We are getting our first glimpses of official materials from the 2010 Super Sentai Series, “Tensou Sentai Goseiger“. (I have not found translated names yet, so please fill-in-the-blanks in your comments!)
First-off, the card-carrying-theme has been confirmed. We don’t know yet how it will be utilized, but from the images below, they seem to be able to use one card to summon [at least] three mecha at one time, directly related to accessory mecha power-ups. Cards of any kind have never been used before in the Super Sentai Series, even though small unique collectible electronic cartridges (“Engine Souls”) were introduced for 2008, and mecha weapons had unique summoning discs (“Shinobi Medals”) in 2002.
So, we’re getting what looks to be avatars of animals rather than fully-formed animals. The list I’ve seen indicates a-
- red dragon (seen it before)
- blue shark (seen it before)
- white phoenix (seen the bird before, but not in white)
- yellow tiger (seen it once before)
- black snake (Concept work was done for “GaoRanger” for a cobra snake, but a toy was never produced, so this is a new animal to the Super Sentai Series franchise.)
The heads of all the mecha shown here can be detached from the bodies and attached to the standardized blaster to the right to make them ranger-unique, which can also accept cards of its own. This also means that since the basic-five mecha can have their heads removed as well, the accessory mecha heads (three sets are shown so-far) can swap with them. Including the basic heads, there appear to be no less than 14 mounting points for mecha heads on just the first lead robo!
The wings can be rotated back so that they are behind the shoulders. (This is good!)
The first accessory mecha are on the bottom-right side of this first picture, and are sold in sets of three, but do not come with bodies of their own. They are-
- manta ray (new to the Series, but concept work was done before in “GaoRanger”)
- swordfish (seen it before)
- hammerhead shark (seen it before)
-and-
- stag beetle (seen it before)
- tyrannosaurus rex(?)(seen it before)
- drill (possibly a mole, which would be new to the Series)
And these three are-
- falcon
- (swan or pelican?)
- pteranodon
I’m getting a very “GaoRanger“-meets-“AbaRanger“-vibe here with the swapping heads, and that the waist of the mecha can separate. (I wonder if they’ll be cross-compatible…?)
With 14 attachment points for heads, have we reached the cluster-f**k stage already? Ordinarily I’d say yes, as 14 mecha heads breaks the record for most mecha in a combo (the current record being 12). But because they are only heads at this point, I’m not ready to label it as such just yet.
This guy is a triple-changer, which is not only infrequent in Super Sentai, but very rare for a stand-alone mecha character!
And yes, the image indicates it can combine with the lead robo. So, does that make him the first Super Sentai quad-changer?
I’m not sure about video game machine-dude up there, but I’m definitely gonna swing for all of these, they look pretty awesome, even if they are more gimmicky than usual! (Is there a “usual” at this point?) I just like the fact that they are so flashy and gimmicky right off the bat rather than waiting for the accessory mecha. (Are they really mecha at this point, or just more spirit/avatars?)
I’ll wait on the blaster until I see it in-use in the series.
Be aware, also, that new images of the Goseiger themselves have surfaced, but I haven’t found any clear images of them yet. Their card-reader devices look like the faces of those idols from Easter Island in gold, silver, and red eyes, and the mouths open to accept the cards. I’m not certain if they are actual changers, or if they’re wrist-mounted devices, but they all look the same for each ranger.
(Special thanks to JoshB for finding these images!)