Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water....Dun, Dun....Dun, Dun....Dun, Dun......

From Wikipedia

The Brave of Gold Goldran is a Japanese anime television series series begun in 1995, created by Sunrise under the direction of Shinji Takamatsu, and was the sixth in the Yuusha meta-series funded by Takara and produced by Sunrise. Goldran follows the adventures of three young boys who are tasked with finding alien robot fighters, or Braves, that are sleeping in the form of crystals. Their major antagonist is the flamboyant and thoroughly incompetent Walter, and the villains that follow him are often similarly humorous. The entire show is extremely focused on comedy and silliness almost to the exclusion of much in the way of storytelling, although the series does develop some running plot lines towards its end. In terms of television ratings, Goldran was the peak of the Brave series' popularity.

Today I will be reviewing the Captain Shark DX re-issue, made by Sonokong/Takara. The sample for review can be purchased rather cheaply from our friends over at Big Bad Toy Store, Please check them out or just click on the Ebay links at the bottom of the page for links to help find any live auctions for the item reviewed today.

Captain Shark is hails from the anime The Brave of Gold Goldran. Captain Shark is basically a space pirate/battleship in the familiar shape of a shark, hence the name. He has an excitable demeanor with a keen mind and will often play the straight man. His right eye is hidden under an eye-patch until it is used as a targeting scope for the HYPER GALACTIC BURST MODE ATTACK.

Captain Shark is a very formidable adversary, his weapons include:

Shoulder Cannon
Captain Sword
Spiral Launcher
Spring Shot
Shark Cannon
Hook
Harpoon

To start off with, Captain Shark comes to you in the now familiar, beautifully illustrated, heavy corrugated cardboard box shown below.

I wanted to show you a close up of Captain Shark's head. Notice the pirate hat and eye-patch. Its an unusual design to say the least. Even though it is unique, who doesn't like pirates and giant robots? They go together like chocolate and peanut butter!

Captain Shark stands approximately 11.5 inches tall in robot mode and made of quality heavy plastic. He weighs in at a stout 1 1/4 lbs. Articulation is limited to the elbows and upper shoulders.

Heck, who needs articulation when you have some much firepower? This guy is heavily armed! His giant shoulder mounted cannon can fire 16 of the 48 included red missiles by a simple twist of the back of the cannon. But wait, the eye poking goodness doesn't end there! He is also equipped with a wrist mounted firing harpoon and hook. Also, lets not forget his 4 rotating cannons mounted on both shoulders and his swashbuckling sword.

Here is a feature that I really like about the Brave toy line so far, Every accessory has a place to hide. The sword attaches to a clip located on the Captains backside, hook, harpoon and extra missiles store in a shoulder compartments, even the cannon mount can be concealed away neatly. The designers really thought of everything.

If you don't wish to store the sword on the back of the figure, you can always put it clenched in the Shark's teeth.

I know this is showing my age, but you older Saturday Night Live fans might get a kick out of my "Land Shark" mode LOL!

OK, enough fooling around and lets get onto the Space Battleship mode of Captain Shark. In this mode he actually has two different configurations, Spaceship and what I would call a Shark Tank.

In Space Battleship mode, Captain Shark kinda reminds me of something you might see in a Captain Harlock anime. It really looks cool from all angles. I especially like all the guns mounted atop its Shark body.

Moving along to the land based, Shark tank mode. You can see that the cannon mounts atop the body and it now has caterpillar treads that fold out from underneath.

Here is a close up of the caterpillar treads, unfortunately they do not move. However, it does have wheels on the bottom. I really wish that they put rolling treads on this toy.

Here is a close up of the bridge area. I think this could have been alot cooler if they included stickers for the windows. I have been seriously considering doing some custom work to add these.

Finally we have the last few pictures. In these pictures you can see that the shoulder cannon can also be mounted underneath the shark body. You would think that the round shape of the cannon would make this very unstable. Surprisingly, it actually turns out to be very stable due to the fins on the sides of the cannon.

In conclusion, I really enjoy this toy for its design and play value. It is very sturdy and displays really well with my other Brave figures. Furthermore, I think the price of $29.99 at Big Bad Toy Store really makes this toy a steal, so pick one up already!

"I love GOLD!!!!!"

