More Godaikin, bitches! Daimos & Bio Man

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:20 pm

My attempts to buy as many Godaikin as possible without actually parting with serious money continue apace - this lot cost me around £20 each including shipping, which isn't too bad.

First up, Daimos (first two pictures). He has a bit of a rep among collectors as one of the Chogokin figures... it's a bit difficult to judge given mine's missing basically everything, but it seems to be a little misplaced. The proportions aren't great, the head just seems giant - even allowing for the absent Rocket Punches actually being more forearms rather than the usual fists, he's a bit skewiff. Sadly, bootlegs seem rare, if they exist at all. I don't regret getting him, but I'm kind-of glad I didn't spend a fortune finding out he's slightly underwhelming (Daimos is one of the real big hitters price-wise, we're talking ~£200 - from what I've seen only Tetsujin-28 and Voltes V fetch more).

Also arriving recently is Bio Man - another Super Sentai robot (I make it my fourth). He's fun in a chunky Super Sentai sort of way, and he's so yellowed that the beige is basically uniform. He splits up into two jets, which are alright (technically he can make a single large jet as well, but I'm not sure if this is just because of the way they combine... it's not as neat, with the arms just parallel to the body), but he's not quite as impressive as Dynaman. However, Dynaman's a high benchmark so far, so that's hardly criticism.

Mmmm, robots

Zeeks · Post by **Zeeks** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:22 pm

Thinking this last night...

Tom, have you ever taken count of every single robot you have in your main collection? (not to be confused with what you sell and trade.) I would be curious what that number is. All GoBots, TF's, GoDaikins, Convertors, etc...

Jaynz · Post by **Jaynz** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:26 pm

This is something that honestly bugged me.. so bear with...

Is it God-ai-kin or Go-dai-kin?

Both make sense, so I'm wondering which it is!

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:08 pm

GoDaiKin, by the packaging... as with Gobots (the original trademark is 'GoBots', which ironically is about the only variant no-one really uses), I purposefully 'flatten' the rest of the letters for ease of typing/because it just
reads better. Conflagration of "Dai"/"Big" and "Gokin"/"Alloy", fact-fans. Quite why they chose it over something that'd make sense to the target market, I don't know.

I have tried a full count on various occasions... but it always gets bogged down on deciding what exactly counts - is God Mars one or five? What about some of the really pointless Gobots variations I've accumulated (I do have a few which merely have different sticker sheets, for example)...

The number's probably not that staggering, TBH - I must have sold well over a hundred TFs over the last year or so, and, well, TFs are considerably cheaper than Godaikin/Chogokin/the sort of Machine Robo stuff I don't already have. I probably have considerably fewer TFs than people think - discounting Micromasters, it's probably not much more than 50. At a guess, I've got about 150 Gobots/MR figures (IIRC, there were about a hundred Gobots, so 50 sounds about right for adding on what MR/RM/MM etc. I have), the ten Lightan, about 10 Godaikins, 20-ish Convertors and probably about 10 other figures (2 Voltrons, 2 Metal Joe, that Kinsman thing I love, a Diaclone, that Switchbot, some tolerable unmarked stuff) I class as being part of my collection (rather than crap I just can't get rid of - if anyone bought Zybots, those bastards would be long gone)... Somewhere between 200 and 250 figures, plus Micromasters, would be a rough guess.

I am trying to find some free database software for this sort of thing... there are a couple of pay-for progs I've seen designed to deal with toys, but I'm not particularly interested in paying money for something I might hardly use when I get it...

secretcode · Post by **secretcode** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:28 pm

To educate those who don't know much about Hentai... er... Sentai

http://supersentai.com/database/1984_bioman/mecha.html

Jaynz · Post by **Jaynz** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:29 pm

Got a Dairugger in that assortment? And, actually, I can see that you don't have many Transformers... you seem to like the slightly 'off' (not sure how to phrase it, really) designs, judging from your collections. You would be much happier, it seems, with a slightly deformed Convertor than a Masterpiece Prime.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:42 pm

I prefer 'chunky', but yeh, I can appreciate the superior play value of more modern stuff is miles ahead, I just prefer blocky robots with a few neat features - most of the TFs I have surviving are pre-Movie, the other stuff I find loses interest after a couple of years (though with exceptions... Classics is an obvious one, but I've got a fair bit of G2 and the post-Movie G1 line did have some real gems - Sandstorm, Point Blank, pretty much all the Decepticon Targetmasters, etc.). The Convertors section isn't especially representative, though - a fair few of the figures I've just accumulated and reviewed for the sake of balance... it's only really the Mini Bots and Spies I have any particular like for.

Dairugger... I've got the 6" Voltron version (non-separating), and the full-size one (made of a hybrid of Voltron & Dairugger parts, with a couple of KO parts). Still kicking myself for not getting the 10" diecast separating Japan-only one for around £80 a few months back, but then I was freakishly focused on finishing the full-size one at the time...

