Mazinger Z
Review by JoshB
Jumbo Machinder fans are a particular lot. What they collect and why they collect them tend to be very constrained. Whenever a new Jumbo is announced, there are usually four questions - 1. Is it 60cm tall? 2. Is it made out of polyethelyene? 3. Does it shoot fists? and 4. Are there wheels on the feet? This is the measure of a vintage Jumbo Machinder.
But, times change, and so does the definition of a Jumbo. Bandai's been using the term "jumbo" loosely, with items like the Jumbo Grade Gundam. But this is the first modern toy from Bandai to be labeled "Jumbo Machinder".
S0 how does this modern day jumbo measure up to it's vintage contemporaries?
The Box
The box is huuuuuuuge. Maybe the biggest single box that has ever arrived at my house.
The box is a thick cardboard box with glossy printing all over. A window is cut in the front and top to view the toy. The box art is unremarkable.
Inside the box is a large plastic tray, with a small cardboard tray with accessories.
Needless to say, this thing is big. So big infact, that it needed to be shot outside.
Mazinger Z
It's big. Really big. It's heavy. It's maybe an inch taller than a classic Jumbo Machinder. So it succeeds on point one - It's at least 60cm tall.
The head is hard ABS plastic - details are sharp. The head has two different points of articulation - at the shoulder and the base of the head. The head can tilt way back. (I wonder if its in anticipation of a future accessory?)
The Hover Pilder is small and locks into the head. To release the Pilder, you need to push down on the tail of it, and then lift it out.
The pilder is hard abs plastic, and the wings go down. The cockpit is clear and inside it's very detailed, but there is a noticable omission - no Koji Kabuto in the cockpit.
The chest is ABS, and hollow, but still feels solid. The walls must be pretty thick. No Polyethelene anywhere in this figure, so for point 2 its a failure.
The shoulders have a kick ass amount of articulation, similar to the Soul of Chogokin release. The joint makes a loud click each time you move it, either up and down, or side to side.
The elbows are also very clicky, and can bend and rotate. The hands are on ball joints as well.
What would a Jumbo be without rocket punch fists? For point 3, the toy succeeds. The lower arms are swappable with rocket punch fists. An additional set of arms and launching fists are included. These arms can be swapped out with the existing arms via a magnetic connection point.
However, the magnet is not as strong as it should be. Sure, it will stay on, but if you are moving the arms around you can knock them loose pretty easily.
Down to the waist its a swivel joint, and then below its thick, heavy vinyl. There is no articulation from the waist down.
The finish feels decidedly old-school on the legs. Maybe it's the paint? Either way, it feels solid.
My sample had scuffing on the side of one of the legs.
The feet are hard ABS plastic, with molded detail underneath.
This is the closest thing you are gonna see on CDX to pimp my ride.
how about "Pimp my Cat"?
Epic
Yeah, so the toy is epic. No wheels on the feet either, so it fails on 2 of the four elements of a Jumbo. But it is cool regardless of what it is. Better not look at the price though.. ouch.
Comments
22 comments postedDamn. I didn't really get a sense of scale until you put it up next to your tire! Big always stands out a little! Yow!
Badass!
Can the cockpit on the pilder open?
Hmmm... I don't know...
I got it right after it was released, and lucky enough with a huge 25% off the retail price AND 50% off on shipping (which had to be EMS due to the value of the figure). So, I saved quite a lot. However, upon taking the figure out of the box, I felt that I had paid WAY too much for it. True, it is very detailed and it has weight, but there were a few things that rubbed me wrong. For example... where the heck is Koji Kabuto? Was it really that difficult to glue, or even mold, a Koji figure inside the Pilder? Come on...! The loud "clang" on the shoulder joints... it sounds like and old bed spring everytime the arms are moved, and it is LOUD! The lack of a chest/waist joint (ball joint)... it sure looked like it was going to have one like the GX-45, based on the screws in the back of the waist - but nope, didn't happen. And finally, the price! What was Bandai thinking! I got it fairly cheap, but even then, the total with shipping was over $250 dollars. Shipping alone on this figure will set you back about $100 dollars - the box is insanely huge, and it didn't need to be that big. In the end, the average buyer will fork out close, if not over $300 dollars for the Neo Jumbo Shin Mazinger, once shipping is calculated into the total. I am Mazinger's biggest fan, but I must tell you that in my humble opinion, paying $300 dollars for this Jumbo is crazy...
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Why are the hands switchable? I mean,if you don't want to fire them,just don't fire them.
Can you at least open the cockpit on the Pilder? That way you could put in like an x-wing pilot figure or somesuch so you at least have SOMEONE in there,and not just bare chair.
That said,this thing looks pretty awesome.
