Engine Carrigator

This toy appears courtesy from HobbyLink Japan.

Bomper was helping the five Go-Onger track down two underground signals appearing to have Gaiarc signatures. As they entered the vicinity of the famous Tokyo Tower, they see it suddenly rust and collapse! Springing into action to rescue injured bystanders, they surmise that even for a new building like the Tower to suddenly rust like this is quite improbable because of its modern construction techniques and materials; the Gaiarc creatures- which have now split apart from each other- must have done it. Gunpei (Go-On Black) and Hanto (Go-On Green) go south, while Sousuke (Go-On Red), Renn (Go-On Blue), and Saki (Go-On Yellow) go north. As the former two reach the quiet lake, Hanto jokes about a monster being under the water and throws a stone in. Ironically, he is right- a giant orange and black monster does suddenly raise up out of the lake! Surprised that the creature is already giant, they call for the Engine Attaché Case containing their Engine Casts, Birca and Gunpherd. As the two Engines engage the monster, the other three Go-Onger find the other Gaiarc monster- the gas cylinder-themed Bombe Banki- and challenge him. As Go-On Green and Go-On Black fight, it is revealed that their own opponent is actually a giant Engine from the mythical Gian Clan, Carrigator! The orange-and-black Engine quickly overpowers both Gunpherd and Birca, and then demands to know why they attacked him. They try to apologize for mistaking him for a Gaiarc monster, but he defends his honor. Seeing the other two Engines as weak for allowing humans inside them, Carrigator begins to recognize a special power within them which he seems to lack despite his own strength and endurance. He decides that he wants a part of this special power and aligns himself with them, giving his Engine Soul to Go-On Black. Engine Number 6 – Carrigator (back) While he does not have a dedicated human partner like the previous five do, his Engine Soul and Engine Cast are protected by Gunpei Ishihara (Go-On Black). He is represented as a combination of a long nose semi-truck car carrier and an alligator. He is an honorable and prideful Engine, recognizing how Gunpherd and Birca were able to accept humans inside of them in order to gain power. But Carrigator is also a rather simple-minded Engine- not immediately identifying himself to the Go-Onger or recognizing them by saying that he was pursuing Bombe Banki underground as opposed to aiding him; and thus the Gaiarc ministers were able to indirectly use him to distract the Go-Onger from their real plans. But his physical strength and powerful jaws are weapons not to be underestimated, as is his ability to carry other Engines on his back over long distances. As a life form from Machine World, he ends most of his sentences with the last two syllables of his name, “Geh-ta geh-ta!” Carrigator- as a member of the mysterious Gian Clan- can initiate powerful combinations on his own, and so he serves as the head, torso, and legs of the Engine Gattai Gunbir-Oh. Now, unlike both Engine Birca and Engine Gunpherd, here is an Engine that fits in with the vehicles-merged-with-animals theme of the series! His entire body is by far the largest one seen yet (15in / approx. 38cm), almost twice as long as Engine Buson from the DX Engine Gattai Engine-Oh! His head is quite long and flat, but along the top there are the ridges, snout, and eyes of an alligator; all cleverly incorporated into the appearance of a semi-truck. (See the little green windshield on top between his eyes?) However, the animal motif does not end entirely with the head- aside from his length, a pair of painted orange stripes runs in a crocked fashion across both sides like very poorly-implied scales, culminating in the stylized orange “6” on the back end. Even the back ramp- usually seen extended- is stored in a lowered position as part of his ‘tail’ end. Along the top of his whole body are various segmented panels, which represent the raised grating deck of a real car carrier trailer.

Aside from putting the provided Engine Soul into him (see below), Carrigator rolls about quite well with his 14 small black wheels. (There actually an even smaller wheel mid-body underneath where Gunbir-Oh’s helmet is stored. Why, I don’t know; it strikes me as unnecessary.) Additionally, Carrigator’s entire head can freely twist about 45° to either side! But if you don’t want to mess with his head turning, you can push backwards on it about 1.6cm to lock it in place; a function of later transformations. As mentioned earlier, Carrigator- just like in the series- can haul around Birca and Gunpherd on his back. They just sit loosely on the platforms i.e. don’t turn them over or they fall off. According to the instructions, all five of the smaller separately-sold Chogokin Engine vehicles (think Hot Wheels™-sized die-cast versions of the first five Engines, none of which I will be covering) can also sit loosely at the same time on Carrigator’s orange platforms since they are each at least half the size of the smallest DX Engine, Bear RV.

