Cosmo Driver
Space Deleter is the sequel to 2012’s Giant Saver, China’s first original Tokusatsu series. Foregoing the more mystical design elements of the original series, the Space Deleter crew’s space themed arsenal seems to be powered by the planetary bodies they each represent. Like many Super Sentai series’, the primary Space Deleter team consists of three members (Red, Blue, Pink) piloting the Solar Saver. A secondary team consisting of the Green and Yellow members pilot the Planet Saver, while the mysterious sixth member pilots the Star Saver.
As a quick aside, the following translations are a bit rough, though based on the transcribed Cosmo Driver instruction manual. Translating between Chinese and English is weird, especially when the Chinese words really don’t make sense. Zhang Ji Wang (战击王), literally translated as Battle Hit King really makes no sense in either language. The official word used for this translation is ‘Saver’ so I tried to keep the basic naming convention. If you want some more great examples of terrible English/Chinese translations, check out the Chinese title for Guardians of the Galaxy and any Chinese name for a League of Legends Champion.
For some reason Auldey decided to include a pamphlet with the Cosmo Driver essentially spoiling most of the additional robots, upgrades and combinations. The five Space Deleter member’s individual weapons combine into your typical Super Sentai weapon while Space Deleter Black has his own unique transforming gun/dagger. The five core Space Deleters also use the Cosmo Driver to transform, with each using a unique disc while Space Deleter Black has his own Abaranger looking transformation device. One big spoiler of the series seems to be that Space Deleter Red ends up with an upgraded form along with a sword that has three discs similar to the Cosmo Driver discs. On the back we are introduced to simple Hero Masher style Saver toys as well as the deluxe Solar, Planet and Star Saver. For some reason no articulated figures were made of the Space Deleter team and only sofubi figures were made.
Getting back to the Cosmo Driver, Auldey has actually done a pretty decent job with the packaging of the Cosmo Driver. While most people will probably still think of Chinese toys are cheap knockoffs, the Cosmo Driver could easily pass for any BoJ Sentai toy.
The Cosmo Driver comes with the spaceship looking driver itself, five discs for each of the respective team members, and a plastic wrist strap. The strap itself is large enough for my fat wrists so I’m sure it will fit most adults. Since each of the Space Deleter members represent a planet, their respective discs show the astrological symbols along with color. The five primary team members are:
Space Deleter Red, Mars Force
Space Deleter Blue, Mercury Force
Space Deleter Pink, Venus Force
Space Deleter Yellow, Saturn Force
Space Deleter Green, Jupiter Force
The Cosmo Driver is a neat device. Mounted on the wrist, it resembles a spaceship of some sort, with two large boosters on the back. The front has a little plastic canopy that shows some nice molded metallic details underneath. The red dial in the center of the Driver is used to spin Space Deleter discs for transformation as well as calling the support vehicles and robots. The red triangular button is also used in conjunction with the dial to perform the various sounds. There is also a multicolored LED in the center of the Driver as well as two LEDs in the boosters. The Cosmo Driver itself reminds me of the Enterprise for some reason but also some sort of hovercraft.
Since the transformation gimmick involves the spinning discs, each disc has a unique pattern of teeth on the underside. When these teeth hit the two white tabs on the Cosmo Driver, the unique patterns will play the corresponding sounds for that team member. The different sounds are played depending on the combination red button presses on the top of the driver. Spinning the dial without a disc will play a beeping sound while spinning with a disc attached and no button presses will result in the transformation sound of the respective member. Pressing the button once and then spinning the disc plays the support vehicle summoning, while two quick presses and then spinning plays the team’s Saver combination sound (Solar Saver for Red/Blue/Pink and Planet Saver for Yellow/Green). One long press and then spinning the disc plays the combination sound for Galaxy Saver, the combination of Solar and Planet Saver. For some reason there is no sound for the combination of Cosmo Saver, comprised of all three robots. The underside of the Cosmo driver has a small switch to turn it off and on. Turning on the Driver plays a sound and uses three AAA batteries.
