Mazinkaiser

Info from Wikipedia, Here OVA Mazinkaiser is a fictional robot from the anime and manga series of the same name, based on Go Nagai’s Mazinger Z and featured in the 2001-2003 OVA series, Mazinkaiser and animated movie, Mazinkaiser: Deathmatch! Ankoku Daishogun. Within the story, Mazinkaiser was created by Professor Juz? Kabuto and piloted by his grandson Kouji. Mazinkaiser was created for the Super Robot Wars series and subsequently became a part of Mazinger canon. SRW Mazinkaiser was first designed by Banpresto for Super Robot Wars F Final, released for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation, with the blessing of Mazinger’s creator, Go Nagai. The concept behind the machine was to give Kouji Kabuto, the pilot of Mazinger Z, an upgraded machine for later stages of the game. Banpresto contacted Go Nagai and pitched the idea to him, and he agreed to come up with the new unit. The new Mazinger was such a success that Go Nagai decided to create an animated series specifically for Mazinkaiser.

Super Robot Wars

Today I will be reviewing Max Factory’s Mazinkaiser (SRW version, special thanks to Vincent Z. from ToyBox DX for helping me out with identifying this version.) from the Max Gohkin toy line of high-end modern chogokin. Today’s sample was graciously provided by our friends over at Big Bad Toy Store. Please click on the highlighted link to buy this item or just check them out for some great deals on the latest Japanese toys. Starting off, the packaging is phenomenal! The box is nice thick, corrugated cardboard with some great pictures of Mazinkaiser in some cool dynamic poses on both the front and back. Upon opening the box is when I truly became impressed. First thing I noticed was a pair of fresh white gloves! The gloves completely overshadowed the instructions included inside the same bag. Gloves for handling a toy? This truly must be a rather high-end chogokin to say the least! After I gawked at the gloves for a few moments, I noticed that Mazinkaiser was comfortably nestled in glorious Styrofoam! Styrofoam and Gokin just go together like peanut butter and jelly! As many of our readers know, Styrofoam used in packaging nowadays usually equals the item inside is high quality.

So, cool pictures but, what’s included exactly? Glad you asked! Max Factory has included a whole slew of accessories. The amount and arrangement is very similar to Bandai’s Soul Of Chogokin toyline. Mazinkaiser includes the following:

• One pair of white gloves (for handling Mazinkaiser)
• One full color directions booklet
• Mazinkaiser Figure
• One pair of closed fists (already affixed to Mazinkaiser)
• One pair of open hands
• One pair of weapon holding hands
• One Final Kaiser Blade (large sword)
• One pair of Kaiser Blades / Shoulder Slicer’s
• One pair of swords that resemble Great Mazingers swords
• Three Fire Blaster chest crests, 1 fixed, 1 movable, 1 movable minus Kaiser Blade Handle
• One Giganto Missile
• One Jet Pileder (already in Mazinkaiser head, but removable)
• One Jet Pileder for display
• One set of Kaiser Knuckles (rocket punch) spring loaded firing arms
• One Kaiser Scrander (Jet pack allowing Mazinkaiser flight capability)
• One, two piece display base

Mazinkaiser two-piece display base allows you to showcase all the items included above. Check it out!

Now let’s discuss the figure, shall we? Mazinkaiser is made from 1.4 lbs. of die-cast metal and high-quality plastics. The metal can be found in the legs, torso, and shoulders. The metal in the thighs especially stands out because of nice chrome plating. The balance of the figure is a mixture of PVC and plastics. Mazinkaiser is finished high gloss paint with very few flaws to be seen. Mazinkaiser stands just shy of 8″ at the top of his horns and nearly 10″ to the top of his wings when the Scrander is attached. You would think with this size and weight, Mazinkaiser would suffer from instability when posed, or have very limited pose-ability. Well, you’d be wrong on both counts. As shown in the next 2 photos below, Mazinkaiser can be posed very dynamically, even with his heavy Scrander attached.

Mazinkaiser’s most formidable and noticeable weapon is his giant Kaiser Blade. You can see below that the blade is huge and looks best when wielded with a two-handed grip. Note the chest piece is missing the gold outline of the Kaiser Blade, that’s because he is holding it! Very cool, and accurate.

You could think that one sword would be enough. Well, not for Mazinkaiser! He actually included 2 more pairs. One pair is not shown, but the other, Kaiser Blade’s / Shoulder Slicer’s are shown below. As you can see, the handle of the 2 blades are stored in the opening compartment. one on each shoulder. Awesome, huh?

Next, I wanted to give you a headshot. Let’s talk about the Jet Pileder. Yup, it’s removable. Once removed, it’s not much to look at, so I didn’t bother taking a picture of it removed. Fortunately, Max factory was nice enough to include a nicely detailed completed Jet Pileder for display. The Pileder is small, less than an inch, but it is still very detailed for its size.

Once the Jet Pileder is removed you can pose Mazinkaiser in his Demon Mode. In this mode, Mazinkaiser operates on its own free will. No Kouji Kabuto required here folks!

Now here is a curiosity here folks, Mazinkaiser includes a Giganto missile/Naval missile, and the naval piece is removable as its clearly shown in the photo below. But guess what folks? There is no way for the missile to attach?? Why bother? Maybe I am missing something.

Mazinkaiser also can fire both fists, just like the Aoshima version (shown second photo below) Note the differences in the sculpt of the Max Factory SRW version and the Aoshima OVA version. Especially check out the head sculpt and the chest differences.

Max Factory SRW version

OVA Aoshima version

I have a confession, I like the Aoshima OVA version better

Note the detail of the little rocket thrusters on the backside of Mazinkaiser’s launching forearm.

In case you have been wondering how the Scrander hooks up to the back of Mazinkaiser. Wonder no more! The Scrander hooks up via an ingenious little hatch that flips up allowing attachment.

I couldn’t resist this, a group shot of all the Mazinger variations I currently own together. Shown below is, of course, the Max Factory Mazinkaiser, the GX-02R Great Mazinger, and the GX-49 Mazinger Z.

In conclusion, The Max Factory version of Mazinkaiser is pretty cool for the money. In case you missed it the first time around, it can be had for a song compared to the $400 plus that the first version is fetching on eBay these days. You can grab it right now at Big Bad Toy Store for a very good price.