Toynami Voltron revealed

[Abombz!!]

The only problem I have with it.... is that Toynami has the amazing power of making the final product look worse then the proto..... I wonder how the final of this one will look.

[MrDisco]

with thier 1/48 Valk...but you rip this toy to shreds simply because it comes from Toynami.

I agree with you. its hard to find objectivity when it comes to toynami. :| i think that voltron looks pretty good in bot form. lion mode is a bit strange looking but there's very little you can do to get around that. looking at the older voltron toys this one looks far better in my opinion.

[mister_e]

Christ, you guys crack me up...If Voltron here were marked as Go Lion from Yamato or Bandai you would be all over it...praiseing it's sculpt as a great compromise between the combined robots form and individual lions all while throwing jabs at all previous Go Lion toys fugly lion forms (with out of proportion heads, legs, and bodies)

But here you have both the individual lion forms and a combined robot form that is a much, MUCH better proportional match to the animation then every previous Go Lion toy...something you lavish praise on Yamato for doing with thier 1/48 Valk...but you rip this toy to shreds simply because it comes from Toynami.

Of course none of you will ever admit such a bias

"scrawny lions", "legs to thin", etc... - have you actually seen the anime? Good god, at least this black lion doesn't resemble some mutant overweight grizzly bear, unlike the previous toys

I totally agree. My ONLY complaint about Toynami's Voltron is that the paint job looks to be hand painted (especially noticable on the black lion), but I suspect that is because it is a late prototype.

[MSW]

Obviously your choosing to close your eyes. Were you here when the yamatos were just released? Everyone was tearing it apart. praise? I doubt it.

You doubt there was much praise...but are certain my eyes are closed and that I possibly wasn't here on the old board back when the 1/48 was released...yeah, whatever dude

the combined robot looks okay, but individual Lions look more like puppies than anything feline..

And this just screams lion to you?

[EXO]

Sorry MSW, but that's utter BS.

I wouldn't care what company a toy came from. All I care about is that feeling of awe when I open up a new box of a toy that I wanted so bad. I had that exact feeling when I first got the Golion set in the 80's. The same feeling I got when I recently got the 1/48 and the MCPrime.

A feeling that was seriously lacking when I got Toynami MCP and the Yamato VF-1D. I belive I had no opinion based on Toynami yet when I got the MCP. I remember getting the box in the mail and I was so excited.

So am I saying I'm not biased? Hell no. I've seen other toys produced by them and it continues to reaffirm my biased opinion. I'm gonna check out the Alpha when it comes out, because I really want that as a toy. Yes I'm going to be biased but with a glimmer of hope that I will be wrongabout them this time.

But for now that Voltron toy is just fugly.

ADD: Yes I know that's just my opinion and I can respect yours. I just don't like it when people say that my opinion was formed because I post on this board and not on some other pro-Toynami camp.

Edited February 14, 2004 by >EXO<

[Blaine23]

You doubt there was much praise...but are certain my eyes are closed and that I possibly wasn't here on the old board back when the 1/48 was released...yeah, whatever dude

I agree with you that there's bias here against Toynami... but any toy company that tackles dearly beloved old toys has take their knocks against those who have the nostalgic love for the old versions.

Yamato's been bashed to death by 1/55 lovers, the Toynami Alphas are bashed against the Gakkens... maybe you're a bit naive... but surely you have to expect some of this.

Not to mention Toynami has quite the rep for "what the F--k happened" in between prototype and finished product (Rick MPC, anyone? Missing 33% die-cast metal?)... so if their product is viewed with skepticism... I can understand that.

Don't expect people here to fawn all over what looks to be a decent sculpt but that will likely have very little diecast, very little detail, and probably very little, if any diecast metal, for a price around $240 MSRP for all 5 lions.

Toynami has earned every bit of the bias against them. It's up to them to prove differently. And this proto Voltron ain't enough by far.

[JRock]

Being the Voltron freak that I am, I'm giving this the benefit of the doubt.

Voltron: This is one svelte lookin Gestault!! I beleive they took the designs from both the original Toei artwork and the new Devil's Due artwork (Devil's Due produced the comic book.) With more emphasis on the comic book. I predict that there will be very little diecast. I believe they're going for posability. It's definately a prototype of some kind. I do give them props for sticking true to the original's paint scheme unlike the Trendmasters version (I'll NEVER forgive them for using Mint Green!!).

Box Artwork: Devil's Due through and through. I like it. Nothing close to the "Millia's lips" disaster of the RT MPC artwork. I like the fact they're using the 80's Matchbox Voltron logo instead of the God awful Trendmasters logo. It's not like Toei's gonna bitch over it. They sold the whole GoLion license to WEP, and We western folk are the only ones who give a crap about them.

