Soul of Chogokin Gx-105 Mazinger Z (Kakumei Shinka)
Story
Discovering the rare element “Japanium” at the base of Mount Fuji, Professor Juzo Kabuto develops a new indestructible alloy he called “Chogokin Z”. After an expedition to the recently unearthed island of Bardos yields the discovery of the ancient Mycenae Empire’s powerful battle technology by fellow German archaeologist, Dr. Hell, the latter becomes insane and power mad. Juzo then uses Ghogokin Z to create Mazinger Z to prepare for the coming war against Dr. Hell’s Underground Empire.
Hover Pileder
I love how properly sculpted Koji looks inside the Pileder. Previous versions made him look a bit chubby. Plus, this Pileder has actual working hinges on its wings!! No more parts swapping!!
Mazin Go!
Pileder On!
The Pileder docks onto Mazinger Z perfectly thanks to magnets in the receptacle.
More recent releases of Mazinger Z in the SOC line had optional “power down” eyes for Mazinger when the Pileder is not docked. It seems that they dropped the gimmick here? But you can still pluck the eyes out for some reason.
Actually, if you push down too hard on the Pileder, you most likely push or eject the eyes out. So be mindful of that.
Mazinger Z
Piloted by Professor Juzo’s own teenage grandson, Koji Kabuto, Mazinger Z is the world’s best and only defense against Dr. Hell’s formidable, giant Mechanical Beasts.
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the original TV airing of Mazinger Z on TV waaay back in 1972, this new Soul of Chogokin release is attached with the term “Kakumei Shinka”, meaning “Revolutionary Evolution”, highlighting the “new” innovations included with this latest release of Mazinger Z for the Soul of Chogokin line.
Bandai went back to the old “drop down hip joints” design for this figure, which is a good thing, since the whole “replace the hip skirt” concept done for the Dynamic Classics sub-line was just not that practical.
IMPORTANT NOTE! The torso is connected together via ball joints. Do note that to pull them out, hold the figure by the hips and NOT on the body! I made that mistake and sent the upper body flying away as I tugged too hard! Thankfully nothing broke or chipped when it landed halfway across the room!! Lol!
The figure also features “pull out” ankle joints to increase range of motion.
All the new joints allow Mazinger to pull off the “down on one knee” pose better than ever!
Just look at it only from the left side…. lol.
Note that Mazinger’s hands have been redesigned. The pegs are longer now and they’re not on a ball joint.
When swapping fists, I strongly recommend removing the forearm just to prevent accidental misfires.
Mazinger’s Attacks
Rocket Punch! – Mazinger Z’s signature move. Powerful rockets in Mazinger’s elbows send its forearms flying at Mach 1 towards its target.
I LOVE that firing Rocket Punch gimmick!! The buttons are really nicely hidden, too! You don’t see them sticking out like sore thumbs.
The addition of the little flame effect that reveals itself when you eject the arms is really clever! It’s not spring-loaded or anything, but it is nice to see something different for a change.
I used a 3rd Party display base to get this pose done.
Do note that, unlike the Gx-70 release, which came with diecast forearms for Mazinger, this version has plastic forearms. Safety reasons, I guess?
Missile Punch! – Mazinger fires missiles from its belly, each with the force of 100 tons of TNT.
The Missile Punch does require some parts swapping to get the look right though, but you gotta love that it really fires missiles again now, the last time we got this was way back in the Gx-01 and Gx-01R.
Koushiryoku Beam! – Powerful Photon Energy Beams fired from Mazinger Z’s eyes.
Reito Beam! – freeze beams that fire from the spikes on Mazinger Z’s head.
Rust Hurricane! – a compound of corrosive material mixed with compressed air is propelled from Mazinger Z’s mouth.
Breast Fire! – Mazinger Z’s most powerful attack. It fires a concentrated heat beam equivalent to 30,000 degrees Celcius from its chest heat sinks.
Jet Scrander
To make the Scrander attachable to Mazinger Z, you’ll have to swap out the clasps.
Scrander Cross!
To make the Scrander show accurate after it docks with Mazinger, you’re supposed to remove the sensor on the Scrander’s back. Sadly, it leaves a visible hole slit on the Scrander though.
IF you’re having trouble closing the clasps tightly, try pushing the right side inwards towards Mazinger’s tummy, then clasp them together. This usually solves that problem.
With the Scrander Attached, Mazinger Z could initially achieve flight speeds of Mach 3. Later on it could reach Mach 4.5 when the Scrander was adjusted and fine-tuned.