The following will be the rough translation of the sounds that each disc plays. I’m not too sure about what some of the support vehicles are called, because again, the Chinese names really make no sense.
Mars Disc
No button press, then spin: Space Deleter Red! Fire Guardian ready! 3 2 1 Blast off! Power of binding! (I think it says binding, but I’m not 100% sure).
One button press, then spin: Rising Arrow (rocket ship), ready!
Two quick button presses, then spin: Rising Arrow, Sky Transporter, Dream Fighter, ready! Solar Saver!
One long button press, then spin: Rising Arrow, Sky Transporter, Dream Fighter, Steel Drill, Shadow Disc, ready! Galaxy Saver!
Mercury Disc
No button press, then spin: Space Deleter Blue! Sky Guardian ready! 3 2 1 Blast off! Power of binding!
One button press, then spin: Sky Transporter (Transport Truck), ready!
Two quick button presses, then spin: Rising Arrow, Sky Transporter, Dream Fighter, ready! Solar Saver!
One long button press, then spin: Rising Arrow, Sky Transporter, Dream Fighter, Steel Drill, Shadow Disc, ready! Galaxy Saver!
Venus Disc
No button press, then spin: Space Deleter Pink! Dream Guardian ready! 3 2 1 Blast off! Power of binding!
One button press, then spin: Dream Fighter (spaceship), ready!
Two quick button presses, then spin: Rising Arrow, Sky Transporter, Dream Fighter, ready! Solar Saver!
One long button press, then spin: Rising Arrow, Sky Transporter, Dream Fighter, Steel Drill, Shadow Disc, ready! Galaxy Saver!
Saturn Disc
No button press, then spin: Space Deleter Yellow! Earth Guardian ready! 3 2 1 Blast off! Power of binding!
One button press, then spin: Steel Drill (Drill Tank, the literal translation doesn’t make any sense), ready!
Two quick button presses, then spin: Steel Drill, Shadow Disc, ready! Planet Saver!
One long button press, then spin: Rising Arrow, Sky Transporter, Dream Fighter, Steel Drill, Shadow Disc, ready! Galaxy Saver!
Jupiter Disc
No button press, then spin: Space Deleter Green! Forest Guardian ready! 3 2 1 Blast off! Power of binding!
One button press, then spin: Dream Fighter (UFO thingy, the literal translation doesn’t make any sense), ready!
Two quick button presses, then spin: Steel Drill, Shadow Disc, ready! Planet Saver!
One long button press, then spin: Rising Arrow, Sky Transporter, Dream Fighter, Steel Drill, Shadow Disc, ready! Galaxy Saver!
It seems in the two years since Giant Saver, Auldey has really stepped up their game with the Space Deleter toys. The quality of the Cosmo Driver is top notch, with great paint application, details and feels solid to play with. The Giant Saver toys were a huge step in the right direction, though still suffered from some small issues in quality while the Savers tended to be a bit of a mess when combined but Auldey has obviously fixed their own issues.
I don’t usually buy role play toys, but for roughly 15 dollars, the Cosmo Driver was cheap enough for me to just throw in along with my order for the Solar Saver and I’m glad I did. The Cosmo Driver is really fun to play with, and in fact I’m spinning the discs as I write this. I would argue what Auldey has made is better than anything Bandai of America has released and is easily on par with any of the Japanese Sentai releases. It even has the benefit of not going overboard with the gimmick so you only need buy the Cosmo Driver without the need to buy another hundred disc variations for past series, related series, magazine exclusive and who knows whatever else Bandai will milk you every year. The only complaint I have is that sometimes it can be tricky to do the 2 quick button presses without accidentally playing the support vehicle sound, but that’s a pretty minor issue. If you have any interest Space Deleter, I highly recommend you give the Cosmo Driver a shot. I never thought I would live to see the day where I could consider Chinese Tokusatsu designs superior the Super Sentai designs they were influenced from.