Sentinel Riobot Mazinkaiser – Mazin Power Activated Version (Hobby Japan Exclusive).
Kaiser Pileders
Mazin go!
The figure is designed by the famous design team known as Chemical Attack, this figure sports some crazy details and articulation. This version is a Hobby Japan Online Shop exclusive called the “Mazin Power Activated” version. It features chrome paint finishing instead of the original silver painted parts and the gold colors are a bit darker.
Right off the bat, you’ll notice the impressive poseability of this figure. The joints are very well hidden and they do function exceptionally well. I think this may very well be the most poseable diecast Super Robot figure I’ve ever handled.
Mazinkaiser’s attacks
Retio beam!
Turbo Smasher punch!
The effects parts have been changed from yellow (original version) to red.
Giganto Missile
lol… phallic much?
Fire Blaster!
Kaiser Blades!
The shoulders sections holding the blade handles are a bit of a cheat as they run on a ball joint which makes it easier to do the blade-pulling pose.
Final Kaiser Blade!
This is where the excellent joint design for the figure shines most. He looks really good pulling the Blade out of his chest.
The guard of the sword features a normal crest and an upside down side crest on the other side. I never got the significance of this until I was writing this post. The upside down side is for when you pose the sword being planted into the ground with the blade facing down. This will make the “demon” symbol face upright.
Kaiser Scrander
The idea to use clear transparent plastic on these parts and then have impressive sculpting underneath it is very clever. I like it. Very original.
The downside here for me is that the skinny connector on the Kaiser Scrander clips onto this little peg on his back. I wish the connection was more solid than these thin pieces of plastics, considering how heavy the whole Scrander is.
Scrander Cross!
As impressive as the design on the Scrander wings are. I really didn’t like the way the main section of the Scrander was done. It doesn’t connect flush to the back of Kaiser. Instead they made it tilt out a bit. Maybe I’m just a bit obsessive-compulsive, but it does bug me to look at it and see it skewed and sticking out like a sore thumb that way. I dunno, maybe I’m doing something wrong here?
Sentinel included an optional plastic cover for Kaiser’s back in case you don’t want to see the shaft sticking out. This is mainly for connecting the shaft to the display base arm.
Scrander Boomerang!
I was actually holding onto the wing in the pics above. But with help from the stand you can also pose the Scrander like it’s been launched.
Just random poses
Display base – standard fare for Sentinel’s releases. But it is somewhat generic. I sort of wish it had some unique qualities, like a name plate similar to Bandai’s Soul of Chogokin line.
The display base can be disassembled for various functions.
Comparison with the SOC Gx-75 Mazinkaiser
The Good
-Stands roughly 8″ tall (10″ counting the wingtips) and weighs 369 Grams (457 Grams with Scrander.
-Diecast content
–Sections of the torso
–Sections of the lower leg
–Sections of the feet
-Insanely poseable! I think this is the main selling point of this figure.
-Impressive joint design. You gotta see how it works to really appreciate how the designers went about this.
-Collapsing chest plates. These impressed me a lot. It’s a very fancy workaround for making Mazinkaiser be able to wrap his arms around his torso, as opposed to how Bandai did theirs with just simple hinged peg, which resulted in a huge quality control problem (broken chest pegs right out of the box).
-Gorgeous sculpting detail.
-Comes with effects parts for the Turbo Smasher Punches.
-Very shiny. It really catches your attention on a shelf.
-Clear parts on the Fire Blaster heat sinks and Scrander wings, lots of crazy detailing there.
-No sharp points! Ha ha, Bandai’s SOC version almost cut my finger one time due to it’s sharp, pointy forearms (seriously Bandai, WTF). Thankfully, there’s none of that nonsense here.
The Bad
-No firing gimmicks.
-“Elbow” piece tends to fall out very easily.
-Lack of ratchets. It gets worse when you plug in the Scrander. The torso tends to bend backwards a lot if not balanced properly with the Scrander on. This toy would be so perfect if they used a more solid joint system anywhere, even if it was just the torso or knees.
-The diecast content is just ok, not great, but it’s just enough to say “well, it does have diecast”. Sadly, the heft of the figure pales next to the SOC and even more so next to the Aoshima. If you’re looking for heft, this one might be a downer for you.
-Stylized look. I think the design might be a turn off for some, as this definitely does not faithfully capture the look of the Anime version but went with its own unique style.
-Kaiser Scrander connection takes some getting used to. I’m not too comfortable with how the connection works. Less thrilled with having to open up so many tiny hinges and panels to get the ports out too.
-Not a fan of the oddly-positioned Scrander main section when connected to Kaiser. Instead of it being flush, it’s oddly tilted and it sticks out a little too much for me.
-Aside from the shiny chrome. Nothing else has been added to the toy from the V1 release I think?
-Display base is too generic. I wish they added something to make it unique.
The Ugly
I guess it would have to be the price? It is very pricey compared to other Mazinkaisers released so far. Quality-wise there seems to be no issues with the toy as far as I can tell.
Overall, this is a beautifully done figure. It is ridiculously poseable, very eye catching and has lots of details sculpted in that will really make you stop and admire it for a moment. The relatively high price tag and design choices might be a turnoff for some but this figure is definitely worth at least checking out and it is a very fun figure to handle (except for the Scrander connection). Pretty good.
Big thanks to Greattoysonline for lending me his personal copy to do this review.
Gold
