Soul of Chogokin Gx-60R Space Emperor God Sigma (2018 Ver.)
Box
Trays
The stryo trays now come with a solid plastic cover. It’s very fancy.
Also, the figures are wrapped in a new material I can’t identify, seems like scratch free… cloth? Even the styro bars are covered. Very, very impressive.
Kuraioh (Sky Thunder King)
This time around Bandai included the Anime-accurate Kurai Shock Cannons as the default ones on Kuraioh’s shoulders.
Kurai Shock
Kurai Ken (generates from Kuraioh’s forearm in the Anime)
Kurrai Kyuu (generates from Kuraioh’s “belt” in the Anime)
Aside from the Kurrai Kyuu, Kuraioh also has a forearm-mounted crossbow that’s also called Kurai Shot and he is the only mech that can launch his fists from the wrists (Kurai Punch)
Kaimeioh (Sea Rumble King)
Double chains
Water Gun
Kaimeioh’s arsenal also has knee missiles and Ice Blizzard attack that can be vented from his chest.
Kaimeioh also has repair capabilities as shown in one episode.
(picture only)
Rikushinoh (Land Quake King)
Attack Drill
Rikushin Hammer (pops out from his chest)
The God Sigma team!
SIGMA FORMATION!!
Uchu Taitei God Sigma!!
God Sigma is back! After the somewhat disappointing sales figures of the SRC version, I never thought Bandai would revisit this figure and it’s all good. They improved a lot and added more accessories. I’m glad they gave us more bang for the buck here than they did with the R Daitarn 3.
An added “bonus” for the R version is the addition of a new belt buckle, this, coupled with the already previously included Popy-style Kurai Shock Cannons, recreates the vintage version of the figure.
God Tomahawk
Spin Saucers
The Spin Saucers attach onto the open hands thanks to these clips.
God Shield
Apart from the standard weapons, God Sigma has on occasion used several attacks from his component units (like the Kurai Shock, Ice Blizzard and Double Chain).
Musou Ken!!Some parts swapping is required to make the sword appear on the wing tip.
A new accessory exclusive to the R version is this, a wing part with a sword handle, for a cleaner Musou Ken drawing pose on both sides of the wing.
God Sigma has various finishing “slices” in the series.
-Musou Ken Karatakewari (slicing an opponent in half vertically, like slicing bamboo)
-Musou Ken Juumonji Kiri (cross slash)
-Musou Ken Suihei Kiri (horizontal cut)
-Musou Ken Gyaku Kesa Giri (diagonal slash)
-Musou Ken Hangetsu Giri (half moon slash)
-Musou Ken Isshin Zuki (lunging thrust)
-Musou Ken Ichimonji Giri (fast straight slash)
Sigma Breast!!
Big Wing Attack:
God Sigma only used this attack twice in the show. The first time was to take out a huge ship. The second time was in the final battle against Gagaan. With all of it’s attacks useless, a badly beaten God Sigma used all of it’s remaining Trinity Energy stores and used the Big Wing in a final “all or nothing” attack on Gagaan’s final Cosmosaurus. It succeeded but it smashed the God Sigma as well, with the pilots having to abandon their machines and fight on foot.
Display tray.
It’s a bit tricky to get everything in, but I’m impressed they managed to find ways to get the Tomahawk and Spin Saucers in there.
Display base for Big Wing, also holds leftover parts from Kuraioh.
Things to look out for!!!:
-Kuraioh’s legs
When transforming into God Sigma, you will need to “eject” this block from Kuraioh’s legs. when returning them back into Kuraioh’s legs, do take note of the orientation of the block.
The knees only bend one way. If you inserted the block facing the wrong way, Kuraioh’s knees will no longer bend due to the wrong orientation and you will have to eject the block again.
-Kuriaoh’s feet -better to just remove them for better show accuracy.
-Kuraioh’s chest
A new feature with the R version is that Kuraioh has a new pop up chest bulb. Pushing the tiny button below will release the spring. IMPORTANT NOTE When returning the Kuraioh to the box, I think it is recommended that the bulb be released so that the spring won’t be ruined in long-term storage.
-Big Wing’s peg.
When attaching the Big Wing to God Sigma, take note of this part on the front plate, there’s a notch there that needs to be folded down, be VERY mindful of this.
-When Ejecting Kaimeioh and Rikushinoh, remember to use the ejector buttons found on the back of Kuraioh’s legs.
Comparison with the original Gx-60
Box is much thinner and smaller, it’s amazing how they managed this.
Manuals – Some added character models and mechanical files, at the same time, the manual somehow seems a bit thinner compared to the original release.
Side note: I just checked the clear display stand on my original Gx-60, it turned yellow. Considering I didn’t display this and it was stored somewhere relatively cool, I can only guess this is something caused by either the paint fumes or a quality issue. Anyone else experiencing yellowing with theirs? Considering this figure was released in 2011, it’s hardly even a decade old. Strange.
