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Toy Line: Soul of Chogokin
Manufacturer: Bandai
Meat and Potatoes; 5.0
Perks; 5.0
Homer Facor; 5.0
The Battle Fever Robo is about 6" tall and constructed mostly of die-cast metal. The figure is designed to look like a samurai in full battle armor that is mostly black, red, and silver. It's got a headpiece with a pair of blade-like horns, large shoulder and thigh pads. The figure has a large amount of articulation allowing it to hold weapons in both hands and have a multitude of poses.
It comes with a gorgeous stand that also holds all of its weapons and spare hands. A LOT of weapons!
Good news is Bandai has created amazing die-cast robot pieces under the moniker 'Soul of Chogokin'. And for you newbies out there 'chogokin' is Japanese for 'Super Alloy' and has become a catch-all term for bad-ass robots made outta die-cast! Woohoo! Unfortunately the combinations of metal (no bun intended) and import tariffs means pretty high prices for this stuff, so I've been keeping away from the pieces.
That is until THIS guy came around. It's from a Japanese sentai ('Super Action Force', also in Japanese. Hey, I don't make this stuff up, I just pass it on.) TV show called 'Battle Fever'. Yeah, yeah, it's 'Power Rangers'. Anyway, like any good sentai show there was a cool giant robot loaded with weapons to fight giant monsters. So what did my craving for metallic robots get me? I got a beautiful piece of work at an almost reasonable price.
Meat and potatoes... wow! Ok, ok, one caveat before I start drooling. This figure AIN'T that big. It's about 6" tall and the entire piece retails for about, oh, depending on how lucky you are about $70. Ok, ok, stop freaking! Hey, this is DIE-CAST metal here! That means this baby has a beautiful shine, can take quite a bit of punishment, and is a beauty to behold. Articulation is also amazing. Usually die-cast stuff tends to be as flexible as a steel ingot. No such thing here. This piece has elbow, shoulders, wrists, and every joint you see in a Gundam figure is here. Granted, this thing isn't doing sweeping sidekicks but there is enough motion for a lot of dynamic poses. More importantly it also means this 'bot can hold weapons in BOTH hands. Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
The perks are so over-the-freaking-top. The 'bot comes with nine weapons, seven extra hands, and a special display stand. Yes, I said NINE weapons! You've got a lance, a quarter-staff, brass knuckles (What a 200 ft tall robot needs with brass knuckles is beyond me, but it's still cool!), ANOTHER staff-weapon-thingy, shield, battle-axe, a pair of daggers, two chains which retract into the 'bots wrists... and, of course a samurai sword with a sheath! Gasp gasp gasp gasp gasp! Sweeeeeeeeeet! And each weapon is made out of die-cast metal as well. Woohoo! The stand is sculpted to look like it's constructed of steel girders. In addition the stand is designed to hold each weapon and the spare hands. Double sweeeeeeet!
Homer factor? This is what toy collecting at its height is about. A piece that is a blast from the past but isn't some cheap rip-off. This is meant to be fun AND look dang good on your shelf.
The final word? This piece is gorgeous. Sure, it's not THAT big and it's pricey, but this isn't about having a giant 'bot to fight Megatron. This is about getting a piece that is beautiful to behold and brings back cool childhood memories. If you're under a budget you might wanna pass. However if you've saved a bit from your tax refund or last bonus... or can live on ramen noodles for a few weeks, it's worth it!