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Developing the DX Aquarion Chogokin

In designing the robot protagonist of the Sousei no Aquarion series, Shoji Kawamori set two goals for himself. The first was creating a design that could be dynamically expressed using computer generated animation onscreen. The second was selling a toy that perfectly replicated the mechanical aspects of the character. Enlisting the help of Bandai, with its years of experience in engineering transforming and combining toys, was an indispensable asset in achieving the latter. But turning the design into a feasible product was far from easy.

Kawamori successfully created a mock up of the design using building brick toys, proving that the transformation worked in principle. The prototype was enough to convince Bandai to financially sponsor the animated television series. Still, many obstacles remained in translating this prototype into a mass-produced character toy.

In order to distinguish between the three robot combinations, the design team created a variety of different head designs and color schemes. The main mode, Solar Aquarion, featured a a face grooved with inorganic slits, set with a clearly defined pair of eyes. “All the better to make the robot more expressive, ” said a satisfied Kawamori of the final design. Indeed, the eyes are used to excellent effect in the animated series. The face of Aquarion Mars, with its star-like design motif, proved the most difficult of the three. Kawamori spent two months and hundreds of sketches perfecting it.

Upon reappraising the final draft of the designs it was decided to add wings to the individual Vector Machines in order to emphasize their roles as airborne vehicles. At the same time, Kawamori hit upon increasing the size of the legs of each robot mode in order to “extend the length of the fuselages of the Vector Machines in flight mode,” bringing the design one step closer to completion.

Bandai’s insistence upon a design that “looked good in three dimensions” required Kawamori to push the envelope of his considerable design skills, but that doesn’t mean that the project didn’t go smoothly. One reason for this is that Bandai sent a producer to work in the studio during the animation process, which Kawamori welcomed as “having Bandai participate directly made the production process far more flexible.”

Excerpted and translated from the DX Chogokin Sousei no Aquarion instruction manual

L.A. Robot Help – Hi Folks – Got a birthday coming up and wondered what the name (and number if you got it) is for the best (good prices, too) vintage robot store in L.A. area. Help me if you can I need some bots! Alan J.

Back in 2003 when I Rumbled on the funkalicious Clover
DX Xabungle, there was practically no hope on the toy horizon for anything
more than a couple of PVC Walker Machines in Action – and Bandai gave up
on THAT line after releasing only the Xabungle and Walker Galliar.
Kinda like how every new Gundam toy series has to have the RX-78 and MS-06
first… and then maybe, just maybe… Right!

So when seemingly out of the blue, plans were announced
for a new Xabungle toy – a Soul Of Chogokin, no less – I was really stoked.
This could be the one true, realistically proportioned, perfectly transforming
toy of a classic robot design that had never before been done justice.
I watched the progress in the toy rags, the ever crisply molded gray prototypes;
the anxiety over the status of the surprise inclusion of the WM Brockary
(Will it be a limited edition extra? Will it be diecast? No way, keep dreaming!
Why not? yada, yada…) And lo, October comes ’round and the luckier (quicker)
fans get a hold of the toy. And complain!

“It’s too small.” “It’s too fiddly.”
“Parts fall off too easily.”

Well, I bought it anyway. Mainly because, I had so loved
the old illustrations of this strange hybrid of Super Robot and Super Real
Robot of the 80s era, and no toy ever made had come closer than the
promise of the SOC. So is it really that bad? Yes, there are some terribly
annoying aspects of the toy’s design that Bandai should be properly thumped
over their noggins for, but for the most part, I find it a worthwhile addition
to my realistic mecha collection. Let’s start with the positives:

The main figure is very well detailed for its size, which
I believe is 1/144 scale, based on the box-stated “same scale Brockary”
which happens match up to the old HCM Walker Galliar’s weapons to a “T”.
The Xabungle has diecast in the upper torso, shoulder housings, hip joints
and feet-blocks; there is no sign of PVC except for the hands, and I consider
this a Good Thing™. (I have bad dreams now and then about how my SOC Maz
& friends will turn out in a couple years’ time in the tropical humidity
where I live.) I especially like the clear yellow “headlamp” in the chest
over the Clover DX’s disco stickers. Best of all, it seems, SOC Xabungle
is kitted out with a full array of lovingly-detailed weaponry.

