toyboxdx toy blog brog: is graceful art of daily expressing japanese toy  

Membros, my main man.

I was 8 or 9 when I first met Membros, and during the post-Star Wars craze of the late 70s, he integrated nicely with my other action figures. He’d hang out in the Cantina with the likes of Hammerhead and Greedo, trying to pass himself off as a mutated sea slug but everyone knew he was really just a sunburned Tusken Raider. Some thought that he tried a little too hard to be stylish, with his bell-bottomed legs and an EVIL GLOWING BRAIN that looked like an afro. But it was cool, they all got along. If they could let the Ovion into their bar, they would accept Membros, too.

Little did I know back then that Membros and his pals were the glowing brain child of Stephen Lee at California R&D, the company that was instrumental in bringing Takara’s Microman toys to the states as Mego’s Micronauts. The aliens were designed to be compatible with the 5mm and 2.5mm pegs that Microman used, so that they could use existing weapons and accessories that kids already had. (If you want to learn more about the Micronaut Aliens’ development, check out the excellent Micropola Magazine.)

Flash forward to 2002, after my Micronauts and Star Wars figures were long gone (including the elusive Blue Snaggletooth). News came that Palisades Toys was going to make reproductions of the original Micronaut toys, and Membros was going to be one of them. Not only was he going to be offered in the original red color scheme, but also black, yellow, and a completely clear version. In addition, a glittery Bioscan version and all-glow Radioactive version appeared as exclusives.

And they were going to have improvements! Each one would have a stand, and finally, Membros would have hands, letting him use more accessories and play nice with other action figures.

The power of nostalgia took over, and I bit, and now there are three slithery skinned aliens sitting on my shelf.

Clear Membros: This was one of the variants offered at regular retail. I really like the concept, and seeing the rubber o-ring inside him makes it look like he has some internal organs. Unfortunately this one suffers from the infamous Series 1 factory’s production problems and one of the legs doesn’t bend at the knee. Also, the brain glows very faintly. Aside from the knee issue, though, the construction is very solid, perhaps even more substantial than Mego’s original toy.

Bioscan Membros: A Micropolis Embassy exclusive, offered to members of the mailing list (and long since sold out). He’s cast in with green plastic with embedded glitter, so he looks like he’s made out of Crest Gel. This, along with the Series 1.5 and Series 2 Micronauts, was made at Palisades’ newer factory and is even sturdier than the clear version, but there are still glitches. You can’t raise one arm without raising the other, and for some reason the head bobs around in the process. And the glow on this one’s brain is even fainter than the Series 1 version.

Radioactive Membros: This is part of the Series 1.5 set that Palisades sells through their web site, also made at the newer factory. This one is cast in all glow plastic, and the glow is brighter than the brain’s, but its still not incredibly intense. It also has the dual arm/head bobbing issue.

And look, BlazeEagle, Membros has a waist joint!

All of these guys get a B. I like ’em, but minor things in each one’s execution make them just short of being excellent. On one hand, I realize I’m being nitpicky about toy crack, but nostalgia is definitely at work here, bringing me back to the time a little alien turned on his brain light, in the middle of a young boy’s dream.

It is the year 2003 and Shockertoys.com has given its company image a new look and friendlier navigation. Their new focus is on Their new product the Shoulder Action Figure which is due out in May. Being designed by Mad Robot Studios this new action figure will sport 27 points of articulation and full range movment. It will have light up and plug in accesories.

Based on a cartoon and game called Electrobytes the shoulder action figures fight off kids shoulders in the future. Three versions of the first in the line up of safs will be available. Two boy versions and a girl version of the fighting robot Ape-X. More about Ape-X will be available at the shockertoys.com site.

So look forward to seeing kids all over the world giving rides to their action figures on their shoulders. Also keep an eye out in magazine publications since ToyFare magazine and Tomart’s action figure digest have promised to keep continuing coverage of the new SAF ongoing. Shocker Toys plans to follow up the Ape-X release in May with a 150 robot line up. Other properties are in the works now to be turned into shoulder action figures said President/CEO of Shocker Toys (Geoff Beckett Jr).

Shocker Toys

Attention!  Intruder near generating station!  Forward observer car is in position and transmitting these pictures.  Patching feed.  “Here…  Got….  …  Like mov… to firing p….  Wait! …”  The forward observer has lost contact…  Security forces nearing the target.   It has been identified as an “XAMEL”  Artillery unit that is supposed to only be in preliminary trials.

