It's still not as big as the Matty Collector version. That one is gargantuan since it's made to sit 4" action figures in the front bodies of the lions.
As for the shoulder rotation using the Black Lion's shoulder ratchets instead of having the sockets (or plugs) rotate separately on their own ratchets, I think that's actually a compromise dictated by both the size and the cross-compatibility:
* The Black Lion's shoulders already have to accommodate both its own shoulder ratchets and space to tuck the lower legs into. That limits the available space for the socket to have its own ratchet to the point that I doubt there'd be room for one capable of bearing the weight of the limb lions.
* If the connector plugs rotated, they'd be significantly different from the ones for the Legendary Defender version (for one thing, they'd almost certainly be bigger in order to bear the weight) and the cross-compatibility (which JoshB seems to be wrong about the true extent of) would be undermined.
I think the Legendary Defender redesign was very much made with toys in mind, Playmates just didn't sufficiently cross-check everything when developing those toys. Like clearance between the elbow joints and the haunch cowlings. Or how much strength the Blue and Yellow lions' foreleg ratchets needed to function as stable heels in the combined mode. If those ratchets were a lot tighter, or there was a way to lock the forelegs in place, I suspect most or all of the LD version's stability issues would vanish.
Playmates' version of the classic design very much benefits from 1. being a refinement of a design that already existed (rather than one being rendered into toy form for the first time) and 2. being the second 16" Voltron that Playmates did.
Did you mean to say SKUs?
If so, that seems to be a dumb thing with toy manufacturers in general anymore. I know Hasbro are guilty of it.
What do you mean by the sword being half the size it should be? It looks fairly well-proportioned with the lions. Or were you specifically talking in terms of length?
I suspect it's unpainted because of being made of softer plastic (guess they couldn't get away with the tip as hard plastic). A lot of the common soft plastics don't take too well to the enamel paints used for other bodywork.
I'm more disappointed that Playmates left out the Black Lion's blade, personally.
"All of the Legendary Defender lions can be used with the Voltron 84 body, but not the other way around."
An eBay listing I found when looking for non-painful prices on the Voltron '84 limb lions (because this thing now has Combiner Wars Syndrome) says otherwise: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/~nEAAOSw1ENkcPce/s-l960.jpg
You can't stick limbs on the wrong sides, sure, but it definitely seems you can stick the '84 limb lions on the LD Black Lion.
* The apparent lack of bicep swivels you mention is odd - it looks like it should have them, the Legendary Defender version has them, and the upper part of the elbow is clearly separate from the shoulder. Weird. I will say, it's nice that the elbows are unblocked without needing to slightly mistransform. The Legendary Green and Red lions really needed to have their haunch cowlings collapse a little.
* The Black Lion obviously copies a lot of design layout from the Legendary one, may even be a heavy reshell. But they definitely repeated not only the electronics setup but also the shoulder joint setup, with the socket itself being static and the rotation using the lion's own shoulder ratchet. It's a bit of a cheat, but I think it's acceptable. Here's why: Between the lion's own shoulder ratchet, and having to accommodate the tucked-in lower leg... it's unlikely there was room to give the socket its own separate ratchet - at least, not one that could handle the weight of the arm lions.
* From the sound of it, Playmates' circuit board designer doesn't seem to have been the best at complex audio priorities. I know from experience the Legendary Black Lion has similar issues.
I don' really see this and the Legendary Defender version as having different proportions as such, aside from the wings.
Having acquired the 16" Legendary Defender version, I'd really like to get this one. It seems more fun than either the Masterpiece one or the Matty Collector one.
I just LOVE the photography in this review. The simple use of a suede blanket? bed sheet? that happens to be the PERFECT texture and color to emulate desert sand. The small bunches in the blanket that mimic sand dunes. The shadows cast by the subjects. The way these derelict heads of old robot Gods poke out of the "sand" is just M'wah! Chef's kiss! It's all so perfect. Absolutely lovely. Excellent Work!
