Nightflame's Must Buy Mecha List: 1. All of them. Just got to prioritize until that lottery win comes in. Then I can go hog-wild and just get them all at once. In all seriousness, asking others which toys you should buy always kind of seems funny to me. I have SUCH a huge list of things that I want to own that I can't imagine needing someone else's opinion to come up with something. But if you must know my absolute favorites that I own: Get at least one of the Angels in the Soul of Chogokin line. They come with swords, bases, and boob missiles. Believe me, you NEED an action figure with boob missiles. That right there should be all the reason anyone should EVER need to buy one of these. Get at least one Yamato 1/48 VF-1 an/or a 1/60 VF-0. And you should probably start setting aside money now for a 1/60 YF-19. They're complicated, but solid. And the VF-1 has more accessory packs available than you can shake a stick at. All of them rock. Obviously, Transformers of all types. But those should be self-explanatory for anyone hanging out here. Alternatively, hand over your wallet and I'll buy them for you. I'll even be real nice and send you pictures of the ones I get for you.
The reason I'm asking is because the review from the posters here have been pretty reliable! LOL! For example, feedback on the articulation of a figure etc. Also from the replies, I can gauge which ones are the really popular bots in terms of design, gimmicks and is a worthy buy, it would help my buying process...like you, if I could buy all of them, I would! I'm curious...why has no wonder mentioned Toynami's Voltron? Is the QC for it really bad?
Not to mention he's not much of an upgrade from the original - hardly what I'd define as a "Masterpiece". The paint on mine was ok, though. G1 Convoy to Masterpiece Convoy reflects 20 years of major advancement in toy engineering and design. Original Voltron to Masterpiece Voltron does not. EDIT: Spelling.
It's Toynami, so probably. Mainly I think it's because not that many people bought it. For some reason it seems to have been overlooked by most collectors.
to be fair, hasbro/takara's been doing transformable toys for 30plus years, toyami has been doing this for what, 5? they have yet to learn all the tricks and such of making a good transformable toy yet. i mean look at bandai, they are just now catching up with transformers. it takes time for a company to learn the trades. look at BTR vs legos, hasbro tried to get in to that game, but the first run was basically junk, but the energon run was majorly better, if they had kept it up, for another 30 years, they could of surpased lego, but it takes TIME to be that good. any how, must have mecha's, umm i would have to include ZOD from gobots.
Interesting posts guys but for those who have him (MP Voltron), how is he? Are the joints tight in robot mode etc? There seems so little feedback on him.
Ok, fair enough. But for me, a company's lack of experience doesn't justify a product falling short of its advertised intent, i.e. being the definitive version of a character. MP Voltron is Masterpiece in name only, as far as I'm concerned.
I have a lot of chogokins, including Toynami Voltron. All I can say is... it's shiny. It's not a bad figure. I just wish it came with some more accessories than the shield and the sword. That's what I love about Chogokins. Few weeks ago I finally picked up Dancouga and Gunbuster. Now, I didn't want to buy Dancouga when it first came out because I thought it was stupid. It's no bigger than the elephant guy anyway. It felt like the elephant robot wanting to go on some trick-or-treating by putting on two slippers and a mask. But after reading all the reviews, I decided to just get it. I... think I should've just went with my first instinct. It's a nice figure no doubt. But just does not justify the cost. Now, Gunbuster... I LOVE this piece. I definitely would recommend it. Poseability, accessories... this thing is a total package, IMO.
Probably because it's Toynami. There was a lot riding on Toynami with the VF-1 releases because of how much Harmony Gold had dicked around the Macross collectors in the states. With the somewhat less than stellar quality on that line, a lot of people just decided to give up on them altogether. Soul of Chogokin is something where you really can't go wrong. If it looks good to you, you're almost assured it'll be good. The quality has been outstanding on the ones I have. The paint jobs are absolutely smooth and pristine. And the metal can't be beat. Though they tend to give multiple hands for different hand poses instead of having posable fingers, it's a small price to pay for the quality of the rest of the figures and the inclusion of all the accessories and stands they provide. If you aren't interested in Macross, I'd suggest starting there.
I was thinking about getting Voltron, but its much lower on my list and its $130 too much. The toynami VF-1 series valks are really craptastic, not even as nice as G1 Jetfire. The boxes are very cool though. I have a Toynai VFA-6H Bernard. It's actually pretty cool, just very small.
palmeiro - yeah, I get what you mean with regards to Dancougar too. Nightflame - yeah, the SOC line is really fantastic...could be the best mecha line ever. Its just that I want to have the opinions on other lines too. Example, Takara's King Exkaiser etc. Thanks for the feedback guys...I really appreciate. I'm starting to compile my list of Chogokins to get!
I'm sorry, I don't understand what that means. Perhaps another way to express my point is just to say that the percentage of improvement between G1 Convoy and Masterpiece Convoy is substantially greater than Matchbox Voltron to Masterpiece Voltron. Regardless of how you feel about them, I have to believe most people would be willing to agree to that.
