WING SABER TOYZ SPOTLIGHT: SOUL OF CHOGOKIN GX-13:- Super Beast Machine God ( 超獣機神ダンクーガ ) Chōjū Kishin Dankūga aka DANCOUGAR!!

11:39 PM in 1980's, 4-Piece Combiner, Dancouga, NOT IN COLLECTION, Potential Buy, Soul Of Chogokin

DANCOUGA: -WHAT'S IN A NAME?!


Hey there folks! Warm welcome to yet another blog-post by yours truly Adam. I'd like to dedicate 
this particular special post all of you out there who are hard-core nostalgic Mecha- enthusiast  who are, one way or the other, fairly familliar with the uber -influential and quite unique 'old-school' Mecha Animes which were churned out by Japan (there were hundreds!)- and such were aired during the golden era of Super-robot shows of the 70's and 80's. To say that they don't make em like they used to is a huge understatement, ( not to mention by comparison to the   'kid-like and innocent' American and European continental cartoons) have always almost been depicted as being more dynamic and sometimes laden with heavily 'deep' philosophical and violently themed story-lines -- hard to believe that this was way back in the 70's! --  

"Dancouga - Super Beast Machine God (超獣機神ダンクーガ Chōjū Kishin Dankūga^?) is a super robot anime television series. (The English name chosen by the Japanese companies is "God Bless The Machine Dancougar". When released on VHS in the USA, the release uses the literal translated title.) The show ran for 38 episodes from 4 April 1985 to 17 December 1985 and was produced by Ashi Productions (also known for their work in the Dorvack series). After the TV series ended, a number of OVAs were created. Juusenki Tai Songs featured music videos of the various theme and insert songs from the series to TV series footage. The 1986 OVA Requiem for Victims featured a recap of the television series and a newly-animated conclusion to the story. Additionally, there was a 1987 sequel OVA (often mislabeled a movie by American fans because it was animated in widescreen) God Bless Dancouga. In 1989 the four-part Blazing Epilogue OVA series presented a new sequel.

A show called Dancouga Nova (directed by Dancouga's original mecha designer, Masami Obari) began airing in Japan in March 2007. However, it appears to be related to the series in name and mechanical design only, the overall plot bearing no apparent direct connection to the original and seeming to fans as more of a third season to Obari's Gravion than a successor to its namesake."

^Text for the introductory story DANCOUGA style linked to wikipedia.

超獣機神ダンクーガ (Chōjū Kishin Dankūga)
Genre	Mecha
TV anime
Directed by	Seiji Okuda
Studio	Ashi Productions
Network	TBS  ABS-CBN
Original run	4 April 1985 – 17 December 1985
Episodes	38
Original video animation
Requiem for Victims
Directed by	Seiji Okuda
Studio	Ashi Productions
Released	April 1986
Episodes	1
Original video animation
Jūsenkitai Songs
Studio	Ashi Productions
Released	1986
Episodes	1
Original video animation
God Bless Dancouga
Studio	Ashi Productions
Released	1987
Episodes	1
Original video animation
Blazing Epilogue
Studio	Ashi Productions
Released	December 1989-1990
Episodes	4
Anime and Manga Portal

It's hard to argue that the Japanese Super- Robot genere to this modern day, still manages to leave a series of profound influence in the upper-echelons of pop-culture even after almost three decades since its beginnings. Which brings me to the soul reason to write this particular blog-post. Although to my memory, there were some really dynamic and 'one-off' anime series which never for some reason, made it to the local terrestrial television stations during my early to mid childhood. 

All images, info on DANCOUGA are credited to these Japanese web-sites inked  here, here, here , and not to mention the fantastic  Amiami Japan-English language web!

ME, A SOUL OF CHOGOKIN FAN?! Pffft!
(WELL, MAYBE)







To be perfectly honest, there was not enough a good reason/ a few valid ones for me to go all out to actually make the effort to go out and hunt for this particular line of 'collectors' edition'/ 
die-cast made, solidly built and very high Quality Control craftsmanship from the folks at Bandai Japan. The pricing, not to mention the likely difficulty which might be posed when the eventuality or decision to sell the Soul Of CHOGOKIN figures if and when I get bored of keeping them, was one of the main 'excuses' that I used time again to shy away and not validate my liking for them. 