Launch the boss.  (ominious thunder) (yeah, I know, cop out on a couple of the pics, but I wanted to use the really crappy photos too, so I fuzzed them a bit and made them night vision…  hence the two ‘night-vision’ shots)

A 68 CENTImeter Cannon slung over it’s shoulder.  The absurdly large legs and support equipment that dominates the character of this design.  It’s not meant be to be seen or see it’s target, that’s the Dom’s job.  It is the highly mobile artillery support that moves with the fast attack troops and provides the bang that lets them continue on their merry way.

The Xamel is my baby.  I have an undying love for this tan machine, and it’s really hard to put into words, so I was overjoyed when I heard there was a MSiA being made… cheaply.  It was dream come true.  Then Kmarts started dropping like flies, and a couple targets… and I started to panic.  This absurd machine might not make it to me!   This is the toy that had me going to the store every weekend with stars in my eyes.  Of course I saw the same madalor gundams and yugioh figures as last week, but I had hope.  So it continued for a month.  Then I said “screw it” and paid the ebay scalpers.  So it wasn’t as cheap as I had hoped, but it’s here!  Finally!  straight from the pages of Mecha Press (R.I.P…) and it’s wacky Battletech/Mekton character pages.  So, now I’ve got the nearly solid PVC xamel toy, and even though I lost the missile rack that should go over his shoulder… he’s still my favorite.

I’d like to thank “Have another Mazinga and Like it, Dammit” Bandai for putting some love into this obscure design.

Also I wanted to input a getta one, because he’s just that cool.   The zakus are such posers.  Actin all tough like they’re his posse.  (not really.  Zakus are the real stars of that pic. Getta is such an attention hog.)

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, along comes Bandai with a product that’d make even the most jaded Gundam collector wring their hands in anticipation: the Life-Sized Gundam Manipulator Furniture!

That’s right. Life-sized (?) replicas of the hands of everyone’s favorite robotic buddy, molded in colors compatible with the decor (and ladies) in any Japanese home. You can even combine ’em for those frustrating times when one giant robot hand isn’t quite enough for your own living space.

End of April! 14,800 yen a pop! Lord only knows what shipping will be. Now, if only they’d make a platform bed frame shaped like the “White Base”…

You’ve been drooling over the pix in the hobby mags, scrimping and saving
for this Budget-Buster… and NOW it’s HERE. Bandai has pulled out the
stops with their latest SOC opus – GX-13 DANCOUGA (That’s how they
spelt it on the box.) The awesome experience begins from the moment you
lay eyes on the monster of a box right up till you finish combining the
big guy and putting that gleaming sword in his hands!

OK, how many of you have the old Chogokin or Godaikin Dancougar toy?
And actually love it? Bleahhh! From the flat, rigid design of the face,
I actually thought it was an escapee from Takara’s Transformers workshops.
The original appeal of the design for me lay in the impressive renderings
of the 4 individual Beasts/Machines. The sleek lines used to capture both
the essence of technology and living spirit came through best in the original
toy’s Land Liger and Couger (the feet…). The main body was a lumbering
block with terrible proportions, and the oversized head really didn’t
help. So it’s really amazing how Bandai have finally managed to do justice
to the original’s aggressive design, carefully balancing the looks of
all 3 modes for the components without sacrificing the final mode’s visual
impact and playability. Seriously, my pictures can hardly match the superlative
job done for the box and booklet. I thought I might share some pix of
certain things that weren’t explained too well in the instructions.

Let’s start with the box and contents. GX-13
comes in a BIG box with a 2-tiered Styrofoam insert. After slicing
off the tape and removing some of the securing styro blocks, you’ll see
the 4
main robots packed in individual plastic bags, plus some weapons small
accessories taped to the tray. Below,
the main item is the huge Booster, along with parts for the Dankuken
sword and Daigan rifle. Some words about these parts – The Booster features
geared swing wings and requires 2 barrel extensions to be attached to
the cannons. Here’s where you experience Bandai’s touch of quality: Each
barrel extension has distinctive molded patterns intended to be canted
outwards. Bandai made sure that the cross-section of the parts to be mated
are exclusive to each cannon and extension. No chance of a mix-up. Equally
impressive is the hinge-action of the double handles on the Daigan rifle.
Pulling the handles out draws the breech section out of the fore stock.
Smooth! But the main
attraction is still the 4 robots, of course…

The instructions begin with the Eagle Fighter, transforming
it from humanoid to beast mode. While the old toy was already “small”
and spindly, the SOC’s Eagle is absolutely PUNY. Size-wise, think of the
SOC Daikumaryu’s little Gaiking… and then think of the crazy number
of hinges needed to fold it up into Dancougar’s head! The lower halves
of the legs are diecast while the hips are on ball joints. When completed,
the Eagle can hardly balance on its former arms. Bandai includes a mini
stand to prop it up if you want to show off the beast mode.

