Pose+ Metal Series Space Warrior Baldios
Take note of this accessory tray that’s hidden underneath the styrofoam tray.
When returning the display base parts into the tray, this is the proper orientation for it.
Be mindful not to lose the Pulse Saber connector, it’s really small. It fell out of the tray as I was lifting up the cover.
The set comes with a fully colored fold-out manual, covering the basics on the figure and it’s accessories.
Interestingly, the instructions for transforming the toy aren’t included in the manual. They instead send you to their Youtube page via QR code to view the transformation. This is good and fine, as long as the Pose+ Youtube channel stays up. Innovative but I’m not entirely sure about this concept, say 40 years from now?
Story
In the year 2100, Marin Reigan, a refugee from the invading futuristic space fortress Algol, joins Earth’s Blue Fixer team to fight against General Zeo Gattler and his S-1 army.
Marin’s ship, containing subspace teleportation technology, is retrofitted to become part of Earth’s most powerful fighting machine, the Space Warrior Baldios. Together with fellow Blue Fixer Baldios pilots Jack Oliver and Raita Hokuto, Marin fights to protect his new home.
To transform Baldios into Pulsa Burn, you’ll have to use this tool to help rotate the crazy stiff hip ratchet joints upwards.
Pulsa Burn
The set comes with optional parts to make Pulsa Burn more proportional.
Clip the optional wings underneath the chest panel like so.
Piloted by Marin Reigan, the ship was stolen from the S-1 colony during Marin’s escape and contains alien subspace technology, allowing it to teleport over wide distances. The ship is later modified to allow it to combine with Earth’s battle machines to form Baldios.
Landing skis can fold out from underneath the ship.
D’oh!!! Like a goof, I didn’t realize the set had and optional add-on turret for Pulsa Burn. I totally missed this and only realized this as I was already done with the review. I didn’t feel like transforming the unit again since the ratchet joints are a huge pain to maneuver into position.
Baldi Prize
Optional missile launcher side section for making Baldi Prize more show accurate. It doesn’t seem to want to clip on properly no matter how hard I tried. It just kind of sits there?
Piloted by Colonel Jack Oliver, an American who initially distrusts Marin but eventually comes to accept the latter as a friend. During combination, Baldi Prize makes up Baldios’ right leg.
Take note of the mini guns that pop out of the sides of the Prize, especially when transforming the ship.
Catalanger
Piloted by Sergeant Raita Hokuto, the team’s martial artist and comedy relief. The unit makes up Baldios’ left leg.
I really love the pop up mini-missile turret gimmick here.
An optional cover is included for closing up the front section of the unit.
Blue Fixer team
Baldios, Charge Up!
To transform Baldios, I strongly recommend watching the official Pose+ Youtube video guide.
Transformation Notes
I strongly recommend taking off Baldios’ helmet antennae when you try to connect the ships together to prevent accidentally damaging it. Connecting the toy’s legs can be very tough to do.
To connect the legs, you’ll have to come in with the legs facing outwards, to align with the slots that fit into the pegs.
You can swap out the separate chest panels with the non-transforming solid chest piece for better visuals.
Baldios
Appearing starting episode four of the series, the Baldios is Earth’s main defense against the S-1 invaders. Standing at 100 Meters tall, the mecha boasts a wide range of powerful weaponry. It is also capable of Subspace movement and navigation, which allows Baldios interstellar travel at superluminal speeds. It’s mentioned that Baldios can stay inside Subspace for a maximum of 5 minutes at a time.
According to the producers of the show, the similarities between Baldios’ face with that of the RX-78 Gundam were “purely coincidental”. Riiiiight…. Lol..
Do note that while the figure does have an ankle joint that tilts forwards and back, it can’t seem to rock sideways. At least I couldn’t seem to get it to, I didn’t want to force the joint in case I was wrong.
Mid-torso ab crunch joint.
Butterfly shoulder joints allow for more versatile poseability
Baldios Attacks
For the most part, Baldios generally just punches and kicks enemy S-1 Army attack ships with his bare hands (they resemble little flying jellyfish).
Baldi Missiles -Missiles fired from the cannons on the sides of Baldios’ legs.
Shoulder Cannons – Cannons emerge from Baldios’ shoulders that fire powerful energy or artillery shots.
To remove the shoulder pieces, you’ll have to push the tabs loose with the spudger tool that’s included with this set.
Baldi Cluster -A throwing weapon with a chain attached to a diamond-shaped weight that houses an internal spike. It is usually stored and ejected from Baldios’ left hip.
Baldy Cutter – giant blades ejected from the front shins of both legs. When thrown by Baldios, it can cut through steel 10 meters thick.
Pulse Saber – A expandable sword drawn from under Baldios’ chest emblem. The sword can be reconfigured into “lance” or “javelin” modes as well.
Double Pulse Saber
Pulse Saber Dringing – Baldios combines two Pulse Sabers and rotates them fast enough to become a buzz saw. I don’t recommend plugging the connector piece all the way in, as it seems a bit tight and might be an issue when disconnecting the swords later on.
Pulse Saber Lance mode – In the Anime, the Pulse Saber expands to more than double its length and girth to become a throwing weapon for Baldios. For the toy, several optional wide pieces are included to connect to the Pulse Saber’s sword guard and handle.
Baldios can hold onto the Javelin by resting it up against this hard point on its palm.
