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Vehicle Voltron / Dairugger XV


EXO

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During SDCC09, I got a chance to talk to Toynami and they asked me if there would be any interest in a new Vehicle Voltron... my answer was "frakk Yeah!" If and only if it matched or was better quality than the Lion Voltron and had the articulation that the SOCs had today. I loved the Vehicle Voltron as a kid and thought that the more serious tone was a bit more interesting. And while Bandai has been making all the other giant robots I grew up with... (Voltes V, Grendizer, Mazinger Z and Daimos) The only one missing from that line up was Dairugger XV.

I also got a look at the new plastic version of the Lion Voltron and thought it was pretty good. While I'm not a big fan of their Robotech/Macross line. I think that they are giving Voltron some justice.

Anyone else up for a updated Vehicle Voltron? It was a question in a very informal talk, nothing official... but I wanted to see if anyone else felt the same way I did.

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darn tooting id be in that. love the lion version they did other than yellow lion kinda comes out too easy, but vehicle, with all the various combos modes and super articulation? YEH!

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You bet, I've been waiting over 20 years for a Dairugger that can, you know, actually move it's legs. I'm not paying Ebay prices for a nice vintage one and I doubt Bandai will make a SOC version of either Golion or Dairugger anytime soon so it's all up to Toynami which actually did a pretty amazing job with Golion/Voltron.

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I wasn't at all impressed with their Lion Voltron. It's the same toy we've had for 20 years, with new joints. If they'd actually done something like improving the basic sculpt of the lions, then it'd have been worth it.

Some day, someone will make a red and green lion that don't suck. And a skinnier black lion. It's not that hard, you just have to mold the things out of more than 5 pieces, and utilize a transformation more complex than a gobot. A few folding panels on the flanks would work wonders for green and red lion, to hide where the legs retract into. And have Voltron's shoulders recess into black lion's.

It's clear their goal was a "tweaked version of the original" and not an attempt at a truly new, awesome, ultimate edition of the character. It was kind of like Takara's Encore series---the original toy, slightly improved.

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I actually agree with you David... seeing how toys go from the chunky Monekey to the 1/48 and 1/60 v.2. and the Gakken Mospeada to the Beagle Mospeada, I would love something that took that kind of leap and bounds. but the alternative with these type of combiners is the SOC which to me are too small. I'm glad that the Lion Voltron was kept at that size and contained the articulation that it does. Plus I dont think the SOCs have made that type of advancement that you can compare to Yamato and say... the MP Transformers. They are a lot better but they are closer to Toynami's Voltron than they are to the other companies.

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With all those connecting vehicle parts being major articulation joints, I'd just be scared as hell of this thing becoming a floppy mess.

Plus, how good will the posing options be? Are they gonna compromise the look of the vehicles for the sake of articulation? Or will the articulation suffer for the sake of solid looking vehicles?

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With all those connecting vehicle parts being major articulation joints, I'd just be scared as hell of this thing becoming a floppy mess.

Plus, how good will the posing options be? Are they gonna compromise the look of the vehicles for the sake of articulation? Or will the articulation suffer for the sake of solid looking vehicles?

I'm wondering the same thing. But that was my answer. If you can deliver articulation with the quality close or better than Lion Voltron then I'll be all for it. I really can't answer the questions of how to solve design problems, just put out the criteria.

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The vehicles, if you can even call them that, were dorky looking anyway. If some changes to the original designs are necessary to accomodate articulation, then I'm sure those wacky engineers will figure out a good compromise...

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Good lord, yes! I have been waiting for Bandai to make one for the last 5 years. Being controvercial for a second a toynami one would be great as it'd be much bigger and cheaper than a SOC.

I don't care if all the vehicles are clunky and retro - that's the charm!

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I have the old matchbox one...just missing the red ship that goes in front and a bootleg set but I would still buy a Dairugger XV. But I would only shell out for the cheaper plastic version of it. I don't want him so badly that I'm willing to pay MPC prices of $150 for him.

And yes he would need some articulation at the hips, knees, elbows, and wrist at the very least.