In addition to future accessory DX Engine sets, the common ‘collecting’ gimmick is the battery-powered Engine Soul cartridge. These serve as a replacement in all of the toys for a dedicated light-and-sound effect. Each Engine Soul shares an identical shape (2½” x 1¾” x 9/16”, or 2.57cm x 4.5cm x 1.5cm), has a single bright red LED light (which can project over 6ft / 2m in a dark room!), a large decal which identifies it, and they all have some generic sounds. Because of this, any Engine Soul (or Change Soul, which I won’t get into here) can be fitted into any properly-fitted toy that can accept one. But, the gimmick is that each Engine Soul has a unique set of sound effects… The Engine Gattai Series #6 set comes with Carrigator’s Engine Soul. It is uniquely identified by its orange ABS casing, the stylized “6”, and the phrases “ES” & “06” on the front decal. While each of the Engines in the “Go-Onger” line can accept an Engine Soul, only Carrigator’s is provided; however, it will work equally in all of them since, again, all Engine Soul cartridges are the same size. The storage compartment is located in his mouth. To access it, simply lift the top of his head up, and stick it in. (Opening Carrigator’s mouth actually reveals some additional techy details inside right on top of the Engine Soul compartment, such as implied teeth and a long narrow tongue!) The bright red LED light from the Engine Soul shines through a hole in the top of Carrigator’s head, just in front of the green cockpit windscreen. Carrigator’s Engine Soul has four unique effects- all performed by the same seiyu from the series, Ky?sei Tsukui. (He returns for a fifth time to Super Sentai here, but is best known for more-numerous anime and OVA performances, and he also did a one-time voice in 2007’s “Kamen Rider Den-O”.) He says, in Japanese:

• Oh, Carr-ee-geh-ta!
• Geh-ta geh-ta
• Pardon me for biting [“Kamitsuki gomen”]
• Unlimited strength [“Goriki museigen”]

Carrigator has the persona of a samurai or higher-class citizen, but has the intentionally-exaggerated, -melodic, and well-recognized speech patterns of classic Japanese kabuki theater, so he ends up with quite an accent whenever he speaks. The phrases will always play in that order, each preceded by the same sound of a diesel engine running followed by hydraulic brakes hissing. Now, if you place Carrigator’s Engine Soul into any other DX Engine set, it’ll say the same things, but it’ll obviously be inaccurate since that’s not the right Engine for it to go with. Like Birca and Gunpherd before him, access to Carrigator’s alternate/generic sound effects can be accessed in both his regular mode and transformed mode:

• Oh, Go-On!
• Geh-ta geh-ta

This time, however, instead of a diesel engine rumbling, you hear the sound of metal clash twice followed closely by muffled glass shattering first. But it is still Carrigator speaking. As with Birca and Gunpherd, if you press both of Carrigator’s sound-activating buttons at the same time, most of these phrases will be repeated (though now preceded by the crackle of a radio), and a single new phrase will also sound which can only be found in this way:

• What a coincidence that we meet here, my enemy. Be prepared for the end of your life here. [“Kokodeattga Hyakunenme”] (a line from a classic poem)

(I found the translations for the three long phrases in, ironically, another review, so I’m completely dependent on what they said he says; if they’re wrong, please let me know immediately so I can remove them. And you can certainly help me by watching the video review below!) The activation buttons for Carrigator are the small black fuel tanks on either side of his head directly below his eyes

The Power Rangers’ version of Engine Carrigator has not appeared yet, so comparisons are impossible. If I were to take a shot in the dark, I’d say the front- and back-most orange lines on his body are left the plain black plastic, the green lines along his ‘tail’ are also left un-painted, the silver lines under both platforms are removed, and the black Go-Onger logo from his nose. I’d also venture that all Engine Soul cartridges (whatever those will be called) will be either modified to have fewer-or-no electronics, or completely eliminated from the line. There’s no PVC or die-cast metal, so that’s not a problem. (No metal in a car-shaped vehicle? Who’d‘ve thunk it?) I doubt any plastic coloring will be changed, but there may be very minor paint changes.

As a stand-alone, this set is rather fun. The personality expressed in the series by the character certainly carries over into the toy. And it is a good blend of car carrier and alligator; it may not have feet & legs, but the flattened appearance of the body, and clever merging of the control cabin and his animal head are good enough for me. I also really like that you can turn the cab/head side-to-side as opposed to having it fixed-forward. One odd thing that struck me, though, is that Engine Soul compartment- if you open his mouth to imitate him talking, the Engine Soul pops out and presses back in each time, triggering the activation sound. I think a small latch of some kind could have been used here so that you didn’t have to worry about that. I would also have liked some sort of clip mechanism to keep Birca and Gunpherd fixed to his back as opposed to slipping side-to-side so easily; they just sit on thin ridges, and their underbellies rest on top of the platform rotation joints. But, that the two smaller Engines can even fit on there is really awesome. Even if it weren’t for its combining capabilities, I would still recommend getting Engine Carrigator.

. . .

…but wait-! The story’s not over yet! The Gaiarc ministers’ original plan was to rust the Engines using Bombe Banki so that they (and thus the Go-Onger) would become powerless. Unfortunately, Carrigator got in the way and started chasing him down through the underground tunnels. With Birca and Gunpherd distracted by the proud and ignorant Gian Clan Engine, Bombe Banki grew to giant size, and Engine-Oh was summoned. Though Bombe Banki wasn’t a particularly brave Gaiarc monster, he could still instantly rust things. Faking running away, he suddenly turned and shot a red beam at Engine-Oh. Rust quickly covered the three Engines, and they broke apart and shrank back down to injured Engine Casts! With Sousuke, Ren, and Saki cradling their disabled partners’ Casts in their hands, Bombe Banki closed distance… But then they all turn, hearing a rumbling growing closer…

Engine Gattai Series #6- Engine Carrigator is the final component required to make a new combination which also utilized both Engine Birca and Engine Gunpherd. And so, please proceed to the next page to read the review on the Engine Gattai Gunbir-Oh!