-Goldmember
from Austin Powers

From Wikipedia

The Brave of Gold Goldran is a Japanese anime television series series begun in 1995, created by Sunrise under the direction of Shinji Takamatsu, and was the sixth in the Yuusha meta-series funded by Takara and produced by Sunrise. Goldran follows the adventures of three young boys who are tasked with finding alien robot fighters, or Braves, that are sleeping in the form of crystals. Their major antagonist is the flamboyant and thoroughly incompetent Walter, and the villains that follow him are often similarly humorous. The entire show is extremely focused on comedy and silliness almost to the exclusion of much in the way of storytelling, although the series does develop some running plot lines towards its end. In terms of television ratings, Goldran was the peak of the Brave series' popularity.

Today I will be reviewing the Goldran DX re-issue, made by Sonokong/Takara. The sample for today's review was provided graciously by our friend Jeff Stein over at High End Transformers. Please check them out or just click on the Ebay links at the bottom of the page for a direct link to the item reviewed today.

Goldran is the main mecha character from the anime "The Brave of Gold Goldran" He is essentially a two component robot. One component being a robot that can turn into a car (Dran) that becomes the chest of Goldran. The other being a Mecha Godzilla like robot (Golgon) that turns into Goldran when combined with the first.

To start off with, Goldran comes to you in a beautifully illustrated, heavy corrugated cardboard box shown below.

In the photo below we have Golgon and Dran together in their alternate modes. These are the two mecha that I mentioned above that become Goldran

First up is Dran. Dran's robot mode stand about 5" tall is made out mostly gold chrome plated platic. The Gold Chrome plating looks really sharp and has no visible flaws that I could see. Articulation for Dran is limited to the elbows, so he is basically a "static pose" figure. Dran comes with a sword that can be held in either hand via a peg molded onto the sword. Drans robot mode is rather boring and is pretty underwhelming when compared with the other figure in this set.

Dran's alternate car mode isn't much better than the robot mode. As you can see below, The car has an elongated chassis, giving it awkward looking proportions. However, the car is very solid and its wheels roll freely.

Onto Golgon! Golgon is the Mecha Godzilla looking robot you see below. Golgon stands about 10" and sports a beautiful golden chrome finish like Dran above. This figure has articulation in its arms and jaw, that's about it. Golgon is a pretty impressive figure but sufferers from a few odd proportions due to its design. As you can see, the chest area is rather large, rendering his tiny arms useless. Also, his legs just look odd because of having no visible knee joint. These issues are only minor and I can live with them.

Here is where the real fun begins! Goldran!

Goldran is a truly stunning figure, standing at nearly 12" tall also makes him pretty large. As you can see in the photo below, Goldran includes a sword and sheath. the sheath holds securely to his side and gives Goldran that old Samurai look, very cool indeed!

After examining the five photos above, you can clearly see that Goldran looks great from any angle. Heck, he even looks menacing close up! Proportionally, Goldran is awesome in this mode. I would say he is one of the better looking mecha characters from all the Brave Series.

Goldran doesn't just have good looks.....He also has fire power and tons of it! He has 12 launching mechanisms for plenty of that "you'll shoot your eye out goodness"! Don't worry if you loose a few projectiles testing it out on the family pet or wife, because he includes a total of 48 red missiles!

Shoulder mounted Gatling style launchers that are activated by turning a knob on the backside of the shoulder.

Wrist cuff launchers, just in case the shoulders weren't enough to take out the enemy.

Finally, shin mounted launchers that are almost a concealed weapons at first glance.

Yup, Goldran is alot of fun, but let me show you a few more tricks he has. In the photo below, you can see that it is quite possible to play with Goldran without Dran figure mounted to his chest. I know that this is not in the anime, but its still a cool feature whether it was made this way intentionally or not

In the next photo below we have Goldran with his buddy Sorokage mounted to his back. Sorakage is used a a flight pack giving Goldran the ability to fly. Don't you just love wings on a giant robots? Below that pic we have Goldran's ultimate form, Great Goldran! By the way, don't despair, I will be reviewing Sorokage and the Great Goldran in future reviews

Even with the odd proportions of it's alternate mode, Goldran is a wonderful, quality made toy and should be part of your collection if you love giant transforming robots. And really, who doesn't?

Having already reviewed Fire Dagwon, Power Dagwon, Lian and Gunkid from Sonokong re-issue of Brave Command Dagwon series toys. I figured I would give you a short, mostly pictorial review of what all the figures together transform into..... Get ready for Super Fire Dagwon!