Sentai I just can't watch... the biggest problem is that they basically sideline the robots for the earlier ones, and it's just unconvincing kirby-wore stuff. And utter bollocks, as well. Most tokusatsu seems to be the same, though I did struggle through Brain 17...

MP Prime, to me, is just too big and, well, fiddly. I like something I can muck around with for 30 seconds and isn't needlessly complex (I have played with an MP Prime, and it is, IMO, a lot of fuss for a simple transformation). RM Convoy does the job for Prime for me, TBH. I'd stick to 6" Godaikin if the smaller versions were simply scaled down versions of the larger ones, but they tend to lose a lot of features.

Jaynz · Post by **Jaynz** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:55 pm

I wanted to get more into RM, but I picked up Star Saber and Victory Leo first and... well... it made me a very sad camper. Fortunately I was able to sell them on Ebay used for more than I bought them for new. Go figure.

At one time I had the Voltron III set, which was very nice, but very very heavy. I don't think that was thrown away in pique, but I'm not entirely sure what happened to it. I think a cousin got it when my grandmother died and they emptied the house, but I'm not sure.

I have to agree about MP Prime. I didn't feel bad selling that one off to make room. I never did much with him, as he was too complex. That's actually why I finally gave up on Alternators as well. Nice, but not something to fiddle with, and took too much room.

Sadly, now I'm down to a few Classics and the Robot Heroes. There's just not room enough here for more.. and I always find things I need to spend money on first.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:09 pm

Room is a problem - short version is I won't buy a big figure unless it can do something a smaller one can't. Transforming into a car/truck isn't one of those... I do have a few Alternators, and they're pretty good - Smokescreen, Hound and Skids. And Wheeljack, who's not so good... However, most of the others just look like overgrown Car Brothers, and I have the Car Brothers... With the inflated UK prices and a lack of space meaning he'd probably spend most of the time in the box in a cupboard, I just don't see the point in spending a fortune on MP Prime, a giant figure that makes a meal of something smaller toys do with much more style and economy... I dread being given the thing as a gift, to be honest, as then I'd have to hang onto it. I'm not saying it, or the Alternators, are bad figures, they just don't really fit what I'm after. The MP Megatron, in theory, is a much better idea, as there aren't umpteen perfectly good G1 Megatron toys in existance, but again it just seems to have been complicated in order to justify being called a Masterpiece...

To me, Classics aside (where they got the ones I've got my hands on bang right), most recent TFs have been between 10-25% bigger than they really need to be. Something like Armada Wheeljack would have been a much nicer figure if shrunk down to about the size of a Car Brother

RM Star Saber I'm happy with. Admittedly because it means I'm unlikely to ever sink a fortune into the full-size thing, rather than because it's any good... RM was a weird, uneven line, IMO worth it for Convoy and a couple of very sharp recolours (R. Blade & Rijie), but little else.

Jaynz · Post by **Jaynz** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:17 pm

Armada was awful about the larger toys and their details. All of them could have been a size class, or partial size class, smaller and looked infinitely better. Their chunky size and lack of detail looked awful. (I maintain that making Universe 1.0 into all Armada reuses is what finally killed it). Minicons carried Armada, make no mistake.

There were a few standouts (Demolishor), but not many. Energon suffered the same issue with anything in boxes. The pegged figures were pretty nice overall. Cybertron got most of its toys right, though, like someone was finally paying attention.

Classics has been a nice line so far, but I'm concerned at the 'randomness' of the throw ins for the follow-up. The new molds seem nice, but large, boxed figures of 'who the hell is this' coupled with mindboggling ideas like "let's release onslaught, only make him look different and not a combiner leader anymore - despite having Energon Bruiticus RIGHT HERE" ... kinda shows me that HASBRO (namely Aaron Archer) hasn't learned from his mistakes.

Maybe I should go back to paper modelling...

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:29 pm

Armada was about the last line I properly collected... I don't think I've got a single figure left from the line, when I bought most of the stuff that made it to the UK... Blurr and Supercon OP were about the only toys I felt were right... the Minicons were a bit too varying in quality for me... the Street Speed (? - the three saloon cars) and the combined Perceptor were about the only real gems.

I liked what I got from Energon (Starscream, a couple of Aerialbots), but that was mainly through very carefully buying stuff that had almost universally positive feedback... but buy then I'd largely come to the conclusion that the 'kid' line just wasn't geared in the same direction I was after.

I think the big problem with Classics is the lack of depth in terms of grandees... Animated only really took Jazz and Blitzwing out of the equation, and TBH most of the big names came out in the first round anyway... There were always going to be some random choices unless they did a line of cars.