Next in the book is actually the Big Moth, but I’m going to touch on
the Land
Liger and Land
Couger first. These two differ the least from the old versions, with
the most obvious change in the transparent cockpits. In robot mode, both
sport better articulation than before, but still suffer slightly from
rather stout proportions. This is mostly made up for with the nicer styling
and joint-work, as well as the diecast content in the torso, legs and
claws. One thing to note are the 2 “hip blades” that need to
be repositioned in each mode. Tank
mode isn’t very spectacular, since the tracks are simply molded details.
The old toy did include mini roller wheels underneath, but to do so here
would arguably reduce stability in the final combination. Another similarity
to the old toy: To rotate the main cannons, remember to pull the turret
up slightly first. Beast mode is definitely more happening here. I like
the head sculpts, but find that they
tend to look down too steeply. Nonetheless, the beasts are pretty
limber, although not in the same class as the Zoids Metal Action Liger
Zero :)

Now for the Big Moth. OK, I’ll admit it. I didn’t bother playing with
the Big Moth robot at all. After all, it’s going to be about 80% the same
as the main body for Dancougar… So I went right into transforming it
to tank mode. One really good thing about the visual design of the SOC
is that the big yellow “ears” of the Big Moth are actually 2
separate components – there’s a big angular version used for the chest
plate, and a smaller folded version, hidden on the sides of the mammoth’s
head. So when transforming into tank or beast mode, the big angular “ears”
are folded into the chest cavity. But… gotcha! The instruction booklet
doesn’t tell you exactly HOW to rotate/fold/push/pull/ the pieces. I spent
nearly 10 minutes figuring out the correct sequence so as not to scratch
the beautiful finish! The
way I figure it, after rotating the head block upwards, you need to
rotate the outer tips of the ears inwards, and then gently angle them
into the cavity. Don’t ask me about taking them out!

Anyway, Big
Moth’s tank mode is surprisingly tough to master, mainly due to the
need to accurately align the folded feet together and securing them with
a small flap/clip. It might help to know that the abdomen piece is mounted
on a soft spring and can be retracted to make way for the forward-folded
hind legs. The whole of the hip-joint actually moves along an L-shaped
slot to accommodate the change in height and clearance. Tip: From behind,
you’ll initially have the hind legs in a slight A-stance. Make
sure to pull the thighs outwards slightly until you hear a “click”.
Now the legs are at proper tangents to the ground. If you don’t do this,
matching up the legs in tank mode is a REAL BITCH. From there, beast
mode is a snap… If you have trouble getting the snout to “flow”
where you want, make sure you haven’t accidentally rotated the middle
piece about its axis.

So now, we have all
the beasts ready to go! The endgame is in sight. To
prepare for final Gattai, return the Liger and Couger to tank mode
and rotate the “hip blades” upwards to mate with the slots in
the bottom of Big Moth’s feet. Big Moth only needs to retract its head
and feet. Eagle Fighter origamis into the new, sleeker, more handsome
Dancougar head, BUT requires partial disassembly! I was surprised to find
out that the puny arms have to be pulled out and re-plugged into a “neck
block”. The head sits on top of this “neck block” which
in turn plugs into the top of Big Moth. The main advantage is that this
block allows some nifty head poses, but on the down side, the small arms
tend to fall off by themselves. I ended up keeping the arms… This has
to be the only “sore point” of the whole experience for me.

In
Dancougar’s completed mode, you can flip out the side rocket launchers,
plus his back-mounted main cannon for some immediate fighting action.
The main cannon is mounted on a solid double-hinged diecast armature.
If I haven’t mentioned them before, Dancougar’s huge shoulders are also

solid metal! And the range of movement in the arms is truly impressive.
The box shows the fantastic double-grip on the sword, but I opted to try
out some realistic gun handling action instead. It’s good to know the
super-combined rifle is well
within Dancougar’s abilities. Finally, I clipped on the Booster and
Sword… The Booster fits like a glove with 2 plugs into the back, 2 over-shoulder
clasps and 2 side body clasps. One mistake in my pix… I forgot to flip
the Booster’s ‘nosecone’ down, but what the heck! He
still looks like a million bucks :)

On a final note, this has to be the most expensive SOC to date, retailing
at 19800 yen. There has been lots of talk about its “limited”
status. Whether it’s due to Bandai cutting back on production numbers
to stem overstocking losses, or dealers hoarding stock to jack up the
retail price, it can’t be denied that getting hold of one of these beauties
isn’t as easy (or as affordable) as it used to be for “new”
collectibles. I was lucky to have pre-ordered mine from my favorite local
dealer although it nearly burnt a hole in my pocket. I hope the all you
fans of this remarkable toy manage to secure one for yourselves! It’ll
be interesting to see how Bandai will be able to top this :)

att Alt sucks. And he has shit for taste.