Having already reviewed all the figures in the picture below, Fire Dagwon, Power Dagwon, Lian and Gunkid from Sonokong re-issue of Brave Command Dagwon series toys. I figured I would give you a short, mostly pictorial review of what all the figures together transform into..... Get ready for Super Fire Dagwon!

Please check out the video below. The actual toy transformation is very close to the video.

Here is the impressively huge Super Fire Dagwon standing nearly 15" tall! Not only is the figure tall, it is very heavy, at a little over 3 lbs of quality plastic.

You may recognize Super Fire Dagwons headpiece as the chest piece from Power Dagwon. This is an example of what I really like about the design of Brave Series toys, almost all parts have a place and purpose when transforming.

Articulation of this figure is very good considering its blocky design. Articulation can be found in the shoulders, elbows and the hands can rotate, Oh and lets not forget the articulation in the massive crane arm. Even though this figure does have decent movement, for the most part it is what I would consider a "static pose" figure, due to its size and weight.

The final combination of Super Fire Dagwon with Lian and Gunkid is really "busy" as you can see below. I don't think that he would be able to battle too well in this mode...LOL. He is very overloaded in this mode and weighs in at a staggering 5.5 lbs!

I feel that Super Fire Dagwon is possibly one of the best of all the combined Brave Series Robots. Well, maybe the second best.... I really like Great Goldran but I'll cover that later. If you dig this figure as much as I do, please check out Big Bad Toy Store to get your own!

Villainous Obstinate Tilting Overbearing Man-candy.

Even in the harsh jungles of Kumen, Votoms still has room for fanciful ideas such as an ace pilot with a custom paint scheme. The mysterious Ypsilon tears up the jungle in his custom ATH-14-WPC Snapping Turtle, which is distinguished from the regular grunts by its striking deep blue and white color scheme.

This Snapping Turtle is part of the same series of toys at the Diving Beetle I also reviewed. Toys from this line are made from a combination of ABS plastic and diecast metal.

Just like the Diving Beetle, the Snapping Turtle comes in a terrific looking box adorned with a illustration of the Snapping Turtle by artist Shin Ueda.

The back functions as a combination sticker and painting guide.

One side features a short bio on the mysterious (and pretty) Ypsilon and the crazy english Votoms logo.

The other side shows off two very different explanations of the "VOTOMS" acronym.

The toy itself is made primarily of blue plastic with a little diecast in the chest. It has far less diecast than the Diving Beetle.

The toy comes with a few stickers which help liven up the bare blue surface of the toy.

Unlike the Diving Beetle, the Snapping Turtle dares to have some useful articulation. A pair of knee joints let this old toy achieve a fairly convincing walking pose.

The recent smattering of 1:60 scale toys has made me into a bit of a scale nut. Together with the 1:60 Exia and a figure from the Destroid Defender I can make my Snapping Turtle stand tall at the feet of giants.

I love this toy and I am proud to have it displayed in my collection. I think the design is really cool and it just looks absolutely stunning on the shelf next to my other Brave Series figures.

From Wikipedia

The Symmetrical-Docked form of HyoRyu and EnRyu, formed when their "SympaRate", a measure of their synchronization and unity of purpose, reaches 100%. ChoRyuJin is a defensive specialist with his Mirror-Coating Chestplate (which he uses at the risk of his life) and ability to use the Eraser Head tool. He also possesses HyoRyu and EnRyu's Gun, Rifle, and Tonfa attacks, usually used in "Double" form firing from both sides at once. He can also fire both guns and both rifles at once for a full-burst-style attack. After the initial Primeval attack, ChoRyuJin is retrofitted with the ability to fire Ul-Tech beams in place of heat or cold, which appear similar to most beam weapons in anime.

In technical specifications (and finally shown in FINAL), he also has the desperate final attack "Super Nova" - in which HyoRyu and EnRyu turn their respective dials to "Infinite" and simultaneously blast the enemy with their Chest attacks. Due to the placement of the chest plates on ChoRyuJin, he could not in fact use this attack while Symmetrical-Docked.

I didn't write the above paragraphs, so please no hate comments..LOL

Today I will be reviewing Sonokong's re-issue of GekiRyuJin giftset. The set includes both symmetrical docking robots, RaiRyu & FuuRyu that make up the larger GekiRyuJin. RaiRyu and FuuRyu are one of two sets of symmetrical docking robots that appear in the anime The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, the other set being EnRyu and HyoRyu that make the larger robot ChoRyuJin. I will cover ChoRyuJin in a future review.

