Might be going off topic here but I’ve noticed something interesting about the name of the Robot Base GX. Specifically Grand Cross. This is totally unintentional from Takara considering it involves their main rival Bandai but the first combining Sentai Robo, Sun Vulcan Robo used the combine command “Grand Cross” and that was a combination between two vehicles. A giant fortress like jet (that formed the torso head and arms) and a large treaded “vehicle” (That formed the legs). Which is the same as Cloud Across and Grand Dion. I highly doubt this is what Takara intended to do but considering the sorta Sentai nature that they’ve gone for with GRB GX I just think it’s a neat observation. (also I guess we now know why they’re called Grand Dion and Cloud across)
golly that’s a beautiful display there at Volks. Original cropped and zoomed in. https://twitter.com/shinkichi007/status/1666064289646649344?s=46&t=T_lZ_CfhFRI2GZF3IuJX6A
I think there is still some confusion if it's Grandion or Ground Dion Otherwise the robot would be called Groundcross. Come on Takara where is your presentational video or your CGI mini-movie for Cloud Across. they already did the animations for the web page which is a good portion of a presentational video when they do those.
Okay - so important distinction - I can do this with a Dianaut 2.0 figure, but I was originally using a Dianaut 1.0 figure, which I cannot seem to get to work with the fold-up. This might possibly be due to the lack of the neck ball joint or simply a difference in the legs/cross spacing that allows the 2.0 to sit lower in the seat.
@CryptoFox : I regretted not getting a second Grand Dion but tbh I was wary that I might not like any potential redesigns. For example, while I have all variants of V-max, I’m still mixed on the head sculpt. Thanks for the link! I really can’t wait for this bot! Even since I was a kid in the 80s (in Asia), I was so envious of buddies who had the original vintage figure…so I really can’t express how excited to see this. This figure and the Battle Buffalo are great updates to their original designs. Tbh if the rest of the other Diaclone figures took design clues like GRB and BB, I would have focused more on this line.
It’s coming. It’ll probably drop this week before Tokyo toy show this weekend. They’ve been known to show these videos off at their booth.
Ayup! It's existed even in the booklet of DA-01 (diabattles v2) in a small section under the 'BIG A.I'. i've covered this like hundreds of pages ago though, but hey so... to keep things short, when the robot face appears/activates, the pilot gave it's mental faculty/prowess for the A.I to take over and be in control of the machine in battle. This is why in DA-01, the rest of the pilots on the bullet fighters while the lone pilot is responsible to be in the robot. He's basically sit there to be the 'Host Server' for the A.I. to occupy his brain. but IIRC (in the combat chronicles? I forgot) the A.I. battle subroutine wasn't supposed to be activated at convenience, only to be invoked at the most dire of circumstances. Which is why the supposed regular mode is to go with manual mode, depicted on the right side of the picture: That's the actual mode that the dianaut is in full control and the A.I. relegated to assistance tasks only. It has a double meaning here, actually. You're relatively right on the outside overall look of the toyline. In lore however, it serves as a retcon (or messy patchwork of an effort to the lore to some people) to the earlier parts of diaclone lore! to put it simply, we know that: current pinnacle machine in diaclone corps (as of current release, DA-95xDA-100) is Robot Base GX. GX = Grand Cross. What uses the same code earlier in the lore timeline? Landmaster A.I.'s access code for Gridman's transformation to don the DiaBattles' armor: Grand-Omega-Cross! ... well it's there in the vid, at 0:26 mark well granted in the story the battle hanger for gridman was made by Landmaster (which means it's 100% Diaclone corps' in-house nomenclature), but in the story too it was mentioned that he gleaned it and based it upon Gridman's statistics before constructing the armor. But tbh, not many keen about this part of the lore (both diaclone and Gridman fans) but Taktom did what they could during the time of the crossover: Gridman stepped in main inspiration for the Diaclone forces out there (BIG A.I.'s behavior, the so-called robot face, the code and usage of 'Cross') But it can be apocryphal to the lore if you want to. All of these are quite obscure unless you're actually combing all the booklets from earlier diaclone releases AND read Battlesgridman's booklet front to back. The toyline has quite a 'blank slate' to it that you can do headcanon however you want it! to be honest, I really want Gridman Universe to continue. I don't expect bandai to fucking deliver Gridman Sigma, maybe taktom can release Sigma using Diaclone's gridman mold and maybe Diaclone interpretation of Thunder Gridman/King Gridman's armor? with the dianauts able to pilot all of the assist vehicles? ... I wish.
I knew OF BIG-AI but I wasn’t 100% sure on what it actually was but this clears it up a lot now that other systems use it. Thanks for sharing that I thought it was just unique to GRB GX. I remember lore stating that Battle Buffalo has 3 pilots because it doesn’t use the AI. Also I completely forgot that the Gridman crossover happened and that it added ton of lore. more of it would be awesome but tbh I’m just open to more Diaclone crossovers, especially with another TT and Bandai spirits collaboration just been announced. Diaclone Macross would be awesome but I think Gundam’s scale is a bit big for 1/60.
I feel like I already committed because I purchased the legs. Somehow, I’m not completely please or displease about the upper half. It is somewhat… “to be expected” or maybe perhaps the proportions are giving me a bit of worry. If the legs where just 5-10% larger than the upper half; I think (IMHO) would satisfy my worries. Then the other issue of how much this cost in comparison to the lower half. My mind kept trying to justify the cost factor because it has a lot of excellent gimmicks, however; my eyes visually displease with the overall disproportion/balance of the figure. Please forgive me, I know I’m the minority with these thoughts and concerns.
My Black TCs arrived at BBTS. Still nada on the Dia-Fighters and the TM Expansion set, but I feel like if I wait a couple more days, I can save a whole $4 by shipping them all together once they do arrive. Which is a hilarious state of mind given the premium pricing on Diaclone toys. You'd think the extra $4 wouldn't even be part of the decision making process.
Takara Tomy Promotion Bonus. Order the Cloud Across Diaclone DA-100 at the Takara Tomy official website, and you will receive a clear Diaclone Acrylic Logo Stand to go with your display.
I didn't see the video was linked before as videos often don't work properly on this site on this browser But I just saw it on my feed a little while ago Though I'd still recommend people to look at the website for a more complete overview.
Either, like I said I didn't see it as the video didn't display. That is why I appreciate putting a note under a videolink saying what it is for when that happens. I only had to wait a few hours though so no big deal. I'm glad to have seen it now.
