Tenkai Titan Bravenwolf

Review by JoshB

I was ready to write of Teknai Knights as just another building block toy until I got a chance to see some up close at this year's toy fair. It was there that I was really taken by the idea of a transforming construction brick. They took that unique idea and spun it into a cool anime-inspired toyline. It was there and then that I knew I had to get some.

Tenkai Knights are under the Ionix brand, which is owned by Spin Masters. There will be several different Ionix lines including Pokemon, Hello Kitty and How to Train Your Dragon.

The boxes are unique with a cool angled side. They're a little busy for my tastes, but they stand out on the shelves which is the idea. Inside the toy comes disassembled in various baggies.

This piece, Bravenwolf, contains only 38 peices. I chose this set first because It really reminded me of something out of Super Robot Wars. At the core of these sets are a transforming brick. There are various sizes of transforming bricks and which one makes up the base defines the cost of the figure. As such, one could consider Bravenwolf a "deluxe" figure.

The brick itself is.. a brick. It's similar in size to Gold Lightan, the transforming toy lighter. Due to various tabs and pegs, Bravenwolf makes for a solid brick.

Transforming into the base figure is both intuitive and ingenious. Why has nobody thought of this before?

The un-armored figure is surprisingly poseable and very sturdy. It's hand-candy for sure. The tactile experience is great.

From here we tack on various armor bits that are pretty self explanatory. Instructions are included if you can't figure it out.

You lose some mobility with the armor on, but not much.

A sword and a shield are included. The sword is also a fold-apart brick but has a tendency to pop apart when unfolding. Also, my sword was missing one of the fold out tabs that make up the hilt.

The shield is the only weak part of the design, and it takes up almost half of the parts count. It would have been better served by one or two cool looking molded pieces.

The wings are translucent plastic and move up and down on a hinge. This would have been a bit cooler if they were on ball joints so you could get a wider range of motion.

Bravenwolf is not the most complicated toy, nor is it the biggest, but it packs a lot of fun into a small package.

I can't wait to tear into the rest of the sets I got. You've been warned.