Since you can purchase the set combined or individually, I have included photo of all below. The packaging on the combined giftset version is the nicely illustrated heavy corrugated cardboard box with the plastic tray insert that in the norm for Sonokong Brave Series re-issue. As for the individual pieced boxes, well...they are nicely illustrated but the box is very light cardboard that I suspect will not hold up to years in storage of moving.

Lets start off the review with the vehicle modes of the two separate robots. In the first photo below you have both the green cement truck (FuuRyu) and yellow dumptruck (RaiRyu). As you can clearly see, they share a very futuristic look, which is appropriate for the anime they come from. Each truck is just under 10" long in this mode and is comprised of quality feeling heavy plastic.

The only feature or "gimmick" that RaiRyu has in dump-truck mode is the fact the dump body actually can tilt back to dump. Nothing really impresses me with his vehicle mode.

Onto FuuRyu, again, like RaiRyu above, FuuRyu's vehicle mode also doesn't really do it for me and is lackluster at best. The cement chute can be raised or lowered and the cement drum can turn, woo hoo....

Now we are getting down to the good stuff! RaiRyu's and FuuRyu's separate robot modes are arguably the best mode of these figures, due to their almost unheard of articulation for an early nineties transforming robot figure. Each figure stand approximately 8" tall, and like I state above, both have some really good articulation. The joints are nice and tight with that "click" that all mecha collectors love.

Transformation to robot mode is a snap, and as you can see below, for the most part they look great, if you overlook the kibble on their backsides.

Just like in the anime, you can turn the dials on both RaiRyu's and FuuRyu's chest to "Infinite" and simultaneously blast an enemy with their Chest attacks. You can see below that the chest changes from white to yellow or vice verse to achieve the above mentioned effect.

Now lets take a look at FuuRyu alone. In the first pic you can see the nicely detailed face and chest that really contribute to this figures cool factor.

Here is a quick shot of the articulation that I had mentioned earlier in the review. You gotta admit that it is pretty awesome for a Brave Series figure.

Well, check this out! What I originally thought to be useless kibble shown in the backside shot up above, becomes a nifty shoulder mounted cannon with targeting system. The cannon actually can fire 4 of the 16 supplied red projectiles by simply rotating it. Don't you just love toys with firing gimmicks?

RaiRyu shares the same chiseled good looks as FuuRyu above as well as the pretty cool articulation. Only this time, the play gimmick is different.

RaiRyu can actually use his dump body as a skateboard! Hang 10 dude! or whatever the skating lingo is...LOL.

The next photo illustrates how the storage of the extra ammo and the arm for GekiRyuJin are stored in the lower legs of RaiRyu and FuuRyu. I think that this is pretty cool and I love toys where everything has a place. Also, you can check out the video further below and you will see that the left arm of GekiRyuJin actually stores in the exact place as the toy! Pretty trick huh?

As you can see below, RaiRyu and FuuRyu are starting to get impatient and would like me to hurry up to the part where they can do their ultimate symmetrical docking form, GekiRyuJin!

OK boys, lets go, SYMMETRICAL DOCKING!!

Here he is, GekiRyuJin in all his glory! If you watch the video above, the transformation of the toy to GekiRyuJin is practically exact to the anime.

GekiRyuJin stands a little over 10" and is basically a solid brick. Articulation is limited to the elbows and the head does turn back and fourth slightly between his massive shoulders. Even though the articulation is limited, I still think the figure is beautiful and well proportioned. I like the way the cement drum becomes his gun and the dump body is his shield.

Maybe its just me but I think GekiRyuJin and Optimus Prime have a striking resemblance.

All said and done, I love this toy and I am proud to have it displayed in my collection. I think the design is really cool and it just looks absolutely stunning on the shelf next to my other Brave Series figures. If you don't have it, track it down. It is worth hunting around for.

Go Nagai's Super Robot anime Mazinger Z was extremely popular with children in South Korea during the 70's. So, with this in mind, Kim Cheong-Ki wanted to create a Korean hero for Korean children. In order to emphasize that this new Super Robot is Korean, it is able perform the traditional martial art, taekwondo.......hence the name, Robot Taekwon V!

Go Nagai's Super Robot anime Mazinger Z was extremely popular with children in South Korea during the 70's. So, with this in mind, Kim Cheong-Ki, a Korean director, wanted to create a Korean hero for Korean children. In order to emphasize that this new Super Robot is Korean, it is able perform the traditional martial art, taekwondo.......hence it's name, Robot Taekwon V!

