Getter 1 (Metallic) San Diego Comicon 08

This is a cool toy, not so much for what it is, but for what it means.

On the surface it is a redeco of the old GX-06 Getter Robo set, but this time it is just Getter 1 all by his lonesome. It’s essentially the same toy as the GX-06, with different color and material. The metal content has remained the same.

What makes this special though, is that it is a collaboration between US toymaker Toynami and JP toymaker Bandai. This toy was an exclusive at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, and was limited to 500 pcs. This is the first time a Soul of Chogokin toy has been offered as an exclusive to the American market. The toy was later released as a Bandai Tamashii web shop exclusive, but still, we got it first.

This collaboration between Bandai and Toynami is remarkable for several reasons. First, it shows that Bandai Japan recognizes and understands that there is a domestic market (at least they did when they planned this). They also decided to bypass the logical choice of Bandai America in favor of the collector-focused Toynami. BA would likely try to re-mold or change the toys for a more general audience where Toynami is more likely to keep them intact.

There was a lot of talk at the time about bringing future SOC releases to the US through Toynami, but as of this writing, this has been the only release.

The packaging for this release is new and unique to the US market. A monochrome red box with the Toynami logo on it holds an old-school styro tray. Very cool.

Here’s to Toynami bringing more SOC exclusives to the US.