Giant Gorg

Review by NekroDave

Giant Gorg (巨神ゴーグ) aired for 26 episodes from April 5 until September 7, 1984. Takara released the jumbo the same year, the first jumbo they'd released since Jeeg in 1975. It was also the last one made by Takara.

The toy doesn't seem to be very popular, though I'm not entirely sure why that is. One complaint is that it doesn't feature much articulation, but the head swivels, the arms move and the legs turn. Most jumbos do not do much more than this. Some do even less.

It's a nice sculpt, but one thought might be that it doesn't display as nicely with other jumbos as it could because it's arms tend to point outwards. Personally, it doesn't bother me much.

Probably the most valid complaint against it is that is isn't very colorful. It's dark blue polyethylene is augmented by just a few small stickers, many of which are also dark blue/purple. One of the ones that isn't blue is the gold outline around the neck, but this sticker can be a pain to apply. The gold on the head comes pre-applied.

Speaking of the head, it's a very nice design and is not made of soft vinyl like most traditional jumbos. Instead, it is hard plastic and actually contains a light up feature. Twisting the battery compartment lid turns this on and off. I think it's a nice addition to the toy, and certainly unique among jumbos. This requires one AA battery to work.

Giant Gorg doesn't feature any kind of shooting mechanism though and I know that is a popular favorite with Jumbo collectors. It also has no wheels on the feet, but I don't think that is considered a very big deal either way. When I first got it, I was a bit turned off by the "high heels" look of the feet, but since I've added about 30 or so Gundams to my toy collection since then, I guess I've grown accustomed to it.

One thing I don't like about the toy overall is the box. It's just too big (likely due to those outstretched arms) and doesn't display well with the thinner Popy boxes. And if you aren't displaying it, storage may be a problem.

This is a great piece to get for collectors who are just starting out. It's not rare or expensive at all. They are almost always on Yahoo!Japan and can easily be found in most Japanese shops as well. It's probably the most common Japanese jumbo (along with Bandai's Five Robo and Yutaka's Getter Robo Go). A bootleg version of this toy was released in Taiwan at some point.