Godannar

Max Factory’s Max Gokin Godannar (MAX合金　ゴーダンナーツインドライブモード) is a really phenomenal toy. It looks great, feels great, and is one of the most poseable gokins I’ve ever had.

Godannar is the main robot from the show “Shinkon Gattai Godannar”. This toy is actually of Godannar in its Twin Drive mode. You see, Godannar is actually two robots, Danner and Neo-Okusaer.  When the two combine, they form Godannar. The anime itself is pretty cool, full of giant robots and fan service.

Godannar comes in a great box measuring about 13" by 16" by 4". The lid unfolds and reveals a styrofoam tray with an inset cut in for the instruction booklet. Lift off the cover and there is Godannar. Every part has its own resting place.

Whats inside

Godannar comes with an interesting assortment of accessories. First thing you notice is the sword. Its one of the biggest I’ve seen come with a toy, coming in at almost 18 inches (44cm). The main robot of Godannar is there, wrapped in plastic, as well as 2 different colors of flaming hair (red and blue). A plastic tray holds the 8 hands, as well as sword parts. Underneath that tray is the base of the stand, and beneath that, other stand parts.

The Sword

If this sword were metal, you could carve Thanksgiving dinner with it. Unfortunately, it’s just plastic. The sword comes in several parts – the blade, two different hilts, and some small covers. One hilt is just for display, the other has a hand permanently attached to it. Godannar’s other hands do not grip tight enough to hold the weighty sword. This special hilt has a tighter fit into the arm than the other hands so Godannar can hold the sword despite its weight. Max Factory supplies you screws to assemble the sword parts, but I don’t recommend using them. The sword sections snap in place easily and unless you really plan on giving this to a kid to play with, they will stay intact. Two small plastic parts cover the screw holes once assembled.

The Stand

The stand is very black and shiny – no fancy nameplates here. There are holes for the storage of all the fists, and a groove for the sword to fit in. A small metal bar with a clip props up the sword. Godannar is held in place by a large metal and plastic arm. This arm gets screwed into the base at the bottom. It features several ratcheted joints that can be adjusted with an included allen wrench. This enables you to place Godannar into a variety of “airborne” poses, such as a flying kick.

I find it odd that they give you a wrench to adjust the stand, but no screwdriver to assemble it.

Godannar

Godannar is an imposing piece of gokin, standing 8 inches tall and weighing just over one pound (476 grams). There’s a lot of metal in this toy, which makes it even more remarkable how poseable it is.

The head has several joints in it, allowing it to both rotate and tilt. The flaming hair is placed on a peg on the back of the head, so you can rotate that if you want. Godannar comes with two sets of flaming hair – red or blue; I really don’t know what the significance of either is. Red looks better in my opinion.

The chest is actually several different parts that have their own joint system. It makes for an impressive range of movement. Even the little gold nubs at the waist are articulated.

One of the cooler features of Godannar is the elbow and knee joint system. This double joint allows you to get a greater range of movement without sacrificing looks. Basically, you have a standard elbow joint and then you have an additional section of the forearm or leg that collapses to allow it to move even more. It’s really a revolutionary design, and it works very well. I wish more toys would use ideas like it.

The legs have a full range of motion, and the feet are great. Because they are so big, they provide a stable base for Godannar to stand on. The red bar on the front of the legs moves, so as you move the foot there is no gap at the bottom.

So, what’s not to like?

Godannar has a few flaws, but none of them are major. The most glaring flaw is in the knee joint design. While the double joints allow for a greater range of motion, the knee joints have a little too much range, resulting in metal-on metal contact. If you fully bend the leg, you will get some slight scratches where the back of the leg meets the white thigh.

I also think that the sword should have been made to snap together instead of using screws. And why not include a screwdriver when you are already including an allen wrench?

I have heard reports of breakage with the top section of the chest, and looseness with the chest joint overall, but I have not experienced any of these things with my toy.

Finally, the price is a bit high – 17,800 yen (around $150.00 USD)

I think it’s worth it.