Chogokin Series GE-10 Gaiking: Legend of Daiku Maryu
Story:
Based on the 2005 re-imagining of Gaiking and Daiku Maryu. Gaiking: The Legend of Daiku Maryu tells the story of Young Daiya Tsuwabaki, who joins the crew of the Daiku Maryu as they travel to the world of Darius, located underneath the Earth. There, he pilots the powerful super robot Gaiking and battles the Darius Army and its generals to free the world of Darius, as he searches for his lost father.
Gaiking part 1, part 2, go!
The main mech of the series. Gaiking can only be piloted by those that have incredible flame power hidden inside them. By a stroke of fate, Daiya is recruited by the crew of the Daiku Maryu after he shows that he can handle the powerful machine.
The toy is a heavy retool of the Gx-27 Gaiking. With modified transformation gimmicks added to recreate the new combination sequence for Gaiking in the new Anime.
To release Gaiking’s part connection, simply press on this button its back.
Gaiking’s attacks
Puncher Grind! – Gaiking’s “Rocket Punch” attack. First appearing in episode 2, this version of the classic “Rocket Punch” does not have an “auto return” feature. Gaiking (or an ally) must manually recover his arm and reattach it after firing.
Be mindful of the trigger. Unlike the Gx-27, this one only has the launcher for a forearm connector. There’s no other way to connect the forearm to the figure. Sigh..
Zector Hook! – A cable that shoots from Gaiking’s shoulders. Can be used to anchor and pull in his opponents for closer combat, or can also be used to retrieve the Puncher Grind. Daiya even takes it to the next level and wraps the cable around his horns as he does the Bolt Paralyzer to conduct electricity to his opponents. First appeared in episode 2.
Despar Sight – Powerful eyebeams from Gaiking’s eyes. Gaiking’s first attack used in the show.
Counter Cross! – Gaiking deploys the melee weapons placed on his shins.
Gaiking Axe and Shield! – First appeared in episode 5. These are additional weapons for Gaiking launched from the Daiku Maryu.
The axe can be plugged into the shield.
The shield can be clipped onto Gaiking’s forearm.
Gaiking Lance! – First appeared in episode 6
The Gaiking Lance and Counter Cross can be combined to form the Counter Lance. An attachment piece is required to connect the two weapons.
In the series, the Gaiking Lance, Axe and Shield are all stored and launched from Daiku Maryu’s tail, catapulting up between the fins of the Daiku and launching from it’s back to Gaiking.
Bolt Paralyzer! – Gaiking uses his horns to stab into his opponents and hit them with a huge surge of electricity, overloading their circuits and paralyzing them. The horns on the figure can be rotated down to recreate the look.
Killer Bite! – the dragon on Gaiking’s chest isn’t just for show. It can be used to bite into his enemies.
Zaul Geyser! – Gaiking fires a chain of energy beams from his chest (the dragon’s eyes).
Hydro Blazer – Gaiking’s most powerful move, fired from the dragon chest’s orbits and mouth. Daiya focuses his flame into a powerful blast attack. This however greatly depletes Gaiking’s Hydrute Flame energy.
FACE OPEN!– Gaiking’s ultimate attack. First appearing in episode 12, Daiya unlocks the Gaiking’s limiters by shouting the voice command “Face Open” and unleashes the incredible potential sealed away inside the machine. This greatly increases Gaiking’s speed, strength and power output by four fold, but critically drains the flame power of both the machine and the pilot to near-fatal levels if not monitored. This move can only be used for a very limited amount of time.
On the toy, the face plates on Gaiking’s chest come off, along with Gaiking’s face mask. Revealing the heat sinks underneath. In the Anime, the heat from the machine burns so hot, that it melts anything it touches on contact.
Be careful not to lose the face mask. It’s a really tiny piece.
If one had flame effects parts to display next to this figure, it would look really cool.
Display Base
The display base is a reuse of the one that came with Gx-27, only instead of a nameplate, we only get a sticker for GE-10.
Same as with Gx-27, you can opt to display Gaiking combined or separated.
The Good
-Gaiking stands roughly 8 inches and weighs 374 Grams.
-Diecast parts include:
–Entire torso
–Forearms
–Hips
–Upper legs
–Feet
-Face Open gimmick is a nice addition.
-Basic weapons from the Anime are included.
-Same as with Gx-27, you can pose Gaiking in both combined and separated modes.
-Firing Puncher Grind. I miss gimmicks like these.
-Horns can be adjusted to recreate the Bolt Paralyzer pose.
-New transformation from the show is faithfully recreated.
The Bad
-The forearms are connected only via the spring-loaded launcher. This tends to make the figure fire it’s Puncher Grind if handled improperly.
-Due to the design of the toy’s chest “Face Open” gimmick, Gaiking looks really badly proportioned. In the Anime, it was very lean, here it looks like it needs to go on a diet.
-Figure is a heavy retool of Gx-27 Gaiking.
-Stinger and Serpent really should have been included to serve as additional weapons for the toy, like in the show.
-Due to the combination design, the toy lacks a waist joint.
-Thigh articulation is also somewhat limited.
-Display base is a reuse of the Gx-27 one.
-Display base nameplate is just a sticker now.
-Similar to the Gx-27, the display base is just packed in a box with no tray, so expect some rattling when you shake the box.
The Ugly
The plates on the chest just keep falling off!! While it’s cool that Bandai included this gimmick, they really should’ve just given an alternate chest as a whole. The pieces just keep falling off at the slightest touch. Not the best execution of a good idea here, Bandai…
Overall, it’s a fairly decent retool of the Gx-27, as such, that means that we still get a good, diecast-heavy figure of Gaiking. The new Gaiking combination is faithfully recreated here and the inclusion of the new basic weapons are a nice touch, too. For the negatives, while I like the concept of the “Face Open” mode, the execution was really, really bad here. Worse, the whole thing makes Gaiking’s entire torso look bloated, really ruining the proportions of what could’ve been a great update to the Gx-27.
I’m not sure if these negatives killed the sales of the toy, or if the Anime wasn’t that big of a hit? As we never got to see Bandai release Vulking, Raiking and of course, Gaiking the Great, to go with this figure, which was a real shame. I really hope Bandai at least does a proper Soul of Chogokin Gaiking the Great at some point.
For folks who are still interested in this one, it’s still pretty available at decent prices, even after almost two decades.
Gold
