Unless you are collecting 3rd party Transformers toys or original toys from the older series, it is kind of a lull period for Transformers collectors. Most people I know are also selling old toys to fund the upcoming Titans Return line. If you are also a Super Sentai fan, it is no secret that the current Zyuohger mechas have been a bit of a letdown. Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy the theme of animals and the plot so far. The gimmick of the mechas, on the other hand, has been less than ideal. Toqger and Ninninger were bashed pretty badly for their mechas and I think Zyuohger is worst of the lot with Wild Zyuoh King having wimpy arms that do not even resemble those from the shows. The size of the mechas are also much smaller and the cubic design doesn't help the fact that the mechas have minimal articulation. In short, we are getting glorified bricks with springs. With that said, I do hope they pick up as it is still the 40th anniversary of Super Sentai and a significant milestone for the series.
In this down time, I happen to chance upon the Battle Strike Team: Space Deleter series and had a go at it. To do justice to the series, I will NOT call it a KO Super Sentai series as I found it unfair for some reviewers to call it a KO. I rather look at it as China's attempt at tokusatsu. The perks of being bilingual is that I get to understand what I watched on YouTube and I did not enjoy the snippets of what I watched. Personally, I found the plot and dialogues too cheesy. The fight scenes and the designs of the mechas, however, are surprisingly impressive! It is also the design of the mecha toys that had drawn the attention of collectors and some brave souls had a go at the mechas, giving much positive feedback that emboldened me to give it a shot. But more importantly, the price was the biggest draw. The set of 3 mechas that forms the ultimate form, with shipping cost, came up to the price of a single official Super Sentai mecha!
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| Set of 3 |
You need the set of 3 mechas to form the 'Ultrazord' of the series. They came up to 5.4kg in shipping weight and any one of the box you see here made Zyuohking's packaging feel like a lunch box.
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| Inside the box |
Auldey, the company that produced the toys, has adopted a similar paper cardboard packaging that is environmentally friendly and easy for kids to free the toys. The parts are wrapped in plastic and it came with a simple instruction manual.
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| Solar Saver- Vehicle Mode |
The pink jet forms the shoulder and helmet of Solar Saver. The blue transporter, fully unfolded, is the longest vehicle of the lot and forms the legs. The badass looking red rocket forms the head, torso, arms and weapon.
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| Rocket launching mode |
Believe it or not, this was the mode that launched me into the decision of acquiring them. Ok. Lame.
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| Carrier mode |
When Blue has to do all the driving around...
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| Gattai! |
This is the true strength of the mecha design! The plastic quality is similar to that of Bandai and the joints are tight. There is no gimmick here, just plain old space vehicles forming a huge robot that screams intimidation. The good mix of translucent plastic and helmet made me go crazy about it. I can't even bring myself to put Zyuohking's beside it. :(
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| The next 2 boxes... |
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| Planet Saver- Vehicle Mode |
The yellow drill tank forms the upper half and the green spaceship forms the lower half of the combined form. Simple and sweet.
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| Planet Saver- Combined form |
I love the elbow joints. Come on, we don't get that often in Super Sentai mechas. Before you bombard me, I also forgot to flip up the silver blade/horn pieces on the helmet. Planet Saver comes up to the height of Solar Saver with a good mass too.
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| Let our power combine... |
Ta-da! We have Galaxy Saver! I will tell you upfront that this is the best form of what you can get from the three mecha sets. That's right, more does not make it better. With the exception of the red arms sticking awkwardly at both sides of the legs, the mechas come well together here. I like how the hulking arsenal is cohesive and does not come across as something messy and too much of a brick.
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| Uranus Saver- Vehicle Mode |
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| Uranus Saver- Robot Mode |
Other than the need to come up with a better name, I find Uranus Saver the weakest of the trio. The main problem in its design lies with the dragon head that does not feel cohesive to the overall design. It is always something that sticks out like a sore thumb in ALL the modes possible.
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| Size comparison |
When everything comes together, it becomes too messy! I don't like the dragon head sticking out at the top and half of Uranus Saver is attached to the back of this form. This form is only good for people who like their mechas big and having parts stacked together. Personally, I also won't want kids handling this as it's over 5kg of plastic. Crazy heavy for a toy, especially if it lands on your feet.
Overall, I will strongly recommend Galaxy Saver. It's been a while since I have seen a tokusatsu mecha that impresses me so much with excellent quality of material used and design that blew me away. The large size is definitely something adult toy collectors love as the departure from large robot toys is disappointing. The final form is a tad disappointing but don't let it fool you in skipping this line entirely. Certainly, don't write it off because it is from China. In fact, I can't wait to see what they come up with next!
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