Actually, I get where both Dolza Khyron is coming from. His defination of Masterpiece means "definitive". Something which the Toynami Voltron does seems to represent. Example, the toy is lean as in the 80s cartoon. Yeah, and I agree with ams that the Toynami's Voltron doesn't have much improvement over the earlier versions but how much can a toy company "improve" on Voltron in terms if transformation. Voltron is basically like a Power Ranger mecha with simple combination.
Same here. Don't know about Dancouga (don’t have him) but just opening Gunbuster's box made me feel like a kid again; there were tons and tons of accessories and the toy is solid as a rock (save for the collider panels that tend to open up a lot until you learn how to handle them). For almost the same price as the upcoming Yamato 1/60 YF-16 you get a lot of stuff. The base itself is really impressive and being able to store all of the accessories inside is a real plus. Posing is really good, especially in the arms (this combiner even has waist movement!) but the head could use more movement. The legs feel a bit restricted (wish they could bend more at the knees but that’s the price you pay for the collider coil gimmick). I’m not used to toy with such quantity of die-cast so posing him does feel a bit sluggish compared to a plastic Yamato 1/48 (but the more I screw around with it the more I like it). Worth every penny. I was thinking of maybe getting a GX-13R but Fewture’s EX Getter series is incredibly tempting (but also incredibly pricy). http://pony-hp3.web.infoseek.co.jp/EX-GETTER1.htm http://pony-hp3.web.infoseek.co.jp/EX-GETTER2.htm http://www.artstorm.co.jp/getter_3.html I’ve read Getter One has some problems with the ball joint in the torso area (needs nail polish to handle better the weight) and that the display base for G2 forces an unnatural pose for the toy. I’ll hopefully listen to my brain and forget about these overpriced beauties and get the SOC Mazinger Z and Aphrodai A double pack. SOC Voltes V also gets very good comments for its sturdiness: http://greattoysonline.proboards43.com/index.cgi?board=socvoltes&action=display&thread=1148368074
Yeah, I was thinking of getting the Fewture Getter too but to spend that much money in a toy...that's excessive to me! Besides, that Getter is "over-sized" compared to the size of an SOC bot such as the Mazinger.
One thing you might want to remember, in between all these massively cool mecha, is their price tags. Masterpieces and Chogokins and especially anything Fewture cost big bucks, so you might want to spread out major purchases like Gunbuster with some cheaper guys. The Hybrid stuff would fit the bit, but for SOCs... Angels. Apparently, very few people bother with these, and they end up going for (relatively) little. Of course, if you don't like any of the female mecha designs, as seems to be the case for others, these won't be for you. Otherwise, Night Flame summed this up very well. Mazinger. GX-01R, GX-02R, and to a lesser extent GX-07 should be staples for any good mecha collection. Bandai seems to reissue the crap out of these, so their value doesn't reach GX-06 or former Dancougar levels. And well, it's Mazinger for crying out loud. At least one is required! Villains. A hero is only as good as his enemies, after all! Black Ox in particular is the most acclaimed and well-crafted, but Garada K7 and Doublas M2 are pretty good (but not high on diecast content!). I have a particular fondness for M2 because of that entertaining neck gimmick. Just try and see how many other mecha can double their height by extending their neck alone, or actually be able to wrap around another mecha figure! Getter Robo G. Bandai has learned some good lessons from the Getters, it seems. Release all of the original team as one set, and they become too expensive for the average fan, but are in just low enough numbers to have stupid-high secondary prices. Release each member of a team individually in larger numbers, and they rot on the shelves! Unfortunate, since Getter Dragon, Liger, and Poseidon are pretty badass designs, even if they lack some of the iconic touches of the original Getter. Lots of diecast on these, and can go for prices almost as low as the Angels. This may be basic stuff that you already knew, but it's worth the added emphasis, because otherwise it'll be drowned in a sea of acclaim for Gunbuster or Aquarion or the hot Valk of the day or some other complex/expensive mecha. It's an expensive collecting route to take, so having a plan is definitely a good idea.
Wow! Good post! Thanks for the tips and I really appreciate it. You're right with regards to have a buying plan as they are some very good stuff out there. I sold off my Bandai Getter earlier this year because I don't like their "look"...somehow I have yet to find a "definitative" Getter. Hopefully, the upcoming Aoshima OVA Getter will live up to expectations. Anyway, I curious how come Bandai hasn't reissue the Getter set yet? The Mazingers have been reissued, even Dancougar and Combattler too! Has Bandai lost the Getter right?
Yamato 1/60 VF-0 is also good, especially if you get the VF-0A or the upcoming second run of the VF-0S. I hesitate to mention it as a must-have, since it's not nearly as popular or well-known as the VF-1 series. Unlike the 1/48s though, it's in the same scale as MP Starscream and the Perfect-Grade Gundams.
