All things Voltron

[JB0]

13 minutes ago, sqidd said:

I can't find anything on this. Pics? Thanks!

I think he was teasing.

[sqidd]

9 minutes ago, JB0 said:

I think he was teasing.

Well, that's not nice!

[Alto-23]

Anyone know a good stand for SoC Voltron? I feel Voltron could look amazing in aerial poses

[sqidd]

1 minute ago, Alto-23 said:

Anyone know a good stand for SoC Voltron? I feel Voltron could look amazing in aerial poses

I like how you think!

[Mog]

The hefty weight of the combined form is gonna be an issue with any stand.

Maybe two or three flightpose/flexidisplay stands could do it?  But not sure if they ever resolved the paint rub issue with their clear ends.  And not sure if the newer versions have a hollowed out or solid base.

Again Voltie’s weight will be the biggest factor.

[sqidd]

4 hours ago, Mog said:

The hefty weight of the combined form is gonna be an issue with any stand.

Maybe two or three flightpose/flexidisplay stands could do it?  But not sure if they ever resolved the paint rub issue with their clear ends.  And not sure if the newer versions have a hollowed out or solid base.

Again Voltie’s weight will be the biggest factor.

I may take a look at making something out of billet aluminum that maybe I can find some good hard mount points for. I'll have to see what option I have once I get all my stuff unpacked. All I really need is one good anchor point and I could put a VERY sturdy stand together with lots of adjustment.

[Kuma Style]

8 hours ago, Mog said:

The hefty weight of the combined form is gonna be an issue with any stand.

I agree. I'd be mortified to put most SOCs on a stand in a flight pose as awesome as it would look. That actually gives me the willies thinking about it.

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[magicsp00n]

23 hours ago, sqidd said:

I paid WAY too much money. But I got one....

That blazing sword effect is pretty cool. It'd like to see something like that for the SOC version.

[Alex GS]

GX 71 available at bbts in a not too insane price go go go!! 

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/89872

[Alto-23]

It’s $400 lol that price mark up. 

On 9/4/2019 at 12:38 PM, sqidd said:

I may take a look at making something out of billet aluminum that maybe I can find some good hard mount points for. I'll have to see what option I have once I get all my stuff unpacked. All I really need is one good anchor point and I could put a VERY sturdy stand together with lots of adjustment.

Do it man! Lol

[sqidd]

5 minutes ago, Alto-23 said:

It’s $400 lol that price mark up. 

Do it man! Lol

They wouldn't be inexpensive. Low run count CNC stuff never is. But, it could be stupid cool. Can also anodize just about any color/colors. When I get mine unpacked I'll take a look at him and some popular Voltron art/poses and see what I can come up with. It would be a fun passion project. Maybe we can get enough interest to run enough of them to keep costs reasonable. I'll donate all my time.

[subie81]

Bbts just put a whole bunch more up.

 

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/89872

[mikeszekely]

So all the usual US stores got theirs in, shipped 'em out, and BBTS is somehow selling extras at a significant markup, but I'm still waiting on eknight...

[Kuma Style]

[Nonrenormalizable]

Is amazon.com going to be selling the gx-71?

[F360]

4 hours ago, Nonrenormalizable said:

Is amazon.com going to be selling the gx-71?

 

At $490 and up , 

https://www.amazon.com/Bandai-Tamashii-Nations-GX-71-Voltron/dp/B01IHHGLVO/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Gx-71&qid=1567803180&s=gateway&sr=8-1

 

[sqidd]

2 minutes ago, F360 said:

 

At $490 and up , 

https://www.amazon.com/Bandai-Tamashii-Nations-GX-71-Voltron/dp/B01IHHGLVO/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Gx-71&qid=1567803180&s=gateway&sr=8-1

 

It's got free shipping though!

[sqidd]

I had a long drive yesterday so I was able to put some thought into a SOC Voltron stand. I figured out how to do it for less money than billet aluminum. I can do it out of stainless steel and have my laser guy cut everything. It's a lot less expensive than billet/CNC work. I have some designs in my head. I wanted to check with you guys and see what you thought about a few details/potential directions.

-What sort of finish would you like to see. I could do "no finish" on them which has a certain charm and of course keeps costs down. The edges of the parts will have some "burn" marks from the laser. It's not bad looking, think of it more like patina. In the case of Voltron it may look pretty good because the stand wouldn't pull your eye away from the toy because it's let's say polished/shiny. The stainless itself wouldn't be "bright" either. It will have some marks, "scratches" etc from it being raw. Again, not crappy looking, more of a "battlefield" look. They of course could be had both ways. Polished and raw. The polished would of course be more money and would involve me adding that process (at another vendor). I'm just sticking my finger out in the wind here.