From Wikipedia

Robot Taekwon V is a South Korean animated film directed by Kim Cheong-Ki and produced by Yu Hyun-mok, the prominent director of such films as Obaltan (Aimless Bullet) (1960). It was released on July 24, 1976 , immediately becoming a mega-smashed hit in the late 1970s, and consequently inspired a string of sequels in followng years. Robot Taekwon V was released in the United States in a dubbed format under the name Voltar the Invincible. Robot Taekwon V became the first Korean film to receive full digital restoration treatment in 2005. In Japan, it is known as a plagiarism of Mazinger Z.

I do not necessarily agree with the statement of Taekwon V being a plagiarism of Mazinger Z. I agree with the fact that Taekwon V has similarities to Mazinger Z, but doesn't most Super Robots? I don't know, you be the judge.

On to the toy!

Taekwon V comes in a very unassuming black corrugated cardboard box measuring 2.5" deep x 9" wide x 11" long. The packaging is very plain as you can see in the pictures below. The box only has few markings in silver and red type, letting you know what awaits you inside. The thing that I would like to emphasize about this rather boring box is it's weight. The box weighs in at a hefty 2.5 pounds. You know what that means, die-cast! glorious die-cast metal goodness!

Upon opening the box you are greeted with Taekwon V encased in his very own Soul of Chogokin style Styrofoam sarcophagus. Also included in the box is 2 plastic trays of accessories and the instruction booklet. Now if I only could read Korean....

The accessories included are:

• Taekwon V
• One pair of closed fists (already affixed to Taekwon V)
• One pair of open hands
• One pair of hands with pointing fingers
• One pair of taekwondo chop hands
• Display base
• 3 extra chest V's (clear read, white and silver)
• Die-cast metal "Tin-Can Robot Cheol" mini figure
• One autographed certificate of authenticity with production number

Towering over the SOC GX-01R Mazinger Z, Taekwon V stands 8.5" tall and weighs 1 lbs, 7 ozs. due to its mostly die-cast construction augmented with PVC and ABS. Since the Japanese feel Taekwon V is a plagiarism of Mazinger Z, I figured I would give you a few pictures of Taekwon V with Mazinger Z. Note that he can do Mazinger Z's famous, arms up, fists clenched pose really well.

Well, like the picture below suggests, I too am now bored with with comparing Taekwon V with Mazinger Z. I totally think Taekwon V would kick Mazinga Z's butt...LOL!

Moving along, Taekwon V has all the nice tight and ratchety joints that we now expect from any high end chogokin, allowing him to be posed in many ways. He also has a waist joint! All I could think of when looking at the picture below is that song by Right Said Fred, "I'm a model you know what I mean and I do my little dance on the catwalk!"

Who is Taekwon V plagiarizing in these 2 photos below? Give you a hint, 2 words...G.....M.... c'mon you know who I am referring too...LOL

Here is the only flaw that I could find with the figure, that is if you even consider this a flaw. Damn ugly exposed screw holes! I hate them! I guess I can let this go because the figure is so great in many other ways. And lets face it, the figure looks great when viewed from every angle except its backside.

Here is Taekwon V atop his base with all the included accessories mentioned above. As you can see he displays really well and will fit right in with other SOC's you may have in your collection.

I wanted to give you a nice close up shot of the little die-cast metal Tin-Can Robot Cheol mini figure. From what I gather this is supposed to be Taekwon V's pilots little brother wearing a home-made robot suit with a tea kettle head. Tin-Can Robot Cheol is the comic relief element in the TV series.

Lastly, Taekwon V is proudly displaying his autographed certificate of authenticity. You will notice that my figure is number 586 of the 1976 produced to commemorate the year that Taekwon V was first released in Korea.

In closing, I would like to say that if you like modern chogokin this is a must have. Even more so if you are into the more obscure characters. With only the very limited number of 1976 being produced, the original MSRP of $110 is quite a bargain. The figure is sure to go up in value. Heck, last time I looked, it was going for around $160 on Ebay. Grab it before you have to pay with your first born son! You can click on the Ebay links we provided below.

Very Obnoxious Tagger's "Out of Sight" Murder Service.

