Giant Robo

Review by Shogundan

Before Mazinger Z....Existed another giant robot....The cleverly named, Giant Robo!

Since I began collecting in 2000, I really wanted a chogokin version of the original Giant Robo. I know Yamato made a chogokin of the modern version but (sigh), it's just not the same. I could never understand why there wasn't one made of the original. Surely its a popular enough character in Japanese culture, isn't it?

This quandary bothered me for years until, 2007 when in honor of its 40th birthday, Soft Garage produced Giant Robo in the Legend Of Gokin line.

My quest began, It became my Holy Grail. I had to have this toy! I searched high and low with no luck. It was if it sold out immediately upon release. I started to get really discouraged with my quest. Every time I came across one on Ebay it was going for over $250 and I refused to pay that.

My quest ended in July 2008 at the San Diego Comic Con. Josh and I took a break from our show coverage, we decided to check out the toy vendors. Wow, so much to look at, so many things I wanted to have. It was rather overwhelming and easy to lose your objective on what you really wanted. I had totally forgotten my Holy Grail when Josh pointed out a Giant Robo for $85 bucks! I was surprised because Josh wanted this piece too. Being the fact that Josh is truly a gentlemen collector he offered me first dibs on the purchasing of it. Without hesitation I grabbed it! After making my purchase I asked the seller if he had another (thinking of Josh). Unfortunately, he said he did not have another....bummer.

Now don't feel bad for Josh. He strolled by the same vendor the day before the show ended and mysteriously he had another Giant Robo for $75 bucks! Hey, that's $10 less than I paid! Josh's good Karma paid off for him.

Giant Robo is packaged in what I consider a classic box similar in size to the old Popy boxes. The box has an actual pic of the toy on the box with a 40th anniversary tag in it's lower right corner. Remove Giant Robo from the box and you are greeted with styrofoam goodness. Something about styrofoam and gokin.....It's like chocolate and peanut butter...they just go together!

The paint and detail on this figure fantastic, right down to the rivets. Die-cast metal is used throughout this toy including arms, chest and legs. Giant Robo's comes with two sets of hands and has articulation allowing it to do most of the poses from the show.

As you can see in the photo's, Giant Robo is very close in size to SOC GX-01R Mazinger Z

Love the retro look of this figure flying, excuse my poor photoshop skills.

All in all, I love this figure. It's a great modern representation of the classic character with a true old-school feel. If you like this character, don't deprive yourself and get it.