Jet Icarus

I was really excited to open the box which contained my new GX-41 Reideen the Brave. I kept telling myself, “At long last, I’ve got it! Now, if only Daimos is already available.” However, my attention was immediately diverted to the tiny item that fell from the box when I did open it. Had I not noticed that it was there, it would have been lost altogether; thrown away with the delivery box, for sure. Apparently, the toy was included in my order, free of charge and I’m not even sure if it was sent as a bonus item, or just the store owner making fun of me. But guess what, instead of opening my GX-41 box immediately, I opted to play around with this small, tiny plastic toy robot. The next thing I knew is that I have become fascinated with it, and it actually grew on me. I sometimes catch myself staring at it for hours at a time, until I’ve realized that I didn’t even know its name.

And so, off to research I went and found out that this toy is a tiny representation of Jet Icarus. It’s actually a combination of 5 jet machines (Jet Hawk, Jet Condor, Jet Owl, Jet Swan and Jet Swallow) or into a giant space ship called Icarus Haken. According to data available, Jet Icarus, the robot, is about 52.8 meters tall, weighs 94 tons and has maximum flight speed of Mach 1 (not that fast for a fighting robot, right?). Weapons include:

1. Birdnic Sabre
2. Shot Puncher
3. Icarus Axe
4. Icarus Puncher
5. Icarus Magna
6. Jet Lancer
7. Jet Dagger
8. Wing Shield

And when combined with another mecha called Jet Garuda (or Bird Garuda, whichever you prefer) brought to our planet by an alien species who call themselves the “Dimensians”, our friend over here becomes the “Great Icarus”.

It does not stop there and if you’re not yet confused so far, try this: when Icarus Haken (Jet Icarus in space shipe mode) combines with Jet Garuda (or Bird Garuda), it becomes another large jet machine called the “Hyper Haken”.

I haven’t got much time to research into the story of this robot, but I sure am interested now.

And now, for the toy, our Jet Icarus is basically made of hard plastic and measures about 8 cm (3+ inches) tall and 5 cm (2 inches) wide. It comes on a clear plastic bag with a header that says “Toys”, as if it’s not that obvious. Except for both arms, which are the only parts of the toy that are articulated, all others are fix-posed. The arms are being hold by the two halves (front and rear portions) which are kept in place by screws that can be seen at the back of the toy. No markings, or even a hint of who made this, can be seen anywhere on it.

If not for the color, I could have sworn that its head resembles that of Optimus Prime, while its eyes, that of Megatron. But who knows what its manufacturer was thinking when they made this toy. Portions of its face, its stomach and legs are crudely spray-painted with silver. Its manufacturer must have been on cost-cutting mode when they made this, since only the front portion of the toy is painted. Its chest emblem shows an eagle (or it could be any other bird, who knows?) is quite prominent in its golden glory.

On the other hand, putting its painting aside, the toy has its share of fine details. Looking at its face, one can see that facial contours are quite exact and well-proportioned. Details on its arms, lower legs and even on the golden eagle would give one an idea that somehow its makers actually spent some time coming up with a credible and playable toy. Heck, only if they’d spent the same amount of time (and probably money) to have it properly painted as it should have been, such things would have made a world of difference for this toy. For those who are into hard-core collecting, this could be a fine addition to your collection; otherwise, you might want to pass up and include it in your next batch of donations to some charity groups out there.

Honestly, though, I’m not sure why I even love it. In terms of aesthetics, it’s a gazillion miles away from my SOCs, but, then again; I can’t stop looking at it, hence, it stays… beside my new GX-41.