Soul of Chogokin Gx-31 Voltes Five – 40th Anniversary Edition
-Interesting to note, the display tray has been redesigned to make the whole thing a bit smaller and thus, making the 40th Anniversary Voltes box smaller than the previous editions.
40th Anniv version
Original and Gx-31V
Note: The location of the Lander halves in the styro tray is now reversed (right foot on the left side of the tray and vice versa). This is done to accomodate the Lander’s fins and make the overall box smaller.
Volt Machines
Volt Cruiser
IMPORTANT NOTEWatchout for the Cruisers tires, they can fall of easily. Mine popped while I was positioning the Cruiser. Good thing the backdrop is green so it sticks out, had this fallen on the floor I would’ve dismissed it as nothing but plastic bits. So be mindful.
Opening canopy
Crew Cutters (same as the previous versions, just painted silver “blades”).
Volt Bomber
Volt Panzer
Volt Frigate
Volt Lander
Volt Lander Drills
Let’s Volt In!
Voltes Five!
One of the biggest worries I think for most folks was the way the metallic red came out in the early online images. I’m glad to report that, in person, it actually looks good. It all depends on the lighting but in natural light it works very well with Voltes’ new shade of blue.
Voltes Missile!
Chain Knuckle!
“Firing” Chain Knuckle
Voltes Bazooka!
Bazooka bullets.
Similar to the Gx-31V, the Bazooka fires missiles when you push back the hand. .
Grand Fire!
Choudenji String!
Choudenji Goma!
Tenkuu Ken!
TenKuu Ken V-Slash!
Volt Tank mode
Mecha Falcon / Mechanical Eagle
Mecha Falcon comes with the Chodenji Volt Control device (which regulated Voltes’ new upgraded power levels later on in the show)
Comparisons with the Gx-31 (sorry, I was a bit under the weather and couldn’t dig out the Gx-31V for comparisons).
Darker shade of yellow on the Chodenji Strings.
Using the Gx-31V elbow design allows for a double-jointed elbow now.
Mix and Match With Gx-31 (for those curious . )
Accessory Display Base
The Gx-31V and Gx-31 display base
The Good
-The Weigh in
–Volt Cruiser – 26 Grams
–Volt Bomber – 85 Grams
–Volt Panzer -173 Grams
–Volt Frigate -273 Grams
–Volt Lander -160 Grams
-Mecha Falcon/Mechanical Eagle – 6 (!!) Grams. (lol…)
–Voltes V – 728 Grams
-Diecast parts include
–Rear section of the Volt Crewzer
–Shoulders
–Main torso
–Lower legs (thighs are plastic)
–Top halves of the feet
-Painted “Falcon” on the display base (the Gx-31V was just plain white, unpainted plastic)
-Chromed Lander parts! Finally!
-I’m really loving the new shades of blue for the c0ckpit canopies.
-Voltes is perfect now, the joints are excellent and Voltes feels really, really solid. A far, far cry from the issues that plagued the original Gx-31.
The Bad
-Simple manual (only the covers are colored, no colored “internal” illustrations).
-Simplified tray. The past Gx-31 and 31V had some form of graphic “overlay” on the styro tray, sort of like a throwback to the vintage toy. This time we get nothing.
-The wrist pegs still pop off too easily, just like on the Gx-31V
-It’s still basically a repaint of the Gx-31V (with the exception of the Frigate and Lander antennae). No new tooling here.
The UglyHmm.. nothing really bad with the toy, but I hate that whole worldwide “shortage” issue, what’s up with that Bandai? This thing easily took off on the preorders and yet Bandai didn’t fill the pre-orders. I’ll never understand how these big companies think. Very unfortunate.
This figure is now my “go-to” Voltes figure, hands down. I loved the 31V mainly due to the improved joints but the “non-cartoon-accurate” paint scheme made it look hard to really pose next to the other SOCs, while the (ankle and groin) joint issues with the original Gx-31 made it difficult to pose.
The 40th Anniversary version is by far the most superior one to date.
I really hope Bandai makes another production run for those who still need this figure.
Gold
