Jo Kaisaka
Review by The Enthusiast
This toy comes from Nakajima’s short-lived Ultra Gokin line. Jo Kaisaka pilots Groizer X, the titular mecha from Go Nagai's semi-obscure King of the Sky Groizer X cartoon. Nakajima only made a handful of Popy-style diecast figures, which is too bad. They hit this one out of the park.
A lot of love went into this toy. Every part is beautifully detailed and precisely painted. The toy is 90% diecast. The only plastic elements are the helmet, belt, jet-pack, gun, and the two “handles” on the chest.
Jo comes with a few accessories: A removable helmet with clear plastic visor (!), a jet-pack, and a belt with a holster to carry his gun. The gun cannot be held by the figure. The best accessory, in my opinion, is the jaunty cloth scarf around his neck.
The jet-pack is nicely finished with firing rockets and clear plastic details. The light at the top of the pack looks like it should light up. There’s a Christmas-light-type bulb inside it, but I can’t figure out how it would turn on or where batteries would go. The pack securely clips onto two clips on the back of the belt.
The head is soft vinyl. Nakajima’s expertise with vinyl toys really shows on the head’s sculpt and paint apps, which are perfect.
The size of the figure is comparable to Popy ST toys, about 5.5" tall. Articulation is typical of contemporaneous gokin. The shoulders rotate, the elbows, hips, and elbows bend, but not enough to really do anything interesting.
The Nakajima diecasts are fairly common and inexpensive (at least loose), but I cannot understand why. This is easily one of the most soulful and beautiful toys I own.
UPDATE 8/2021
Added box photos
| Posted 5 June, 2009 - 16:00 by The Enthusiast |
Comments
6 comments postedWow, this figure makes me feel nostalgic for the 80's! Kinda reminds me of the old Centurions cartoon, or maybe even a little Boba Fett-ish. Well, atleast his back pack is..
-Dan
CollectionDX LLC
Vice President/Co-Owner
"the other fat bearded guy at CDX"
I think his body is kind of shaped and colored like Tekkaman! Creepy forehead ridge and eyebrows though. Dude has some serious caveman leanings.
Heh...this is one of my first ever vintage gokin! Love it...I think I may even like it even more than the ST gokin Groizer Robo also by Nakajima.
The one thing to be careful about with Nakajima diecasts, however, is that they pretty much define the phrase "brittle gokin". I dunno what it is about the zinc alloy they used, but the metal they used is definitely known to chip or break completely.
Unfortunately, my Jo's lower leg is broken: the tab in the thigh that slots into the lower leg (forming the knee joint) snapped long ago. It's actually kinda neat, honestly, because you could see the grain pattern in the metal! I've since used JB Weld to fuse the pieces, but now the knee doesn't bend. :/
I'll upgrade to a minty one someday!
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Sanjeev
What a great review. I've never really got into Tekkaman and Pegas, but I may have to get one of these...
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CollectionDX Admin
Hi, great review. I have this toy also. The lights do light up and blink. The battery goes into the compartment in the jetpack. First, you must depress two tabs behind the jetpack where the clips are. Then, on the opposite side of the jetpack, pull off the cover.
The type of battery that can fit into that is a 12volt 23A battery. You can find this online or your local Radio Shack store. Good luck!
Wow. Nice toy! I'm currently watching Groizer X on DVD in Italian. Thanks for sharing.