Wasnt' Tranzor Z the name of the French version of Mazinger? As a kid growing up on the West coast in the late 70's, I knew Mazinger as... well, Mazinger (actually I think he went by "Great Mazinga"), but never heard of Tranzor.

I know that here in Quebec, there's a big following for this stuff because it was extensively played on local television in the 80's ... Mazinger/Tranzor Z and especially Grandizer/Goldorak.

zmog

 

I just started getting some of the SOC figs...I started with Leopaldon since I absolutely love quirky Spider-man things. Its an awesome figure and its been on my desk since I got it. I also just recieved Dancouga and its the most impressive hunk of diecast and plastic I've held since Masterpiece Prime. Seriously, everyone needs Dancouga.

 

SoC Gunbuster is the god of diecast transformable Collectibles.

Perhaps I'd change my mind if I got Ideon, but for now ... Gunbuster is definately it.

 

I hated those things when I was a kid.

 

Meh, Dancouga was underwhelming, IMO. I've transformed him a couple of times, and pretty much forgot about him. He's a very nice display piece, but some wonky bits of design make him pretty hard to actually play with. I'll probably just sell mine off, eventually.

Gunbuster, on the other hand, is pure awesomeness, through-and-through. Huge, very poseable, and with a ridiculous amount of accessories, it's just so fun. My favourite toy to date. Well worth the money.

 

I love Dancouga and Gunbuster. The Mazingers are my favorite though, probably GX-07. I have been hooked on this line for a while. SOC is one of the highest quality series available, and it just keeps going. I'm so pissed I don't have Ideon right now.

 

I pretty much have all the SOC versions of the Shogun Warriors and Force Five cartoon figures I had as a kid for the most part:

Mazinger Z(I of course knew him as Tranzor Z)
Garada K7
Doublas M2
Combattler V(I knew him as Combatra)
Dragun
Poseiden
Liger(Raider) (All of the above 3 were Starvengers)
Getter Robo (I have the chrome version of all 3 robots)
Gaiking
and I have a SOC Raideen on Pre-order!

UNFORTUNATELY, it looks like there will be NO Danguard Ace SOC release, which is damn shame because he was my favorite Shogun Warrior when I was a kid.

 

They're only 6-8 inches at the most. Up to Optimus' hip or barely...if the Mazingers were as big as Prime, they would be more expensive!  

Yeah, the amount of stuff Bandai produce is freaking amazing and they are IMO the no.1 toy company in the world for me because of the level of engineering, design, range and playability in their products.

Its not just the SOC line but Bandai also produces Gundams, S.I.C and Ultraman. No wonder, TakaraTomy's taking a pounding.

Sure they have may have some quality control problems in their products but they are so few of them. If Bandai were the ones being TFs, we would see the following:

i) better engineered TFs. We would have seen MP Optimus probably years ago; and
ii) better QC. The issue of MP Megs rust would probably be a non-issue! LOL!

 

We'll its crazy out here! I mean thousands of Gundams and my friend was able to get 4 Fort Max! Would you believe it? I mean its almost having 4 kids! Crazy!
Gunbuster and Gideon are really cool toys I mean its simply awesome! There is a toyshop here in Tokyo that sells mostly pre-owned TFs and some of the price is great! Masterpiece skywarp is already sold out here! I manged to hold one and it does not seem to have more die-cast that Starscream but the black is really good color.

 

I stubbornly refuse to give up hope for a Dangard Ace   They did put out the Marmitt version a few years back so I don't think the creator is THAT opposed to Dangard...at least I hope not...Now that I have the comic book trio in Jumbo form I REALLY want to have it in SOC form as well...and with Raydeen we'll have 2 of the 3   After the current ones announced come out I really do think it's only a matter of time before we get Dangard and Daimos to complete the Shoguns  

 

Does anyone here have King Joe? I'm very close to buying one and I need to be either talked into or out of it. I'm mostly interested in what his articulation is like and how well the three seperate ships (or whatever they are) hold together. I love that a MIS baddie (Man In Suit) made it into the SOC line.  

 

CollectionDX (Great site) has a review of King Joe here:

http://www.collectiondx.com/node/1635

There's an embedded video review as well which gives a good view of all the spring loaded antennae and such in his transformation, as well as a decent demonstration of his posability and such. It's probably worth a look if you're considering getting him.

 

Wow, I can't believe I didn't think to check CDX, considering I've looked at many reviews there before. I guess the limited articulation is understandable because of his design, and I also don't usually pick my figures up by the head so the weak magnetic point there wouldn't bother me. The fact he can transform into those wickedly wacky ships is very, very cool.

King Joe, here I come!  

 

I think Chogokin means "Super Alloy".

SOC is one of my favorite lines too, I reall like Voltes V and Combattra.

 

You're correct. Chogokin does mean super alloy. The only thing I own from this line is the Mazinger Angels version of Venus A because it was available locally. I'm gonna have to get Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger since I remember them kicking ass in the anime and giving gundams a run for their money in SRWs.

 

I hope you are right.
I have the old fully transformable DX Deluxe Dangard Ace from 1977(if anyones interested I can post some pics, its a beautiful vintage piece), its the same size as the SOC's but it just doesn't fit. Bandai NEEDS to make Dangard!!

Daimos would be freaking awesome as well, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

 

Yeah, a daimos or sun vulcan as well would rock! I also hope in the future they round out all of the godakin and shogun warriors but make sure to bring out new versions of old characters like mazinkaiser and shin getter. Very interesting that they are doing machine robo in S.O.C. now maybe we can get a devil satan oneday....I can hope can't I?..lol.