Dangan

Like you, I have waited far too long for the opportunity to reenact my favorite Big Foot Basketball scenes from Basquash with my very own Basquash Big Foot.

That’s a lie. I have no idea what the hell what that even meant. Well, I do, but that’s only thanks to Wikipedia. Basquash is a sports anime where kids play basketball while piloting goofy cars with gawky legs wearing giant Sneakers. I don’t even need to know that. All I know is that this thing is right up my alley.

So the protagonist pilots this model, called Dangan.

Dangan comes in a sharp package, meant to resemble a shoebox. The faux lid flips open for a preview.

The contents are packaged in a clear plastic clamshell. The set includes Dangan, shoes, a basketball, and variant hands – just the right amount of accessories.

While it has some metal content, the Dangan is not a Chogokin, or part of any toyline subset that I know of. And while I’ve seen prototype shots of other Big Feet, no others have been produced. Which is a shame, because this is a beautiful toy.

Dangan stands a solid six inches and while it may look spindly, it’s surprisingly sturdy and well balanced.

So much about this figure is unique. The legs have articulated metal pistons at the knees. The L-shaped waist assembly is unlike any other. The polished diecast joints are little art-deco masterpieces unto themselves. The feet are lovely.

The automotive-style candy-apple finish really pops. The subtle chrome and brushed finishes on the limbs are a nice counterpoint to the body.

The Dangan comes wearing robot-style feet, but in the anime he usually wears the afore-mentioned giant tennis shoes. Even those silly shoes somehow work. They balance the composition of the whole better than the plain robot feet.

And what would a Basquash Big Foot be without a basketball? Variant hands snugly palm the ball or stick it to a pointed finger, Globetrotter style.

So many of the toys we collect are so damned serious. It’s hard to escape the fact that robots are fundamentally fighting machines, and there’s a certain grimness to that innate purpose, even in more child-friendly fare. Liberated from all of that serious baggage, the Dangan soars.