Dancouga thoughts...

The first video overview of threezero's upcoming Robo-Dou Dancouga showed up online just the other day, and it raised my excitement level by a factor of 10. Threezero's Dancouga is one of my top three most anticipated figures due to be released in 2022 (the other two are threezero's Panzer World Galient Robo-Dou Galient figure, and CCSToys' Shin Getter 1). The Robo-Dou version looks magnificent! Then, just yesterday I caught a quick video showcasing yet another Dancouga release. It wasn't in English, and so it was a bit hard to tell, but this one looks like a Good Smile model kit version. The owner of the video said it included die-cast parts, but I'm doubtful after watching through the video. That said, my lone experience with Good Smile's Moderoid line did not result in a good smile for me, so I would probably pass on that one.

I never knew of Dancouga growing up. Released in 1985, I would have been just a bit too old to have watched it. It was brought to my attention last year, when BBTS put threezero's Robo-Dou version up for pre-order. Their Shin Getter 1 figure was one of my absolute favorite figures of 2021, and I'm pretty much all-in for the Robo-Dou line moving forward, so when I saw this guy, I pre-ordered it without knowing anything about the source material. I then went ahead and bought the entire series on Blu-Ray, and have been enjoying it ever since. The story-line is sophisticated enough to keep things interesting. In fact, I liked it so much that I used a handful of gift cards from the holidays to pick up this Soul of Chogokin GX-13R figure. 

It stands at a really impressive height (towering over my other Soul of Chogokin figures), has a good bit of die-cast weight to it, and looks great on the shelf. That said, I did encounter some significant problems with this fairly old release (re-release, I should say). The biggest problems for me have to do with the articulation. The joints in the knees and hips are terribly loose, to the point where he can really only stand (and precariously, at that) in a straight-legged vanilla pose. Additionally, the waist is so loose and floppy that the entire upper torso tips forwards or backwards at the slighted touch. As a result, this figure is not at all pleasurable to try to pose, despite the fact that it looks great as it is. My final issue is with the hands, which cannot close tightly. This means Dancouga cannot hold the rifle one-handed, and even the sword tends to fall out of his flaccid grip. Once the threezero version arrives, I may seriously consider transforming this version to vehicle modes (Land Cougar, Land Liger, Big Moth and Eagle) and leaving them for display that way.

The upcoming Robo-Dou version looks amazing. The sculpt is a really great take on the classic look, tweaked. I also love the weathered paint apps it looks to be getting. It seems to be about the same size as the Chogokin version, with many of the same accessories and transformation gimmicks. I will say that I don't like the way the feet (land vehicles) attach (much like the SOC version, there's a small tab that flips up and the legs of Big Moth clips onto this - it's such a small connection point). But otherwise it looks like it's going to be a real winner. And I'll just have to see what that Good Smile Dancouga was all about...

CONAN the CIMMERIAN - Mezco Toys 1/6 scale statue

I don't consider myself much of a statue collector. I love the look of many of them, but they are often too big for the space I have and too expensive for me to collect in large numbers. That said, I have accumulated a fair few over the years (I'm only referring to polystone-type statues here - I do have my fair share of plastic statues). I only just realized that ALL of them are of female characters. Or were, until just the other day, when my first male statue - Conan the Cimmerian -  arrived.

I pre-ordered Mezco's Conan the Cimmerian statue in December of 2020. I had spent much of that year reading the Robert E. Howard works of Conan and Kull, and loved them. Fast forward about 13 months, and my interest had waned a bit. I still love the stories, but had moved on to other interests, as I am wont to do. I was even seriously considering cancelling my pre-order, as my New Year's Resolution to be more selective in my purchases (recurring resolution, it seems) was weighing on my mind. I did pick up the Mezco One:12 Collective Conan figure, and was probably the only person on the planet disappointed in it (but that's a story for a different review). The only thing that kept me from cancelling this pre-order, in fact, was that the statue is sold out everywhere, and I was worried I'd regret not getting it if it turned out to be amazing. Surprise, surprise, I was suddenly and unexpectedly notified that it was ready to ship about a week ago. And, wow, was it fortunate that I declined to cancel, because this is probably the best statue I own, and sets a standard I'd wish every statue could follow...

Mezco's Conan the Cimmerian is a 1/6 scale statue from a new line., called Static Six. Their aim is to offer statues that are so full of options that they are ultimately "customizable" to tons of different looks: "Premium 1:6 scale statue featuring hyper-realistic detailing, interactive mixed-media components, interchangeable parts and accessories to create multiple display options" (from their website's description). They did indeed successfully accomplish each of these mission statement components. With this particular statue, there are 2 head portraits, a cape, a necklace, a harness, something like 6 different hands, a girdle, a loincloth, a sword/scabbard and a dagger/sheathe, all removable or interchangeable. If my math is correct, that means over a hundred different ways to display this statue! And the best part? It looks awesome no matter how you choose to display it! The sculpt is just amazing, with deep crevices, striations in the muscles, and paint work that brings all those details to life. The pose is fantastic, conveying movement, ferocity and power all at once. Everything works well together, with nothing looking out of place or hurried. Even the loincloth and cape (which could look very artificial) are made in such as way as to appear natural.