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A master of mind control who hides inside a Ford Pickup
On the fence about this. It is definitely jumbo-esque, but almost strikes me as more of an oversized plastic chogokin. And given the price of it (cheapest I can find it is about $340 shipped), I'm not that enthused. I'd probably be more interested in this type of toy if it was available in other characters. Anyone know if there are plans to expand the line?
turk
--
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.--Bertrand Russell
I prefer my High Dream Jumbo Mazinger as it represents the ORIGINAL classic version and not the Shin Mazinger Z version, plus it is superior and less expensive. High Dream rules. I'll pass on this one even if I'm a die hard Mazinger Z fan.
They should have just made it a big ABS plastic figure and have EVERYTHING jointed, even the fingers.
I think it's funny you mention "play value" on a $300 MSRP item. Is anyone EVER going to play with one of these? ;)
I sure as hell am.
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CollectionDX Admin
And how much did you pay for yours, Josh?
Touché
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CollectionDX Admin
well, I got my first real glimpse of it on CDX live and just looking at Josh's face while messing with it was enough to get me thinking about buying one.
I'm for sure going to play with it. As soon as I get to Josh's house.
Just not all that into jumbos in the first place. Truly, the only such that I wish I owned was the old Godzilla Shogun Warriors jumbo (need it with unbroken tongue lever though). Other than that, the sheer size of a jumbo makes it too much for me, besides the fact that the whole aesthetic of them never has appealed to me. This is far closer to what I'd want, but even then, the size just makes it impossible. I can hardly find space for the Brave toys I have and they're nowhere near this big! Still, it looks great. The price is far too high, however.
I wonder how many of these they intend on pumping out? I know the Super 7 Jumbo is limited, but its start price(shipping not incl.) is $300. That is on par with this pricing. If we lived in Japan or HK, we would not have to worry about the crazy shipping, but that's the way it goes for us outsiders! Oh well I still ordered this mutha and will be proud to display him as the new lineage/homage to the originals. This looks great!
I will not be getting the Super 7 Jumbo release. I chose this one instead.
GREAT reply by SpaceRunaway : "And how much did you pay for yours, Josh?"
You really need to remember that most all the rest of us slugs still gotta pay for our stuff!
Grandzinga....
Based on previous Bandai releases, I'd say this thing is going to be made for at least two years before it goes away, and you might see a lot of sales on this next winter. And then like their SOCs they'll keep re-issuing it to drive the speculators and HK scalpers crazy.
Bandai is in the business of selling as much of something as they can, the Super7 is obviously much more directed at a specific collector (vintage jumbo) whereas this is more marketed to "everyone"- or more or less aimed at SOC folks (if they were going for the jumbo crowd only you'd see some poly or wheels as Josh mentions in the review.)
I was disappointed to see that there's no leg articulation. Fine for a vintage styled Jumbo like the Super7, but the way this guy looks, and this price point, it looks like it should be super-articulated.
If anyone was on the fence about which jumbo to get, Super7 or Neo, I'd go for the Super7- not because one is better than the other, but because I can promise you, in 2 years, you will see far more of these available for sale than that Stormtrooper.
And Josh,
you have both the Shin Mazinger SOCs, is this the same sculpt? Sure looks like it on the screen, or at least very, very similar.
and does the clear plastic cockpit lens come off? I could see someone doing a little resin Koji to go in there...
in 20 yrs this thing is going to command over 2k on ebay. Book it! (this will get people to buy it for sure)
...are not my cup of tea, but I suppose someone might be interested in this:
http://pimpmytoys.blogspot.com/
I find this guy's work pretty neat... What do you say?
(Oh...ehm. The guy's obviously italian, and so is the text. If someone's interested, I can translate, but the pictures are what really matters, I think)
They sentenced me to forty years of boredom, for trying to change the system from within
Awesome stuff! Thanks for posting this.
-Dan
CollectionDX LLC
Vice President/Co-Owner
What Dan said, thanks a TON for posting that link! I'd never see it before and those custom villains are fantastic. Man, I would love to see all of those along with all the Grendizer saucer animals that guy in France made.
"You can't sell it until you get it from him, but you gotta sell it to pay him to get it to sell it".
---Jerilock, talking about me trying to raise the money I need to pay for the toys I already bought....
Eh, eh...
Glad you liked the link.
I do think they're awesome too.
As a plus, the text details how the guy did everything "kosher", in total respect for vintage toys. In fact he only used parts that were well beyond repair,played, as he says, by children who would become pro wrestlers or demolition men. One of those was found in a friend's house barn and had a bees nest inside.
And kikaiju should definitely get more love from toys professionals. They're so awesome. I can't even begin to think what could come out of a SOC line exclusively dedicated to bad guys. I just wet my pants.
They sentenced me to forty years of boredom, for trying to change the system from within
http://reggiocomics.blogspot.com/
i like this "toy" and i think that this new machinder is ok in 2010.
A replica like the old Jumbo Machinder would not be appreciated.
The first is the first, this new one, is another product.
Sorry for my bad explication, cause i'm italian XD