Jo Kaisaka

This toy comes from Nakajima’s short-lived Ultra Gokin line. Jo Kaisaka pilots Groizer X, the titular mecha from Go Nagai’s semi-obscure King of the Sky Groizer X cartoon. Nakajima only made a handful of Popy-style diecast figures, which is too bad. They hit this one out of the park.

A lot of love went into this toy. Every part is beautifully detailed and precisely painted. The toy is 90% diecast. The only plastic elements are the helmet, belt, jet-pack, gun, and the two “handles” on the chest.

Jo comes with a few accessories: A removable helmet with clear plastic visor (!), a jet-pack, and a belt with a holster to carry his gun. The gun cannot be held by the figure. The best accessory, in my opinion, is the jaunty cloth scarf around his neck.

The jet-pack is nicely finished with firing rockets and clear plastic details. The light at the top of the pack looks like it should light up. There’s a Christmas-light-type bulb inside it, but I can’t figure out how it would turn on or where batteries would go. The pack securely clips onto two clips on the back of the belt.

The head is soft vinyl. Nakajima’s expertise with vinyl toys really shows on the head’s sculpt and paint apps, which are perfect.

The size of the figure is comparable to Popy ST toys, about 5.5″ tall. Articulation is typical of contemporaneous gokin. The shoulders rotate, the elbows, hips, and elbows bend, but not enough to really do anything interesting.

The Nakajima diecasts are fairly common and inexpensive (at least loose), but I cannot understand why. This is easily one of the most soulful and beautiful toys I own.

UPDATE 8/2021

Added box photos