#soul of chogokin

[reversemoon255]

Soul of Chogokin GX-113 Gundam Tryon 3

Considering Gundam Build Fighters Try isn't to most popular season of its subline, it's very easy to argue that Tryon 3 is the most popular aspect of that season... except maybe Fumina. Anyway, the Mobile Suits of GBFT were very Super Robot in performance and combat, but Tryon 3 took that to the next step by also referencing them with its aesthetics. Tryon 3 was also easily recognizable as being based off the ZZ Gundam, while most other Gunpla had more original designs which was a common complaint among fans at the time. But despite its popularity, it has only had ever gotten that original kit and a few hard-to-get color and plastic variants, so to have its second iteration be the full-on high-end Super Robot treatment is a welcome surprise.

The Good: While I've heard a ton of good things about the line, this is my first foray into SoC. As the name suggests, there are a lot of metal parts throughout, primarily in the legs but quite a bit is used to reinforce joints. As such, it is very heavy and very solid. It also has a good range of posability, though gentle pressure should be applied when moving the tougher metal joints.

As with the original, Tryon 3 is capable of splitting into Riku Tryon, Sora Tryon, and Umi Tryon. They all carry over the posability they grant to Tryon 3, with Riku Tryon having decently posable legs in addition. The transformation is also very fun, with no parts forming like with the original. Riku Tryon's head is on a dual armature that swings over the chest, Umi Tryon's head fits snugly into the chest cavity, and Sora Tryon's legs completely invert on a set of sliding rails to become the standard Gundam legs. It's all very impressive, and not at all complicated, which speaks wonders to its engineering. It even has added places to store the Sora head and Umi tail which become its sword, and the wings which are usually discarded.

I'll also say, when combined, it feels like the size they portray it as in the show, closer to 1/100 scale than 1/144. Despite a lot of HG kits declaring they're 1/144 scale, that doesn't always match up in practice, with kits like those from Wing or units like Mobile Doll Sarah or May being bigger than they should be, or in this case HG Tryon 3 feeling small, though its size did sometimes feel like it was on a slider.

Apart from a bevy of alternate hands, Tryon 3 does comes with a number of bonus parts, most of which are beam effects. It comes with an enlarged head crest to wield for its iconic Boomerang Stagger, beam effects for both its Hyper Beam Sabers and an over-foot-long one for Hyper Minovsky Chohoken, and propulsion effects with stand capability for Armed Booster. It also comes with a set of two parts so you can depict it pulling Chohoken from the Liger's mouth, with the beam piece alone doubling as a Choho Pressure effect piece.

The included stand is also nice. While it doesn't have undercarriage storage, like with a lot of The Gattai toys, it does try to remain very pristine in appearance. You can separate it into three parts to display the three individual units separately, remove the name plate, and all the armatures you can attach hook onto the existing Riku and Umi plugs, or a cleverly hidden hole in the center of the stand.

The Bad: There's some general tightness and fragility to worry about, though it points out most instances in the instructions. The sword is also quite heavy to the point that it recommends you use one of the armatures to prop it up, though you have to do so with the unreliable clamp arms. I do wish there was some way to plug the stand into the sword if they knew this was going to be a thing. The first time I attached the V-Fin I was worried something was going to snap, though nothing thankfully did.

The biggest issue I had was the hands. They're slightly rubberized, and very tight, so they took quite a bit of force to put on the wrists for the first time. I ended up taking the arms off by the elbow to get the leverage I needed to put them on. They get slightly easier the more you do it, but they always require a bit more force than I'd like.

Look, this is a very high-end, high-spec piece. While I have heard of a few fumbles in SoC's past, this seems like a release where they did their homework. It probably helps that it's not trying to do anything too crazy, apart from the leg inversion? Treat it like what it's worth and you will see no trouble; time, patience, and a gentle hand.

Overall, it's great, but expensive. You're definitely getting your money's worth, but the question is if you want to spend that money in the first place. But now I'm kinda sad that this is a solo piece; unlike a lot of Super Robots, Tryon 3 is standalone and doesn't have combo buddies. Except... SD Tryon 3 does have Luna Tryon.

[plasticsparkphotos]

Yo I am so stoked for that upcoming Zoids x Diaclone x Transformers release! Optimus Prime as a Shield Liger, with a Diaclone pilot? Heck yeah!

Here's a sweet pic of the Bandai SOC RZ-041 Liger Zero to celebrate some Zoids love!

[purified-zone]

To celebrate Pacific Rim's 10th anniversary I decided to let this thing finally see the light of day.

Diecast figure of GD—I have no idea how I managed to acquire one years after Soul of Chogokin ceased production, but here she finally is after years of sitting unopened in my closet, waiting for her time.

As you can see she's extremely detailed and very heavy. I forgot she had light up features. I love that they included the oil tanker baseball bat.

[steelajeeg]

New Display Pictures!

Pictures from the cubbies and walls around the entertainment center in our living room.

These were newly updated last weekend, with new items cycled in and rotated out. A few big cuts this time, but a ton of new pieces brought in.

Some of these have been featured before (the Mega Bloks Shocker Lab, Pop Mart Garfield and the Banpresto little Goku) but some of them are pieces I've been meaning to spotlight for a while now! (Energon Optimus Prime, Soul of Chogokin Dancouga, Movie Realization Kamen Rider The First)

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[robotshowtunes]

「ブイ・トゥギャザー！」

V TOGETHER!

