Grendizer

There are certain things you come to expect with every EX Gokin release. Copious amounts of diecast metal, extreme design, immaculate construction and of course a high price tag. But on the other side, you often have to deal with weird QC quirks and odd design choices. They are like a high-end sportscar. Fun to look at in the garage, but will never hold up to daily driving.

The latest EX Gokin release from Fewture is of the great UFO ROBO GRENDIZER. This set comes with the robot itself and also the Double Spazer attachment.

The box is the same as usual for EX Gokin – a black slipcover over a black box that feels like you are breaking a vacuum seal when opening it. Inside, each piece is individually wrapped in plastic and has it’s own spot on the styrofoam tray. If this was their first release I would be gushing, but now, it’s more of the same.

Grendizer stands 256mm tall (10.5 inches) and makes a dynamic silhouette.

The angular design is a trademark of the late Taku Sato, who came up with all these designs in his sketchbook before his passing.

Lets get into it then!

The head is very sharp and angular, and features Grendizer’s signature double horns on either side. But in a questionable move, each horn is on a ball joint – a very loose ball joint – that bumps out of place every time you movie it. I have no idea why they did this.

The neck has a hinge that allows the head to tilt all the way back (when he’ll be flying with a Spazer) as well as a ball joint just below the head.

The metal chest plate is swappable with a translucent bit, but be careful, the hinge is just as likely to slide out when changing them.

The panels open up to reveal a sort of generator in the chest.

Articulation features all the high-end clicky joints you would come to expect in an EX Gokin. Things bend and click all over. The chest joint is a bit disappointing, with only one hinge in the chest to move forward / back / left / right.

They also did something interesting with the fins around the arms. Normally the fins close to the elbow get bent, but in this case they just made those two shorter than the others.

The shoulders swing forward to allow for cool poses with the arms out front.

To activate the Screw Crusher Punch, simply flip the fins around. These can also rotate around the arm, but the arms do not shoot nor are they removable.

An assortment of Harkens are included, with sharp die-cast metal blades. There’s three handles that can be combined a variety of different methods. In addition, the set of blades on the shoulder are also removable.

You can use one bar with two metal tips, like before the bar expands.

The Double Harken can be formed by connecting two single blades with a central attachment. Again, the swivel shoulders come in handy. Also note the weapon holding alternate hands.

And of course, each Harken can be held on it’s own. He looks totally badass.

A third set of hands are included – the open hands.

The wing attachment is called the Double Spazer. It’s a stand-alone flying ship that can dock with the back of Grendizer. Sadly, the Spazer is one of the weaker points of the set.

First of all, the Spazer looks great. It’s got a diecast body and plastic wings. (The stand is flightpose, and not included).

Each wing bends up a little, and the end ships bend down to create a sort of gull wing look. The wings then sweep forward.

On the back, flip up the peg.

In order to connect the two, you need to push the peg into a spring-loaded slot on the figure’s back.

In anticipation of the inevitable paint scratching that will occur, Fewture included a little clear spacer to place between the two parts. However, in doing so the guard keeps the two parts from engaging fully. This results in premature Spazer ejection, which can get ugly.

If this does happen to you, do your best to catch the Spazer before it hits the ground, as the red tip of the wing has been known to break off on impact.

Without the spacer, you CAN get it to click together, it’s just hard to do. Have patience, nobody is good their first time.

Also, you may notice that the wings may sag a bit once the Spazer is upright. Simply make sure the wings are bent into their proper position, and it sort of locks them into place with friction.

The Double Spazer enables Grendizer to fly! Imagine how he will look when his proper Spazer is released later in the year!

The additional Spazer set will come with the ship, extra hands with articulated fingers, and drill missiles.

Overall though I’m pretty happy with the set, and I look forward to getting the Spazer to complete the set. I didn’t shoot photos of the stand but it’s identical to the other stands included with the other EX Gokins, and entirely unnecessary as he poses pretty great without it.