Kotetsu Jeeg

While I’ve never been a big fan of the Jeeg design, either modern or vintage, I did appreciate the magnetic features found in the toys. If I had to choose between the older Kotetsu Jeeg and the newer Kotetsushin Jeeg, I would have to side with the older one since it is more my style. Evolution Toy stepped up to make a Kotetsu Jeeg for all casual and hardcore fans to enjoy. This will be my first venture into Jeeg territory. While not my first stab at a magnemo toy, it is definitely the least frustrating.

Jeeg comes in a nice colorful box not unlike what you get with a Soul of Chogokin release. Graphics and photography are high quality.

Once the box is open, you are met with your standard modern plastic tray full of goodies. It’s a two-level tray with the top portion holding the robot and small accessories while the bottom holds the rest of his body accessories.

Upon pulling Jeeg out, I realized there was no diecast to be found on his body, although he had the heft of your average modern gokin. The weight is due to the ball magnets on his joints. I was impressed with his stability.

I have a CM’s Corp. Brave Gokin Gakeen, which is the last magnemo toy I’ve handled, and Jeeg is much more stable and willing to hold poses that are impossible with said Gakeen. How’s this for starters? No stand nor Photoshop here.

Even a simple pose like this would bring most modern magnemo toys to the ground.

Out of the box, Jeeg comes with two PVC fists. A second pair of PVC open hands is included. I did notice that the wall on the palm side of the hands was thin enough to show stress marks when popping it onto the wrist joints. The sculpt of the hands is very nice.

Jeeg’s shoulders can pull out of the body for further articulation. The left is normal and the right is in the outer-most position. I love how they have built ratchets into the shoulders. It truly is a great design for a toy of this type and takes full advantage of the magnets spring-like properties.

Here we can see the standard range of movement of the elbows on the left. On the right we can see the extra joint built in to provide dual-joint capability.

The legs also include a pull-out feature in the upper thighs. The left side shows the standard leg and the right shows the leg using the extended joint.

As if all that wasn’t enough, the knees also provide a secondary point of articulation. The standard knee range is shown on the left while the right shows the secondary joint range. The knee sockets provide a satisfying ratchet consisting of Delrin gears that ratchet against a diecast knee joint that the leg ball pops into.

Apparently Jeeg prefers sneakers because the bottom of his feet have two small rectangular pieces of rubber underneath his feet. The feet are plastic, but two holes are molded in that allow an inner piece of rubber to poke through and provide added grip. Evolution Toys has done their homework. Aside from that, the toes are also articulated. They not only swing up, but they swing down too.

Here’s a glimpse of the arm sockets that provide the magnetic power to the arm balls. High Quality stuff.

Jeeg comes standard with a head that has eyes with pupils. The head can look up and down. The base of the neck has a small ratcheting action.

If you prefer the look of having no pupils, there is an alternate head with blank eyes.

This alternate head has a hidden feature. It is actually a small figure of the pilot Hiroshi Shiba that can transform into Jeeg’s head.

The set comes with a stand that at first I though was for Jeeg himself, but apparently this base is to properly use the gimmicks that come with Jeeg.

While I did not need this stand for the effects gimmick pictures, it may be necessary to use it if you wish to display him with the following effects gimmicks. This is his Spin Storm effect which, if I am not mistaken, is a limited edition piece that is only included with the first release.

The other gimmick is the Bomber Knuckle effect. This requires the use of a smoke-trail PVC piece and a PVC dual-hand piece which also suffered from stress marks after use. Of note is that the smoke trail piece is quite heavy. Surprisingly, Jeeg was able to hold it up nicely. If you plan on displaying it this way, however, I would recommend using the stand.

Jeeg has three alternate modes that can be reproduced in this set. It requires major parts-swapping. The great thing about these parts is that they are not only for looks. They retain all the articulation of the full blown limbs and all of their magnemo features.

The first is the Sky mode. To use the Sky mode parts, you need to remove most of Jeeg’s standard limbs and replace them with alternate parts.

The tips of the wings can fold in or out.

The next mode we’ll look at is the Marine mode, which is also a part- swapping affair. This time you use the standard upper arms. We can agree that the “vehicle” mode is a bit rubbish so Evolution Toys is releasing a more accurate set of this mode. They are following Bandai’s footsteps and releasing it as a Web Shop Exclusive.

The last mode is quite possibly my favorite because it has drills for arms.

In closing, I think this release is actually pretty well done. More impressive is that this is their first release. It seems they did their research into materials, construction, and execution and it shows in the final result. While it may not impress gokin purists, it will be much loved by Jeeg fans and people who want a good magnemo robot toy. The downside is the price which, depending on what factors you consider may be justified or not. I for one am glad this came my way.