Individual Lions: Okay, this is the testy part. I think they're okay. But judging by the pics, I don't think they'll replicate the bells and whistles of the Popy original. We MIGHT get the shooting lion's heads on the red and green lions, but nothing more. They're replicating the Anime for this part, and I dunno if it's a good fit. At least they should add in a little detail.

Overall: They BETTER NOT Price the individual lions over $30. Even it they use diecast it'll be robbery if they price it at $80 a piece. The DX Power Rangers bots are $40. And they're plastic bricks. I would like to see some action figures as well, they did a pretty good Thundarr the Barbarian. I'll keep a close eye on them.

PS: No vehicle Voltron since WEP lost the rights to Dairugger XV years ago.

[dr_vandermeer]

This is probably more for people to get an idea of what the final will be, and not the final itself. but there are things to speculate/comment on, for example:

1. when you're looking at the gestalt form, there's a lot of details that make you go hmm - no swivel in the arm/chest of the black lion. yellow and blue lion tails don't seem like the yellow and silver stripes of the legs in gestalt form, no fold/hinge on the red wings on the back, etc...

2. when you're looking at the black lion, his gold shoulders are completely solid! how does toynami plan to make the red and gold lions connect to become the arms? big black bars? maybe they plan on magnets like the MPC VF armor?

3. the red and gold lions have pretty normal looking tails too in lion form. but they look like little stubs in gestalt form. i wonder why? where do they go?

4. what action features will be included?

that said, it's nice to have another golion/voltron robot to look forward to. i like the proportions, but i doubt that it'll be as hefty with diecast content like the OG version. You'd probably get a truer 'masterpiece version' if bandai were to do it for their soul of chogokin line.

Edited February 14, 2004 by dr_vandermeer

[VALKYRIE-EXCHANGE.COM]

It looks like the the figure is a first sample prototype...I don't see that much detail on the lions or Voltron as a whole... It's nice to see another Voltron going to be out but Toynami has some expectations to live up to or exceed with the older Voltron toys out there...

-

[Lynx7725]

the combined robot looks okay, but individual Lions look more like puppies than anything feline..

And this just screams lion to you?

I'm not a big Voltron fan, so I'm not as current as to the lineage of Voltron toys as some of the others are, but your pic is presumably that of an older toy.

So my question is -- has the manufacturer made any improvements in the new toy over the old? Right now, from appearances/ pics, not much. Mechanically, can't tell till someone buys it and post a review. And if there's no significant improvements, assuming (and a big assumption here) that equal opportunity to obtain old and new exists, what extra incentive is there for me to buy from this particular manufacturer?

For all intents and purposes, what I can see tells me this is an 80's toy selling at current prices..

I'm not really a Toynami-hater (since I don't live in the US anyhow, and has decent access to Japanese stuff where I stay), so I do tend to judge based on merit of design rather than point of origin. To date, as far as I am concerned, Toynami's offerings aren't up to standards set by other companies.

This toy? Well, I'm not a die-hard Voltron fan, and the design doesn't grab me and tell me to go buy it (unlike the MP Convoy/ OP standing in my cupboard right now -- I'm not a Tranny fan either). Where business is concerned, that's a lost sales for Toynami -- they just didn't do it quite right enough to get me to buy it.

[Coota0]

Maybe slightly offtopic: But wasn't there another anime like voltron that took more cars/spaceships(?) to build? Anybody have anyclue what I'm talking about?

I know where I lived you got regualr Voltron with Lions 4 days a week, and on Fridays you got this other Voltron like show.

[soze]

Maybe slightly offtopic: But wasn't there another anime like voltron that took more cars/spaceships(?) to build? Anybody have anyclue what I'm talking about?

I know where I lived you got regualr Voltron with Lions 4 days a week, and on Fridays you got this other Voltron like show.

That would be the 15 spaceship vehicle Voltron.

In Matchbox terms: Voltron I (Go-Lion was Voltron III)

In Godaikin/Popy terms: Dairugger

[muswp1]

Ok, the combined mode doesn't look bad, it does need work though. The individual lions need a lot of work. And in regards to the perceived anti-Toynami bias, they made quite a bad rep for themselves with all the hype they generated for the MPC VF-1 and they f***ed that up rather badly. And Blaine is correct:

Not to mention Toynami has quite the rep for "what the F--k happened" in between prototype and finished product (Rick MPC, anyone? Missing 33% die-cast metal?)... so if their product is viewed with skepticism... I can understand that.

