Metal Build Great Mazinger. Apologies in advance for the thumbnails, but Photobucket is having issues apparently. The links work fine though, so clicking on the non-loading images will still take you to the full-sized image.
Connection port for Great Mazinger on the right.
Connection port for the Great Booster on the left.
Display base located on underside of the styrofoam housing Great Mazinger.
Stands and posts under the display base.
Brain Condor
A spare “docked” mode Brain Condor unit is included.
Mazin go!
Created to succeed Mazinger Z in terms of defense, speed and power, Great Mazinger became the new champion for mankind when a new threat came after the death of Dr. Hell.
To attach the Scranders, you have to remove the back panel first.
Display base
It’s a reuse of the Metal Build Mazinger Z base, with various locking mechanisms to secure the arm in place.
Adjustable height on the support arm. The height can be adjusted by twisting the arm counter-clockwise.
Adapter configuration for flight pose.
Remember to swap in the dorsal fins for the legs for show accuracy in flight mode.
Scramble Dash!
Unlike Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger’s Scrander wings are built in, meaning they can be retracted or deployed at any time, without having to call in the unit from a distant off-site location.
Effects parts are included to simulate the flight effect. The good news is, this time around, you don’t have to remove the plantar plates to plug in the effects, that was annoying with the MB Mazinger Z (the plate tends to get lost).
The plantar plates on the underside of the feet on the MB Mazinger Z had to be removed to plug in the effects parts, this plate easily gets detached and lost.
The Scrander features a hinge joint, so that there’s additional space for the wings to move.
Drill Pressure Punch!
The Drill Pressure Punch can be mounted on the clear stands, and the tips of the rocket effect can be removed so that it plugs into the bicep.
To complete the show-accurate look, an optional bicep part is included to cover the diecast elbow peg (same as how it was with the Metal Build Mazinger Z).
Great Boomerang! This requires swapping out of chest plates for show accuracy.
Knee Impulse Kick attack requires removing and replacing the default knee plate with one that has a spike.
Back Spin Kick, same as with the Knee Impulse Kick, it requires replacing the shin plates on Great to the bladed ones.
Mazinger Blade!
Breast Burn!
Thunder Break!
Sadly, Bandai didn’t include a pointing left hand, so you can’t do a left-handed or dual Thunder Break pose.
Great Booster
The Great Booster never really appeared in the movie, as it was not authorized by Operations to be used (for whatever reason). But it’s nice that we get to see what it looks like thanks to it being included in this package. They also added a hinge joint to the Great Booster connection same as with the Scrander wings to increase poseability.
Unfortunately, I guess Bandai had to cut costing, so to flip the wings, one has to disassemble the wings and missiles and reset them according to the proper position (flight and non flight modes are inverted).
Scrander Cross!
From what I understand, the Great Booster doesn’t really add any new attacks or increase power output to Great Mazinger, but serves to improve Great Mazinger’s flight capabilities and/or as a back up unit in case his default Scrander wings get ruined in combat. The Great Booster also can be used as a kamikaze unit and can be sent crashing into enemies with destructive force.
Effects parts can also be equipped on the Great Booster.
The tip of the Great Booster has to be removed when it’s equipped on Great Mazinger, for “show accuracy” (at least that’s how it was in the old classic Anime).
With Metal Build Mazinger Z
Double Rocket Punch!
Double Breast Burn!
The Good
-weighs 281 Grams and 304 Grams with the Scrander on.
-Stands roughly 8 inches tall.
-Diecast parts include:
–Internal joints (shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles)
–Lower section of the front shin guards
–Crotch plate
–Thrusters nozzles for the Jet Scrander
-Impressive articulation and amazing detailed sculpts.
-Great Booster (was not seen in the movie) included.
The Bad
-Zero ratchet joints (same as with MB Mazinger Z)
-No Thunder Break effect parts.
-No pointing left hand included, can’t do left-handed “Thunder Break” pose.
-No firing Drill Pressure Punch gimmick.
-Brain Condor pops off too easily.
-Plastic “armor” and lack of metal surface kind of ruins the feel when you handle the toy (same as with MB Mazinger Z).
-Lack of adjustable wings on the Great Booster, you have to manually detach and flip the wings to simulate solo “flight” mode.
-I don’t think I will ever get used to seeing Great Mazinger’s tiny, girly feet. It’s not the toy’s fault though, I wish the animators designed it a bit better.
-Minor nitpick- this set has some reused parts from MB Mazinger Z (fists, biceps, stand, effects parts to name a few)
The UglyThe joints are too tight this time around. I wasn’t comfortable with moving the shoulder joints until I had slowly loosened them up bit by bit. It was highly stressful because I was afraid I might break an arm off. The shoulder joints were insanely tight. It loosens up eventually with repeated movement, but I don’t think that should have been the case from the start. I never had that problem with the Metal Build Mazinger Z.
Overall, it’s a decent follow up to the Metal Build Mazinger Z. It has all the details you would expect, it looks great, feels heavy and comes with a satisfying amount of accessories. Just remember though, that some of the joints are a little bit too tight so be careful on the first handling.
While I do recommend getting this figure, if I had to choose one though, I would go with the Metal Build Mazinger Z as it offered more accessories, more metal (has metal plates in the forearm) and Mazinger is the titular hero of the movie, Great Mazinger was just the “guest star” of the show.
Gold