^More detailed pictures  are linked to this uber  Japanese blog here (dont worry, folks, least some of you here start being picky and accusing me of using more stock online photos--without permission!) LOL-- Id be using a very minimalistic presentation this time around!

YOU-TUBE ROCKS!!




Been trying to understand and kinda 'school' myself in the Mecha Japanese genere since a couple of days ago and what better medium to really immerse myself with the click of a button than  blissfully simplistic way to watch some of those older and 'rarer' 1980's Super-Robot shows than the ever popular video-site YouTube?! From the get-go, it was very clearly shown that GOD BEAST DANCOUGA was not going to just be yet another tried and tested re-hash of the other previous Super-Robot franchises of the past. It had fire in the belly and was aimed at the most action-packed minded fan! The animation was pretty standard- i.e. lots of rough explosions/ swift battle scenes and the tried "Alien Invasion" storyline, but after watching some of the key episodes online, I've gotta say that overall it was stylishly made. 

Plot

"The series is about a team of four soldiers; Shinobu Fujiwara, Sara Yuki, Masato Shikibu and Ryo Shiba. They pilot the mecha Dancouga and fight to liberate Earth from alien invaders known as the Muge Zorbados Empire.

Dancouga is an example of the combining robot type of Super Robot. However, unlike the more traditional "component machines struggle against the monster of the week before combining and easily dispatching the monster" format, Dancouga does not combine until midway through the series. This means that, unlike the previously mentioned type of combining robot, where the components were generally of little use, the Cyber Beast Machines were all capable of effectively combating their enemies. The main components of the Cyber Beast mecha were able to follow the emulation of evolution. The mecha started out as four vehicles that could transform into beasts (an eagle, cougar, liger and mammoth respectively) to humanoid robots, and finally combining together to form Dancouga.

Many of the Dancouga story elements revolve centrally around religion (mostly Christianity, although the series also borrows heavily from Taoist philosophy), harmony, and music. The theme of "gods" is heavily present in most of the episodes."

Personally, the Red-head in the show, although the only female protagonist, is, aside from the main hero who pilots the Falcon mode / head of DANCOUGA is my favorite of the quint team. She's feisty, and like the GOD-BEAST COUGAR she pilots shown above, is a ferocious character off and on the battle-field!

FINAL SAY

As any true fan of this unique genere, the Super-robot franchise of the 70's and 80' were well and truly 
 in a league of their own.  Suffice to say, that the SOUL of CHOGOKIN DANCOUGA toy was so immensely popular, that to date, since it's initial release way back in 2003, there have been at least THREE re-releases of this huge and heavy Mecha since then. You know what's gonna happen to old WSX, dontcha'?! SOC GX-13 GOD BEAST DANCOUGA WILL BE BOUGHT HOPEFULLY
 BY YEAR'S END!! IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THIS RE-RELEASE WHICH WAS MADE IN 2008, CHANCES ARE THAT THE ONLY PLACE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FIND IT IS ON EBAY. EXPECT TO PAY IN THE REGION OF BETWEEN USD$ 200 -- TO-- USD$ 300+ FOR THIS BAD BOY. HELL YEAH AND RECOMMENDED. PERIOD! A++

DANCOUGA is Copyright 1985 Ashi Productions/ TBS and 2003 Bandai Co. Japan.

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KINGS OF CONSTRUCTION! TRANSFORMERS CAR ROBOTS C-022 BUILDKING!!

1:48 PM in 4-Piece Combiner, Build King, Build Team, C-022, Car Robots, Korean, RID, Takara

C-022 Car Robots Buildking: Great Force of Nature!

Welcome once again to [Wing_Saber-X's] blog! As usual, I will try and focus to deliver another entertaining review of the umpteenth Transformer toy from my personal collection, which I currently have amassed (or rather hoard!) until recently! A special treat is in store for those who especially love Transformer Combiner Teams! This time, I want to showcase a collection which came from the now classic Transformers Car Robots (トランスフォーマー・カーロボット) or the "USA-Inspried" Robots In Disguise (RID) franchise, which also aired as an Anime series running from the year 2000 to 2001. This series was responsible to reignited my passion for Transformers, after a long hiatus of sorts staying away from the franchise.