That is their perceived rep right now, fair or not.

[Jolly Rogers]

the combined robot looks okay, but individual Lions look more like puppies than anything feline..

And this just screams lion to you?

Hahahaha, excellent point. At least the Toynami version can do the A stance.

[Max Jenius]

looks quite nice compared to the old ones

[Opus]

I sorta like the individual lions. They seem to have decent posability. I would like to see some chrome and lots of weapons though.

[ZorClone]

that is so obviously a very early prototype scultp.. you can see all kinds of uneven cuts and the paintjob is clear enough in some shots to show the grainy material they've used to make it from, which can't be anything close to production.. I bet all the silvery parts will be diecast for release

[MrDisco]

i'm a little surprised they didnt use the devil's due rendition of Keith and the gang for the box portrait.

i agree i would like to see some shiny die cast on this puppy as well as the weapon set. other than the blazing sword did Voltron have other weapons? for some reason a morning star comes to mind but perhaps i'm way off on this one.

[Opus]

i'm a little surprised they didnt use the devil's due rendition of Keith and the gang for the box portrait.

i agree i would like to see some shiny die cast on this puppy as well as the weapon set. other than the blazing sword did Voltron have other weapons? for some reason a morning star comes to mind but perhaps i'm way off on this one.

I remember when I got my Voltron as a kid it didn't come with any weapons. Later the sword and star/shield were available seperately but never the individual weapons. If you wanted weapons you had to get a Golion.

[JB0]

Maybe slightly offtopic: But wasn't there another anime like voltron that took more cars/spaceships(?) to build? Anybody have anyclue what I'm talking about?

I know where I lived you got regualr Voltron with Lions 4 days a week, and on Fridays you got this other Voltron like show.

That would be the 15 spaceship vehicle Voltron.

In Matchbox terms: Voltron I (Go-Lion was Voltron III)

In Godaikin/Popy terms: Dairugger

Minor correction: Goliion was Voltron 2, not 3.

[Dangard Ace]

Maybe slightly offtopic: But wasn't there another anime like voltron that took more cars/spaceships(?) to build? Anybody have anyclue what I'm talking about?

I know where I lived you got regualr Voltron with Lions 4 days a week, and on Fridays you got this other Voltron like show.

That would be the 15 spaceship vehicle Voltron.

In Matchbox terms: Voltron I (Go-Lion was Voltron III)

In Godaikin/Popy terms: Dairugger

Minor correction: Goliion was Voltron 2, not 3.

Nope.

Voltron I: Dairugger

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...6&category=2492

Voltron II: Albegas

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...0&category=2492

Voltron III: GoLion

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...5&category=2492

[Smiley424]

overall it looks okay, nothing too fancy, I like the possibility of the voltron though I think twisting hip action should be incorporated somehow. definately needs to come with shooting lion heads and lots of weapons for each individual lion as well as blazing sword and star, otherwise I'll definately be spending my money on an original GoLion or the Trendmasters reissue.

[JB0]

Maybe slightly offtopic: But wasn't there another anime like voltron that took more cars/spaceships(?) to build? Anybody have anyclue what I'm talking about?

I know where I lived you got regualr Voltron with Lions 4 days a week, and on Fridays you got this other Voltron like show.

That would be the 15 spaceship vehicle Voltron.

In Matchbox terms: Voltron I (Go-Lion was Voltron III)

In Godaikin/Popy terms: Dairugger

Minor correction: Goliion was Voltron 2, not 3.

Nope.

Voltron I: Dairugger

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...6&category=2492

Voltron II: Albegas

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...0&category=2492

Voltron III: GoLion

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...5&category=2492

I'm still having trouble adapting to the fact that vehicle Voltron came before lion Voltron, and now you throw that at me?

...

Seriously, I thought the 6-armed thing never made it tio America aside from a few toys released right at the end.

[EXO]

I'm still having trouble adapting to the fact that vehicle Voltron came before lion Voltron, and now you throw that at me?

...

Seriously, I thought the 6-armed thing never made it tio America aside from a few toys released right at the end.

Well think about it, here you are with your brand new toy and box on your shelf. Suddenly you realize it's No. 3. Crap... I gotta buy 2 more...

I'm just lucky Alien and Aliens are the good movies, otherwise I would have 2 crappy movies on my shelf just to fill in the numerical gap.

Edited February 15, 2004 by >EXO<

[MSW]

I'm still having trouble adapting to the fact that vehicle Voltron came before lion Voltron, and now you throw that at me?

