Get Your Super Min-Pla Combattler V at HobbyLink Japan

Super Mini-Pla are a hybrid between model kit and candy toy kit. They come in individual boxes, but mostly people by the set. While assembly is simpler than your average Gundam kit,  the result is very toy-like with lots of accessories and articulation. The kits are easy enough that a novice builder can build one. Parts are molded in color and stickers are included, so no paint is required.

The entire set comes in a grey outer box.

Inside, you get four numbered kits.

Each kit contains the components to build Combattler V and its accessories.

Kit 1contains BattleJet and BattleCraft

Kit 2 contains BattleCrasher and Twin Lancer weaponry

Kit 3 contains BattleTank and Electromagnetic YoYo weapon

Kit 4 contains BattleMarine and connectng parts for carrying BattleTank

Assembly takes about an hour per box. Let’s get right into the finished product!

Battle Jet

Battle Jet forms the head of Combattler V. Rather than make it transform, you get two versions. One version is a non-transforming ship with landing gear, and the other one is the head with neck and connection point. We’ll look at that one during combination.

BattleCrasher

This winged vehicle becomes the torso of Combattler V, It doesn’t do much, but it looks good thanks to some additional parts that are not used in the transformation. 

BattleTank

BattleTank becomes the waist of Combattler V. It’s a tank but the wheels do not roll. The scoops on the front open and close, and can extend when you add the connector parts. 

BattleMarine

Forming the legs of Combattler V, BattleMarine is a weird, impractical dual submarine. It’s got landing gear, and wings, so maybe it’s not a submarine at all? The red connector parts on either side of the cockput like to separate easily, so be aware.

BattleCraft

This vehicle forms the feet of Combattler. There seems to be a flaw in the build in this one that I could only overcome by cutting one of the pieces. Note the red squares around where the drills are stored. These have tabs on either side, but they are too long to fit, resulting in bending of the part and stress marks. I ended up cutting them shorter on the other side, but the damage was done. I don’t know if I was being an idiot and missing something, but I could not get it to work without cutting it.

The wheels on Battle Craft do not roll, but the drills do come out if you push the tabs underneath, but it’s not easy to do.

Forming Combattler V!

Volt in? no… Fade in?…  no.. Form feet and legs?… no.. What does Combattler V say to combine? It must have a voice command….

Sadly you have to dissasemble as much as you assemble. Many of the ships have decorative parts that need to be discarded for combination. This helps you get accurate looks in both modes, but it sacrifices playability. Some parts need to be pried off with a small tool, unless you have strong fingernails.

The Battle Jet is the easy one, just swap out the ship for the head assembly.

Battle Crasher needs a bit more.

– Remove the jet nozzles on back

– Remove engine panels from arms

– Remove wheels from underneath

– Remove wings

Battle Tank also needs a bit of work. Most annoying are the little spacers from the back that get detached to fill in sides of the chest.

– Remove tank treads

– Remove claws

– Remove and replace small panels

– Add small tank treads

– detach connection point from rear of hips

BattleMarine needs to be almost completely taken apart.

– Remove fins from legs

– remove wings

– remove legs from central section

– add leg connector piece

BattleCrasher gets away with only swapping out the towers.

– Separate the halves

– Swap out the towers

Combattler V!

The combined robot is kind of spectacular. in his combined form he stands about 8″ tall, is wonderfully balanced, and far more poseable than it has any right to be.

Did I mention the articulation? Can your Combattler do this?

or this?

Or this?

The shoulder joints slide out for forward motion!

For weaponry, you’ve got Twin Lancers that can be combined, and variant hands to hold them.

Electromagnetic Yo-Yos can connect to the hands with small translucent connectors, which to be honest don’t connect to the weapon well.

There are also electromangnetic beams that can be used in different configurations. There are two long and two short beams.

You can transform Combattler V into GrandDasher mode with some additonal parts. 

There are also parts for BattleMarine to carry BattleTank. Unlike the Soul of Chogokin, this one works without falling over.

If you’ve got a Tamashii Stand kicking around, there’s a hole on the back that you can attach Combattler to.

I continue to be impressed by the Super Mini-Pla line. The size is so similar to Super Robot Chogokin that I wonder if these were designs that were considered for the line but never used. Note that none of the SMP characters were included in SRC and vice versa. It’s just speculation on my part at this point.

Bandai also released an option parts set that cost almost as much as this set alone. This set included pieces to create: Battle Guleggar, Big Blast, Big Blast Divider, Atomic Burner, and the Super Electromagnetic Spin.

 

You can get your Super Mini-Pla Combattler V from HobbyLink Japan!