Zeeks · Post by **Zeeks** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:34 pm

Hey Hey, favor to ask: Would it be possible if you could take a group family picture of all the GoDaiKins you have to date? I love your website for the individual reviews and pics, but I'm a big "family photo" person and I would love to see a group photo of what you have so far.

(I'll limit my request to just the GoDaikins; as I know you collect much more than that and I prefer you don't send me "Colonie Haters Anonymous" threats in the mail for asking so much.

;) )

Jaynz · Post by **Jaynz** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:41 pm

I think the big problem with Classics is the lack of depth in terms of grandees... Animated only really took Jazz and Blitzwing out of the equation, and TBH most of the big names came out in the first round anyway... There were always going to be some random choices unless they did a line of cars.

It's a good point. When you think about it, pretty much all the pre-scramble Decepticons are accounted for, except Shockwave, Blitzwing, Reflector, Rumble, Frenzy, Buzzsaw (unless you count the Japanese version), and the Insecticons. Of all those, the only ones that Aaron Archer seems willing to do would be Shockwave. The BotCon set really wiped the possible character's clean.

For the Autobots, you have mostly the cars from the first two years, but there's a lot left they can do. Wheeljack is already DONE, realistically speaking (Cybertron Downshift), same with Inferno and Grapple... there's a ton of guys that can be done relatively easily.

I wish I could say that Animated was gripping me.. but as much as I love the writing on the show, I really don't like the character designs. :S

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:57 pm

I'm still amazed Hasbro did the BotCon sets, frankly. Even if they didn't want to milk the Starscream/Ramjet moulds, that was three moderately well-known characters apparently closed off.

Not sure how a Classics Shockwave would work - IMO, a big part of the character is that he looks like no-one else, and the original toy really caught that... It's sad, but unless the kids really latch onto it (less likely than V1 due to the competition from Animated) I have a nasty feeling 2.0 could be it for Classics...

Group photos - I do have a few planned, it's just clearing space and waiting for some good ambient light... I've been meaning to do a "something from everything" one for a while to give people an idea of the size. I'll try for an all-Godaikin one, though it might not include Gardian - I'm fairly sure he's just going to explode at some point...

Jaynz · Post by **Jaynz** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:04 pm

Cliffjumper wrote:I'm still amazed Hasbro did the BotCon sets, frankly. Even if they didn't want to milk the Starscream/Ramjet moulds, that was three moderately well-known characters apparently closed off.

Well, keep in mind that , at the time they were solicited, Classics was filler leftover from discarded Universe concepts, only brought out because the Movie was delayed. Hasbro really didn't expect it to go anywhere. Of course, Classics became a mega-hit, and the 'seeker completion' became the infamous legends they are now.

Not sure how a Classics Shockwave would work - IMO, a big part of the character is that he looks like no-one else, and the original toy really caught that...

Well, if you're going for 'different', simply using Energon Shockblast can work in a pinch, though it's a pretty weak toy. There was some talk that the resign prototype for the Titanium toy might see some reworking as an all-plastic deluxe.

It's sad, but unless the kids really latch onto it (less likely than V1 due to the competition from Animated) I have a nasty feeling 2.0 could be it for Classics...

They could extend for a bit by going to the other lines for fan-requests and interesting choices. Certainly Japanese-characters like Minerva, Star Saber, and so on, could show up. (Just make them appropriate this time out). Hot Shot from Armada is already coming, as is a new Cheetor. Sideburn and RID Scourge could easily return... But, yeah, it's tough. I don't know these days who the kids would recognize, or even be sure who the '20-somethings' would want.

Ravage · Post by **Ravage** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:29 am

I have this odd transforming giant robot figure that I wish I knew what it was. Sorry as I am sure this isn't the right topic but Cliffy sounds like he may know what it is.

It's a 3 bot combiner with the main bot being like an mammoth or elephant and two tank robots that turn into cat like things for legs.

Anyway just wanted to mention that.

That out of the way those guys are sweet and Bioman looks like an Uber Filtor *Or whatever the red Jet from Go-Bots was called*.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:24 pm

Mammoth makes me think Dancougar - http://www.robot-japan.com/Gallery/Band ... cougar.asp but he has four members... I'll have a thinky

Ravage · Post by **Ravage** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 2:12 pm

Holy cow thats the same figure I am just missing the bird thing otherwise it's in pretty sharp shape and I need to dig out my bag of parts but that would explain the wierd gun I couldn't recognize.

Thanks Cliffy!

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 2:20 pm

There was a loose hawk doing the rounds on ebay shops the last time I checked, for not too much. I can't remember the keywords, but it did show up on one of my regular trawls... if I spot it again, I'll send you the item number

Ravage · Post by **Ravage** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:00 pm

Cool, thanks, I will have to dig him out as he's in one of the like 12 huge boxes of Transformers, Gundams and other toys in the cellar of figures I've rotated but I know he's down there.