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I wasn't at all impressed with their Lion Voltron. It's the same toy we've had for 20 years, with new joints. If they'd actually done something like improving the basic sculpt of the lions, then it'd have been worth it.

Some day, someone will make a red and green lion that don't suck. And a skinnier black lion. It's not that hard, you just have to mold the things out of more than 5 pieces, and utilize a transformation more complex than a gobot. A few folding panels on the flanks would work wonders for green and red lion, to hide where the legs retract into. And have Voltron's shoulders recess into black lion's.

It's clear their goal was a "tweaked version of the original" and not an attempt at a truly new, awesome, ultimate edition of the character. It was kind of like Takara's Encore series---the original toy, slightly improved.

I think Toynami did the best job they could for such a small company, I agree that the basic transformation is the same as the old Bandai one but it's also Anime accurate. I do think if say it was a SOC version Bandai would have designed the legs to be hidden by either folding them in or have optional covers. As for the Red and Green lions their basically limited by their purpose of being arms, I could see having optional smaller heads and actual necks but all these would have added to the price and complexity, which at the time a over 12" tall diecast figure that combines for a $140 bucks isn't bad. It's not perfect but it is way better than the old Godaikin one by leaps and bounds. I love my old Voltron but compared to the new one, there is no comparison.

Edited by chen
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I actually agree with you David... seeing how toys go from the chunky Monekey to the 1/48 and 1/60 v.2. and the Gakken Mospeada to the Beagle Mospeada, I would love something that took that kind of leap and bounds. but the alternative with these type of combiners is the SOC which to me are too small. I'm glad that the Lion Voltron was kept at that size and contained the articulation that it does. Plus I dont think the SOCs have made that type of advancement that you can compare to Yamato and say... the MP Transformers. They are a lot better but they are closer to Toynami's Voltron than they are to the other companies.

I have to respectfully disagree, to say something like the old Godaikin Com-Battler to a SOC Com-Battler isn't the same as a 1/55 to a 1/60 is wrong IMHO. I agree that some of the SOC's weren't a massive leap compared to the old originals like Iron Gear but most were light years ahead. We actually had a thread like this comparing the old with the new at a board I Admin at and seeing the actual figures side by side you can just see how far 25+ years of toy engineering.

http://robotjapan.proboards.com/index.cgi?...mp;thread=14692

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  • 2 weeks later...
During SDCC09, I got a chance to talk to Toynami and they asked me if there would be any interest in a new Vehicle Voltron... my answer was "fart Yeah!" If and only if it matched or was better quality than the Lion Voltron and had the articulation that the SOCs had today. I loved the Vehicle Voltron as a kid and thought that the more serious tone was a bit more interesting. And while Bandai has been making all the other giant robots I grew up with... (Voltes V, Grendizer, Mazinger Z and Daimos) The only one missing from that line up was Dairugger XV.

I also got a look at the new plastic version of the Lion Voltron and thought it was pretty good. While I'm not a big fan of their Robotech/Macross line. I think that they are giving Voltron some justice.

Anyone else up for a updated Vehicle Voltron? It was a question in a very informal talk, nothing official... but I wanted to see if anyone else felt the same way I did.

HELL YES. I've always loved Dairugger/Vehicle voltron, even as a kid I liked it more than Golion. I have a pristine Matchbox set, and it's one of the crown jewels of my collection, and another one that's in good shape loose I can play with. I've always wondered why we can't get an articulated high quality version of one of the coolest robots, and IMO the coolest combiner of all time.

The plastic Voltron does rock, I like it more than my MP Voltron.

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Looks good but it looks like it'll be limited articulation on the knees and feet which are really important to get those "I just cut the monster in half poses". haha. The glowing blades are cool. Maybe that would be a good accessory, make them out of tranclucent blue then have an LED light come out of the hands, like the HOT TOYS Iron Man. If it was in scale would it be bigger than Lion Voltron? It's funny because the feet look like SUVs but they actually the size of those giant constuction vehicles.

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Hey EXO, how about I design something like this with more modern and updated style.

I think I can do it.

Dude that rocks...your Optimus was impressive, but if you built that you'd be a LEGEND.

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