or Car size vehicles and has some limited articulation. As a rescue vehicle, the Fire Gyro works perfectly with the previously reviewed Fire Chemic and Medic to become arms for the helicopter but will work almost all the normal VooV vehicles. It’s a pretty weird mode, but pretty fun to play with. The best description would be a scorpion-helicopter robot or something.
The Fire Gyro is a pretty fantastic little toy as a standalone toy, and the retail price of 2800 yen is reasonable for something of this size. The Fire Medic and Chemic make the Fire Gyro a lot more entertaining as well and the universal adapter for most VooV vehicles makes it great choice for anyone interested in giving the VooV series a try. It seems like the series may not be doing too well in Japan and many of the VooV sets are either on steep discount or discontinued. I don’t keep any of the VooV stuff displayed on my shelves, but I do find myself often fiddling with them on my desk.