TCracker=Love!! Your pics are gonna keep me salivating till I get the gift set in 5 months. Ruinnatn=sad till Christmas.  

 

For those who missed it on the news sub-forum, unsubbed clip of the OVA:

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/943971-transformers-go-episode-1-jap-audio-chinese-sub.html

 

Hey, thanks! The Samurai team made me pumped up for the Shinobi team.
Can't wait to get them.

@underwear - thanks for the headsup. The animation looks good and I am now considering whether to get the Predacons...

 

@ TC: your pixs of the various combos goes to show how fun these guys are. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Now I can't wait for the ninja team version to come out. Btw I think I'm gonna wait for the giftset one to come out, more cheaper that way.  

 

Someone good with Shapeway should be able to make a bridge connector to allow for combinations in the wrong order - as most of the reasons they can't combine in any order is due to a lack of one port design in Ganoh. It looks perfectly possible that at least 2 or 3 Or even endless numbers of Kenzan's can combine with each other as he has a clip on the top and a bar on his groin making him endlessly stackable.. the same unfortunately isn't true for the others as far as I have so far been able to figure out.

Looking at the TV shows it's interesting to note they didn't add very much additional colour detail to the CGI textures but they did paint their weapons.

I would have liked to see Kenzan have some sort of police logs on him such a Police Ministry text Like Mach Alert has or even a simple star with an Autobot logo in it. They'd have ended up sideways in combiner modes though so I guess that's why they didn't do it.

 

I haven't actually checked if my Jinbu has the assembly flaw or not but combining him to Kenzan is very tricky in getting everything on both of them alligned JUST right. Once in it's pretty stable aside from the Jinbu legs clicking into Kenzan's arms. They just don't lock in so any movement will dislodge that. I've also found that twisting Ganoh's arms into Jinbu's legs just right sort of locks as well. This is mostly just the outer robot 'shell' , there is no connector of any sorts.

ANother thing I noticed while combinig these guys is how lacking the instructions are for a Japanese release. Some of the obviously intended pegs are not even mentioned? The same goed for the exact placement of Kenzan's swords in the combined weapon mode and the arms for GoKenzan. I initially opted for the look as attached but have since switch the lower arms to switch to more 'bulky' to the side mode by twisting the white bits so they lock horizontally. The fact that the kabuto seems to be intended as the lock mechanism for the arms does pose troubles in both modes though. Especially with the shield as it is just to have for the ratchers themselves to hold up.

(that and he can't hold it very well either causing the should to flip upside down a lot as well.

All in all they do look very nice though. If Kenzan's sound would just work like it was supposed to it would be an awesome set. I can't wait for the second team and the Convoy train to cobine all the sounds and light. I wonder if that will activate some hidden stuff in Kenzan as well!

 

For more pics, click on the image above

Robot Mode: Kenzan is a car-former where the car shell mostly folds together in the legs, while the upper body is formed from the roof of the car mode, while the rear of the car becomes the rucksack and arms. Said rucksack also contains the electronics that come with this figure. I didn’t personally test them out as I’m not a big fan of electronics, but apparently they make different sounds depending on whether Kenzan is in car or robot mode and even feature different sentences from different voice actors depending on how Kenzan is combined with the other two Samurai Swordbots (or rather, which of the three combiner helmets is plugged in). Anyway, not that interesting to me, but I wanted to mention it.

On to the actual robot. Kenzan is a pretty well articulated robot, about Voyager-sized, and almost but not quite manages to hide the fact that he is lacking a belly and hips. His legs begin right underneath his chest and a flap in the center tries to pretend it’s his lower torso, which only works from certain angles. Still, not as bad as Jinbu, and a necessary compromise for being a multi-purpose part of a combiner, I guess.

Kenzan wields two Katana blades as weapons. Because he is a Samurai. In case the blades weren’t enough to clue you in, he also has a robotic chonmage hair knot on the back of his head, a hair style apparently very popular among medieval Samurai warriors. Not so Samurai-y is the gun he comes with, really his Combiner-helmet folded up to very, very loosely resemble a gun. He can hold it in hand or plug it into his rucksack, either with the gun barrels pointing up or forward. Neither looks very good, so best to just leave that thing aside until you combine him.

