Sansei's Galient Effort

text: Gene Moy, Matt Alt, & Robert Duban, graphics: Robert Duban

July 2001

Updated: 10.10.04

Special thanks to Gene Moy for all his help with this entry. - RD
Additional image contributions: Mike Parisi, retrobhoy

- another very minor player in the annals of Japanese toy history - was something of a one-trick pony. Or perhaps, to put it more accurately, was more of a one-trick centaur.

Sansei's sole toy license seems to have been from the animated series "Panzer World Galient" (10/5/84 - 3/29/85). The very organic designs for Galient's array of characters would seem to be Kunio Okawara's answer to those of "Aura Battler Dunbine," another Sunrise production that had aired about a year earlier. The story: when interplanetary conqueror Madaru sets his sights on Planet Aston, it's up to an orphan named Geordi to defend the honor of his homeworld. Unfortunately for young Geordi, Madaru has unearthed a veritable army of antique giant robot warriors buried deep beneath Aston's surface in times of old. Even still, Geordi's accidental discovery of the legendary Gallient may just tip the scales in his planet's favor...

Sansei rendered many of the show's robot designs in a 1/144 scale "Collection Series." Additionally, they also produced two characters in a larger 1/100 scale. The Collection Series figures evoke the 'feudal-punk' feel of the series, a sort of high-tech retake on a western sword-and-sorcery fantasy look (and as seen previously in shows like Giant Gorg, Dunbine and L-Gaim). Some of the toys in this series seem to have been based on pre-existing Sunrise designs, (in particular, those from Dunbine), while others veer off on a very distinctive Greeko-Roman tangent. In addition to the normally-available "over the counter" toys, Sansei also produced a special chrome "Wingal Zee Mekki-Type" toy as a mail-away premium (to get one, fans needed to send in five proofs of purchase from the Collection Series boxes).

While the Collection Series toys look great as portrayed on their boxes, the actual toys suffered from some quality issues. A thick paint job and what appears to be casting problems with the metal used for some of the characters mar the overall visual impact. It is not uncommon to find Gallient figures with cracked paint or eroding metal parts, pointing to casting problems and/or a lack of attention in Sansei's quality-control department. That being said, the Collection Series figures feature a solid metal construction with plastic accessories. If weight is your measure of quality, these 1/144 scale toys approach the quality and detail level of the beloved mini Dougram or Votoms pieces.

Sansei's two 1/100 scale Galient toys are dubbed "Joint Model," a name that seems to be a nod to Clover's "joint model" Dunbine toy. The Galient robot was made in this scale, and comes disassembled, also like its Dunbine cousin. This toy can be tranformed into a legged flying vehicle. There is a "DX" version of the 1/100 Galient as well, which is essentially the same, but also comes with add-on parts (a shield, a large cannon, etc.) that also allow it to be split into two seperate vehicles. The DX toy was packaged with a soft rubber version of Galient's enemy, "Zuwel."

And there you have it. Unfortuntately, after their foray into "Panzer World Galient," Sansei seems to have either moved on to other non-toy ventures or taken a one-way trip to the glue factory. After a shakey but promising start, Sansei seems to have left the toy-scene altogether. Alas!