Pulse Saber Javelin mode
Subspace beam – First appearing in episode 27, the Subspace Beam is a powerful, ring-shaped beam emitted from the crystal on Baldios’ helmet. Powered by Subspace energy, this attack drains a tremendous amount of energy from Baldios.
Pulse Thunder – Baldios discharges an incredible amount of plasma energy as white light from its chest in a single, area-damaging shot. This attack drains even more power from Baldios than the Subspace Beam.
CONCEPT WEAPONS AND ATTACKS – These never appeared in the Anime, only appearing during concept design stages of the show and in the toys.
Laser Bowgun – A bowgun weapon, emerging from the red diamond on Baldios’ forearm.
Baldiguard – Baldios’ shield. To equip the shield, you have to first attach the handle to Baldios’ hand, then equip the shield on.
Baldiroiser – Baldios’ desperation move and deadliest attack. The technique works by igniting all of Baldios’ energy and turning the mecha into a giant fireball in the first phase. In the second phase, Baldios then activates Subspace travel and warps into the enemy’s body, leaving behind the charged energy to destroy it, while the unit escapes by teleporting away as individual ships.
This attack was originally conceptualized for the final battle but was never produced (we get a different series of events for the true finale). This move was only made known via the novelization adaptation. We only get to see this final attack realized thanks to Baldios’ appearance in the Super Robot Wars Z Game, which came 27 years after said novel was published.
Display Base
By linking up sections of the display base to the Baldiguard, you can have a platform for docking all three Baldios ships.
You can rotate some of the platforms on the base to spread them out even more.
Alternately, the pieces can be reconfigured to form an accessory stand for some of Baldios’ weapons.
The Good
-The weigh in:
— Pulsa Burn – 383 Grams (optional parts equipped)
— Catalanger – 217 Grams
— Baldi Prize – 206 Grams
— Baldios – 792 Grams
-Baldios stands roughly 11 inches tall.
-Diecast parts include:
–Sections of the torso
–Lower legs
–Upper halves of the feet
–Main joints
–Certain joints and armatures
-Finally, a big Baldios figure. The Brave Gokin one was good, but it really lacked any presence due to it being only 7 inches in size back then. This figure is a much better fit for pairing up with other Super Robot figures in terms of scale!
-As one would come to expect from Pose+, beautifully painted details.
-Lots of ratchet joints!
-Lots of weapons, accessories, even extra hands and a display base! A very, very well executed release by pose.
-Rubberized pads on the bottoms of the feet for added stability. Nice!
-Butterfly shoulder joints!
-A handy spudger tool is included with the set to help with the transformation. Nice.
-Transformation instructions available online as a video.
-Clever use of parts to form the display base in various configurations. The orientation of the pieces can get a bit confusing though.
-Lots of optional parts included to improve the proportions of the toy’s individual components.
-I really love this spring gimmick for locking the knees in place. It’s very clever, yet simple.
The Bad
-Transformation is a bit difficult if you’re not used to high-end engineering.
-The add-on missile turret for Baldi Prize doesn’t seem to want to stay on.
-There’s a little lack of symmetry here, but I guess it can’t be helped.
-I really wish they kept the small pieces together in one single, small tray (like the connector for the Pulse Sabers). They’re pieces all over the tray and things can be easily missed. I overlooked the Pulsa Burn’s turret add-on since it was on its own spot on the tray.
-Crazy tight ratchets! I like tight ratchets as much as the next guy, but the ones here can be a bit too tight for comfort in certain sections.
-Tight bicep joints. Try to wiggle them loose a bit before actually rotating them fully.
-No ankle rocker joint. The ankles only tilt forward and backwards (I think? I didn’t want to force the rocker).
-Transformation instructions available online as a video. Yeah, while initially more helpful than pacing through a photo guide in a printed manual, this might become a problem decades down the road if Pose+ loses their Youtube channel or if something happens to Youtube.
-Connecting Baldios the first time can be a bit tough. It gets simpler as the connection loosens a bit over time. Thankfully, disconnecting the figure is much, much easier to do.
-Minor nitpick: The toy comes almost ready to be combined right out of the box, with Pulsa Burn already in combination mode, but the legs are half-transformed and need some more transformation work before combining. I really wish Pose+ just made the legs ready for combination, too, so as to simplify the process.
The Ugly
Grr… the back of my Baldios had a huge paint scratch right out of the box. Drats! So much for hoping this figure would be QC issue free.
Overall, an amazing release by Pose+! I remember the old Brave Gokin figure having some complex engineering going in due the to the transformation sequence for Baldios in the series and Pose+ certainly took it to the next level. The added engineering details and diecast parts are all top notch!
It’s not completely perfect I’ll admit, but it’s close. There’s so much crammed into this set, it really is something amazing and I am glad I managed to get my hands on it!
Funfact: Originally, the 31-episode TV series ended on a disastrous note, with our heroes failing to stop Gattler’s final plan of melting the polar ice caps, resulting in great floods that wipe out most of Earth’s population. The final screen image shows the word “Finished” as giant tsunami waves crash and heavily inundates most of the world’s land masses. Quite a grim ending for a Super Robots Anime show.
Funfact 2: After the shockingly abrupt ending of the series, fans started petitions and rallies to show support for the show. The producers managed to get enough support from the studio to release a feature-length film to give the series a proper ending. The first half of the movie recaps highlight events from the TV series, before proceeding to how the show ends.
Funfact 3: In the original, unproduced ending of the series, Raita (Catalanger’s pilot) was meant to die in action while trying to stop enemy nukes. In the movie, the scene never occurs and he lives.
Gold
