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Mecha Mucho! Let's talk Zenkaiger toys!
Doesn't look like we've got a thread for Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger toys, but they're upon us! Most actual preorders from Bandai aren't available yet, but a few e-tailers like TokuCollectibles put up preorders for some not-yet-solicited items.
I caved on the first two waves of minipla, sight-unseen. This is insane because I did the same thing with Kiramager mecha, and boy, do I regret the purchase. At least now we've got some idea of how it all will look. In retrospect, knowing the DX mecha have sounds, I've actually been tempted to pick up one of the DX mecha pairs. They look a little more complex than other recent Sentai mecha. I haven't been impressed with all the ones I've handled, but the well-designed ones - I'm thinking of RH-03 from Go-Busters here - are really satisfying to handle. But since I've already got minipla on the way, DX mecha would be redundant. Bandai doesn't even appear to be trying to make the three mecha modes work in their DX and retail lines: the action figures don't turn into ZenkaiOh, and the DX mecha seem to have phoned in the animal/vehicle modes. I wonder if minipla will do something similar, since we've already seen a Yu-Do Zenkaiger prototype. The Sentai Gears don't "do" something, but I find them more aesthetically appealing than a lot of recent collectibles. I wouldn't mind picking up a Sentai Gear for a prior team; maybe GekiRanger? What are you planning to pick up from the upcoming Zenkaiger releases? |
I pre-ordered some of the vinyl sofubi figures.
What did you not like about the Kiramager minipla if you don't mind me asking? |
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While I'm iffy about the other forms the Zenkaiger mecha, I actually dig the designs of ZenkaiOh. (Well, those wheels attached to the feet don't look great, but they're super-easy to omit when displaying those ZenkaiOh combinations.) |
Ooo, TokuCollectibles just posted pre-orders for roleplay, DX, and Change Hero stuff for our sixth hero TwoKaiser; at a glance, it looks like they'll be Shinkenger and Ohranger-themed. Also, given the name, I'm hoping that this will be a Go-Onger like hero pair, although the "Two" probably just refers to two mecha.
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I... may have gone a little crazy with Zenkaiger toys.
I'd already picked up the ZyuranGaon minipla set, and while I like elements of it, it got me curious about the DX mecha. I haven't picked up any of that since Ninninger, but I pulled the trigger on the set of four. The DX version of ZenkaiOh ZyuranGaon impressed me because, aside from the weapons and shield, there is <b>no parts-forming</b> and the transformation is more than just "turn the figure around," which is pretty unusual in modern Sentai mecha. In this respect, it beats out the minipla. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that except when it comes to posability (and feet), this is the rare year in which the DX is actually a little better than the minipla. This doesn't mean that the minipla is bad, but it only succeeds at ZenkaiOh mode. Minipla Zyuran and Gaon suffer from uni-fist-leg in both their hero and beast modes, and are hardly (or not at all) better-articulated than the DX in those modes. Minipla ZenkaiOh mode looks great and moves great once you add the box 5 upgrade parts. The DX versions of Zyuran and Gaon actually look pretty decent in their robot modes: separating the feet/legs makes a lot of difference. The beast modes... well, I mean, they're weird, awkward designs, but they look better than the minipla version. More importantly, the DX mecha are fun to handle. There's the pleasant solidity common of Sentai DX toys, the absence of stickers, and aside from the weapons, transforming them has a certain satisfying clickiness to it. I'm regularly fiddling with them and switching out modes, whereas I found I didn't really want to transform the minipla: there's a little too much parts-forming, particularly given the upgrade parts. The minipla just has you pop heads onto the hero and ZenkaiOh forms, whereas the DX involve a few clever mechanisms: Zyuran's tiara lowers to cover the eyes and swivels toward the back; Gaon's head folds down, and central point on the head collapses; the head pieces for ZenkaiOh are hidden in the mouths of the animal modes. And then there's the sounds: on opening the mouth of the beast modes; on connecting the two torsoes together, and then again when opening the closed, united mouth at the end of the ZenkaiOh gattai. Oh, and again if you split the halves apart to, say, switch them out with Vroon and Magine. While I'm not in love with this year's jingles, the part-announcement zounds are kinda nifty. I ended up being reminded of the Kyoryujin transformation. DX Vroon and Magine are another story. There's definitely