The Kummen Jungle arc of the series Armored Trooper Votoms is widely regarded as one of its most memorable aspects. Taking cues from famous Vietnam War films like, Apocalypse Now, it featured blue-haired protagonist Chirico Cuvie and his mercenary allies making their way down a long jungle river. As a way of making the setting seem just a little more "real," the Kummen forces as well as the Assemble E-X mercenaries employed specialized Armored Troopers (ATs) suited for amphibious warfare. For the mercenaries it was the ATH-06-WP Diving Beetle.

Throughout the course of the show, its main sponsor Takara released dozens of toys and model kits of the various ATs. This toy is from their AT Collection Series, which consisted of 1:60 scale figures made from ABS plastic and diecast.

With toys from this era, the box was easily as important as the figured itself. This robust cardboard box features an eye-catching painting of the Diving Beetle. This painting is done in the style of military model boxart and gives the design a feeling of legitimacy as a weapon of war. The artist for this picture is Shin Ueda.

The back of the box features a nice diorama photo of the toy and a combination sticker and painting guide.

The left side of the box has a brief bio on one of the Diving Beetle pilots, Paul Patureur. I really dig that crazy english Votoms logo.

The right side features another show of Paul with his AT pilot goggles and two different meanings for the word "Votoms." The first meaning is the actual description of an AT and has been used in printed materials since the show began. The other meaning is some hilarious Engrish phrase meant to invoke the military tradition of giving colorful nicknames to a soldier's gear.

The toy itself is a very basic figure. Its lower legs are almost entirely metal, which gives the toy a nice heft. The 1:60 scale soldier is from Yamato's 1:60 scale Destroid Tomahawk.

There is some minor assembly required to complete the figure. You have to plug in the backpack and plug the gun into the Diving Beetle's hand. The figure's only articulation is in the shoulders.

One interesting thing is that the feet are hollow. You can also find the copyright information near the "toes".

The AT Collection Series toys are cheap and easy to find (and addicting). I bought this one for only $10. To me, it is a nice vintage representation of one of my favorite ATs from Votoms. Plus, it goes well with all of my other 1:60 scale mecha.

In my continuing effort to bring the readers of CollectionDX some interesting Brave toys, I bring you this gem....

I've been covering Brave toys on and off for about the past 2 months or so and no other toy so far has surprised me in a good way like Sonokong's DX Goldymarg re-issue.

Goldymarg is a secondary character in the anime "The King of Braves GaoGaiGar". Goldymarg is basically the means of which GaoGaiGar can wield the "Goldion Hammer". The Goldion Hammer is an awesome weapon, but without Goldymarg ability to transform into "Marg Hand" GaoGaiGar would not be able use Goldion Hammer properly and without incurring damage. So you see the relationship between GaoGaiGar and Goldmarg is sort of symbiotic.

Goldymarg also has the ability to transform into the GoldyTank, which has a powerful Fusion Beam Cannon called Marg Cannon made up of what becomes Goldion's Hammer handle.

Well now that you get the idea of what role Goldymarg plays in the anime GaoGaiGar, on to the review of the toy.

Goldymarg comes to you in a beautifully illustrated, heavy corrugated cardboard box shown below. On the boxes inside Sonokong uses the flimsy plastic tray instead of quality Styrofoam that us toy collectors would really prefer...sigh. Oh well, stleast the box is nice.

After taking Goldymarg out of his cardboard tomb is when the real magic begins. He is an impressive figure, standing about 9.5" tall from top of hammer to toe. Goldymarg is made from quality feeling plastic with nice, solid clicky joints. As you can see below, Goldmarg may be a brick but he does actually has some decent articulation in the legs.

Just like in the video above, when Goldymarg transforms the top of his helmet closes over his eyes. I kinda dig the way it does this so I had to snap a pic of before and after. Actually Goldymarg's whole transformation in this toy incarnation is pretty much dead on to the anime.

Moving along to Goldymarg in GoldyTank mode. In this mode you can use the 3 foam projectiles included with the figure. You do this by simply placing the projectile on the end of the pivoting fusion beam cannon and squeezing the flexible bellows of the Goldion Hammer. I prefer spring loaded, take out your eye weaponry on my toys, again, sigh. Is it just me or does this mode look alot like the Transformers G1 Roller? Anyway, very solid in this mode and rolls great, very rugged.

Before I get to Goldymarg's final mode, I figured I would include a token picture of Goldy in robot mode with the big guy, GaoGaiGar!

Onto Goldymarg's final mode, Marg Hand and Goldion Hammer. Like I said earlier in the review, the transformation is exactly like the anime, so just enjoy the pics of GoaGaiGar wielding what is his best weapon.