Takara Version: Graphics are similar
on the Korean Version

The Combiner Team in question is none other than the Build Masters/Build Team individual members which can combine and merge into a gigantic super-robot known as Buildking / "Landfill"!! The most important feature to mention is that, when compared to the "old school" combiner teams ,the individual members of Buildking does not need to depend on separate connector pieces i.e such as the robot mode head, fists, feet, and arm extensions etc, when combining into super-robot mode. Gone are the days where we would fidget around with these extra parts, more often than not misplacing them by accident on a regular basis! The designers have kindly incorporated the ingenious use of connector pegs, which can be folded out at the flick of your thumb to enable the combination process. The end result is excellent playability and a level of sturdiness in combined mode, as the connector ports is able to support the weight of the limbs etc rather well.

Inside of Giftset: Individually packed
neatly in robot mode with weapons in a plastic tray!

Once again, the temptation to obtain this rare and cool Giftset has been a long time coming, and there were a few good deals floating around the internet (bad, good, you be the judge! ;-) -- which i had been monitoring for these past few months. As always, the most logical thin to do when faced with limited funds is to hunt down for wither a loose set, which is still rather pricey, OR you can never go wrong-- and there is absolutely NO shame/loss of pride whatsoever, if you or anybody for that matter-- to go out and purchase the Korean-Boxed version. At USD $ 50! (with an additional fee of USD $ 17 shipping charges) to Malaysia, it only cost me a deal-busting, 'miser spending' equivalent of only RM220!-- for an MISB-ed huge Giftset. Huge. did I mention that it was EXACTLY the SAME high quality/toys with the same plastic material as their Japanese versions?! AWESOME!! >:-)

When scouring the internet for a good bargain, the tip is that one must try their best and hunt down for the more common packaging of the four Build Master/ Build Team members; which are the individually bubble sealed on card Japanese versions, as shown above. Be prepared to fork out about US$40 for the whole set or USD$ 10 a pop. The Takara Giftsets are available., but they are most definitely pricier compared to the individual carded ones, or for that matter --the Korean reissue. Check out the following links to online specialist stores which still has some limited stock of the individually carded Buildking team members, such as Toy Arena and Big Bad Toy Store (BBTS), just to name a few. Also, the other obvious source is through ebay, as if you are lucky enough may even have some good deals popping up once in awhile.

Instruction sheet/ bio Cards and Toy Catalog: Bagged nicely!


Construction Vehical Modes: Spiffy!


Individual Robot modes: 'Poser' Group shot!

Well, now that the minor history behind the purchasing of Buildking--plus some 'obligatory' boxed pictures have been shown, it's time for me to give my views, thoughts and rants-- both good and funny-- (negative is a rarity)... for the individual members/ aesthetics/ gimmicks for the individual Build Masters/ Build Team members, and of course last but not least, to save the best for later when I reveal all the combined modes for Buildking! WE start off by looking at the individual members one-by one. Their alt modes, stats, weapon's and overall thoughts of each figure's strengths and weaknesses.

#1 Team Leader

Build Boy (Wedge)
Alternate Mode: Bulldozer

Build Boy aka Wedge" : Robot Mode

Wedge is the Leader, which also becomes the main torso component of Buildking. He is the smallest member of the Build Masters, and transforms into an orange Bulldozer. His robot mode is fairly decent, with detailed Autobot symbol on his chest, indents and patterns- which is visible, as his bulldozer threads make up both his arms. Basically, he stands just under 6 inches. In terms of overall articulation, he is able to move his head, arms, knees , feet and waist. In addition, the bulldozer ploughs can be folded and moved from side to side for ease of combining, or just looking give him a more "winged" dynamic pose! :-P

"Gotcha!"