some parts-forming to both that goes beyond the weapons: Magine's wings needs to be manually attached and detached, as do Vroon's chunky wheels. I like the complexity of Magine, but Vroon is as basic as basic can be, and his head is very poorly-hidden in ZenkaiOh VrooMagine mode. (To be fair, at least his eyes can be slightly hidden.) Magine is a little lacking in robot mode since she's so blocky, although her dragon mode is... okay? I still like owning VrooMagine, and switching to the alternate combinations is quick and satisfying. At this point, I think I'm going to try to pick up subsequent mecha, and I'm very curious as to how they'll ultimately connect. So far, despite some dodgy alternate modes, the Zenkaiger design is relatively cohesive. I'd hoped I could start to figure out further combinations from unused bits of these mecha, but so far, nothing is occurring to me. I didn't write anything about the ZenkaiOh VrooMagine minipla because I haven't built it yet; it arrived the same day the DX set did, so my curiousity about how Magine worked was already satisfied. My expectation is that it'll share the other ZenkaiOh's articulation. Oh, and I mention that DX are huge? Display space is gonna be an issue with Zenkaiger DX toys. |
The All Red gear that came with the blu-ray for this year’s Movie Ranger is out.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ylR1gqn32w (Oh, and the Bly-ray with the movies for Ryusoulger, Kiramager and Zenkaiger that comes with the manga for the former) |
TwoKaiOh showed up. It's a fun toy - too bad it doesn't have the fun Gokaiger sounds - but it made me realize something about Zenkaiger. It's obvious the show has broken a number of molds - the mostly-mecha team, red not being the lead character, the color-naming convention - but I realized the toys have, too. Most Sentai mecha from the last however-many years worked as mecha systems, with different mecha all designed to combine with one another. Outside the core team's four mecha combinations, the Zenkaiger mecha aren't intended to be a system. The core four and TwoKaiOh don't connect in any way, and what little we've seen of the next mecha suggests it won't, either.
My feelings are a little mixed. Some mecha systems have looked hilariously awful when put together, and Zenkaiger avoids that. On the other hand, it's a little disheartening given that I've gone all-in on the DX mecha. They're nice to own, but a new release don't add anything to prior releases. |
It actually does seem that the next mecha will combine with the first, from both hacking that first mecha and a hidden thing on the next; but we'll see.
I was definitely a bit disappointed that TwoKaiOh didn't combine at all with either of the ZenKaiOhs? After the first two had their really fun mix and match gimmick it was a shame to see the one after it just do something completely different. Ah well, still my favourite mechs in the entire franchise! |
In my opinion, I feel like people much too much stock into the mecha combining with one another? I saw a lot of talk like this during Kiramager and now for Zenkaiger, people saying that the lack of mecha combinations made the toylines inherently worse and that Sentai needs to get back to it asap, which I can't get behind at all.
Obviously I totally get the appeal of a good ol' combining robot, of course. Putting two robots together to make an even bigger, stronger robot is like one of the core pleasures of life and always makes for an exciting moment. But like, I don't think the DX mecha lines have been any worse without it? The mechas in Kiramager and Zenkaiser all have their individual gimmicks and aesthetic that I think they've all filled out very nicely. ZyuraGaon and VrooMagine half and half gimmick is cool! TwoKaiOh's dual form swapping is also cool! If anything, they're probably able to work as well because engineering doesn't need to take into account merch that has come before or will come after. |
I feel it's less about having a lot of mecha combining into one big one, and more about the interconnectivity.
Gaoranger's system never allowed for a combo of more than 7 (And that's solely using the semantics of Striker's legs being 2 pieces and the elephant not actually combining. Realistically, it only really allows for a 6 piece combo) So, for every figure you got, your additional figures instantly got more play value, even if you couldn't pile them all onto each other a la G12 Formation. Hell, a common criticism is that ultra combinations tend to be messy, cluttered piles of junk that detract from the original combo's charms. Also, I think going from Ryusoulger's lego-esque combination style that let your imagination run wild to a more bog standard "Piece goes here and ONLY here" combo for Kiramager, with no interconnectivity between any of the main mechs, it can feel like a bit of a downgrade. |
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