First
we have the main rifle, which features a removable
ammo clip(!) and the tri-barreled bazooka which fits on the right shoulder.
The bazooka swivels up and down and has hollow barrels, but the problem
is how loosely it attaches to the shoulder. A simple nudge from the arm
or V-fin and PLOK! Off it goes. Grrrr. Even the PVC WMiA had sturdier attachments!
Still, poseability is good for a design that requires collapsible legs.
Afterall, the Clover DX was a brick.

Next up is the quad-barrel cannon, which can be fitted
to either arm, but requiring the removal of the respective wheel housing.
In its other hand is a case of 16 bazooka rounds – which, though nice,
I doubt will see much display time on anyone’s shelves.

Rounding up the show is the curious
“Potan Cannon” – a gun turret severed from a Land Ship. (Brings up images
of Giant Gorg, another blue robo with a cannon in its hands.) And finally,
the even more troublesome 9-tube missile pod which goes on the left shoulder,
but just BARELY. It is soooo loose I want to question its designer’s parentage.
Also of note is the optional “broken fins” attachment in place of the usual
full fins.

Any other problems? Well, if you play vigorously with the
toy, there might be a tendency for the shin pieces to
pop off from the
ball-joint in the foot well. Shucks. And the backpack doesn’t want to stay
put either. Blame it on the puny-sized pegs. Double shucks.

Ready for the henkei? First you’ve got to swap out the
cosmetically optimized wheel housings for the bulkier functional ones.
Just for comparison’s sake, see for yourself. If you’re
like me and would prefer to display the toy in robot mode, the slim-housings
are definitely preferred! Back to the sequence:

Instead of an opening chest compartment, Bandai opted for
total head immersion for the SOC. Neat, but guess what? The antennae gets
in the way AGAIN, but worse than the Clover’s elbow-grease-required mistake.
The instructions tell us to swivel the antennae to the front so that they
angle down into the forward notches in the neck slot, and do not protrude
at all. Can’t do it! The teensy-weensy sticks are brittle plastic
and this
is the best I could do short of snapping them off:

Last resort –
I took off the bleeping antennae and completed the Bugle
Skipper. Flip the wheel housings down and swing out the fins for flight
mode. Kudos to Bandai for figuring out a way to incorporate the
beveled front ends within the arms themselves!

As for the Bungle Rover trailer, it starts off easily enough
by collapsing
the feet. Small pegs on the inner sides
help to clip the legs together. What’s really interesting is how Bandai
pulls off real Ohkawara Henkei Magic by ingeniously incorporating
a swing arm to connect the cockpit, plus a trailer cover-hatch that
doubles as a non-canon “rear hip armor” on the robot. The proportions
of the cockpit are perfectly adapted to fit
snugly inside under
wing-housings. Attach
the two vehicles together for some road camping fun!
Rope harness for keeping the rifle in place is included!

………

So much for the Xabungle. Now it’s over to the BONUS figure
– the surprisingly solid WM Brockary!

I have to say it first: The Brockary
is a snap fit KIT.
The torso is assembled, with sturdy hip joints and polycaps for the shoulder
pegs. 2 sets of open and closed fists are included, plus one rifle-grip
hand. I might be mistaken, but the figure seems to be made of ABS and not
the usual brittle styrene on cheap kits. The dark blue-gray molding is
solid and what little painted details really shine out in their yellow
and white applications. It is very easy to put together, and if you have
some Gundam Markers handy, a bit of extra detailing for the elbow and shoulder
“flanges”, and perhaps the 4 jet nozzles in the legs will do
wonders for the overall look.

Little surprises like the free-spinning
turbine blades, and the swivelling rifle holder add immensely to the
satisfaction level. And when I discovered that the El Limp’o rocket pod
actually fits properly on the Brackary’s rifle holder, I was ecstatic!
Best of all, the bright yellow sand-skis look exceptional when
fitted on the Brock’. SUPER SIDEKICK SAVES THE DAY!!!

If there was any doubt about the scale of the two figures,
this comparison with the HCM Walker galliar ought to dispel them – the
rifles are practically identical. With that, I conclude the review
with a Team Shot:

Walker Machines Forever! Bring on the SOC Walker Galliar,
Bandai! And throw in more WM surprises if you can. :-)

Lucky enough to live in Tokyo? Just planning a trip to Tokyo? Make sure to add a stop to Yodobashi Akiba to your list. Located in the freak-magnet of Akihabara, it’s an enormous new department store that’s something like the Otaku Wal-Mart of Tokyo. It’s absolutely huge, having subsumed, amoeba-like, an entire city block. In fact, it’s so packed so full of stuff that visitors are issued a complimentary magazine-like floorguide to navigate through it all. Computers. Cameras. Washing machines. Stereos. TVs. And most importantly, of course, toys. Lots and lots of toys. At far, far lower prices than your average shop on the street.

