Gotengo
Review by NekroDave
I can't remember the last time that I felt two toys were so made for one another that I thought they shouldn't even be sold separately. But that's the case with M1's Manda and Gotengo. I just don't see any reason to have one and not the other. But they are sold separately (available from HobbyLink Japan) so they get two different reviews.
I guess if you had to pick just one, the likely choice would be the Manda, mostly because there's a more well established pedigree of vinyl kaiju rather than vinyl vehicles. Although it would come at a much greater cost, some might opt to get a die-cast rendition of the Gotengo, such as the superlative Shin Seiki Gokin from Aoshima. But at nearly a quarter of the price, I'll take the vinyl, thank you very much.
Actually, I think I'd like the vinyl more than the diecast. Why? Well, this vehicle is a submarine and with no metal content, I'd have no qualms at all about playing with this thing in the tub!
This toy is about 13" long and has a rather dull paint job. I don't mean that in a bad way at all though. In fact, I rather like it. It's a nice change of pace for M1 and contrasts beautifully with the elaborate paint on the Manda.
If anything, I guess I would prefer that the "saw blades" at the front of the ship were painted like metal the way the drill is. As it is, they were just left in the crimson and gray of the upper and lower portions of the ship.
One thing that is pretty neat is that the turrets can actually rotate! It would have pretty easy for them to just leave them in a fixed pose and with this being such a simply toy, I'm not sure anyone would have cared. I know I wouldn't have. But since the feature is included, I do think it's neat.
Of course, since that is the only thing this does, I got nothing else to say about it, other than you can get yours at HobbyLink Japan.
Comments
7 comments postedAwesome!
But now, you HAVE to get a picture of it in your bathtub!
Seriously...I wonder if this thing floats! ;)
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Sanjeev
I really wanted some underwater shots for this review, but it's too cold to go swimming and I'm not sure if it would be detrimental to my dad's fish if I dropped it in his tank. I will test it's flotation capabilities later though. Promise.
"This must be settled the way nature intended....with a vicious, bloody fight!"
Onyx Blackman
Principal, Flatpoint High
"Underwater" shots!? Detrimental to the fish...or your camera!? ;)
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Sanjeev
Josh was telling me last night that they have these waterproof covers that you can get. But I really can't justify the expense right now and I wanted to get the review out. Maybe in the summertime..
Ironically, I had one of those cheapo disposable underwater cameras that I bought when I went down to the Wakulla Springs for Creaturefest back in 2004. That thing sat in my car forever, waiting to have the film developed and I finally just threw it away a couple months ago! lol
"This must be settled the way nature intended....with a vicious, bloody fight!"
Onyx Blackman
Principal, Flatpoint High
Yowch! I guess I don't know much about vinyls but I thought they were less expensive than this, even if this one's a foot long..
Nah, 5kY seems pretty par for the course... the CMS Corp Patlabor vinyls all retailed around there and were around 8" in height each, some with articulation.
Yeah, for a standard release vinyl, that's about right, although you'll often see even higher, sometimes twice as much. Btw, I messed up the price initially and fixed it. It's indeed 5,000yen. I just had 5,275 on the brain after posting the last batch of Marmit news. lol
"This must be settled the way nature intended....with a vicious, bloody fight!"
Onyx Blackman
Principal, Flatpoint High