-What sort of poses would you guys like to be able to do if you could get the legs up off the ground? Post pics (they don't have to be of Voltron).

-What sort of look do you want to see? As minimalist as possible? Fancy?

That's all I can think of for now.

[sqidd]

I unboxed my Titan Power "Not Voltron" yesterday. Yep, this guys is super playable. Fun toy to handle and pose. I really dig the proportions too. I tried a few poses that I saw @Kuma Style had on his site. Couldn't pull them off. I'm not sure how he gets so much hip articulation. I guess that's why he's the pro!

I'm really happy with this guy. Especially for the price!

 

[Kuma Style]

Looking good, squidd!

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[mikeszekely]

Eknight sent me an invoice for GX-71.  Finally!  Can't wait until it gets here.

[sqidd]

@Kuma Style I'm starting to figure those hips out! Now all I have to do is take good pictures.

Man, I love this toy! Titan needs to do a VF-1S Hikaru with S&S parts. I'd buy all of them!

After reading your review on that monster Toys Alliance Optimus Prime I ordered it right up. More posing.

 

Edited September 12, 2019 by sqidd

[Kuma Style]

[sqidd]

3 hours ago, Kuma Style said:

I need to take another shot at that one. I was scared of the hip articulation. Great pose and fantastic camera work!

[Kuma Style]

Just be creative, play with thr product, and come up with unique poses.

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[mikeszekely]

My GX-71 finally came. I'll write more later, but for now .

After having Voltron in hand I kind of want the SoC Megazord, but I heard it's kind of floppy and not as good. Thoughts?

[kanedaestes]

It’s ok but no Voltron. I have it and love it and it’s the best Megazord out but still can’t hold a candle to the masterpiece that is their Voltron

[Tking22]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

My GX-71 finally came. I'll write more later, but for now .

After having Voltron in hand I kind of want the SoC Megazord, but I heard it's kind of floppy and not as good. Thoughts?

I like mine okay, but it was still quite disappointing. It's too expensive for what you get. The articulation is quite limited, and there's a number of odd, and straight up dumb design choices. You'd think being in the SoC line you'd get better articulation then the old 93 figure, but nope, about the same, but much heavier, premium paint, and far more expensive. 

1 hour ago, kanedaestes said:

It’s ok but no Voltron. I have it and love it and it’s the best Megazord out but still can’t hold a candle to the masterpiece that is their Voltron

I think this made SoC Megazord even more disappointing, it followed the incredible Voltron release, expectations were high, and I feel they were not met for the asking price. 

[anime52k8]

6 minutes ago, Tking22 said:

You'd think being in the SoC line you'd get better articulation then the old 93 figure, but nope, about the same

Okay, that's just a MASSIVE exaggeration.

[sqidd]

1 hour ago, Tking22 said:

I like mine okay, but it was still quite disappointing. It's too expensive for what you get. The articulation is quite limited, and there's a number of odd, and straight up dumb design choices. You'd think being in the SoC line you'd get better articulation then the old 93 figure, but nope, about the same, but much heavier, premium paint, and far more expensive. 

I think this made SoC Megazord even more disappointing, it followed the incredible Voltron release, expectations were high, and I feel they were not met for the asking price. 

Get one of these to satisfy your articulation/posing Jones. I did. My SOC just sits there and looks pretty. This guy gets screwed with all the time!

 

[Tking22]

2 hours ago, anime52k8 said:

Okay, that's just a MASSIVE exaggeration.

Maybe slightly exaggerated, slightly, but I wouldn't say massively, the articulation was massively disappointing IMO.

Being roughly the same design as the 93 zord/mystical beast, the T-Rex tail still hampers what would've been superior leg articulation. The arms have a bit more movement, not much, no double jointed elbows. The waste swivel only really works if you disengage the pterodactyl, which then breaks up the look. The knees kind of bend, but then that bend is nearly useless because the legs can't move forward due to the pterodactyl. 

The individual dinos are great, and that's how I have them. I passed, easily, on the Dragonzord and Titanus due to them looking like overpriced Legacy MMPR zords. I have my Legacy Dino Zord combined and the SoC separated into their dino forms.

Your mileage may vary, I nearly sold mine several times off due to the disappointments with it, and I'm a massive, massive MMPR fan, and a nineties child that wanted nothing more then this to be the best SoC ever, and it wasn't, not even close. 