His face sculpt is meant to reflect that of a "young" man-- the metalized silver face is molded fairly well and the details of his features are crisp. He does come with a weapon/spare part which is a grey double-barrel launcher, complete with two orange missiles. The missiles, however, do not fire as the gun is not spring-loaded. It just adds to his overall aesthetics. WEll, for me he is a decent robot with fair amount of articulation. However, he is definitely not the best out of the rest of the four-member team, ans thus he only deserves a fair review of only around 3 1/2 ***1/2 Stars over / 5 ***** stars!

"Bulldozer" Mode

Essentially, Build Boy's Bulldozer mode is fairly standard. He has a neat cockpit with clear windows, "hydraulics"- pistons to hold his bulldozer plough's and black molded tire threads. in this mode, he is just slightly smaller than the recently released Revenge of the Fallen: Movie 2 Deluxe Class Rampage, who also happens to be a bulldozer-type vehicle . As usual, the standard movements are there in this mode, which only includes his ploughs in front, which move up and down-- minus the threads, which do not have any articulation at all. Because vehicle mode is just another alt mode, nothing special, therefore it just gets a lower grade of 3 *** stars / over 5 **** stars!

Tech Specs

Instruction Manual


Weapon/ Spare Parts


Overall:

"Smile!"

Although Build Boy (Wedge) has a less than decent Bulldozer mode, he nevertheless makes up for it when he is transformed into his robot mode. Add to the fact that he is pretty much the main component i.e. the torso and has the connector ports for other member's' parts, he deservedly receives a fair rating of 4 and 1/2 **** 1/2 stars over 5 ***** stars!

Next up, is the Team's Strong-man and Confidante to Build Boy/Wedge

#2 Mentor and Strongest Warrior
Build Typhoon (Heavy Load)
Alternate Mode: Autobot Dump-Truck

Build Typhoon (Heavy Load) : Robot Mode

Big, consisting of mainly yellow plastic, Build-Typhoon, as he is known in Car Robots, is essentially a parts-former- i.e he is able to split in half to change into the arms of Buildking in "Typhoon-Mode". His face has a red visor and molded on his mouth is a huge "grin". I like the fact that he can contribute to the anesthetic's of Buildking, by either being the entire left-sided leg, or his arms, which is pretty cool in my book. In terms of articulation, his shoulders, elbows, knees and head move, while waist articulation is limited due to the ability to split in half-- However, it doesn't deter the playability of this robot, as to me, he has a cool design, very old-school in terms of blockiness and very reminiscent of G1 constructicons type transformers. Overall i like this figure, and there are no major faults with it. Thus, he deserves a very solid 4 1/2 ****1/2 stars over / 5 ***** stars!!

Dump-Truck Mode

In this construction vehicle mode, Build Typhoon is solid, and his tires do roll back and forth. He carries the dump bed which is detachable --It also doubles-up as the "shield" accessory for Buildking. Silver paint apps make it pleasing on the eye, and overall this is a great alt-mode, and my favorite of the lot. Thus, i am going to give Build Typhoon's vehicle mode a big score of 4 stars **** over / 5 ***** stars! Awesome!

Japanese Bio-Card

Tech Specs




Instruction Manual


Weapon/ Spare Part



Overall

Hai-yahh!

Build Typhoon is a great figure, well engineered and looks tough and imposing in both his robot and dump-truck mode. And when combined as Buildking's arms and hands, it makes the super-robot combination look miles better than then next member's function which I am going to touch on right after this: Grimlock aka "Build Hurricane" -- Thus, this is an excellent figure which has loads of playability and look aesthetically great displayed/ transformed on your shelve. 5 stars ***** / over 5 ***** stars! Hands-down!

The Master Tactician of the team, Grimlock comes next.

