Shinkansen Robo VS Tomcat Robo

We’ve talked about Mark’s GOKIN ROBO line before, and how many of the toys became part of the Convertors line by Select. But not every release made it over.

Shinkansen Robo VS Tomcat Robo is a special 2-pack of robots that were previously sold separately. They are the same as their regular releases, with a different box. You can see an example of this with our previously reviewed Tomcat Robo.

What is really interesting to me here is the branding. While made by Mark (and labeled as such on the bottom, and on the toys), this two-pack has the CERISE brand on the top left corner. I don’t know much about that brand, but I do have another toy produced by them. Are they connected somehow? And how is MARK connected to SELECT? The mystery deepens…

Anyway, the box is freaking beautiful.

The toys come packed in individual styrofoam trays, just the same as the original releases minus the outer box.

Shinkansen Robo

Let’s put it right out there – this is a crappy toy. It feels very fragile and has a janky transformation. The side panels in train mode have to be removed and there’s nothing else to do with them in robot mode. The legs don’t like to stay extended, and the arms dont extend out to the sides far enough. The main body is metal, the rest is plastic. I completely understand why this one didn’t come through to Convertors.

Tomcat Robo

This is the same release that we reviewed here. It still sort of stinks in robot mode, but it’s got some diecast, a sticker sheet, and it fires missiles.