Background by Rodion Kutsaiev on Unsplash

[tokujenny]

He's finally here!!! Everyone say hi to King Joe!!

Also, sorry for how quiet this blog has been! I'm currently binging the '03 Ninja Turtles show, Mutant Mayhem reawakened a long term hyperfixation :p

After Season 2 I'll go back and finish Ultraseven and the Gamera movies!

[alghoul1984]

It's been a while since I got any #soulofchogokin #soul_of_chogokin in my collection. Here I have #garmillas from the #spacebattleshipyamato2202 Yes, it's small but will be nice besides the Yamato ship ✌🏻😎✌🏻.

[toymadness]

Long time ago, I used to have this great toy: Battle Shark and Battle Fever Robot (on the left). I loved that figure, really a great toy. Now I have the Soul of Chogokin version (on the right). I find it even better. Great work Bandai.

[zoideramy]

Light After the Storm

Zoids Liger Zero - Soul of Chogokin die cast figure (Bandai)

[dynared]

https://twitter.com/toywanderer/status/1776118549045563825?s=46&t=qkEIjJHbOepJnnU58px_yQ

The 40th anniversary of Voltron continues to remain a rather subdued affair compared to even The Transformers, which will presumably have Transformers One and its star studded cast as the big anniversary event, coupled with the original pilot miniseries in a limited theatrical run, or Getter Robo, which is allegedly supposed to have its proof of concept for the live action movie out this spring (where I presume they hope Amazon bankrolls the film proper).

Meanwhile, Playmates, which still has the rights to classic Voltron toys, is rereleasing their Voltron 84 Lions (because no one, NO ONE bought Legendary Defender anything because kids were bored to tears by it and ended up watching anything the hell else), which is definitely going to be cheaper than the Soul of Chogokin and other premium models, not to mention less worrisome to play with.

Still, it speaks to a very subdued celebration. I guess the Voltron movie isn’t getting cast any time soon.

[callgespenst]

It's the start of another year so once again I'm going to attempt to post photos daily, let's see how long I keep it up this time!

Anyway I just put up yet another shelf in the office, because after putting up shelving all around the entire rest of the room I realized that, all of them were not quite tall enough for my tallest lads (two big Transformers plus three Soul of Chogokin figures). There's room for more, but they're all spread out to prevent my cat from getting any ideas.

[nesonkin]

Today is the 41-year anniversary of Armored Fleet DaiRugger XV!

Armored Fleet DaiRugger XV is a mecha anime series aired in Japan from 1982 to 1983. It tells a story about a space exploration team meeting an advanced alien race and struggling to communicate with them as the conflict gradually turns into a full scale war.

This series is mostly known in its Americanized version, which is called Vehicle Voltron. This version made several changes, starting from names to heavy censorship. But if there's one thing it did right, it's that I wouldn't know about DaiRugger if it wasn't for Vehicle Voltron. Credit where it's due.

The series has a large cast of characters, but there are only a few that the anime really focuses on. That being Aki Manabu – Rugger Team leader, Ise Shinji – Rugger Team captain and eventually the Rugger Guard captain and Socrat Teles – enemy commander responsible for space exploration.

Although dense to watch, DaiRugger is an insanely good anime if you're willing to look past the naming conventions and some very dated concepts. But I'm not going to sell it as a masterpiece that you absolutely need to watch. It has its problems (some are made out bigger than they actually are by some people I see online) and you may not like it. But it will forever hold a special place in my heart for its themes and messages.

If you're in for some tragic anti-war mecha anime about the beauty of space and nature as well as the horrors of war, this anime might just be what you need!

Available for free on Bandai Spirit's YouTube channel:

[lordartsy]

Octokuber, day 8 - Giant Robot

"Giant robots in toku? You're probably gonna do something sentai, right?" WRONG. THE EMISSARY FROM HELL, SPIDER-MAN 🕷️

My greatest sin as a toku fan and Spider-Man fan is that I haven't seen this show yet. And yet, the Soul of Chogokin Leopardon is one of my most sought after figures... Did you know he has a nendoroid? I need him, for my spirit.

[shadow27]

Three Zero 3A - Robo Dou Dancouga - 3 Transformation mode, 4 Figures com... I just found a ThreeZero Dancouga for like $150. I bought a Soul of Chogokin Dancouga earlier this year (total steal), so I don’t really need one.... But it’s four triple changer mechs that combine into a gestalt. Even their weapons combine int one weapon! It’s amazing for display.  The anime is so-so. You don’t see Super Machine Beast God Dancouga in its full form for at least six or seven episodes. Last I checked it was on Prime. I only watched like 10 or so episodes.

[steelajeeg]

Robots, Tokusatsu, and Physical Media

Spent a little time over the past week rearranging some shelves.

I don't know why, but I got the idea in my head to split the box sets and Criterion discs into half shelves, and put bigger toys on the side.

And I guess I like the way it came out. We'll see after I live with it for a bit!

A lot of the usual players here - S.H. Figuarts, vinyls, Soul of Chogokin, and some vintage toys.

Next iteration I'll probably cycle some of this out, or at least rotate it to some other displays.

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[robotshowtunes]

VOLTES V WILL RETURN AFTER THESE MESSAGES

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