Oh, almost forgot, one last feature is what is called "Hammer Heaven" which is the two pry bar like devices shown below. You can see them in use in the video at the top of the review.

All said and done, I like this toy alot. It is solid as a brick and will surely last through years of rough play. Fortunately, mine will never see such play. I would suggest if you have Sonkong's re-issue or Takars's original DX GaoGaiGar and do not have Goldymarg to go with it, you should really track one down. You can use the Ebay links provided below to help you on you quest to find Goldymarg.

I know I have been reviewing alot of SonoKong/Takara Brave Series toys as of lately, and I have many more to do. Some of you may ask, so what are you going to review after the Brave Series figures are all covered? Well, I am glad you asked this question........

I know I have been reviewing alot of Brave Series toys as of lately, and I have many more to do. Some of you may ask, so what are you going to review after the Brave Series figures are all covered? Well, I am glad you asked this question. I am going to give you a sorta pre-review of the next toy line that I am going to bring you. The toy line I am speaking of is Eldran.

To sum this up, Eldran is the toy line launched by Takara Tomy after the Brave Series franchise was already well established. Some of the more well know characters from this series are Raijin Oh and God Raijin Oh which JoshB just reviewed.

Today I will be reviewing Go-Saurer from the anime Nekketsu Saikyo Go-Saurer. Go-Saurer is the main mecha character that is made from the combination of 3 mecha dinosaurs, Mach Ptera, Land Stego and Thunder Brachio. These 3 mecha dinosaurs can also form Saurer Jet, which is basically a transportation mode that has some defensive capabilities.

The sample for today's review was provided graciously by our friend Jeff Stein over at High End Transformers. Please check them out or just click on the Ebay link at the bottom of the page for a direct link to the item reviewed today.

To start off with, Go-Saurer comes to you in a beautifully illustrated, heavy corrugated cardboard box shown below. Even though this toy is Takara/Tomy, the box is very similar to the packaging used by Sonokong in the past Brave Series re-issues I have reviewed. The only real difference is that the flimsy plastic inside tray is replaced with an even cheaper feeling flimsier cardboard insert.

I will begin now showing you the 3 mecha dinosaurs that make up Go-Saurer. The photo below shows all the components that make up Go-Saurer in their dinosaur alternate mode. From left to right is Land Stego (red dino), Mach Ptera (blue dino), and Thunder Brachio (white dino). Each figure is comprised of quality ABS plastic as well as flexible PVC. The construction is light but very sturdy allowing years of play.

First up, Mach Ptera, the blue mecha pterodactyl that makes up Go-Saurer's arms and wings when in robot mode. Mach Ptera is the largest of the 3 mecha dinos with a wingspan of nearly 17 inches! The figure has articulation in the wings, legs, and neck. Notice the light blue clear plastic pilots cockpit. You can almost make out a pilots seat.

Moving along we have Land Stego, which is the red mecha stegosaurus that makes up the head and torso of Go-Saurer. This part of the team has very little articulation with only minor movement is the legs and adjustable lasers mounts on its tail. As with Mach Ptera above, Land Stego also features a light blue clear plastic pilots cockpit canopy.

Lastly, we have Thunder Thunder Brachio, which is the white mecha brachiosaurus that makes up the legs of Go-Saurer.. Thunder Brachio features articulation in its legs and tail as well as the jaw and the cannons mounted on it back. Like the rest of the team above, it has the visible cockpit canopy.

Before I get into this group of mecha dinos ultimate form I want to show you the very cool alternate Saurer Jet mode. In this mode, all the parts come together to make the impressive jet you see below. In this mode Land Stego's tail becomes the front fuselage and cockpit but all other components remain in the same place they would be in the ultimate form of Go-Saurer. Notice how this mode has a very Gundam like appearance. It reminds me of Gundam Wing or a Gundam Wave Rider.

Finally, all these above dino's can combine to make the very impressive Go-Saurer! As you can see below, Go-Saurer includes a sword and a shield. You may notice that the shield is made from the back of Land Stego.

In this mode Go-Saurer stands approximately 10 inches from head to toe and features articulation in the wings, shoulders, elbows, and oddly enough in the knees. Go-Saurer is able to have the wings opened or closed. I prefer them closed. I think its just looks more proportioned that way.