He would have you believe that there isn’t sufficient metal content in the new GD-45 Chogokin Mecha Godzilla.  What the hell does he know?

This thing is heavy.  The legs are child-bearin’ fat and they are all metal.  A large portion of the chest is metal too.  This thing rocks. 

I have long been a sucker for die cast kaiju.  Vinyls are cool, but I have always been lured into the soporific gaze of such classic zinc embodiments of the monster such as the Ark Redking or Gamola.  Something about the weight, the gimmicks, and certainly the sheer presence and funk.

What the GD-45 lacks in old school funk, which it certainly does, it makes up for in crazy engineering and overall presentation.  Furthermore, it doesn’t disappoint in the quality department, Bandai’s finest engineering at work.  Aesthetically, I was really on the fence with this one, the design appeared to me to be heavily influenced by modern day monster maniac, Todd McFarlane.   Once I received it though, I was pleasantly surprised; the design has even begun to win me over.  It actually has a H.R. Geiger feel to it, and I am really getting into the neo-mecha feel of the modern day Mecha Godzilla. 

All in all, I wouldn’t trade in my Bullmarks for it, but it is a nice modern addition to the pathetic obsession I have for die cast monsters.

Tired of having the Zentraedi kick sand on your expensive perfect transformable Valk, just because it can’t hold his gun straight to save its life?
Well, tire no more! Here’s a DIY quick fix for your Yamato 1/48 VF-1A limp wrists, that will have you grinning from ear to ear.

These are the tools that you’ll need:


A pair of scissors, and your typical more evil than satan twisty tie! (Twistie tie pictured here is from a Gundam Fix box. Oh the irony!) Approximate time needed: less than 10mins.



First disassemble the offending hand. Try to pry it gently, with a little effort in the right direction, it should pop off. 


Then cut a small length of plastic off the twistie tie, do not cut the metal wire along with it, we only need the plastic bit. Strip the plastic like you would any wire. If you leave the metal inside it would be too thick and too hard, not pliant enough to have the “give” that you want. 


Make sure you trim only a small piece, the smaller the piece, the more discreet. Align plastic piece in the centre of the groove as shown. 


Assemble the wrist with the plastic stuck firmly in the groove. It can get a bit tricky, but if Tofu can do it, so can you! 


Get hand to hold gun and shake well before use. As stiff as you’ll ever want it to be!
And the fix is barely visible too! For reference check the top image heading this article, I bet you missed the plastic piece the first time round.

(Please use only as directed and with adult supervision. Author is not responsible for any damages incurred.)

Uhm… Studio Half Eye’s latest creation… What can I say… It’s expensive…. very expensive and small… very small…

For 7800 Yen, as soon as I opened the parcel I thought came to my mind: “I want my money back!”, after opening the package… another thought: “That’s even worse than expected!”, but let’s move on.

First things first, this is a “junior” version of the impossible and unaffordable perfect change Getter Robo, you get the 3 ships that combine into the Getter One only…

Material (D) :The actual toy is made of resin (I believe…), which makes the toy feel extremely “dry” and “brittle”, some of the details are painted, but the large areas seem like they have been dyed with pigments before the resin was poured into the molds, which only adds to the “dry and brittle feel” expecially in the red coloured areas. All the articulation have the above mentioned dry and brittle feeling and every time you play with the transformation it feels like you are defusing a nuclear bomb… blindfolded and with both hands tied behind your back… hanging upside down from a flying plane… I could go on forever… it’s just scary.Overall it just feels “cheap”. It would have “felt” much better in more sturdy injection plastic or… die-cast… it could have been a perfect pocket jewel! Anyone who wants to recast this guy in metal has my blessing!

Engineering (C+) : The only explanation I could find to justify the price of this “thing” was the supposedly super advanced over the top engineering, The 3 ship transform all right, but the engineering is not “that” amazing being the 3 ships “pratically hollow”, and talking about engineering a complete turn off were the separate fists and feet, that personally kills completely the “transformation feel”… I was positively surprised by the range of articulation I only discovered when I was posing the little sucker for the pictures for this rumble… I was also surprised that it could stand on his feet “most of the time” even with the custom cape (this one you get only with the first 300 mail order for Japan only), but some metal at least in the feet whold have made it much more stable.

