Gipsy Danger

The GX-77 Gipsy Danger is an odd release for the Soul of Chogokin line, basically signaling the end of any rhyme or reason to the line. In the beginning, the SOC line meant high-end diecast robot toys of classic characters. Then it sort of went off the rails early with Evangelion, but the build quality was the same so it was OK. Fast forward to the Yamato and Andromeda ships, which aren’t event robots, and now Gipsy Danger, which feels more like a Metal Build.

“Chogokin” was the initial line of diecast robot toys in the late 70s. If you were a ship or a vehicle you went to the Popynica line. The Chogokin line featured similar build quality and loads of diecast. When Bandai wanted to launch a “SOUL” of Chogokin line, it was meant to be an homage to the classic idea. Chogokin still existed in their GA, GD, GE lines, but SOC was specifically marketed to be inspired by the original line. Now there is no rhyme or reason what gets a Metal Build, SOC, Hi-Metal, DX Chogokin, DX Soul of Chogokin or any of the other Tamashii lines. There’s no consistency, which for a long time collector, is disappointing.

But maybe these are just the rants of an old cranky collector. We are in an age were labels mean nothing.

Gipsy Danger identifies as “Soul of Chogokin” and if that is it’s preference we have to respect that. It’s a heavy beast, and you can tell there is ample diecast throughout the build, just not much on the exterior.

The Gipsy Danger Soul of Chogokin arrives courtesy of HobbyLink Japan.

The box is big, but not thick, and inside you get a styro tray with the roboit and a plastic tray for the parts and stand.

Out of the box you need to attach the two shoulder pad fins, and two exhaust covers.

Before you start playing, you want to insert the 3 watch batteries into the compartment on the back. This requires a phillips head screwdriver. Bandai includes the batteries for your convenience. To access the battery panel, pinch the shoulder pads together and lift up.

Move the switch into the on position and close the panel. To activate the lights, just press on the circle on the chest. The light will pulsate, change colors, then stop eventually. It also lights up the eyes and some spots on the chest.

The gimmick is nicely done, you should check out the video to see it in action.

The whole thing is really nicely detailed with small tampo printed details and slight metallic finish.

The chest has a joint above the abdomen, and then again at the waist, but movement is limited from the top. The central panel moves independently from the rest when you move it forward and back.

The small thin panels on the sides also move when you rotate the shoulders – a seemingly unrelated mechanism but the detail is subtle and fantastic.

It’s hard to explain the shoulder joint. It’s multi segmented, but no clicky movement. It has a decent range of movement, but not ridiculous. It’s mostly metal. There’s a bicep swivel, and a double joint at the elbow, but the joints are on different sections of the arm. The lower arm is removable for the plasma cannon gimmick, so it’s metal until you get to the removable part. The arm just sort of slides out on two tracks. I thought it would be at risk of falling out, but it seems to sit in just fine.

The arm panels fold out to replicate the rocket punch attack mode, There are three panels that move, plus a little rocket section. It would have been cool to include a rocket blast effect part, but no such luck.

I took this next picture to show that the head only attaches via a peg, and it attaches at the back. The neck assembly moves side to side and the hole is where the light comes from to illuminate the visor via a mirror.

The legs have another moving panel on the front of the thighs when you move the hips. Again, an nice detail that brings this figure to another level.

The hips are SUPER tight, and movement is limited by the upper rear leg part. Still, you can get some great poses, and the knee joint is one of the nicest i’ve ever seen. Just tight enough, totally smooth double joint action with multiple knee plates and even hydraulics.

Feet are ball jointed, with the toes articulated in two sections.

Quite a few accessories are included with Gipsy Danger, but not so much that its overwhelming.

There are long and short versions of the chain swords, and they plug in easily above the wrists, although the arm panels need to be slightly open to fit them.

There’s an open set of hands, for.. saying heyyyyyyy

The other open set of hands is for holding the tanker ship it uses as a melee weapon in Hong Kong. It can be held in a variety of poses, and is pre-crunched for hand placement.

Also included with the figure is a set of Plasmacaster arms. These detachable arms have light up features embedded in them, but their execution is shit. Let me explain. Each of the arms has 3 claws, and one claw panel is removable to get to the battery compartment. To do this, follow these steps:

1. remove the outer panel by looking at it.
2. remove the panel covering the battery section by breathing on it.
3. unscrew the panel with a phillips head screwdriver and insert the 2 batteries (included)
4. screw the panel back on.
5. replace the outer panel and swear when it falls off immediately.
6. repeat step 5 until you decide to wrap the tiny pegs with tape to get just a bit of friction.
7. replace the outer arm panel
8. cry as not only did that fall off, but also the battery cover panel fell off.
9. go back to step 6, repeat until you go insane.

if you don’t breathe on them, they look great.

Come on Bandai, it’s not like this is your first toy. How does this get past all the stages with someone not noticing this is a huge flaw? Why couldnt’ the batteries be inserted like you do in a flashlight? Just unscrew the top and drop them in? These get left in the box.

There’s also a basic stand, just a black platform with a section that holds under the crotch. There’s no storage for any of the additional parts like with most other SOC releases.

Still though, the crappy arm parts don’t take away from what really is an otherwise fantastic toy. Gipsy Danger is a solid robot overall, and I can’t wait to see what they do with Crimson Typhoon!

Again, thanks to HobbyLink Japan for the sample.