It's wacky and obscure stuff like this that keeps me glued to CollectionDX! Always keeping it fresh, unique, and interesting!
The gyroscope stabilization is awesome! I wish more toys utilized such a feature! Such a mechanism would've been great for something like, say, a Masters of the Universe vehicle.
That is a cool set that looks exactly like the name sounds. Was about to say, the dx brick is too good to be true. But even cooler that you can get the bricks customized.
That really is cool on both fronts, the suspenders and the packaging. Wonder if there's a museum filled with such things, not toys but the merchandise that went along side them.
If someone decides to read this, and would have a nice scan of the sticker sheet,, shoot me an email to bourno@gmail.com
Thanks. Fun reading this review from 13 years ago, and great to have this resource still.
I really love this updated Dancouga figure! I think it's about time one of these 3rd party companies try their hand at making one. Unfortunately he's not as popular as Voltron/Golion because there a literally a million different figures available. Licensed & unlicensed. High quality & crap quality. Maybe one day though...
I might pick one of these up next year. Seeing these, and seeing Hasbro getting serious about vehicle toys again recently, I wonder if there's any chance of new M.A.S.K. toys getting made anytime soon. Or even just reissues of the originals.
Ramen Toys is doing a modern Thunderhawk that looks really good. Maybe one or more of these things will get that ball rolling.
The link in the Playmates category that's supposed to go to the Playmates classic Black Lion instead leads to this for some reason.
What the actual fuck?
It's still not as big as the Matty Collector version. That one is gargantuan since it's made to sit 4" action figures in the front bodies of the lions.
As for the shoulder rotation using the Black Lion's shoulder ratchets instead of having the sockets (or plugs) rotate separately on their own ratchets, I think that's actually a compromise dictated by both the size and the cross-compatibility:
* The Black Lion's shoulders already have to accommodate both its own shoulder ratchets and space to tuck the lower legs into. That limits the available space for the socket to have its own ratchet to the point that I doubt there'd be room for one capable of bearing the weight of the limb lions.
* If the connector plugs rotated, they'd be significantly different from the ones for the Legendary Defender version (for one thing, they'd almost certainly be bigger in order to bear the weight) and the cross-compatibility (which JoshB seems to be wrong about the true extent of) would be undermined.
I think the Legendary Defender redesign was very much made with toys in mind, Playmates just didn't sufficiently cross-check everything when developing those toys. Like clearance between the elbow joints and the haunch cowlings. Or how much strength the Blue and Yellow lions' foreleg ratchets needed to function as stable heels in the combined mode. If those ratchets were a lot tighter, or there was a way to lock the forelegs in place, I suspect most or all of the LD version's stability issues would vanish.
Playmates' version of the classic design very much benefits from 1. being a refinement of a design that already existed (rather than one being rendered into toy form for the first time) and 2. being the second 16" Voltron that Playmates did.
Did you mean to say SKUs?
If so, that seems to be a dumb thing with toy manufacturers in general anymore. I know Hasbro are guilty of it.
What do you mean by the sword being half the size it should be? It looks fairly well-proportioned with the lions. Or were you specifically talking in terms of length?
I suspect it's unpainted because of being made of softer plastic (guess they couldn't get away with the tip as hard plastic). A lot of the common soft plastics don't take too well to the enamel paints used for other bodywork.
I'm more disappointed that Playmates left out the Black Lion's blade, personally.
"All of the Legendary Defender lions can be used with the Voltron 84 body, but not the other way around."
An eBay listing I found when looking for non-painful prices on the Voltron '84 limb lions (because this thing now has Combiner Wars Syndrome) says otherwise: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/~nEAAOSw1ENkcPce/s-l960.jpg
You can't stick limbs on the wrong sides, sure, but it definitely seems you can stick the '84 limb lions on the LD Black Lion.
* The apparent lack of bicep swivels you mention is odd - it looks like it should have them, the Legendary Defender version has them, and the upper part of the elbow is clearly separate from the shoulder. Weird. I will say, it's nice that the elbows are unblocked without needing to slightly mistransform. The Legendary Green and Red lions really needed to have their haunch cowlings collapse a little.
