Soul of Chogokin Gx-70 Mazinger Z
Jet Pileder
To transform the Jet Pileder, you have to use swap out the bottoms.
Bandai decided to give us the Jet Pileder here, and will release the Hover Pileder later on with the Gx-70 VS add-on set.
Mazin Go!!
Pileder on!
Mazinger features a swap gimmick for the “power on eyes” effect.
So after 70 releases (more if you count the repaints, exclusives, and retools), Bandai’s going back to the one that started it all for the Soul of Chogokin line’s 20th anniversary (the line started in 1997). The latest Mazinger Z figure is released under the “Dynamic Classics” sub-line and features a leaner look, which is based on Mazinger’s actual appearance in the classic 70’s Anime.
The Pileder now actually connects to Mazinger via magnets! How cool is that?!!
To make Mazinger more poseable, Bandai dropped the old “pull out” joints concept and this time just went with the simple “swap and switch the front waist plate” design instead.
Swapping out the waist plate makes Mazinger more poseable.
Missile Punch
To get the Missile Punch attack right, you have to remove the front waist plate and then swap out the parts. The missile no longer fires though.
Rocket Punch!
Bandai totally dropped the firing gimmick and magnetized connection gimmicks for the Rocket Punch. What we’re left with are simple “plug-into socket” connectors. But hey~ The good news is that the forearms are now diecast! I guess they couldn’t make the arms launch anymore due to the new heavy weight of the forearms being a safety issue? Would’ve been nice if they included some “firing” plastic arms if this was the case.
Bandai this time also intentionally left out the “covers” for the biceps from the fired arm. All we’ve got to work with here are the Drill Missile plates. The proper bicep cover for pre-Scrander Mazinger will be included with the Gx-70 VS pack.
Breast Fire!
The Jet Scrander – To get the Scrander to look show accurate (wings can “shift”) you will need to a lot of parts swapping, particularly with regards to the Southern Cross Knife slot covers. You will also need to swap around the wings left and right to get the wing position that you want.
(Note: there are actually 8 pieces, I plugged one in already before I took this shot)
Hmm… it’s funny but I never realized the Scrander had different tones of color for the front and back of the wings? I guess I’ll have to take Bandai’s word for it…
In the Anime, Mazinger gets new weapons along with the “upgraded” ability of flight once they redesigned him to have the Scrander later on in the show.
Iron Cutters! (Cool note: The Iron Cutter forearms are also now diecast!)
Drill Missiles!
Display base
The small accessory tray with the Jet Pileder is stored inside the Display base.
Same as the S.H. Figuarts Devilman The display base comes with a removable cover plate for attaching optional stands.
The display base comes with 2 different prop stands, unfortuantely, neither can hold Mazinger Z in flight pose for some reason (what the heck, Bandai?). For this purpose I had to use one of the Soul Stage arms to prop him up.
Here are the 2 different stands. 
The first stand is OK, it plugs directly into Mazinger’s back so this is meant to help do the flight pose. Unfortnately, with the Scrander equipped, there’s no way to connect Maz through the Scrander. Plus, there are no ratchet joints to hold him in “flying” position, so that’s an oversight there, too.
The second one is nice and is even adjustable in terms of height and depth.
The best part about the new stands I guess is that it makes Mazinger relatively “Quake-proof” now.
Catapult arm for the Jet Scrander.
Comparison with the Gx-01R Mazinger
From this view, the Gx-70 is vastly superior compared to the 01R, I never realized the Pileder stuck out like a sore thumb so much on the 01R until now. Plus the cleaner look on the chest is an improvement too IMHO.
With Dynamic Classics S.H. Figuarts Devilman.
I’m not entirely sure if the Gx-70 VS set comes with a “handshake” piece for Mazinger but there’s none included here (Devilman has a handshake hand though). So the best you can do here is pretend they’re either strangers or enemies, but not friends. lol…
The Good
-DC Mazinger weighs 259 Grams (279 with Scrander) and stands roughly 7″ tall. It’s a tad lighter than the Gx-01R version (320 Grams and 344 Grams with Scrander)
-Diecast parts include
–Pileder bottom (for the magnet effect)
–Chest
–Forearms (shoulders and biceps are now plastic)
–Iron cutter forearms
–Waist
–Optional “smaller” front waist part
–Thighs
–Lower legs
–Feet
-New design articulation with regards to the torso – chest, torso and waist can move independently, albeit only very minimally
-Pileder attaches to Mazinger’s head via magnets! Finally!! This was something that really surprised me. It’s such a nice departure from the old “plug peg into hole” for the Pileder connection.
-For the curious, yes, you can remove the Breast Fire plates. Also, with the way it’s now “designed” you can only plug it in one way. That used to confuse a lot folks back in the days of Gx-01. Yessir, no more plugging the Breast Fire vertically (the wrong way) anymore here folks…
-Film cover for the nameplate’s a nice touch. Prevents scratching or fading.
The Bad
-Missile Punch no longer fires
-What? No firing Rocket Punch?! Why?!?!
-Hover Pileder NOT included (we only get Jet Pileder, Hover Pileder to be included with the Gx-70 VS pack)
-Missing bicep covers for “fired” Rocket Punch (to be included with the Gx-70 VS pack)
-No Kyoukagata Rocket Punch accessory (The SRC version came with it, so why not here?)
-No “Finger Missile” hands
-Uhhh.. 2 support arms for the display base, but neither can hold Mazinger in fllight pose? What was the point again?
The UglyThis is just me, personally, but I think Bandai could’ve done us a better solid and tossed in the missing accessories with this pack instead of having to bilk fans a bit more and have us purchase that upcoming Gx-70 VS set. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Takara’s Masterpiece line where they try to give us every accessory to come across a specific character (Eg. Inferno’s hose “trap”, Megatron’s control helmet) I wish Bandai takes a page out of that book, now that they are basically “re-doing” the line anyway.
The “new”, leaner look for the toy isn’t all that bad, it just takes some getting used to. From a design standpoint, it is better in most aspects compared with the Gx-01R. For me the only real thing that still bugs me when I look at this are the skinny lower legs. I guess I’m used to seeing Mazinger having chunky legs, giving him a more “macho” feel, but the new torso and head design are very good.
Overall, it’s a tough call. On one hand, it’s the 15th (!) Mazinger rolled out in the SOC line (seriously, how many Mazingers does one need, right?).
On the other hand, Bandai is rolling out Getter and Great Mazinger under the new “Dynamic Classics style” too. So I guess if you plan to get those, then this version of Mazinger is a must have, otherwise, skipping all 3 DCs (4 if you count SHF Devilman) would be another way to go.
Gold