That was only in the initial release of the Voltron toys...Go Lion quickly became very popular and Matchbox reordered the toy line for later releases dropping Albegas in the process

Seriously, I thought the 6-armed thing never made it tio America aside from a few toys released right at the end.

That is mostly correct...

The albegas Voltron toys came out at the begining of the launch of Voltron...Go Lion quickly became the most popular of the toys and Albegas never even aired as part of Voltron and was quickly dropped from the line up and forgotten about...

At the time Matchbox was mostly associated with Hot Wheels and seemingly thought that mechanical lions wouldn't exactly fit thier product line up...so the more hard edge industrial (more car like) Voltron designs initialy got prefered numbering treatment as Go Lion seemed more of a risk...but as Voltron wasn't a serialized show (it was largely episodic unlike Macross, Robotech, etc .. basicly the voltron episodes could be shown in any order) The Go Lion portion of Voltron reached kids first and took off...Albegas was dropped and Diarugger became "Vehical Voltron".

[JB0]

I'm still having trouble adapting to the fact that vehicle Voltron came before lion Voltron, and now you throw that at me?

That was only in the initial release of the Voltron toys...Go Lion quickly became very popular and Matchbox reordered the toy line for later releases dropping Albegas in the process

Seriously, I thought the 6-armed thing never made it tio America aside from a few toys released right at the end.

That is mostly correct...

The albegas Voltron toys came out at the begining of the launch of Voltron...Go Lion quickly became the most popular of the toys and Albegas never even aired as part of Voltron and was quickly dropped from the line up and forgotten about...

At the time Matchbox was mostly associated with Hot Wheels and seemingly thought that mechanical lions wouldn't exactly fit thier product line up...so the more hard edge industrial (more car like) Voltron designs initialy got prefered numbering treatment as Go Lion seemed more of a risk...but as Voltron wasn't a serialized show (it was largely episodic unlike Macross, Robotech, etc .. basicly the voltron episodes could be shown in any order) The Go Lion portion of Voltron reached kids first and took off...Albegas was dropped and Diarugger became "Vehical Voltron".

Ah-ha.

So it all depends on when you looked?

[Vampire Hunter D]

looks interesting.....but i hope Toynami sell it as a set...not some individual box crap.....

[Jawjaw]

I don't see how any of you can disagree about having a Toynami bias. I would bet any kind of money that there would be much more positive comments if that was made by Bandai. I'm not crazy about the Voltron thing but I think it looks pretty good and much better than the old blocky design. If you are a Voltron fan, it seems like you would appreciate a new toy - Toynami or not.

[mister_e]

I don't see how any of you can disagree about having a Toynami bias. I would bet any kind of money that there would be much more positive comments if that was made by Bandai. I'm not crazy about the Voltron thing but I think it looks pretty good and much better than the old blocky design. If you are a Voltron fan, it seems like you would appreciate a new toy - Toynami or not.

Biased people seldom realize that they are indeed biased, let alone admit it

[Angel's Fury]

Those poor cats look REAL scrawny. Quick! Feed them some fan dollars!

The "malnourished" look?

[Blaine23]

I don't see how any of you can disagree about having a Toynami bias. I would bet any kind of money that there would be much more positive comments if that was made by Bandai. I'm not crazy about the Voltron thing but I think it looks pretty good and much better than the old blocky design. If you are a Voltron fan, it seems like you would appreciate a new toy - Toynami or not.

Agreed... but I can also assure you that if Bandai made that toy it would have alot more detail and people could be reasonably sure that the finished product would worth a warm cup of hamster vomit.

Besides, there are nostalgic Macross fans who appreciate the 1/55's more than the new Yamato toys. Is it so surprising that fans of the original GoLion think this Voltron looks less appealing?

We can all agree that there is a Toynami bias... but no one can deny that their products have created that negative bias more than their relationship with HG.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

hey

I got a trendmasters reissue I think its cool. BUt this one has nice joins I will admi and balljoints are nice but it looks too simplistic to me. Though its sort of nice...the prioce will be the make or break for me. If the thing as a SET is 80$..and i considerably bigger than the original...maybe. But it needs some panel lines nad some detail like the original.

If it as box sets 80 each...thats stupidf. anyone know if its boxed altogethere at 80?

[Mechafan]

From the link below it looks like they well be boxed together. I hope the MSRP is reasonable.

http://69.93.35.18/photo/1/showgallery.php?cat=967&password=

[Max Jenius]

I want to know where all these 'details' are on the old toy...

[GobotFool]

Sculpt doesn't look so bad, the poseability looks good. The looks of this toy all depend on how well they paint it. IMHO.