* The Black Lion obviously copies a lot of design layout from the Legendary one, may even be a heavy reshell. But they definitely repeated not only the electronics setup but also the shoulder joint setup, with the socket itself being static and the rotation using the lion's own shoulder ratchet. It's a bit of a cheat, but I think it's acceptable. Here's why: Between the lion's own shoulder ratchet, and having to accommodate the tucked-in lower leg... it's unlikely there was room to give the socket its own separate ratchet - at least, not one that could handle the weight of the arm lions.
* From the sound of it, Playmates' circuit board designer doesn't seem to have been the best at complex audio priorities. I know from experience the Legendary Black Lion has similar issues.
I don' really see this and the Legendary Defender version as having different proportions as such, aside from the wings.
Having acquired the 16" Legendary Defender version, I'd really like to get this one. It seems more fun than either the Masterpiece one or the Matty Collector one.
It's not an exact match, but it looks like someone was looking at the Gundam MK-V while designing this, particularly in the torso section.
I just LOVE the photography in this review. The simple use of a suede blanket? bed sheet? that happens to be the PERFECT texture and color to emulate desert sand. The small bunches in the blanket that mimic sand dunes. The shadows cast by the subjects. The way these derelict heads of old robot Gods poke out of the "sand" is just M'wah! Chef's kiss! It's all so perfect. Absolutely lovely. Excellent Work!
For the price, that's pretty impressive. Very nice.
Thanks for covering these weird old toys. Most of this obscure stuff would've been lost to time, drowned out by the popular toys of their day.
It's wacky and obscure stuff like this that keeps me glued to CollectionDX! Always keeping it fresh, unique, and interesting!
The gyroscope stabilization is awesome! I wish more toys utilized such a feature! Such a mechanism would've been great for something like, say, a Masters of the Universe vehicle.
Even crazier than the chameleon! Almost hard to take in the mechanical side up close, but from a distance, it all comes together. Very cool.
Very cool. Doing the half complete/half mechanical thing could be its own line, or maybe a gimmick for some kind of media.
The fact that the motocompo is pretty much immobile is kind of disappointing
I believe UBO is another toy in the line and the callout is stating that the toys won't interfere with each other.
The gun looks like Earth King's weapon from the Godaikin Godsigma set.
Wow, they are still available? These are a steal at that price.
Just bought the red one from their website!
Red, yellow, and green are still available and at a discounted price of $35!
Go get ‘em!
That is a cool set that looks exactly like the name sounds. Was about to say, the dx brick is too good to be true. But even cooler that you can get the bricks customized.
Nice review.
Solo, each of these sets have looked interesting. Together, it's nice to see how they interact and have themed groups. Very cool.
Of the ones you've covered, I think the blue series is the coolest looking, but the green series is the best designed.
That really is cool on both fronts, the suspenders and the packaging. Wonder if there's a museum filled with such things, not toys but the merchandise that went along side them.
If someone decides to read this, and would have a nice scan of the sticker sheet,, shoot me an email to bourno@gmail.com
Thanks. Fun reading this review from 13 years ago, and great to have this resource still.
I really love this updated Dancouga figure! I think it's about time one of these 3rd party companies try their hand at making one. Unfortunately he's not as popular as Voltron/Golion because there a literally a million different figures available. Licensed & unlicensed. High quality & crap quality. Maybe one day though...
For $45, that's pretty good. May have to pre-order, but I'm really looking forward to other characters they'll do.
Looks nice - was one of my favorite Gobots. Liked the action toys releases, but these look swank. Anything to get more Machine Robo out there!
I might pick one of these up next year. Seeing these, and seeing Hasbro getting serious about vehicle toys again recently, I wonder if there's any chance of new M.A.S.K. toys getting made anytime soon. Or even just reissues of the originals.
Ramen Toys is doing a modern Thunderhawk that looks really good. Maybe one or more of these things will get that ball rolling.