Kuraioh (R version on the left)
-Lighter blue “visor”
-Lighter silver paint used on the body
Kaimeioh (R version on the left)
-Brighter blue plastic “visor”
-Darker red on the chest panel
Rikushinoh (R version on the left)
-Brighter blue “visor”
-Darker red on the chest panel
-Darker yellow on the body
Big Wing
-Brighter red on the wings
-New redesigned chest panel (it’s not more Anime accurate though, the plates in the Anime were just one simple red panel)
-Blue plastic on the R Big wing, purple plastic on the original.
God Sigma
Both versions (Anime and Popy-styled) of the Kurai Shock Cannons are present in both sets. The R version sports a dark shade of gold.
The Good
-God Sigma stands about almost 11 Inches (11.5 counting the wingtips) and weighs 1082 grams.
–Other weigh-ins
—Daitarn 3 – 927 Grams
—Ideon – 1382 Grams
—God Mars – 1135 Grams
—Daltanious – 874 Grams
-Details of each God Sigma component
–Kuraioh – Almost 8 inches, 392 Grams
–Kaimeioh – 7.5 Inches, 325 Grams
–Rikushinoh – 7.5 Inches, 336 Grams
-Diecast parts:
–Kuraioh – Main joints, thighs
–Kaimeioh – Main joints, feet
–Rikushinoh – Main joints, feet
-Extra “proportioned” hands look way better than the default hands used for transforming.
-Tighter joints on the R figures.
-Love the new tray design, that clear cover is really classy and the new packing material used to line the stryo tray gives you a “wow” impression when you open the package for the first time.
The Bad
-Really small God Shield, wish they included an upsized version accessory.
-God Shield is still missing the Sigma logo to make it toon accurate.
-Still some missing Weapons : God String, Kurai Cutters, and the slingshot/crossbow version Kurai Shot for Kuraioh.
-Still very limited poseablity with the God Sigma. But I guess we can’t expect much unless they fully release a whole new mold.
-Swapping the fists out on Godsigma is hard, the holes for the pegs are a bit too tight for comfort.
-Getting the Musou Ken into God Sigma’s fists is still hard!! I would’ve preferred they reworked the sword so that it has a removable handle instead of having us force the whole handle into the gripping hand.
The UglyThere have been some reports of quality control issues, such as minor paint bleeds, chips in the plastic where the sprue was cut. Nothing really damaging to the playability of the figure but it can be frustrating to see since this is supposed to be an improved version of an existing figure that didn’t really have such quality issues before. I didn’t encounter this issue on mine (or maybe I’ve been desensitized to it thanks to years of looking at Hasbro and Mattel’s action figures) but your mileage may vary.
Overall, the original Gx-60 was a very solid release back in the day (almost 8 years ago) and this version is a decent update to that (possible quality issues aside). The R version now comes with some accessories that were originally missing in the previous release, such as the God Tomahawk and the Spin Saucers. The slightly improved colors and added features like the pop up bulb on Kuraioh are a welcome addition as well. Bandai then topped it all off with an impressive redesign of the tray layout resulting in a box that’s 25% leaner despite the newly added accessories. I really recommend getting this release over the original Gx-60 if you haven’t picked up SOC God Sigma before, but in case you do already have it, this one is still very much worth picking up again if you have the spare funds. At the very least, you can have a spare set to display both modes.
Fun notes:
Professor Kazame, the inventor of the Trinity Energy and creator of God Sigma (not to mention Megaman’s Doctor Wily’s look-a-like) starts out as one of the good guys, but in a surprising twist not usually seen in Super Robot Anime, the creator of the main bot goes totally insane and joins the bad guys!
He slowly becomes obsessed with Eldan time travel technology (it was revealed that Eldans’ are from the future where Earthlings have invaded their home planet). Kazame even keeps preserved corpses of Eldan soldiers who died under his interrogation in his secret laboratory. His true nature is revealed in episode 38, after his secret lab is accidentally discovered. Kazame is ordered under house arrest and confined to his quarters. It’s near the end of the show (episode 47) when he fully defects to the Eldans to gain access to their technology and even goes as far as killing members of the Trinity ship crew in a raid, he is ultimately killed by an Eldan soldier who shot him in the back by mistake.
Oh, and if you’re going to watch the Anime, well.. don’t expect awesome stuff from it. The animation is very, very bad at the start of the show (I was surprised at how bad it was), badly proportioned drawings, clunky character movements, lack of detailed backgrounds.. sheesh. Given this cartoon aired in 1980, this is a step back from the Super Robot shows that preceded it (Voltes and Daimos). It was about halfway through the show that the animation improved (a lot!).
The battles were also very anti-climactic, like Voltron, once God Sigma formed up, the Musou Ken almost always followed next and one slice later, it was all over, no sense of suspense or danger once God Sigma was on the scene.
Gold