Of particular interest to TBDX’ers is the soon-to-be-legendary 7th floor, which boasts more square footage than your average corn-fed American-sized Toys R’ Us, and is chock full of (new) kits, toys, video games, and model guns. The selection’s absolutely amazing, and what’s there is often far cheaper than can be found in your average new toy shop. DX Aquarions for 16,000 yen, 4,000 yen off the retail price. Entire pallets of Lord of Byston Well Dunbines at 1,900 yen a pop, less than half of normal retail. (You can almost hear Crazy Eddie in the background chanting “at prices this low, we must be INSANE.”)

On the plus side? Those low, low prices. On the down side? It’s like the Times Square-ification of Akihabara. Family friendly, and minus that shady back-alley funk Akihabara connoisseurs know and love. On the other hand, everyone’s favorite sleaze-merchants, bootleggers, and mod shops will probably flourish in Yodobashi Akiba’s squeaky-clean shadow.

Anyway. Not everything is marked down, but what is can be had for practically wholesale, and the deals get better on holidays, so it’s worth a trip if you’re scouting for new loot for your toy shelves.

(And no, to answer the inevitable question, they don’t do mail order. Get your ass to Tokyo!)

Super #1 Robot – the signing… again! No, you’re not seeing double! The crew of the Giant Robot Store in San Francisco have graciously offered to host a book signing for Super #1 Robot!

In case you missed it, Super #1 Robot is the first English-language expose of the Japanese toy robot phenomenon from 1972-1982. 10 years of robot toys lovingly photographed by Tim “well I’m no Tim Brisko…” Brisko! Full color! Introduction by Matt Alt and afterword by former Bullmark president Saburo Ishizuki! (Just check out the website already why don’t you…)

The release event will be at the Giant Robot store in San Francisco, on Saturday, 9/24 from 3-5 pm. Directions to the store can be found here. Attendees include Matt “fresh from Japan” Alt, Tim Brisko and Robert Duban.

Stop by, then (if you really can’t get enough) stop by the Super 7 Store from 7-9 pm for another signing.

Big thanks to Giant Robot and Chronicle Books for making this event happen!

Here’s another custom, this time subcontracted to my friend Asahina Yoshikazu. I gave him the subject, a pink Matchbox Invid Scout toy, and two simple directives: “make it look like the show” and “make it look like a toy”. I’d say he delivered the goods, and then some. If you never saw this toy before you’d swear it was molded in purple.

Incidentally, it reaches about waist-high on the Gakken 1/35 transforming Alpha toy, making it somewhat in scale.

Every so often, you find a toy that reminds you of all that’s good about collecting. The Soul of Chogokin GX-27 Gaiking is such a toy. And, at times, a toy makes you feel like giving up collecting altogether. That would be the French jumbo machinder, Goldorak. I received both in August, so I’m a bit conflicted this month.

Lead with the positive: Gaiking is one of the classic 70s super robot designs. The GA-51 chogokin version is legendary, not just for its engineering, not only because it’s hard to find complete, but because it’s GAIKING!! Which is why the previous SoC Gaiking, the GX-05 Daikumaryu, was a disappointment. It was a technical triumph, the best modern execution of Gaiking’s signature docking sequence from the cartoon. Yet, in order to properly scale Gaiking’s chest to become the Great Space Dragon’s head, however, the robot ended up with some … shortcomings.

The Daikumaryu’s “Wee-king” did not resemble what Gaiking is supposed to be: a huge, angry bruiser. You’ve got to be a bad-ass to survive Mattel marketing you with the tag line “He’s a Samurai! He’s a robot skull!” The vintage GA-51 and jumbo versions of Gaiking had this mean streak, and the new SoC GX-27 Gaiking has the same attitude. This latest version is heavy like a gokin should be. The points of articulation are nicely detented, allowing Gaiking to hold postures that say “I’m gonna knock you out! Go Nagai said knock you out!”

I dig the absurdity of robots wearing armor. Heck, I even like the vaguely creepy, let’s-take-this-to-its-illogical-extreme Transformers that wear other robots as armor. Bandai designed Gaiking’s “power-up” parts from the cartoon along these lines. Rather than swapping out arms and legs (as did the prior SoC and Super Robot in Action), this Gaiking bulks up with gauntlets, combat boots and larger weapons that look right for a Samurai who doubles as a robot skull.