[anime52k8]

The original DX Megazord's useful articulation consisted of being able to raise it's arms forward and literally nothing else.

[Tking22]

53 minutes ago, anime52k8 said:

The original DX Megazord's useful articulation consisted of being able to raise it's arms forward and literally nothing else.

I mean you're definitely right, it was a brick basically, I just expected more from a modern SoC.

Again, I feel Voltron spoiled me, five bots that combine, less original transformation due to repetition yes, but when combined he can get pretty dynamic. Bandai really went all out on Voltron, I feel they did the minimum for Dino Megazord/Daizyujin, knees, elbows, some rotation here and there.

Also, accessories were sparse for my taste, some sword effects would be cool, a nice little display too. I'd still recommend it, it's a cool toy, I feel it just wasn't as bang for your buck as previous releases, I've seen it on sale and would recommend it at sale price, not retail.

[Alto-23]

1 hour ago, Tking22 said:

I mean you're definitely right, it was a brick basically, I just expected more from a modern SoC.

Again, I feel Voltron spoiled me, five bots that combine, less original transformation due to repetition yes, but when combined he can get pretty dynamic. Bandai really went all out on Voltron, I feel they did the minimum for Dino Megazord/Daizyujin, knees, elbows, some rotation here and there.

Also, accessories were sparse for my taste, some sword effects would be cool, a nice little display too. I'd still recommend it, it's a cool toy, I feel it just wasn't as bang for your buck as previous releases, I've seen it on sale and would recommend it at sale price, not retail.

I couldn’t agree more.  Seeing reviews broke my hearts because this came out after Voltron. It’s a glorified DX and if you want articulation go for the Super Robot Chogokin. 

 

Cant wait for vehicle Voltron though 

[mikeszekely]

I ended up with more photos for this than my last three Transformers reviews combined, so I'm going to break this up into two parts.  So this is part one of my Soul of Chogokin GX-71 review: the Lions.

Black Lion.  With these guys in hand, it's interesting to see how similar the sculpt is on the Playmates '84 Lions.  I wonder how much of that is because they're obviously both referencing the same source material, and how much of it was Playmates actively copying Bandai's sculpt?  Regardless, you're not likely to mistake one for the other.  Despite Bandai's lions being smaller they're significantly heavier.  I didn't bother to put anything on a scale, but I'd venture that the Black Lion (maybe the Yellow or blue) are heavier alone than the entire Playmate's Voltron.  I don't have any patented Cold Touch technique, but off hand I'd say that on Black the lower legs and feet, the hips and shoulders, and at least parts of the pelvis and chest are diecast.  There's more paint on the SoC, and it's cleanly applied (unlike the Playmates).  There's gold paint on the hips, ears, and eyes, silver paint on the waist, hips, and mouth (no white).  Plus the lower legs are chrome.  As a child of the '80s the mix of chrome and diecast is hitting all the right nostalgia notes.  But more than that, the tasteful use of diecast and chrome combined with judicious use of neatly-applied paint gives this set a premium feel.

Red Lion.  Again, gold eyes, lots of silver paint, and chrome legs.  Little black on the nose and collar, and metallic blue on the stripe on his back.

Green Lion.  Silver paint and chrome legs, gold eyes and the circles on his jaw.  Black and red paint on his back.  Red and Green have diecast legs and the base of their tails, as well as part of the joint in their waists.

Blue lion.  Chrome legs, gold eyes, some silver paint.  I think the black is paint, too, except for the big circle in the middle of his torso, but the blue, red, and yellow seem like bare plastic except for a few spots like its butt flap and neck. 

Yellow Lion.  Chome legs, lots of silver paint, and blue eyes.  The black is painted, except of the circle in the middle of his torso.  The red on his face is paint, but the red parts on his back are plastic.  Blue and Yellow have diecast legs, and while they seem to be primarily blue/yellow plastic on the outside at least some of their inner workings are diecast.

This set comes with a ton of accessories, so I'll try to break them down by lion.  For starters, there's a sticker sheet with toy-style numbers to put on the lions.  I had Voltron toys when I was a kid, so I'm sort of tempted, but even quality stickers feel like they'd cheapen the premium feel of these figures.

As for the other accessories, the manual has names for them written out in English, but the English doesn't match the katakana.  Differences between Voltron and Golion, maybe?  For simplicity, I'll just use the printed English names.  So for the Black Lion, we have the Black Lion Mouth Blade and a pair of Rotary Cannons.

