God Sigma

Full video review

From Wikipedia:

“The year is 2050 and an energy crisis is Earth’s main concern. A brilliant scientist in Trinity City develops the Trinity energy, a new source of energy powerful enough to supply the entire world. The alien empire of the Elda learn of this energy and plot to seize it by force. They attack Earth’s space colony on Jupiter’s moon of Io and occupy it. Meanwhile, the Trinity energy has been applied to three giant robots that combine to form God Σ, a mighty robot led by its main pilot, martial artist Toushiya Dan. With its mighty sword, it now stands between the peace of Earth and the power of the Elda forces.”

New Soul of Chogokin releases seem to catch me off guard. It seems like I’m waiting forever for them and out of nowhere, they show up on my doorstep. Did all those months since the news of this chogokin becoming official pass by already? Apparently, they have because in my possession is the almighty Space Emperor God Sigma!

As is most always the case, Bandai has done a great job in the packaging. The box is huge and the artwork is what we come to expect for pieces in this price range. The beauty of it all is in the inside where the set is laid out in pure windowed robot porn.

After seeing all that beauty, looking at the accessories tray makes you want to go to sleep.

I almost didn’t get to photograph the figure in the tray, I was so anxious to just rip him out and combine him. Oh, and combine him I did, but we’ll get to that later. Let’s take a look at the individual figures first.

Sea Rumble King 海鳴王 Kaimeiō

He forms God Sigma’s right leg. You will see me using this one more than the yellow to show off the leg robot features because (A) I like this color and (B) the yellow is basically identical so it’s unnecessary to show both in full detail. Diecast is limited to the feet and all high stress joints. Mostly internal. The diecast used on the joints is of the black chrome-looking type. The antennas are PVC. Here he is with the trusty CDX scale tool.

He is armed with two weapons. His gun…

…and this rad chain weapon. Made of real metal chain.

His articulation is a little stiff since his blocky design pretty much kills any chance of crazy articulation. He’s got a nice vintage/modern feel, especially the upper half. If his hips and ankles weren’t slightly articulated, he MIGHT pass for a vintage figure. Out of the package he sports a pair of vintage Chogokin-style hands of the clamp-type variety.

Land Quake King 陸震王 Rikushinō

He forms God Sigma’s left leg. His design is a little less daring than his blue brother but otherwise identical in build and articulation. I’ve posed him here in a conservative manner.

He is armed with two weapons. His gun…

…and this rad hammer.

For a clearer comparison, here are both leg robots next to the ever-popular GX-01R Mazinger Z. As you can see, they are actually a very nice height.

Sky Thunder King 空雷王 Kūraiō

He is God Sigma’s main body. This guy obviously doesn’t like to be colorful. He prefers a Black Widow spider color scheme. He has a nice matte paint finish. The build is as excellent as the other two robots. Again, the diecast is limited due to design but understand that the diecast is used very well in high stress joint parts which assure long lasting fun. His diecast is in the knees, thighs and joints. The diecast used is also of the black chrome-look variety.

He is armed with two weapons. His sword…

…and this rad bow and arrow. The cord on the bow is actually a bent metal rod to give it a long lasting tensioned look.

He is just slightly taller than his two brothers. Here is the GX-01R again for comparison.

Big Wing ビッグウイング

He makes up God Sigma’s chest and wings. He isn’t piloted by anyone and carries God Sigma’s weapons. He comes with a nice clear plastic stand.

Weapons stand

For all you stand lovers, this set comes with a stand to keep all your weapons and accessories handy.

GATTAI! (Combine!)

Transformation video (pulled from full video)

Of course the fun doesn’t end there. These wild and crazy guys combine to form one giant robot. Awesome. To do this you will need to get each piece ready before they can be combined. The leg robots have a very nice transformation into leg mode. The arms stow away nicely into their sides and the thighs drop into their lower legs. The heads stay where they are.

You will need to open the chest and pull out a connecting tab.

Tabs also need to be swung up from the back.

Thunder King’s shoulders need to be popped out. Here you can see one side popped out to compare with the one side that’s not. His legs have inner knee pieces that need to be pulled out before you can fold his legs into his sides which makes his waist wider for God Sigma. Next, the forearm pieces which are stored inside his feet must be pulled out and installed over Thunder King’s forearms.

Thunder King’s feet are totally optional. You can leave them hanging out back, or simply remove them for a cleaner look.

Big wing is rather simple. You unfold a diecast bracket and pull up the wings.

GATTAI!

So here he is all combined and posed very straight like older chogokin.

But what fun is straight posing? Hold your horses! Don’t expect crazy posing. This guy is a couple of ratchets away from being a brick. He is about as heavy as a brick and just slightly more poseable. To be fair, the arms are well articulated, but don’t expect much of the knees. It’s saving grace is the relatively plentiful spreading of it’s legs which the ankles are more than happy to pivot for.

Here is as far as you’re going to get those knees to bend. Pretty pointless for posing but a welcome feat of engineering.

Up close without all those colors distracting the eye, he is pretty plain looking, but bad-ass at the same time.

If you pull away a bit, all the wonderful colors come back into play and it’s then that you realize it’s definitely not a plain looking figure.

Whatchoo lookin’ at?

Check out this really nice reflective chest piece.

I’m glad they used chrome parts for the legs. It would have really killed the look to used silver pieces.

He’s got some weapons too. Well, I assume this is a weapon of some kind. His wings open up to reveal a hidden gimmick.

He also has a big sword and a shield which is actually the mid section of Big Wing.

The sword can be held on his wing by attaching a supplied clip to create some cool sword grabbing poses.

So this is the part where I tell you guys whether this is a worthy purchase or not. I can only speak for myself. It hurts the wallet real good but it all comes down to how this figure makes you feel. I think it was well executed and I’m happy with the final result. Sure the articulation is limited but are you really going to pose him with his legs behind his head? Diecast is also limited but he still ends up being a hefty fellow. Another cool feature? If you squint your eyes real good, he looks like Voltron.