Robocon

Review by JoshB

Robocon is cute and cuddly. Robocon is your robot friend who helps you through tough times.

Not this Robocon.

This Robocon was designed by the S.I.C. master himself, Takeuki Takeya.

This is Robocon re-imagined with a steam punk Victorian aesthetic. Mythical 70s funk replaced with gears and grease. You can almost hear him clank and grind as he walks. The toy is part of the S.I.C. Takumi Damashii line. Takumi means “Artisian” and Damashii means “Spirit”.

The Takumi Damashii line was an offshoot of the S.I.C. line, but it has no metal content, just a similar design aesthetic. They were sold as trading figures and were “blind boxed”. Most of the figures in the line were fixed pose with no articulation.

Robocon, however, is something special.

Robocon is molded in silver plastic that has been distressed to give it a mechanical look. Rivets, pipes and knobs adorn his body. His hands and feet have a brass finish to them, lending to the air of antiquity.

The arms can raise and lower, and the plate on his chest opens to reveal his clockwork inner mechanism. You can see all of the gears, belts, and pulleys that make this robot tick.

The toy comes disassembled in the package. After completing Robocon, you have leftover parts. These are for Robocon’s vehicle mode.

In the original show, Robocon could trade his legs for a set of bicycle wheels to speed away. This toy has taken that concept a bit further and turns Robocon into a steam-powered roadster.

All of the old timey details are there: the old horn, the separate headlights, the exposed spare tire, even the license plate. Takeya nailed it perfectly.

Even the undercarriage has full detail.

The only big flaw with this toy is its size, and the fact that it isn’t an S.I.C. Can you imagine if this thing was bigger and had metal in it?