Takashimaya 20th Craziest Toy Sale Part 5 (Super Robot Chogokin Gunbuster) ... ...

This is a free item. It was a nice surprise at the cashier when I was given a $50 voucher for spending at least $200 at the sale which I did. However, it became a problem as I have no idea what to get with the $50 and it can only be redeemed at the toy sale.

aMazinger Z II ... ...

This is definitely a long overdue follow up of this post last year. Just a quick recap that this a Tamashii Nations Mazinger Z under the line of Super Chogokin (SOC) by Bandai.

Mazinkaiser ... ...

from Max Factory which again was a years ago purchase which I was kind of crazy looking for it back then.

It was the days of die die must get something die cast and Max Factory was one of those companies that hardly does rerun on their production of toys and this became a commodity.

GREAT expectation for MAZINGER ... ...

which arrived in the month of August to much great delight.

Packing is the same as Mazinger Z from the earlier release except for the golden hue.

Contents are as seen above and it is indeed adequate for great playability and poseability.

Out of the packaging, you have the Great Mazinger without the Brain Condor which is really tiny as seen in the pix above. The film container there gives a relativity reference of size.

One noticeable improvement is the fitting of the Brain Condor onto Great Mazinger as Bandai did it right this time with a perfect fit.

Articulation is as superb as the previous release and it's again up to your imagination to make the best out the figure.

The Thunder Blade (pix above) in action after Great Mazinger channeled the energy from the atmosphere (pix below) to create the natural lightning. Cool accessories in my opinion and great for display.

The drill blades emerged from the forearms getting ready to perform the Drill Pressure Punch.

Fire away just like Mazinger Z and the blast off accessories is from the Mazinger Z Weapon Set. There are 4 in total so no need to fight over them.

In a nutshell, this figure is a must get for collectors who do not have any SOC version before. Again, like the Mazinger Z earlier, it is still worth the purchase with all the gimmick accessories provided. The small size makes it a display piece that does not take up too much space as well, so do consider this item when you next visit your favourite toy shop.

aMAZINGer Z... ...

The lastest flagship by Bandai to offer collectors is the Super Robot Chogokin banking on the success of the Chogokin line.

So, what's the big deal about this line? The answer is: It's smaller and more compact. Anyway, I did not collect any of the Mazinger Z from the Chogokin line and so naturally I plunged into this. The price of <$100 is another draw factor.

I have to confess that I am not too familiar with the story of Mazinger Z as I cannot remember if I ever watched the anime or read the manga (btw, the only manga I've read is Dragon Ball Z).

What would entice a collector who has one Mazinger Z too many is the weapon set (picture above) which is sold separately (<$20) which I will talk about later.

Let's start with the figure itself. Nothing new to any Mazinger Z collector but the details on this is a marvel given the size of about 14cm. Diecast content is largely at the lower torso but most of them are covered by plastic. CG of the figure is fantastic due to the heft of the lower body.

The Hover Pileder (pix above) comes with wings folded and thus, I wonder why is it not attached to the head?

The only gripe I have about it is also the Hover Pileder as it will not sit properly on the head! See the pix above. I tried for some time and was so worried I will break something in the process. In the end, I decided to cut off the stud (pix above)

After much struggle, the pilot has full control of Mazinger!! In the package is this rock styled styrofoam slab for you to display the Mazinger.

Articulation of the figure is another plus point as the figure can be posed quite nicely. However, the elbows and wrists do have some limitations.

The display provided does provide a slight sense of "dioramaism" to the figure.

The standard packaging comes with this huge hand (forgot what it's called).

The weapon set comes with another and both comes with open and clench style. Sweet!!

Another cool gimmick in the weapon set is the blast off effect for the rocket hands. The pix above has the belt in the correct orientation.

Let them ripped!!

Oops, now how am I going to fight?

Good! Here they come

Power UP!!

Used the Lightning Base from Gundam for the illuminatin effect. 

Well, I will be looking forward for all the Mazinger releases under this line but not the Super Robot Wars ones as pictures shown so far tells me articulation is going to suffer.

Overall, this is a fantastic display piece and the simplicity yet detail production gives all the reason to buy  and hopefully, price will not increase over the years or months.

Added this pix to correct the mistakes made to the wings. This is really a fantastic figure and a definitely great display piece; a pity that it's really small.