The mouth blade has notches that fit around the Black Lion's teeth, but no mechanism to lock it in.  The rotary cannons simply plug into the ports on its shoulders.

As far as articulation goes, it can rotate its head, look up and down, and open its jaws.  It's shoulders rotate on ratchets, and some extending hinges allow you to splay them out or butterfly them in a bit.  Its ratcheted elbows can bend about 45 degrees forward and, for whatever reason, over 90 degrees backward.  Its front paws tilt up and down on ratchets, plus the front of the way is on a ball joint for some extra tilt or as ankle pivots.  It has a very limited waist swivel, but it does have a bit of forward ab crunch and a little sideways waist tilt.  Plus, part of its butt unlocks from the waist and can tilt further down.  The tail is hinged at the base, then about halfway along its length is a ball joint.  Its ratcheted hips can bend forward or backward, plus extend about 45 degrees laterally.  Its thighs swivel, and its knees can bend a little forward and well over 90 degrees backward.

Red and Green both come with their mouth blades.  Then Red has Lava Cannon (top) and Plasma Flash Cannon (bottom), while Green has a Laser Cannon (top) and a Shooting Star (bottom).  Note that the Red Lion's gear has round pegs, and the Green's has tabs.

Both the mouth blades have tabs that fit into slots on the roofs of the lions' mouths.  The other accessories fit onto their shoulders, using pegs and peg holes for Red and tabs and slots for Green.

Red and Green have the same articulation, which is to say that their jaws open, their necks swivel, they can look up and down and tiny bit to the side.  Their shoulders and hips rotate on what seem to be diecast balls going into plastic sockets.  That gives them some ability to splay their legs as well.  Elbows and knees are friction hinges that bend as much as you could want in the correct directions, and about 90 degrees in the wrong direction on the back legs.  The feet tilt up and down on a friction hinge with a swivel to give them ankle pivots.  Their tails have an up/down ratchet at the base, with a ball joint between the diecast and plastic parts.  They have swivels on both sides of the silver section in the middle.  Aside from using one as a waist swivel, this allows you to use the joint in the middle as an ab crunch, a back arch, or a sideways, serpentine bend.

Blue and Yellow come with their mouth blades, then Blue comes with a Triple Barrel Mortar Cannon (top) and Shoulder Cannon (bottom).  Yellow has Dual Shoulder Blockbuster Turrets (top) and a Radial Shotgun Shoulder Blaster (bottom).  Once again, one lion has pegs and peg holes (Blue) while the other uses tabs and slots (Yellow).

And just like the Red and Green, the mouth blades have tabs that fit into the roofs of the lions' mouths while their other accessories attach to their shoulders.

The Blue and Yellow lions have hinged ball joints in their necks, so they can actually look up or to the sides better than the other three lions, plus a ratcheted joint (probably meant more for transformation) rotates their entire neck up on the torso.  Unfortunately, they can't really look down.  Their shoulders and hips rotate on friction joints, and hinges allow them to splay their legs.  Their elbows and knees bend on ratchets, with a range similar to the Red and Green in the anatomically correct direction.  Their front legs also bend nearly the whole way up the wrong way, too.  Their feet bend up and down on friction hinges, and can swivel to provide ankle pivots.  Their tails are hinged at the base, with a ball joint near the base.  The round part of their torsos have a hinge to allow a slight bend to either side, and a ratcheted hinge allows you to arch their backs.

For the most part, the articulation is good enough to get all five lions into sitting poses.  The tails get in the way a little on the Red and Green.  Black can't quite get its butt down low enough, so it looks a little like it's squatting to poop.

All five lions have weapons in their mouths.  For the Red and Green, the double-barreled guns are a separate piece that's hinged inside.  For the other three the missiles you'll find in their mouths don't move.

The cannon on the Yellow Lion's back can swivel up.  Blue, Red, and Green all have hatches that open to reveal some kind of weapons inside.

As lions, my complaints are very few, and it basically comes down to I wish they had a little more articulation in the necks and tails.  Blue and Yellow can't look down enough, Red, Green, and Black can't look sideways enough.  If you try to go too far the heads will pop off of every lion except the black.  As for the tails, the lone ball joint in each of them doesn't offer much range.  Oh, and I wish the Black Lion's wings didn't sit so far up from his back.  But despite these minor quibbles these are by far the most articulate, highest quality lions I've handled.  They marry the diecast and chrome of the '80s with modern toy engineering and aesthetics that carefully blend the old Bandai/Matchbox toys with the animation.  I'm already prepared to say these are excellent toys, and I haven't even got to the combined mode.