As you can see, Go-Saurer is able to wield the included sword and shield for battle. Again you may note that the color scheme of this figure looks very Gundam-ish with the combo of the red, white, blue and yellow. On a side note, this is a re-issue, the original figure had gold chome in place of the yellow parts.

In conclusion, I feel that Go-Saurer is a great toy and I am very happy to display it with it's other Brave Series brethren. The figure is fun and is well made, these factors are 2 of the most important things to me when I evaluate any toy. The only thing that I would wish to change about this figure is possibly adding a firing gimmick and maybe a little more articulation. Even without those extra gimmicks, the figure still remains fun, making it a must have for a Brave Series fan like myself.

The AMP Suit (aka the "Iron Lady") is very cool, but the 3d webcam control gimmick is amazing. A first of its kind.

Includes HD video of the iTag system in action

Avatar is not the story of the Last Airbender. That was the cartoon. This is James Cameron's Avatar, his latest big budget extravaganza. People are anxiously awaiting this movie, due out in December 2009. Me, I have mixed feelings about it so far, from viewing the trailer. We'll see.

In anticipation of the release of the film, Mattel sent out a bunch of sample toys to us to take a look at. I had been eyeballing this powered suit so their timing was good.

The main gimmick of the Avatar line is the iTag system. The iTag system enables you to have a 3D model of the toy you bought on your computer. But it is not just any model. The iTag system uses a webcam to detect the iTag included with each Avatar toy. Once it locks on, it displays a 3D model of that toy on your screen, on top of the tag you are holding. Turn the tag and the model turns. Tap the info square and an information block appears. It is very, very cool.

To use the iTag system, you must first go to http://www.avataritag.com and download a small application. Once installed, it runs in the browser and allows you to interact with the website.

The AMP suit uses this iTag system to great effect. Just watch this video:

The iTag system is worth the price alone. But the powered suit is not bad either, and for $20 bucks you can't go wrong.

The name "AMP Suit" is short for "M-6 Amplified Mobility Suit". In the movie the AMP Suit is 13 feet tall and six feet wide, with verbally activated cockpit commands, hip mounted 30mm cannon, flamethrower and slashing knife. The toy however is only 9 inches tall, and does not shoot flames.

The box is interesting. It's heavy cardboard and an odd polygonal shape. It looks as if a toy like this would not fit inside, as the box is only 2.5 inches deep. The trick is that it's in a bunch of pieces.

To say some assembly is required is an understatement. You have to attach the cockpit cover, torso, arms, legs and cannon.

Once assembled, you've got an honest-to-goodness solid, playable TOY. It's a lot of fun.

Oh - the pilot figure is not included. I'll review him later.

The cockpit of the AMP suit looks a bit like the front of a helicopter. The clear canopy can open and close. Inside the cockpit there is no painted detail, no stickers. any 3 3/4 figure should fit in just fine as you just stick the figure in a hole - you don't bend the legs. There's nothing for the figure to hold on to, but once again, TWENTY BUCKS.

The shoulders each are on a long curved track that allows the arms to slide backwards. Unfortunately they do not "click" in any position so they have a tendency to move on their own. The shoulders are detented, ans they also have a hinge that swings out. Above the hinged elbow is a swivel joint, and the range of motion is pretty good. The hand is hard rubber and only swivels at the wrist. The hand details are a bit mushy.

The top half can swivel at the waist, but motion is restricted by the attached knife and holder. Why a giant powered suit needs a big crocodile dundee knife is beyond me, but whatever. The knife can be removed from the holder and placed in either hand, but you have to place it just so else it will fall right out.

The hips are solid detented joints, the knees are simple swivel joints. The feet bend at the ankles and then there is another joint at the toe.

The big gun that comes with the toy is actually pretty cool. First, there are rubber ammunition belts that clip into the gun and the back of the body. On the gun it looks like it can clip in two positions. While you can remove the gun from the hand, the ammunition and clip are permanently attached to the figure. The gun is nicely detailed, and big, with several places to hold onto. The main gimmick with this gun is that it is a missile launcher, but the launcher is weak and the thing only comes with ONE missile. Also, the AMP suit has a loose grip on the gun.

It may sound like I am complaining here, but I really am not. Keep in mind, this thing was $20. It's a toy, it's gonna have a few minor flaws, and kids won't care. Collectors may bitch and moan but you just know a company like Hot Toys or Aoshima will make a high-end gokin toy of this. But it is fun to play with, looks good, and the iTag gimmick is fun.

AMP Up Your Avatar Toy Collection