The girdle and shield, in particular, are spectacular in terms of detail, paint and realism. The metal looks like metal, the leather looks like leather and the fur looks like fur. I think it really comes down to the care that's been put into conveying texture. Even Conan's skin has texture to it. In fact, the only place on the entire statue where the texturing fails a bit, is in the snow, which comes off as too smooth and uniform to really be snow. That said, the base tells a wonderful story in and of itself: there's an enormous clawed footprint in the snow just between Conan's legs, which indicates that his upward gaze, upward angle of the twist of his torso and arm-swing, as well as the half-dozen skulls littering the landscape (nearly all of which have a bashed-in portion on them) involve a huge beast facing off with him mid-battle. That said, I do wonder why we'd have flesh-stripped skulls and bones (meaning they are old) mixed in with fresh snow, blood and a footprint? Without overthinking it, let's just say it looks awesome!

I made the mistake of overlooking that this statue was polystone when I ordered it. I had just assumed that Mezco only worked in plastic, and that this statue would be no different. Conan, however, is a polystone piece, and a heavy one at that. With the attached base (which frames the statue perfectly), the entire statue weighs in at over 9 lbs. That means he may fit in a Detolf display case, but the glass shelf will be hard-pressed to stay intact. The body parts all attach with strong magnets, and fit together snugly, with a bit of finagling. The result is an incredibly satisfying display that will, in fact, promise to be tweaked, adjusted and changed every so often, just to keep itself fresh.

I do have a couple of tiny issues with the statue that ought to be stated. First, the necklace on mine does not sit properly. There's a curve sculpted into it that doesn't quite line up with the curve of the shoulders and chest, causing it to float, rather than sit flat. I'm not sure if this is an issue with warping in the package, or if it was designed this way. I may try heating and re-shaping, but that's the one plastic piece that's given me some issues. My other issue has been with the loincloth. The top portion, at the waist, sticks up a touch higher than the sculpt underneath. When I try to seat the torso piece on top, it's pretty tough to not fold that loincloth down into the part I'm trying to attach. This results in the magnet not seating properly, and the top half of the figure being a tad wiggly. I messed with it for a while, and was finally able to seat the top and bottom halves together, but it did take some work and patience.

Overall, I'm super-impressed with Mezco's Conan the Cimmerian statue! It's gorgeous, assembles well, provides a striking shelf-presence, and offers an absolute ton of useful options. Not only that, but the price is entirely appropriate. Considering that Gaming Heads is asking somewhere around $450 for a Lara Croft Tomb Raider statue in the same scale (which, by the way, killed me collecting that line past the second statue), with much fewer options and average paint-work, the $225 I paid for Conan leaves me smiling and looking forward to more! Mezco really changed the 1:12 action figure game with their One:12 Collective line, and it looks like they are on the cusp of doing the same thing in the world of 1:6 scale statues. Sideshow, Gaming Heads and the rest had better be ready to up their game, because Mezco has just raised the bar!

My current Conan shelf...

Great Mazinger - Super Robot Chogokin Kurogane Finish Version

Just having some fun messing around and posing this little guy. It's a small figure with great die-cast content, some excellent accessories and superb pose-ability. Very enjoyable to play with, and to display. The only detraction is that his head seems a bit small-to-scale for the rest of the figure. The kurogane finish, in particular, makes for a striking look. It's matte black and roughly textured, and it works. I prefer this finish to the regular finish of my SRC Mazinger Z.

Godzilla vs. Kong - Bandai Spirits Ichibansho statue

Upon release, the Ichibansho Godzilla 2021 (Godzilla vs. Kong) retailed for about $75. It can currently still be had at some online retailers, though I don't expect that to last for much longer. At that price, this figure is an exceptional deal. Comparably-sized statues (like the Hyper Solid series) run nearly three times that much. That said, it isn't a perfect figure by any means, and really shouldn't be compared to those more expensive versions - I do it a disservice in doing so. As a stand-alone figure, it's an excellent rendition of Godzilla at an appropriate price.

Godzilla stands nearly 9" tall to the top of his head, and measures almost 18" in length from the snout to the tip of the tail. That's a pretty sizeable figure. Combine that with a weight of nearly 1.5 pounds, and you are dealing with a hefty chunk of plastic. The pose and sculpt are the real strong points of this figure. Godzilla has been captured mid-roar with his claws splayed out and a curve to the neck and upper torso that suggests a strong bit of movement, without being overpowering. The tail follows a pretty straight path out behind the fellow, rather than curling upward or sideways as many statues/figures choose to do. The result is that the figure has a pretty substantial footprint on the shelf, as well - he's a bit tough to display in that sense. On the positive side, however, is the fact that this statue looks amazing from any angle. Even when viewed from behind, Godzilla is fantastic.