About that skull: It separates from the robot arms and legs and connects to a facsimile of the Daikumaryu’s neck on the display stand. This is pretty standard for Gaiking but, without a cat-sized Great Space Dragon to dock with, isn’t much fun. Still, the skull has a feature previously only found on the Japanese jumbo Gaiking – it can actually bite! Bandai can really engineer an action feature, and Gaiking is replete with similar touches. Like the three different heads, to match the various stages of power-up. The best-detailed one splits to reveal Gaiking’s “open mask” face. It’s beautifully detailed, but doesn’t hold together well during, er, dramatic posing. Stick to the solid big-horn version, and you’ll have no complaints.

On to Goldorak. I have no idea why the French called Grandizer that, any more than I understand why Mazinger Z had to take the stage name “Tranzor Z” in his cartoon appearance here. But he’s Grandizer to US Shogun Warriors fans. Far from his esteemed place in the Japanese super robot pantheon, the American Grandizer was a B-list Shogun Warrior who made cameo appearances in the small “Collectors” series and as a … missile included with the “Solar Saucer” Action Vehicle.

Or so I thought, as a child. It turns out that the French were crazy for Goldorak in the 70s, and Mattel’s European operations obliged. France received not only a larger UFO Spacer carrier-vehicle (GA-37) which we never saw in the Two-In-One Warrior line here, but even got a Goldorak jumbo machinder. To be sure, it was not the same jumbo as the Japanese market received. Like the later US jumbos, this Goldorak was substantially simplified. I’d always liked Grandizer, so when I discovered much later we’d been denied a jumbo version the French got, I thought, “No fair!” I knew I had to have one, to finally get what should’ve been ours, those many years ago.

I suggest you resist such urges to act on principle. The stripped-down US jumbos retained most of their functionality and visual impact. Take Mazinga. Mattel substituted a missile launcher for his left hand and changed his plastic breastplate to a sticker, but the essential visual impact of the character and features of the toy were maintained. By contrast, it’s fair to say Mattel gutted poor Goldorak. The Japanese version’s firing fist was removed, replaced by the same missile launcher Mazinga ended up with. (Why didst Mattel giveth Raydeen a rocket-punch and taketh one from Goldorak?) This had the unfortunate side-effect of robbing Goldorak of one of the Japanese character’s main visual cues, those colorful wrist-guards. Also like Mazinga, Goldorak’s plastic chest armor was replaced with stickers. But Grandizer has more intricate armor than Mazinga, so the stickers look far less impressive than Mazinga’s bold “V” shape. Toss in weak molding on Goldorak’s head, and the end result is a jumbo that’s much more generic than it needed to be.

Mattel did retain the Japanese jumbo’s sickles for the French version – perversely, as Goldorak now only had one hand to hold them with! The Goldorak I received had handmade reproduction sickles which look, well, handmade. That’s my fault, not Mattel’s, but it only increased my level of frustration with the piece. They’ll stay secured on Goldorak’s shoulders. “Displays great!”

Final analysis: I can unreservedly recommend the SoC GX-27 Gaiking. If you still find yourself thinking about buying the Euro-jumbo, I’ll caution you that Goldorak’s new role in my collection is a B-list Shogun Warrior appearing as an extra in crowd scenes.

These are the Blue Knight Berserga 1-Coin Figures from Kotobukiya. These are only available in “blind boxes” priced at 500yen each. There are 5 in the series and 1 secret figure, but each figure comes in either a normal color or “weathering version”, so the total number of figures to collect is 12. The are 12 boxes in a case, and in the case I purchased, there was an even distribution of every figure in both versions, so I have a complete set. I’m not sure if this is unusual, but it was definately a relief since my favorite mecha of all time- the Red Shoulder Custom known as Death Messenger- is the alleged “secret” figure.

Rewind to the late 80’s. Writer/artist Hiroyuki Hataike and mecha designer Kazumi Fujita updated and re-imagined the designs from the original Armored Trooper VOTOMs TV series for a serialized novel series called Blue Knight Berserga which ran in Takara’s Dual Magazine. The serial led to 4 novels and the novels led to 2 Hobby Japan Mooks featuring wonderful models of the various mecha from the story and also including original designs inspired by the Blue Knight setting of futuristic and deadly arena combat. I have no idea what the whole story to Blue Knight Berserga is, and if someone could enlighten me, that would be great, but I’ve loved the mecha designs (known as Armored Trooper or simply AT) ever since I purchased the first Hobby Japan Blue Knight Mook many years ago. I fell in love with the advanced AT designs featured throughout the book.

