[ComicGuy89]

At retail, he's slightly cheaper than Kyoryujin, so while that's admittedly still very expensive it's nowhere near the $100 price tag you've been seeing. I got mine from Mandarake at a price I thought was good.

Also another thing to note is that I don't think most photos and video reviews do this guy justice. Watching him online and actually having him in hand are two totally different things, and having him personally I can say that his immense play value becomes apparent.

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Originally Posted by DSPARKS75

I mean the size...

The size is actually not as bad as I thought. It's not large, but in the grand scheme of Sentai mecha it's about a decent size. Here's a size comparison I did and I feel that it's only in recent Sentai series like Gokaiger and Kyoryuger that the trend has been to supersize mecha.


Admittedly many of these are American, but besides the Dino Megazord, they all share molds with their BoJ relese.

I'm personally impressed they managed to balance the need for the trains to be small enough to fit in the Changer and yet large enough to form a standard-sized robot. That's actually a bit of an engineering feat, in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by DSPARKS75

...lack of any real gimmick (sounds or lights)...

Well, I think that gimmicks don't have to be sounds or lights. In this case, I'd say that the gimmick is in being a functional train that transforms into a robot. Each train is able to split up and hook in the middle and you can always add more trains next time. When you take that into account suddenly the transformation engineering seems like a genius idea for being able to accommodate it.

The trains are great on their own and they form a pretty decent robot as well. I feel this is one toy where nothing major was compromised in keeping both component and mecha forms intact. Just my opinion anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DSPARKS75

...the rather bland design...

Ah, this one is subjective. I'll just say it looks a lot better in hand and that BoJ used a horrid angle to snapshot it, but then again, I was already predisposed to loving it before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DSPARKS75

...with a very so-so tranformation....

As I already mentioned, I feel the transformation is genius. Each component train has to be a functional train in its own right, split down the middle, AND work as the collectible trinket in the Changer. The fact they could do all this and work in a transformation is amazing.

Plus, I actually really like the transformation by itself. It feels balanced, where all 5 parts play a role instead of having a dominating Red component, or a 4 limbs and 1 torso transformation. If anything, it's a unique design. Also it's fun to hook all trains up before standing it up; reminds me of the original Megazord's tank mode.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DSPARKS75

...gimpy sword?.

I don't think the sword is too bad. Could be a bit larger, but it's got some nice details (sadly the track design on the blade is a sticker, but a solid one). It's not as small as it looks in photos, and I think it fits magnificently in the mecha's hand compared to other earlier mecha's swords.

So all in all, not saying you should run out and spend $100-$135 on it. That's a rip-off, and I won't deny the retail price itself, while not as high as $100, is still very expensive. Still, I just wanted to say that it's actually a lot nicer in hand and is quite unassuming until you have it so it may be worth considering.