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Great Goldran – Great Goldran, Takara
Meat and Potatoes; 5.0
Perks; 5.0
Homer Factor; 5.0
Description; a giant, gold-plated merging robot from a Japanese super-robot series.  Woohoo! 

Great Goldran is a MASSIVE merging robot based on the lead mech from a Japan ‘toon of the same name.  There are a total of five ‘bots in this set.

First there’s the medium-sized condor bot which turns into a humanoid.  Second is a medium-sized dragon ‘bot which turns into a humanoid.  Then there’s a small car which turns into a humanoid and merges with the dragon/humanoid ‘bot.  Next is a lion ‘bot which turns into a medium-sized humanoid.  A small jet which turns into a humanoid merges with the lion/human ‘bot.  Gasp gasp gasp.
FINALLY they all merge into 12” of giant robot called Great Goldran.  The dragon/humanoid is the base figure.  The lion’s face becomes a massive chest plate, the small jet turns into a codpiece. (Hey, that’s basically what it is.  Go figure.)  The lion’s back legs and hips split apart and turn into weapons platforms that connect to the dragon/humanoid’s feet.  The lion’s front legs and chest become MASSIVE weapons that looks a bit like a giant longbow.  Finally the condor attaches to this things back.  Whew!

Everything is equipped with a ton o’ missiles and comes with lots and lots of hand weapons.  Sweet! 
Giant, merging robots rule!  Giant robots are fun, giant TRANSFORMING robots are even cooler, but there’s something about a bunch of smaller, transforming ‘bots merging into 11” of sword-wielding plastic that just rules!  Ok maybe it’s just me.  But they’re so fun!  And so many to choose from; vehicles who merge into giant robots, animals who turn into a massive gladiator, of a bunch of smaller ‘bots combining into a huge warrior. 

About 10 years ago the umpteenth ‘toon in Japan came out with a MASSIVE transforming ‘bot for the series ‘Great Goldran’.  No, it wasn’t one of the big names like ‘Gao Gai Gar’ or ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’.  The cool thing was the way all three ‘bots merged into not just the robot but a massive weapon with LOTS AND LOTS of missiles.  Yes, it was a toy-geeks dream!  Yes, it was EXPENSIVE!  It came out to about $200 WITHOUT import tariffs in Japan.  Yeah, this would be painful.  For years I searched for this thing, hoping I would get lucky. 

Then I discovered the miracle of Ebay!  Woohoo!  So after all this searching what did I get?  One of the best combiners you will find, bar none.

Meat and potatoes are just the start of what’s so awesome bout this piece.  The sculpting on this figure is classic super-robots stuff; lots of panels and some vents but not as many as a ‘Gundam’ figure.  Just the same nice details are everywhere, and solid articulation all around.  And yes, everything is painted gold or this base mustard color with SOME highlights.  Hey, this is a super-robot cartoon!  No one said logic controlled things!  Actually the gold color works, giving the piece a mystical, knight-in-armor groove. 

You’ll also love the size of this thing.  Full assembled this is almost 12” tall.  Yeah, BIG.  And the individual ‘bots are also pretty freaking large too... but I’m getting ahead of myself.  Everything is constructed from plastic, which is actually a VERY good thing in this case.  If this were die-cast metal it would be SUPER expensive, and I’m not even considering the weight.  Doh! 

The perks, though, THAT’S what’s so incredible.  There are three base robots; a falcon, dragon, and lion.  Each of these transforms into a humanoid ‘bot.  Now the dragon and the lion ALSO merge with smaller robots in humanoid form.  Each robot also comes with hand weapons and a LOT of missiles.  Gasp gasp gasp gasp.  I ain’t done yet!  Bwahahahahahahahhaa!

All three ‘bots turn into the giant Great Goldran!  The dragon humanoid ‘bot forms the base which the lion ‘bot and condor ‘bot merge to.  Fully assembled this thing is almost 12” tall.  And on top of that, the sword and halberd, which the medium robots use, combine into a REALLY big naginata/halberd thingy.  Not just combining robots, but combing WEAPONS!  Oh yeah baby! 

Homer factor?  Need you ask?  OMG, smaller robots, merging into MEDIUM robots, merging into this MASSIVE honking robot!  Wow!!!!!!

Final word?  This is a must have for any ‘bot collector.  The plethora of transformations and weapons is so over-the-top, any collector would have a ball with this thing.  Yes, this is an old piece, and yes it’s kinda pricey... but there is some good news.  Ya see Takara is letting their re-issue bug spread to lines besides ‘The Transformers’.  Yep, this is out again in spring 2006!  Ya see, there’s a reason to do your tax return early.  Bwahahahahahahaha!