Overall (C-) : When I look at this guy I keep thinking that it could have been so much more… a REAL TOY and not a pre-assembled garage kit (because that’s what it is), this is clearly a miss for Studio Half Eye, I have found myself begging for “plastic” not even metal… The Simple Change Getter One it’s not really worth it’s price… I would be fun to play if you could actually play with it, but it feels just too fragile… If you already own all the toys you ever wanted(!) and you still have some shelf space go for it. If not, for the price you can buy a good SOC or a couple of Fewture Mazinger 1901.

The Background:

Long, long ago (about 1984) in a suburb far, far away (Silver Spring, Maryland) dwelled a young robot aficionado (who by some strange coincidence just happens to be me). He scrimped and saved his meager allowance to buy robot toys. He read every book with “robot” in the title that he could get his hands on. He dreamed of enrolling at MIT and becoming a robotics engineer, despite his (as yet unresolved) handicap of being barely able to add two single-digit numbers together. He even convinced his parents to get him a subscription to Robotics Age magazine, an odd publication that attempted to cater to robotics engineers, fans, and garage-tinkerer enthusiasts all at the same time. (And without much success, judging by the fact that it folded around the time “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” dropped out of style.)

In the back of one of these issues slumbered a tiny ad offering “Japanese robot books” for sale. It was a welcome respite from page after page of dimly-understood articles with captivating titles such as “Memory Effect Alloys, Optical Encoders, and Wrist Actuators for Robotic Devices.” An order was placed. And when it arrived, the life of our sixth-grade protagonist would never be the same.

“Mobile Suit Gundam: 110 Models Memorial” was its name. Hundreds of juicy, full-color shots of perfectly built specimens of Bandai’s “gun-pla” (Gundam models) was its game. Our young hero — oh, fer God’s sake, let’s drop the literary affectation — I spent hours upon hours studying that book and the strange symbols it contained. It seemed an entire nation of people on the other side of the planet found robots just as intriguing as I did. And at least when it came to books full of cool pictures of them, THEY DID A MUCH BETTER JOB THAN ANYONE IN MY OWN COUNTRY. The revalation hit me like a sack of bricks. It was as if an artifact from a distant alien civilizaton had been accidentally to my doorstep.

Screw engineering. I just wanted some of these goddamned robot toys. I had found my calling.

The Toys:

Deep within this bible of gun-pla worship lay a meager two pages devoted to toys. As my model-building skills then and now are on par with an arthritic chimpanzee, my attention inevitably returned to this mysterious handful of images. One series of them really caught my eye. They were plastic and half-translucent, revealing little “robot parts” inside. This sort of thing still drives me wild even today. There wasn’t any way to tell their size, their scale, their price. But I knew I wanted them.

It would be years before I would be able to decipher the text in the book. Even still, the caption under my translucent buddies left more questions than it answered: “Cheap ‘cutaway view’ toys from Clover. Collect ’em all!” That’s it. Great.

Turns out the series is so minor, so unspeakably cheap, that they don’t even HAVE a brand name. No “Chogokin,” no “Pla-deluxe” for these poor souls. Just “cheap toys from Clover,” once and forever. Not much to go on. After I “grew up” and had made some connections to the Japanese toy scene, I tried a few halfhearted searches and inquiries without success. And then I promptly forgot about them for close to a decade.

Fast forward to late 2002. In one of my increasingly, disturbingly regular patrols of Yahoo Japan’s auction listings, I spot an intriguing suspect amidst the usual dross. An auction for a tiny box with a cutaway view of Dom on the cover and (in keeping with fine tradition) precious little description. In what I’ve come to realize is some quantum-physical effect, a blister-carded version of what appeared to be the exact same toy appeared on eBay in America. (What IS it with obscure items always appearing in groups, anyway? It’s like one knocks the others out of the metaphysical woodwork. But that’s a Rumble for another time.) The American auction even contained a second specimen, a somewhat unsettlingly flesh-colored Gogg. Three days and $10 later, the set was mine oh mine. Man, I LOVE collecting stuff nobody else likes.

In the end, it turned out that they’re far from exciting. In fact, they’re positively tiny. Like, palm-of-your-hand size. Ah, well. Size be damned, I’ve finally closed the book on a cheap-ass toy mystery that had been plaguing me (well, maybe just mildly irritating me) for most of my collecting life. Now it’s time to return to the teachings of that Holy Gundam Book that guided me through my early years and “collect ’em all.” Judging from the photo, there’s a Z’gok, GM, Gundam, and lord knows what else is out there. I may never find the rest. But you know what? I hardly care. It’s always more about the journey than the destination.