GX-41 Raideen SOC Review by Gold

The following review was originally prepared by Gold on 5/21/08 on the Robot-Japan Forum:

Hi guys, Here's the review.




The small pics are thumbnails, please click to view larger image.

Boxes
Giftset measures 18.5" x 14.5" x 6"
Regular set measures 9.5" x 14.5" x 3.5"






Comparison with the "Grendizer-King of Space" Boxset







Manuals (different covers for both sets)





Extra Pages in the "Fade in Set" manual



Interesting to note, that even though the pics are from the "Fade In Set", they used this same page for the regular manual.






The "Extra Accessories" tray found only in the "Fade-In" giftset








Reideen's Mountain












FADE IN!!








Click to begin video playback (Video clip from Super Robot Wars Alpha).









Admittedly, the toy isn't accurate when it comes to the "Fade in" sequence. (I think, I haven't watched all the episodes yet).

















REIDEEEEN!!!


















The mountain stands roughly 9 Inches tall.










Yuusha Reideen



With the God Bird attachment removed.






In the Anime, Reideen's right arm plate changes form as needed, here are the various types.

(L-R)God Breaker, God Block Big Spin, God Boomerang, God Block.








Reideen's attacks:
God Block




God Block Big Spin




God Boomerang







Jet Boomerang





God Breaker







Energy Cutter





God Missile





God Gogun(Reideen's signature move)




Comes with two kinds of arrows.





Gogun Sword








God Voice







Click to begin video playback (Video taken from Super Robot Wars Impact).






Reideen's showdown with Prince Sharkin.
Click to begin video playback (Video taken from Super Robot Wars Impact).




Other Reideen-related Video (From SRW Scramble Commander 1).














God Bird Change!




Head Cutter



Bocy Cutter



Articulated talons



Opening beak (beak does not open in "Head Cutter" head)








Regular VS Giftset










Extra accessories
Display stand




Underside.





The stand can also hold the Godbird, but it's bit hard to attach the Godbird here, there's a certain "snap-on" lock instead of the Godbird just "sitting" on the stand and relying on gravity.






Brooger (hehehehe, I still can't say it with a straight face, I personally prefer the name "BlueGar" from the Fansubs). The Brooger is plastic.



Spot Fighter detaches from the Brooger.



Articulated Grapple claws.







Akira with Sparcar bike. Akira is REALLY small! He's the size of an ant. Be careful not to lose him in clutter.



With the Gx-07E Koji figure.






So Bandai released two versions, Pearl White and Chrome finish Reideens. If you're unsure which version is better suited for your SOC collection, hopefully these pics can help.





(Note: the following pics are best viewed while listening to these soundtracks from the Super Robot Wars Games)
SRW OG Track 07


SRW OG Track 27


SRW OG Track 28


SRW OG Track 30


SRW OG Track 31


SRW OG Track 32 (Meikyuu no Prisoner)





Comparisons (click to view larger images)

Reideen, Gx-01R Mazinger, Reideen







With the old GA-09R and The Chogokin Reideen













Comparing White pearl finish vs Chrome finish.

Godannar, Reideen, Mazinkaiser




Baikanfu, Godmars, Dragonar




Kotobukiya GGG, MaxFactory Godannar




Max Factory Mazinkaiser




Mazinger, Great Mazinger, Reideen, Grendizer, Gaiking




Uniform colors









Group action poses

























Scale






















The Good
-Diecast parts include biceps, thighs, lower half torso, boosters.
-The "golden" Reideen has diecast feet/boosters for balance.
-Akira is removable from his bike.
-Full colored manual, no "black and white" pages.
-Lots of accessories.
-Can do the "God Gogun" pose spot on.
-Good move by Bandai to make the Godbird parts removable.
-Mountain has a cool pull-out gimmick, pull the ramp for Akira's bike and the mountain opens up thanks to well-placed gears.
-High poseablility due to added mid-torso joint and hidden shoulder joints. You have to push the shoulders back in place to keep them from drooping though. The shoulder pads are also decent, I was half expecting them to keep collapsing but it rarely happens on mine.

-Extra "open mouth" face plate (sure wished Gurren Lagann had this).

-Extra Swappable feet for more balance.







The Bad
-Light, the toy only weighs 220 Grams (your garden variety "Marvel Legends" figure weighs 100 Grams), due to no diecast legs. The legs were made plastic to stabilize the toy in Godbird mode. However, the boosters are diecast.
-Swapping the face plates can be a little hard to do sometimes.
-Akira's bike Sparcar is annoyingly hard to stand even on the bike rails. It's also easy to loose the Akira figure.
-The joints tend to be a little too tight, especially the groin joints. It's hard to restore them to proper position after posing the toy in action and Godbird poses.
-Lack of display stand for the "Giftset" accessories.




The Ugly
-The name "Brooger"
-The ball-jointed fists tend to be a little too loose, they won't fall off but they tend to wobble when you shake the toy.
-The attachement for the God Block keeps falling off when you try to pose the toy. Since the peg is really skinny. Also, the magnetized "God Boomerang" connection is a bit weak.



In conclusion, Bandai's made a lot of improvement in terms of making the toy more poseable. The big accessories are a sweet bonus given we don't have to pay over $200 for the giftset.


The "lesser diecast" factor doesn't really bug me since it was a neccessary sacrifice to keep the Godbird mode planted to the surface via its talons. Just hope Bandai doesn't make it a habit to release future Gokins with less er, gokin.


The biggest gripe I suppose would have to be the God Block connection, since it's really annoying the way it keeps falling off. It's managable, but really, it just makes the toy feel sloppy.



As for "Chrome vs Pearl White" finish. I've got to say I'm more partial to the Pearl finish, since it reminds me of the Anime more. However, I feel that the Chrome version looks better than the Pearl white in God Bird mode. But that's just me.






Gold