Daizyujin

By SentaiSeiya and Jmann’s power combined, he is THE GREAT SEIYAMANN!

In 1992, the sixteenth installment of the long-running Super Sentai franchise was introduced, called Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger! It was fairly popular during its run, but the reason why this show was so noteworthy for us in the states is that it became the basis for the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers! Power Rangers EXPLODED in popularity in the 90’s. It is a pop culcure phenomenon that has remained relevant even today! We all pretty much know the story by now: a morphological being known as Zordon recruits 5 teenagers (with attitude) to use Power Morphers to transform into spandex-clad superheroes to defeat the evil Rita Repulsa and her band of monsters! However, when these monsters become supersized, they need a little extra firepower. They need some help. THEY NEED DINOZORD POWER, NOW!

MEGAZORD SEQUENCE HAS BEEN INITIATED!

JM: Alright, so Daizyujin is the newest release in Bandai’s Super Robot Chogokin line. 

SS: Hoping to boost the sales of the Super Robot Chogokin line by capitalizing on the affinity that western audiences  have for the Power Rangers, Bandai released this bad boy, as this robot was very coveted by fans of the orginal series.

JM: So, let’s look at his appearance! His proportions are a tad lankier due to the SRC’s stylings; however, he still has a great amount of chunk to him that I really like! The sculpt-work is really fantastic and he looks just like I would imagine a giant robot made of other smaller robots would look like! The colors are also really spot on. I’ve always loved the bright primary colors used on Sentai Robots, and he is the epitome of that.

JM: My only gripe is that there are noticeable seams on his legs, but that’s acceptable because of the great amount of diecast! The entire bottom half of his legs are diecast, as is the chest. This gives him some great weight, and really feels like a premium Chogokin!

SS: What he said.

SS: In terms of size, this guy is in line with the other Super Sentai SRC releases, standing at approximately 6 inches tall.

SS: This means that he is much smaller than his combining counterpart from the 90’s. But as Jmann mentioned, he is much sleeker and slimmer than the original. His body is also better defined than the original, with its blocky proportions.

SS: Since the SRC Daijyujin does not have to break down into the 5 seperate mecha, the design has also been cleaned up by removing a couple of extra pieces that stood out, like the legs of the T-Rex just hanging out on the back of the figure.

JM: Now, let’s look at the accessories! Daizyujin comes with 3 pairs of hands (fists, holding-things hands, and splayed hands), his sword (Godhorn), the Mammoth Shield, and energy effect parts to replicate the LIGHTNING CUT FINISHER and when he shoots energy from his horn.

JM: I was really surprised at how many accessories he actually came with! He comes with everything that he needs to do pretty much anything!

SS: He does come packed with everything you need to recreate your own battles to save Angel Grove. Compared to other SRC Super Sentai mecha, like the Dekaranger Robo and the Gokaioh, he may seem a bit sparse. However, the Daizyujin, being a much older design, did not rely as much on extra weapons and gimmicks.

JM: Now, none of these accessories would mean anything without articulation, and I’m pleased to say that this guy is LOADED with joints! Everything that looks like it should move moves, and I had zero trouble getting him into any pose I could think of. I mean, he even has double-jointed knees and elbows! That’s sick! Plus, he has an extra hinge on his hips so he has some Figuarts-style up and down movement. The shoulders are kind of hindered due to the shoulderpads, but they really didn’t interfere too much in my experience.

SS: When I first handled the Daizyujin, I focused on his legs and their articulation. I could not help but notice how limited the movement was at his hip. Unlike the Dekaranger Robo, which could pretty much do the splits, the Daizyujin’s upper thighs move very little in all directions. However, as Jmann mentioned, Bandai did include thigh swivels, and double jointed knees as a workaround to having the top part of the thighs move freely. Also, after watching a whole mess of Power Rangers episodes, I came to realize that I was perhaps expecting too much of this figure, since it had very blocky movements in the show. 

Once I got past my somewhat unrealistic expectations of this figure, I too fell in love with the articulation.

SS: Each of the feet can extend outwards for added mobility. Furthermore, the legs on the Sabertooth Tiger actually move outwards, though I have still yet to figure out what , if any, fuction they have.

JM: Those Tiger legs are for adding a bit of a heel to help balance him out.

SS: There you have it. That is what those are for.

SS: Another neat articulation point is part of the pterodactyl cannons. Each is connected to a socket on the back of the figure by a rod with two balls at each end.This allows the cannons to extend out and be moved in all sorts of wacky directions, but mostly serve the purpose of allowing the cannons to become over-the-shoulder weapons.

SS: As an added bonus, the there is a hole near the buttocks region of the toy, which serves as a conneciton point for a Tamashii stand’s peg. This added support can give you some added posing options. Just don’t expect the stand to competely suspend the figure in the air, as the weight of the metal in the legs will ground this figure pretty quickly.

Shoryuken!!

JM: If you are a fan of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and want a non-transforming action figure of the original Megazord, then look no further. In fact, why haven’t you gotten him yet? GET OUT THERE AND BUY HIM.

SS: What this toy lacks in size, he more than makes up for with his crazy articulation and sleek design. He is a great toy for any fan of Power Rangers or Tokusatsu in general. I for one am glad to have this release of the Super Robot Chogokin line, as it compliments my collection and is the right size to fight the bugmen in my collection.