All year long, Bandai’s been releasing a slew of merchandise for their 35th anniversary Super Sentai series: Gokaiger, but it’s taken this long for them to make the pirate’s zord, Gokai Oh, in a super articulated form. It feels like it has been one of the longest waits of my life…
It’s no news to anyone who’s been reading my reviews that I’m a huge fan of the new Super Sentai Gokaiger series. The series has a fantastic amount of nostalgia by incorporating elements from the previous thirty four Sentai teams into each episode, while at the same time the new team shows a level of originality and even a bit of irreverence in how they fight and approach a problem.
Like most previous teams, the Gokaiger’s five vehicles all combine to form the giant fighting robot Gokai Oh. This zord is appropriately decked out in a pirate theme also. Just check out his two cutlasses and nifty captain’s hat. You can even see a bandanna on his head during transformation right before he covers it up with his hat. Unfortunately this figures hat is part of his head, so no bandanna action here.
You know a figure is sculpted well when it can trick you into thinking certain parts are movable when they’re not. Not only is Gokai Oh’s sculpt spot on when it comes to accuracy, but there are small details like the wheels of the individual vehicles that look like they could actually spin. It’s almost frustrating, but in a good way, because all of those details make me want to transform him back into his separate pieces.
One thing I was a bit disappointed in is his face sculpt. On the show, Gokai Oh has a cocky smirk on his face. Sadly this wasn’t reproduced on this figure. It’s not too big of a deal, but it definitely takes some of the personality away from his character.
Gokai Oh’s five major body parts are molded in the predominant color of the vehicles, so there aren’t any issues there. The place where most problems will pop up is on the tiny details like the many Gokaiger symbols or the gold and silver trim. But my figure only has a couple of very minor applications that were sloppy.
Since he is a Chogokin, Gokai Oh was given actual metal for the main part of both his legs. This was a nice touch, and it adds a bit of heft to the figure. As far as I can tell, the rest of the figure is plastic though.
Gokai Oh’s articulation is crazy good. His head, waist, shoulders, wrists, hips, and ankles are all on ball joints. He’s got swivel joints on his biceps and thighs. His elbows and knees are double hinged, while his toe joints are single hinged. As if all that wasn’t enough, he has articulated costume pieces to allow for even greater pose-ability. His shoulder pads and manly pirate skirt are all on hinge joints so as not to obstruct his arms and legs. Gokai Oh can also extend slightly at the neck, waist, and elbows to all for even greater flexibility. Continue to page 2…
I wouldn’t say devious, but they are clever… The fact that it can combine with others, gives more accuracy to the character and boosts its awesomeness… (also shows how Bandai Japan does think ahead unlike other American companies that shall remain nameless)
“Remember, Death Blossom delivers only one massive volley at close range… theoretically.”
“What do you mean “theoretically?”
“After all, D.B. has never been tested. It might overload the systems, blow up the ship!”
“What are you worried about, Grig? Theoretically, we should already be dead!”
He looks fantastic, but I really want these guys to be HUGE.
Okay, color me dumb, Super Sentai is Power Rangers, right? What’s the relation between this and what we get here in the states?
Once a Sentai series airs in Japan, a year later we get it in the US as “Power Rangers _________.” They keep some of the fight and Megazord combat footage, but refilm all the non-morphed footage.
As far as toys go, in recent years we don’t get…pretty much anything from the Sentai series. It’s a business move by Bandai America; it’s cheaper to make slightly-smaller, slightly-simplified Megazords than straight up import the Sentai versions. Role-play weapons haven’t sold well in years, so we tend not to get those. Morphers are either simplified versions or totally different (depending on how they’re used in the show).
On the plus side, Sentai doesn’t have “action figures” in the traditional sense, so the 4″ ones Bandai America make are Power Rangers “exclusive.”
Very neat figure that I had never heard of before this review – thanks for reviewing it!
No prob, glad you like him.