The King of Braves is now the King of my Detolf!
WHERE TO BUY – The Toy Source
Bandai closes out 2014 with what’s by and large one of the best in it’s Soul of Chogokin series of diecast Super Robot homages to date with GaoGaiGar.
The aesthetics on this piece are exquisite. It’s like the animation models literally jumped out of the TV and onto your shelf, which is a great feeling; especially when it comes to transforming toys that were converted from cartoons rather than CGI. I also love that there wasn’t any slacking on the individual pieces. Galeon/GaiGar, Stealth Gao, Drill Gao, and Liner Gao all look like just as much effort was put into them individually as the combined GaoGaiGar mode!
The play factor is definitely there on these pieces. From tons of poseability on GaiGar to things like working treads on Drill Gao, it feels like there was a very good amount of effort into making each of these as playable as possible for those collectors that really like to mess around with their items. The majority of the diecast content is in Drill Gao which is good considering that it makes up the legs in combined mode and that’s where’d you’d want the majority of a figure’s “heft”. GaiGar reminds me a lot of the Bandai Tamashii SPEC line where his outside of a hard, glossy plastic which emulates the look and feel of painted diecast while the actual diecast is in his joints. Overall it feels like a lot of thought was placed into the selection of diecast content.
The engineering on this is a sight to behold. The transformation/combination into GaoGaiGar is so akin to the cartoon that it’s a true treat to do! I literally wanted to play the soundtrack from the show while transforming it, and that doesn’t happen too often! Another nice touch is that this transformation is non-partsforming and all-inclusive in that you don’t need to swap out anything after transformation for it to “look right”; although it does come with bigger hands for combined mode to give it that cartoony, Super Robot look as well as a full articulated set of fingers.
Speaking of accessories, this one hits that sweet spot of coming with the right amount. By this I mean that you feel like you have all of the necessities without feeling like you have a bunch of worthless pieces that you’re just bagging up and keeping tabs of in order to always say you have a complete piece. It comes with a stand and a variety of attachments for Stealth Gao, different hands and an alternate face for GaiGar, different hands, including the “heaven and hell” fists for GaoGaiGar, as well as GaoGaiGar’s first weapon of the series: The Dividing Driver. Here’s hoping that a transforming GoldyMarg and Goldion Hammer come sooner than later.
The one area that I truly wish had some more playability is the head in combined GaoGaiGar mode. As explained in the video portion, the limited left-right turning is understandable because of how it’s attached to the piece that connects the helmet to Stealth Gao, but it’s still noticeably hindered and pretty unfortunate.
Overall, I feel that this is a fantastic piece that’s a must-have for both GaoGaiGar and toy fans in general! But what do you think? Leave a comment below and let me know!
Overall Score: 9.5/10
Enjoy a few more pictures of this figure below! Remember to click the pictures to view larger resolutions:
