Marusan’s Dica Model series reissue of CM’S Corp Brave Gokin Gordian Warrior/ Toshi Gordian (Anime Import/Toyshunter Exclusive ver).
Orignally released as CM’s Corp. Brave Gokin No.30 a few years back, toy company Marusan bought up the molds when CM’s folded last 2013. Marusan seems to be on a roll and previously reissued the CM’s Corp. Jeeg and will also reissue the CM’s Corp. Goshogun next after Gordian.
Before I begin, I think it’s best to make it clear that this is the Italian Market exclusive version. It comes with the optional “newer” parts that came out in the later part of the show. The regular market release does not have these parts. I’m not sure if the show ever explained the new parts or if it was just something the animators threw in after Daigo accesses his new attacks. Anyway, there’s also a metallic finish variant for both the regular and Italy exclusive versions of the Marusan reissue. The metallic finish is based off the Miyazawa limited to 150 (or was it 300?) units produced variant from CM’s Corp.
This sticker on the front of the box, lower right corner, indicates that it’s the Italy exclusive, the regular release has no sticker.
Trays (be mindful that the optional parts and the screwdriver are just taped to the underside of the box!)
The manual is a reprint of the CM’s Corp. version but with a new black and white print out to indicate how to change the parts.
Static/non-movable figures included in the set:
Daigo Otaki, the main protagonist of the series
Clint, the Mechanical Panther sidekick
Saori, Daigo’s sister
Another Daigo is included to showcase his “cool” pose.
Protesser
The football player-themed robot. His attacks mostly consist of the Gordian bomb (he tosses it like a football, it blows up, and somehow flies back to Protesser. Mind-blowing stuff…)
Gordian Bomb
Bomb Drill
Ryokko Ken
Derringer
The Magnum Punch weapon – Despite it looking like a hatchet, this thing actually shoots wide spread beams, it’s strong enough to even stop an avalance in its tracks.
Sekko Ken
Garbin
When combined, you can see Derringer’s arms through the biceps.
Rocket punch
Twin Spike (oddly, I don’t think the toy got the look right? It’s meant to look more like a shuriken in the Anime, I haven’t watched all the eps though).
Mighty Raibo
Shine Shield
Duke Screw, (oddly, the manual lists this as “Shine Shield (Saber mode) ” ), this weapon occasionally fires beams called “Laser Screw” .
Leg missiles
Hakkou Ken
The new attacks ( Bomb Drill, Magnum Punch) and swords are a part of the unit’s upgrade (Daigo’s skill awakening?) starting from episode 21. We don’t see an actual modification on the units or the reason why they look different from here on in. I could be wrong but the “new look” parts may be just visual design improvement from the animation studio rather than actual “upgrades”?
Interestingly, on more than one occassion in the series, we get an attack sequence where all 3 units attack simultaneously, the 3 units also have a team-up combination attack called “Glacial Crash”.
Include in this set are the optional Parts from the Miyazawa Model version that was limited to 150 pieces, from what I understand Miyazawa Model is toy distributor based in Japan and CM’s Corp. had several exclusive repainted figures released in their toylines just for their store.
I decided to only do the swap on Garbin, I lost interest after seeing the c-clip attachments for the headswaps.
Marusan was kind enough to include a screwdriver, so we can perform the parts swap without having to look for a screwdriver. Cool. .
It’s magnetic-tipped too.
Upgraded Garbin go!!
The Good
Diecast parts include :
Protesser
-Feet only
Derringar
-Torso
-Back portion of thighs
-Lower legs and feet
Garbin
-Torso
-Back portion of thighs (similar to Derringar)
-Lower legs and feet
Weigh in:
-Protesser – 6 Grams
-Derringar – 83 Grams
-Garbin -596 Grams (687 Grams if fully loaded with the other units)
Height comparison:
-Protesser – 2.5″
-Derringar – 5.25″
-Garbin- 11.5 ”
-A perfect reissue of a now hard to find toy.
-Free screwdriver. That was a nice little surprise. .
-No real QC issues thankfully.
-Lots of metal. Even Protesser has metal feet.
The Bad-Attaching and detaching the c-clips for the head swaps. I don’t know, I would’ve preferred double ball joints, C-clips might break over time if repeatedly swapped?
-Odd design choice for the “grip” hands. I’m fairly sure these will wear down quickly over time.
-Leg missiles require opening the panels, attaching the missile. To close it back up, you have to remove the missile again. A bit of a hassle.
-I could be wrong, but I think I’m missing the speeder bike from my set, there was supposed to be speeder bike included, but I’m not 100% sure if it’s only with the mass retail versions and not with the Toyshunter versions?
The UglyThe price? It’s a solid toy and I, for one, am glad I finally got a chance to own one after skipping on the CM’s version. But the high SRP might turn off the casual Super Robot fan who doesn’t know much about this character. I’m not too familiar with Gordian either myself and only skimmed halfway into the series on a Japanese Youtube channel here:
Still, compared to how high the original CM’s version appreciated on the secondary market prior to this one being announced, the SRP is VERY acceptable.
Overall, not bad for a modern update on a classic Super Robot toy. Cm’s did a decent job back then and Marusan did collectors a huge favor reissuing this, along with the Jeeg and the Goshogun. I just think Marusan should’ve just made the optional parts accessible to everyone who bought the regular release as well.
Funfact: The concept of the toy is based off the Matryoshka-style doll (a.k.a. Russian Nested Doll). The concept was later on reused for Machine Robo’s Baikanfu.
Funfact 2: The old series ran for 73 episodes back in 1979, there was also a vintage diecast Godaikin toy released in the US as Gardian.
Gold