Fast forward to 2005. Kotobukiya seems to have taken their series of expensive 1/35 resin Blue Knight models from a few years ago and downsized them for easier consumption. The details are all still there at a scale of about half the size(I estimate 1/60). These toys lack the “full-action” features of their larger predecessors, but they make up for it in pre-painted awesomeness. These toys do manage to retain a little poseability, mainly in the arms, with some also having moving hips, but the real draw is the amazing paint jobs. For 500yen(about 5 dollars), you can’t beat these for value, and if you love Blue Knight or VOTOMs in general, these are a must have, especially if you can collect a whole set from the purchase of a single case.

In short, buy these so they’ll make more!

I chose to assemble a set that was mixed with both normal and weathering versions based on which ones I imagine as tending to look beat up and which I tend to see as always being bright and shiny and clean.

Here’s the breakdown:

Blue Knight Berserga: weathering version (another shot)

Funny Devil: weathering version

Shadow Flare: weathering version

Death Messenger: weathering version

Calamitydog: normal version

Testa Rossa: normal version

Super #1 Robot – the signing! Mark Nagata and the crew of the Super 7 Store in San Francisco have graciously offered to host a book signing / release party for Super #1 Robot!

In case you missed it, Super #1 Robot is the first English-language expose of the Japanese toy robot phenomenon from 1972-1982. 10 years of robot toys lovingly photographed by Tim “well I’m no Tim Brisko…” Brisko! Full color! Introduction by Matt Alt and afterword by former Bullmark president Saburo Ishizuki! (Just check out the website already why don’t you…)

The release event will be at the Super 7 store in San Francisco, on Saturday, 9/24 from 7-9 pm. Directions to the store can be found here. Attendees include Matt “fresh from Japan” Alt, Tim Brisko and Robert Duban. Books and select body parts will be signed upon request.

Big thanks to Super 7 and Chronicle Books for making this event happen!

Ah, summer. Is that the scent of soft-vinyl, spray paint, and diecast metal in the air? It’s time for another Wonderfest!

That’s right — the biannual convention that’s dedicated to giving amateurs a single day of “copyright amnesty” to sell handmade kits and trinkets based on otherwise expensive-to-license characters. And sell them they did. Freaks and geeks of all streaks were out in full force.

Scary cos-players in full costume selling prop swords. Guys who look healthy enough to have normal sex lives but spend their days molding garage kits of little anime girls sitting on toilets. Fish fanatics selling resin kits of rare and exotic sea-life they can’t afford to purchase live. Obsessive dudes who don’t appear to have any solid employment or place of residence, but can sculpt Godzilla as he appeared in each of his films, blindfolded. Toy gun nuts dressed up like “Solid Snake.” Nazi wonder-weapon fetishists. UFO fetishists. Nazi UFO fetishists. Yes, they’re all here, and under one huge roof: Big Sight, in the scenically industrial Odaiba on the outskirts of Tokyo.

Established companies like Yamato, Max Factory, Takara, and Fewture Models were out in force as well. Personal favorite sightings at the show included:

–Fewture’s jumbo-sized vinyl Garada K7 figure, measuring in at more than two feet tall (and a prototype of the next one in the series, Grandizer)

– Max Factory’s latest 1/16 scale, fully painted soft vinyl Ma.K. powered suit figures, including the obscure fan-fave Fliege and a spacy Melusine (someone hose Roger down);

– Yamato’s Round Mover pack for their 1/12 scale Votoms toys and the GBP-1S Armor for their 1/48 Valkyrie toys;

–Liquid Stone’s spectacular (and at $500, spectacularly expensive) 1/6 scale, “full action” resin kit of the Starship Troopers powered suit.

But perhaps even more interesting was all the stuff they wouldn’t let attendees shoot, including:

-The creepily-named Good Smile Company’s latest prototype of their diecast Tachikoma from Ghost in the Shell, featuring articulated claws and an opening cockpit;

–Yamato’s fully-transforming Garland bike from the Megazone 23 series, which won’t hit shelves until at least mid-2006;

-And the big surprise of the show, Max Factory’s own diecast, transforming version of the Garland, which appears nearly identical in size to that of Yamato’s. No word on a release date yet.

And there ya have it. Time for me to go soak my aching feet in a hot spring….