GX-33 Spiderman & Leopardon Soul of Chogokin Metal Figure Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a nice heavy die cast metal SOC "adult collector figure" - dare I say "toy?" Because it isn't, really; nor is it meant to be played with by children. It's a display figure with intricate detail to match the old-school sentai-style Spiderman TV show that aired in Japan. It was inspired by USA's own live-action Spiderman TV show, but of course in Japan, everything has to somehow have a giant robot involved in it, so Spiderman was hooked up with not only a sweet car (that comes with the figure, a little bigger than matchbox-sized) but a wristwatch-like device to call upon the power of Leopardon when the enemies overpowered or over-sized him. He would then hop from his car into Leopardon and continue fighting foes either as a robot or a space ship...kinda vehicle.
The base for the figure is cool because you can store the car in it. The figure also comes with accessories (not a lot like some other sets, though) and a larger-sized vinyl Spiderman figure, including his wrist device, and a stand to hold him up. Leopardon is one of my favorites even though the transformation is kind of basic. The robot lays down and becomes an awkward kind of ship with a big yellow leopard head on the top. Like Battle Fever J, the show is less-known about in the States than later super-sentai style shows, but I'm glad I nabbed one because it's just a really cool robot design. I'm still not sure what a leopard has to do with the spider theme, they never really explain that, but with these shows we're talking about heavy suspension of belief, so...we'll let that go.
4 stars for not really meant to be played with. It's for collectors. 0 stars for educational value: none to speak of, shouldn't apply. 4 stars for it's heavy die cast & plastic, but it has very tiny pieces. Transforms, although the transformation is somewhat less than spectacular (not the toy's fault, really). 4 stars overall: It's not exactly "huge," in fact it's one of the smaller SOC. It represents the TV show's figure perfectly & comes with neat extras including to-size Spiderman in sports car, a base, and larger size vinyl Spiderman figure. Great addition to any SOC / Godaikin collection!
I got it for $120...price will likely go up over time since only so many are made and then no more are produced. The longer you wait the harder it is to find SOC sets.

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Toynami Voltron Defender of the Universe Metallic 25th Anniversary Gift Set Voltron Lion Force Review

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(More customer reviews)My main disappointment is with the description as "Metallic".
Voltron the concept is awesome. If you're an 80's born kid, you know the nostalgia that you would hope for in a "25th anniversary" Metallic edition. It's like 90's born kids playing with Power Ranger's Megazord in about 10 years from now. But this disappointed.
I had the original metal Voltron when I was younger. The one where you can launch the lions' heads by pressing a button, and where each one could fire a plastic bullet inserted from a different part of each individual lion's body.
This metallic version, I hoped, would replace that since I no longer have it on hand. But this edition is plastic all around. You can tell just by the weight of it. If it looks like plastic, feels like plastic, weighs like plastic...then it's plastic.
Also, this didn't have the cool features of the lion heads being able to be launched via a button nor did this come with plastic bullets or the other neat little intricacies of each lion. It just comes with the Sword and Shield.
I would have easily paid more for the real metallic version had this been described as "Plastic". I just wanted to let others know before purchasing this maybe expecting the metal version we may all had while growing up.

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Voltron Lion Die-Cast Masterpiece Action Figure Review

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(More customer reviews)If you could shrink yourself down and get inside this Voltron toy to fight evil, I would think again. Not because of evil or the problems associated with trying to get back to normal size once you're done fighting said evil, but because this toy Voltron collapses under it's own weight. It's terribly disappointing. Also, there are no real controls inside the lions, so it would be kind of a pointless exercise.
The lions by themselves are pretty great. Fun, posable, and a good likeness of their cartoon counterparts. Their metal bodies are well made, but their plastic legs are cheap and fragile. Especially their feet. Still, they look cool (except the black lion, he looks a little goofy. Not chunky like the original toy, but awkward.)
Once assembled into Voltron (only as a last resort of course), the mighty robot tends to fall over at the hip joints. There just isn't enough resistance there to keep him rigid. His shoulder joints where the red and green lions attach are almost too stiff, and tend to instead rotate part of the chest plate. Defender of the Universe? Maybe in a Universe that can be defended by collapsing into the fetal position.
"What?! A giant monster is attacking?! No problem, I will curl up in a ball."
Voltron is not a toy durable enough to play with. He certainly is durable enough to stay 'mint-in-box', as it were. But that's like buying cases of DVD's to not watch or candy to not eat. I want enjoy fun, not keep it hermetically sealed. But understand, my problem isn't with the idea of collectables. It's with the fact that the manufacturer gave me no choice in the matter. They produced an inferior toy knowing that most wouldn't open the box to see their poor hinge design.
I showed my children the cartoon I loved as a child, and they loved it too. When I was a kid, we couldn't afford a toy like Voltron. And even now, this was a much more expensive toy than they'd normally ever get. But I bought this for them so they could enjoy it, and play with it like I dreamed I could have. But a Voltron that crumples up and falls down kind of shatters the imagination, like some kind of imagination hammer. Not that the hammer is imaginary, but that it smashes things that are. You already got that though, right?
So to sum up the 'Voltron Lion Die-Cast Masterpiece Action Figure':
Voltron: Check. Shaped and styled to look just like Voltron.
Die-cast: Check -ish. Maybe 15% plastic...low grade stuff too.
Masterpiece: It's a master piece of something, that's for sure.
Action Figure: Figure, yes. Action, no.
So thank you for putting out all the effort to reproduce Voltron then failing on the last mile. It's like putting together a cruise ship to Alaska, all the supplies, getting everyone on board, setting sail...only to get right off the coast and announce, "Oh yeah, sorry to inform you Alaska is closed. And also, the Voltron toys in your cabin are garbage."
And finally, thank you for taking some of the shine off of both, Christmas, and the dreams of my children while harvesting $140 from my wallet. May your hip joints fail you as well.

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