#3 Second in Command
Build Hurricane (Grimlock)
Alternate Mode: Back-Hoe

Build Hurricane aka Grimlock : Robot Mode

His primary colour is two shades of green with some black, and silver accents. Tall and Lanky, his threads in steam shovel/ back hoe mode become his legs. Not the most impressive looking robot mode, as only his head, knees, elbow and arms, as well as his "claw" like appendages or stubs for fingers are able to move. He can transform into the a leg-unit or "back pack" unit extended from Buildking's super-robot mode. In this version, the "hurricane" attack mode, Build Hurricane's long threads are extended to form "pincer" like claws for hands. This is also Buildking's regular/ default mode. This combination was seen in episode 18 of the robots in Disguise (RiD) cartoon series No. 21 entitled "Landfill!" His head is also seen wearing a yellow visor, and his back-hoe/ shovel attaches to the back as a weapon of sorts. Since this isn't the most appealing robot mode, for now I will give Build Hurricane a lowly score of 3 *** stars / over 5 ***** stars.

Build Hurricane: Back-Hoe / Steam Shovel Mode

Build Hurricane's alternate mode is much better in terms of looks. It hides his tall and awkward robot mode pretty well, although once again, the sacrifice made is the immobile threads which hampers playability. I much prefer this mode for Build Typhoon, and also like the detachable back-hoe arm, which then becomes a sort of an additional melee extension weapon for Buildking. The saving grace of this mode gives it a respectable 3 1/2 *** 1/2 stars over / 5 ***** stars!

Tech Specs


Western Packaging


Weapon/ Spare Part


Overall

Strike a Pose!

Overall, Build Hurricane is to me, the weakest of the lot, in terms of a clumsy and least articulated robot mode. The aesthetics don't really impress me that much, and coupled with the fact that he is better off as a foot unit for Buildking, NOT his splidily hands and arms, thus, Build Hurricane only deserves a low score overall of only 3 1/2 *** 1/2 stars / over 5 ***** stars!

And the last but not least member to be featured is the Team's best "Marksman"

#4 Sharp-shooter/ Wedge No# 1 "Fan"
Build Cyclone (Hightower)
Alternate Mode: Crane

Build Cyclone (Hightower) Robot Mode: All Red!

Hightower oozes sturdiness, and his black 'v-shaped visor' gives him the "cool" and distinct look. Primarily made out of red and a light maroon plastic, he too, like Build Typhoon (Heavy Load) are both considered the "rock" of the team. This means Build Cyclone is also able to be a parts-former, splitting up to transform into the arms of Buildking, and or either of its leg unit when needed in super-combined mode. Like his counterpart Build Typhoon, his points of articulation include, his shoulders, elbows, knees and head move, while waist articulation is limited due to the ability to split in half-- However, it doesn't deter the playability of this robot, as to me, he has a cool design, very old-school in terms of blockiness and once again, very reminiscent of G1 constructicons type. Without a doubt, most certainly both the robots and vehicle modes share the same mold, as their transformation scheme and functions are almost identical. Add to the fact that his crane-hook unit and small gun he carries in robot mode can combine into a BFG (Gig F****** Gun) for Buildking to wield in battle, it only makes this guy cooler and kickass. In all honesty, both he and Build Typhoon, are hands-down my favourate of the bunch, and its difficult for me to choose which one I like best! Thus, he well deservedly gets a rousing 5 ***** stars/ over 5 ***** stars!

Crane Mode

Very standard looking Crane mode, with the same silver accents paint apps in certain areas. He has also a pretty solid alt-mode and his tyres do roll as well. Thus, like his big yellow friend, I am also chuffed and like this mode alot. He gets a very commanding 4 **** stars over 5 stars!!

Tech Specs



Weapon/ Spare Part


Super-Weapon : Gun Crane-Hook!


Instruction Manual


Overall

Great in both modes, Hightower is an excellent piece of transformer toy design. Not much more superlatives can be used to describe this toy. Execllent!

BUILD-TEAM, COMBINE TO MERGE INTO: LANDFILL!!!

LANDFILL/ BUILDKING COMBINATION INSTRUCTIONS!

Okay folks, now comes the moment that you've all been waiting for! The super-combined mode of all four Build Team members into : BUILDKING. I wont go into the details of the mechanics of the combiner, not even to explain just a quick run-through!! Most definitely I will let the pictures of this super combiner tell the story! So just chill and enjoy the next few "glory sots" of him!

FINAL VERDICT: WHAT VERDICT?! PRICELESS!!

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