Scrander Cutter! – Mazinger uses its wings as a large cutting blade as it swoops through its enemies.
Southern Cross Knife! – shuriken projectiles fired from Mazinger Z’s wings.
Sadly, the set does not come with “Iron Cutters” or “Drill Missile” elbow gimmicks for Maz. Drats…
For added fun, Bandai created an application for your smartphone, where you can use an app to take images or videos of the toy and add a layer of visual (and audio?) effects to it, making the whole process interactive. Pretty innovative. Unfortunately, as of this writing, it seems the app isn’t complete yet? For Android users anyway, or maybe it’s exclusive to the Japanese market only? No idea about Apple users.
Just head here to access the Tamashii site to download the app.
https://tamashiiweb.com/special/gimmick/
Display base
-Surprise! Gx-105 Mazinger Z does NOT come with any display base!!! This is the first time we’ve ever gotten a Mazinger Z release without any display base. Guess folks won’t be “quake-proofing” this one in their displays, eh? Sigh…
Comparison with the Gx-70 Dynamic Classics Mazinger Z (Gx-105 on the right)
You can try swapping the Pileders around, since both utilize magnets, but the proportions are a bit off. Plus the magnets don’t seem as effect too for some reason.
The Good
Gx-105 Mazinger Z stands roughly 7 inches and weighs 238 Grams.
Diecast parts include
–Sections of the torso
–Legs
–Feet
-A very finely sculpted Koji figure inside the Pileder!
-Articulated wings on the Pileder! No more parts swapping!
-Magnet gimmick for the Pileder to dock with Mazinger’s head (same as with the Gx-70 version).
-Ball joints on the mid-torso sections for more dynamic posing.
-Drop down hip joints design! No more silly skirt plate parts swapping.
-Firing Rocket Punches! Finally!!!
-Loving that little “flame effects part” on the Rocket Punch! Just pure genius!
-Firing Missile Punch attack!
-None of the spring-loaded gimmicks are on a hair-trigger. You have to actually push down to fire them. Thank goodness.
-Great interactive gimmick with the smartphone app (if you live in Japan?).
-Better overall proportions compared to the Gx-70 version(s).
The Bad
-No Jet Pileder.
-No Iron Cutter or Drill Missile forearms.
-Forearms are no longer diecast
-No display base?? That’s… a first..
-No more “power down” optional eyes for Mazinger?
-Some parts swapping involved for the Missile Punch.
-No ratchet joints(!!). That’s a bit disappointing.
-Eye piece tends to pop out when you press down too hard on the Hover Pileder into Maz’s head.
The Ugly
Nothing really bad here QC wise, thankfully. I think the one thing I might have an issue with is the whole “Kakumei Shinka” branding. Aside from the built-in firing Rocket Punches and maybe the foldable wings on the Pileder, the “pull out joints” have been around since Gx-24 Tetsujin, that’s not really “innovatively new”. Ah, well…
Overall, a pretty good set. It’s a good release for the 50th anniversary of Mazinger Z and I am glad they didn’t just retread or recolor the Gx-70 again but instead gave us a whole new figure made from the ground up. The “interactive” aspect of the app really is pretty neat too!
Unfortunately, there are some missing accessories that feel like they should’ve been already included to make a perfect set. I can’t help but shake the feeling that we’ll be getting another P-Bandai “exclusive accessories pack” down the road for the Iron Cutter and Jet Pileder.
The lack of a display base did surprise me though. It’s not a real deal breaker, but it does sort of break tradition in some ways, particularly for Mazinger-related characters, as we’ve always gotten stands before in the past. Is this the new norm for all non-combining SOCs going forward?
Another surprising development is the lack of ratchet joints on the figure. It somehow feels very unusual not to get any clicks on an SOC Mazinger figure. It feels like a Sentinel Toys release somehow.
Given the choice between this or the Gx-70 Mazinger Z, this release takes the cake as best SOC Mazinger Z! Thanks to the better proportions, this figure looks even more screen accurate than the Gx-70, which I didn’t think could be possible.
Funfact: After 26 years and 173 Soul of Chogokin releases,(104 “main” line + 69 redecos, the Gx-103 Gaofighgar, Gx-25R/26R/46R not yet counted as of this figure’s release timeline), this figure marks the TWENTY-FOURTH release of Mazinger Z (including various repaints and concepts of Mazinger Z, but NOT counting Great Mazinger and his repaints) in the Soul of Chogokin Line. That’s a lot!!!
Gold