The sculpt features deep, sharp work that's brought out with a tan/light brown dry brushing. It does look sandy and muddy in a way that might be off-putting for sticklers of screen-accuracy, but I appreciate how it adds a bit of realism while also emphasizing the detail work of the sculpt. In fact, I really like that the spines aren't glowing blue like they seem to be in just about every Godzilla vs. Kong figure made! The brown is most prominent on the chest and front of the torso of the figure, but does appear over the entirety of it. The mouth features some good sculpt work, and not-so-good paint work. The tongue on mine is slightly off center, and the tiny teeth are not painted individually, or crisply. In fact, this is probably the bigger of the two detractions this figure possesses. The eyes have teeny pupils that are painted better than many SH MonsterArts figures I have.

With Hyper-Solid Godzilla KOTM 2019

I mentioned the paint work of the mouth as one of two weak points for this figure. The second, and more significant one, is the sloppy and ill-fit of the seams. They are noticeable at the base of the tail (the figure comes in one piece - the tail does not need attaching) and the head, though both of those are relatively mild. There's a jarring coming together of pieces at the mouth, though, that's full of gaps and glue overspills: the jaw line is awful and the tongue is misaligned. Finally, the dorsals are attached with separate strips that run down the length of the tail, and another over the main body and back. The topmost strip on my figure hasn't been fitted properly, and sticks up prominently. There's also a good smattering of glue to be seen here and there along the join lines. In short, there's a reason this guy runs $75 instead of $220. From a short distance, he's amazing to look at and has a terrific shelf-presence. Upon closer inspection, the warts appear. Nevertheless (mostly because of the price and overall appearance), this turned out to be one of my very favorite purchases of 2021. He's number 9 on my list, to be precise, and I'm very happy to have him in my Toyseum!

Soundwave - Hasbro Studio Series Bumblebee movie Voyager Class figure

I stumbled across this Voyager Class Soundwave Studio Series 83 figure at Wal-mart yesterday, where I was surprised to see there was an entire shelf of them. It looked like the stockperson intentionally used their blade to cut across the box tops of all of them, except one, which is the one I picked up. Soundwave sells for about $29.

I don't collect Transformers as a general rule, but I do pick up figures that appeal to me. I tend to have great difficulty with the transformations, and really only like them in robot mode, so most of the ones I have are of the non-transforming sort. I particularly enjoy threezero's DLX line, and am greatly looking forward to their upcoming MDLX line of non-transforming figures. Soundwave's design from the Bumblebee movie is one that I really like. I have the DLX version, complete with Ravage, and am very happy with it. However, I just couldn't pass up this Studio Series version when I saw it on the shelf. I handle my DLX figures very gingerly, as I am paranoid about breaking or damaging something so expensive. The Takara/Tomy Hasbro version gives me a little more room for mistakes, though I doubt I will ever transform it, or even pose it very much.

I do really enjoy the packaging of Hasbro's Studio Series Soundwave. In particular, I love the movie stills they used. Soundwave looks amazing, and it's clear how closely the figure inside resembles its movie counterpart through the small-ish window. There's a few lines of text on the back, multiplied by being re-written in about a dozen different languages, and a couple of action poses for the figure.

The figure itself is an enjoyable rendition of the character as seen in the movie. The details are all there, and there's plenty of articulation to get him into reasonable poses. He comes with the shoulder canon and a blaster for his hand, as well as the cardboard diorama display backing (which I won't be using). He stands a shade over 6.5" tall. I do feel Optimus looks a bit small beside him (especially when comparing the size of their heads), but the scale seems to be about the same with my ThreeZero DLX figures, so I'm going to assume it's close to accurate.

 The paint is minimal, as most of the figure is cast in colored plastic. Speaking of the plastic, the figure has a very light feel, overall. Similar to a like-sized Gundam model kit. Nothing feels like it's going to break, but there's no confusing this with a Chogokin by any means. There's a small button near the left shoulder that pops the chest plate open. There's no Ravage in there (or anything else), but I believe he can be purchased separately. I do wish the figure came with a set of alternate fisted hands, as that's how most of my figures are posed on the shelf, but otherwise this is an excellent representation of the character. My gut says it's overpriced at nearly $30, but I'm an old person who remembers toys costing much, much less. However, even in today's market, I think $25 would be entirely more appropriate. As a side note, the Studio Series Optimus Prime figure is currently running at $200 on Amazon, so I'd bet that this figure will eventually command a fairly high price, making $30 right now a veritable steal...

With Studio Series Optimus Prime

With ThreeZero DLX Soundwave