Mazinger-Z 1969
This is a toy that I was lukewarm about at first, but has really grown on me.
The Fewture EX Gokin Mazinger-Z 1969 (EX合金マジンガー1969) was designed by the late Taku "Professor Robo" Sato. His designs were a modern take on classic robot designs. I don’t understand why this toy gets the 1969 label, because there is nothing about this design reminiscent of the first Moon Landing, Richard Nixon, The Beatles or Monty Python.
This take on the classic Go Nagai design is all about power and aggression. From the skull-like faceplate to the giant knuckled fists, this robot will chew up and spit out all the other toys in your collection. This is a serious piece of Heavy Metal. In fact, if this toy was a Heavy Metal band, it would be Pantera. (R.I.P. Dimebag)
At about 9.5 inches tall, the EX Gokin Mazinger-Z 1969 packs a serious punch. The toy is about 70% diecast, and is pretty heavy. The construction is solid and the figure manages to be reasonably articulated. All the joints are satisfyingly clicky, even in places where you don’t expect it, like in the toes.
Starting from the top, the head is made of ABS and PVC, with your choice of removable Pilders. You get both a Jet Pilder and Hover Pilder, both made out of soft vinyl. The wings on each are removable, but the tooling on the wings is a bit off. I had to trim a bit of vinyl off the side of one of my Jet Pilder’s wings to make it go up so that it can fit on the head.
The jaw features two soft moveable sections that open to reveal a mouth weapon. A word of warning to you – DO NOT try to pull open the jaws by pulling the top one upwards. Sanjeev accidentally broke the top of the head off by trying this. Its easily fixable with superglue, but still, don’t do it. Instead, push the head forward and then pull down on the front jaw.
The neck is articulated in two places and attaches to the body via a ball joint. The chest is solid metal, with removable chest plates. Mazinger-Z 1969 comes with two sets of chest plates. The solid red chest plates are painted metal, and the translucent plates are plastic. Both are fixed to the chest by a hexagonal peg that fits securely. The torso is jointed with a detented joint and there is also a waist joint.
The arms are also attached to the body by hexagonal pegs which are removable. The shoulder pads are metal and the shoulder actually has motion in the chest with a fantastic piston mechanism that allows you to bring the shoulders forward for more aggressive poses. Each arm features a strong magnetic connection joint midway through the forearm that allows you to swap out regular arms for rocket punch arms. These sections are diecast as well. There seems to be a common QC issue with the right arm – the magnet becomes unglued from the upper arm and gets stuck to the lower part. Just remove the magnet and add a dab of superglue and stick it back it – it’s fine. Included with the toy are a variety of fists that can easily plug into the forearms. You can attach the included spiked knuckles in various configurations on certain hands, depending on just how menacing you want the figure to be. You get spiked knuckles that go forward (like wolverine from the X-Men), spiked knuckles that go out, and nubby spiked knuckles.
The legs are also all metal, and can be put in almost any position. The hips can go forward and back, side to side, all with clicking action. The knees are double jointed and here is another small QC area – the blue paint on the leg tends to rub against the silver paint of the upper leg. To avoid this, try to bend the knee at the top part of the double joint. It’s a tougher joint, but worth it to avoid the scraping. The legs terminate at the end with large heavy feet. The feet can be posed in any fashion at the ankle, but they go further by adding a toe joint.
Mazinger’s classic Jet Scrander is also represented here in updated form. The scrander is all plastic and features a beautiful paintjob. The scrander attaches to the back by attaching a tab to a tab on the back of the figure. If you pull down and get a click you know you have made a secure connection. The wings can be positioned in either up or down mode, and the clicks the wing parts make when they move borders on orgasmic. Seriously.
Finally, Mazinger comes with a big sword. You would think that with the amount of metal used in this figure that the sword would be metal, but no, it is plastic. It has an articulated handle, and can combine with the sword of the upcoming EX-Gokin Great Mazinger 1969 to form a super sword.
A stand is included, but it is pretty useless. Its basically a large round disc with a metal pole sticking up through it. The stand has a metal knob that looks like a medical instrument with a clip at the end that attaches to the crotch of the figure. The figure stands fine on its own without the stand, and the stand has no places to store the other accessories. I put mine back in the box.
To say that I am impressed with this figure is an understatement. I was a little dismayed at the quality control of this figure when I first took it out of the package, especially with its $250 price tag. However, once the few nagging issues were taken care of, the figure is BEAUTIFUL. It really is a well done toy. It makes me wish I didn’t skip out on the other EX gokin offerings, and now I have the misfortune of having to pay secondary market prices for them.
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