What else to say? Kenzan is a solid robot, but apart from being one of the very few Transformers featuring robotic hair there is nothing terribly interesting about him as a single figure.

Alternate Mode: Kenzan transforms into a Japanese-style police car. Most of the car shell unfolds from Kenzan’s legs, forming a pretty streamlined-looking vehicle. The detailing on the car is good, though short of great, featuring detailed wheel rims, sculpted headlights and, of course, a light bar on top. The rear of the vehicle, composed of Kenzan’s battery compartment and the arms, is a bit short, you somehow get the feeling there is a part missing. Kenzan’s swords can fit underneath (the grips doubling as exhaust pipes) and if you really want you can fit his strange helmet-gun on top, though I can’t imagine why you’d want to. Still overall a good-looking car mode. Considering the combiner gimmick and the big chunk of electronics in this figure, a pretty decent job.

Combiner: The three members of the Samurai Swordbot Team can combine into a larger robot in three different combinations. Each combination is named for the bot that forms the top with an added ‘Go’-prefix, so this particular combination here with Kenzan on top is called GoKenzan. Kenzan becomes the upper body and arms, Jinbu becomes the belly and rucksack, while Ganoh provides the hip and legs.

You can easily see that this is supposed to be the primary configuration of the Samurai Swordbot combiner. GoKenzan is the tallest and most wholesome-looking of the combiner variations, has the biggest helmet-thing and the longest horns on said helmet. Ganoh makes for a solid lower body, Jinbu works as a slightly oversized belly and Kenzan does pretty good as upper body. Personally it’s a tie for me between GoKenzan and GoGanoh (sorry, GoJinbu).

GoKenzan has the most interesting hands of the three combiners and can easily hold the combined or separate weapons of all three individual robots. The only slight drawback is that his shoulder joints are a tad too weak to support the arm when he wants to point the big gun that is comprised of the to unused helmet-things from Ganoh and Jinbu. But then again, best to leave that aside anyway. So bottom line: the combined mode is why you are getting these three robots and GoKenzan ties with GoGanoh for best variation of the combiner.

Side Note: Not in the instructions, but very possible: take just two of the Samurai Swordbots and combine them Energon Powerlinx style. In GoKenzan's case you can give him Jinbu as a lower body and leave Ganoh aside. Not necessarily better than the three-bot GoKenzan, but I'd call it just as good. The proportions are a tad more realistic (though the arms are a little long now) and the combo looks pretty good overall. My second-favorite two-bot combo for this team (GoJinbu wins in the two-bot combiner category).

Remarks: Transformers Go! is the Japanese version of the Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters series, but includes quite a few figures exclusive to Japan and with its own cartoon series that has nothing to do with the Prime TV series. I’ve only seen the first episode of said series, but it featured the Samurai Swordbots who were awakened by a small child and got to face off against Abominus, who dutifully reassembled himself time and time again so the Swordbots could show off all their combinations and special moves.

Kenzan is the leader of the Swordbots, as you can easily tell. He’s got the biggest combiner helmet, he’s got the hair knot thing, he’s got the electronics, and the combiner variant with him on top is the most wholesome- and smooth-looking. Also, he’s the most samurai-y of the three, so of course he’s the leader. Probably a young hothead whom everyone inexplicably considers the natural successor to Optimus Prime (just guessing). As a toy Kenzan is in the middle for me, better than Jinbu, not as good as Ganoh. Again, though, you either buy all three or none. Bottom line, considering all the things this figure has to contain (gimmick, electronics, etc.) it’s pretty good. And again, only recommended if you’re a fan of the Japanese aesthetic or the combiner gimmick.

Rating: B-

 

I got mine but I'm having trouble with getting the lights and sounds to work. I tried installing the batteries in the battery port but when I turned it on, it didn't work. Am I doing anything wrong with it?

Update: I just got new AAA batteries and so far it still doesn't work. No lights. No sounds. Nothing. Can anyone please help me out with this predicament.

 

Out of curiosity can 2 Ganoh be combined together to make a single bot?

 

No....it isn't possible, the connection pegs don't match