Soul of Chogokin Gx-71SP Voltron
For the 50th Anniversary Soul of Chogokin reissues, each unit comes with an outer clear plastic bag.
I gotta say, I am loving the “gold label” printing on the front of the box. It really adds a classy feel.
Same as with the original Gx-71 Voltron, the Lion’s Jawblades are kept underneath the shield/ Spinning Laser Blade. In fact, the trays are all the same as with the original Gx-71 release.
Likewise, the set comes with optional stickers for each lion in case you want to go “full retro”.
The manual, sadly, is a reprint of the one that came with Gx-71, just with a new front cover.
Black Lion
Piloted by Keith Kogane (Akira Kogane in Golion), the Black Lion is the main command unit of the team and forms Voltron’s body (and head).
Weapons loadout: Black Lion Mouth Blade / Black Sword + Black Lion Rotary Cannon/ Black Bazooka.
Red Lion
Piloted by Lance McClain (Isamu Kurogane), the team’s second-in-command. The Red Lion specializes in combat in extreme heat environments, even being able to withstand molten lava.
Same as before, the “arm lions’” mid-torso areas can extend out.
When in lion mode, remember to extend out the neck sections of the “arm lions” to give them proper proportions.
Big Fire mouth cannon
Weapons loadout: Lava Cannon/Red Laser (R) and Plasma Flash Cannon /Magma Missile (L) + Red Lion Mouth Blade/Red Sword + Hidden cannon (Double Pod)
Green Lion
Piloted by the youngest (and resident genius) member of the team, Pidge (Hiroshi Suzuishi). The Green Lion is able to navigate easily across woodland terrain.
Green Tornado mouth cannon
Weapons loadout: Laser Cannon/ Green Gun (R) and Shooting Star/ Green Knife (L) + Green Lion Mouth Blade/Green Sword + Hidden Weapon (Green Needle)
Blue Lion
Originally piloted by Sven Holgersson and then Princess Allura (Princess Fala of Altea in Golion), the Blue lion excels in underwater missions.
Water Rod mouth cannon (that’s actually the Foot Missile in there though)
Weapons loadout: Triple Barrel Mortar Cannon (L)/ Marine Missile and Shoulder Cannon/ Ice Missile (R) + Blue Lion Mouth Blade/Blue Sword + Hidden Weapon (Blue Missile)
Yellow Lion
Piloted by Hunk Garrett (Tsuyoshi Seidou), the team’s “strong man” with a gentle heart. The Yellow Lion specializes in desert combat.
Sand Storm mouth cannon
Weapons loadout: Dual Shoulder Blockbuster Turrets/ Sand Cannon (L) and Radial Shotgun Shoulder Blaster / Gatling Missile (R) + Yellow Lion Mouth Blade/Yellow Sword + Hidden Weapon (Yellow Bazooka)
Voltron Lion Force Team!
Just like with the original Gx-71 Voltron, the lions can be posed sitting down thanks to some ad crunch joints in each lion.
When transforming into Voltron, it’s best to just detach the tails on the “arm lions” to prevent them from falling inside the Black Lion and rattling about.
Voltron
Created by King Alfor of Arus, Voltron was the galaxy’s main defense against the evil King Zarkon and his armies from Planet Doom. Following a battle against Zarkon’s witch, Haggar, Voltron is magically separated into 5 lions and sealed away on planet Arus. With the help of five space explorers, Voltron is reawakened and our heroes begin the battle to free the galaxy from Zarkon’s tyrannical rule.
The figure is a straight up redeco of the Gx-71. 
The addition of chromed finish in certain areas to pays homage to the original 1970s Popy toy.
Same as with the original Gx-71, the hidden ab crunch joint for Voltron is still present.
Voltron comes with an alternate “yelling” “O” face, just like in the cartoons. To swap it out, I recommend picking at Voltron’s nose bridge to dislodge the default face plate.
VOLTRON’S ATTACKS
Fire Tornado and Laser Magnum
Spinning Laser Blade/Space Cutter – To attach the shield, it’s recommended that you plug in the handle into Voltron’s grasp first, then mount the shield on the handle.
Solar Combat Spears/Double Sword
The swords can combine to form a lance.
Blazing Sword/Juu Oh Ken (Ten Kings Sword)
With some tricky finagling, you can get Voltron to hold his sword with both hands in a slashing pose.
Defender of the Universe!
FOUR LION ATTACK! (aka The 100 Ton Punch) – In the series, the Voltron crew discover a new secret attack in episode 32. The Four Lion Attack, which has each of the limb lions’ heads fly off and hit Voltron’s opponent at powerful speeds. This attack can be recreated with this toy.
The pedestal/display base has a secret function, the underside of the “shelf” level has 4 removable knobs, you’re supposed to plug in Soul Stage arms into the base to hold up the removable lion heads to recreate the attack.
Since it was getting pretty late, I didn’t try to dig out my Soul Stage set to recreate the full effect.
Here’s the image from the original Gx-71 review of how it’s supposed to look like.
Pedestal/Display base – Same as before, you can choose to go with either “Voltron” or “Golion (in Japanese)” for the nameplate. The base is now also cast in black plastic as opposed to the original light blue of the Gx-71.
The middle section tray can be pulled out to store some of the weapons.
The Good
-Golion stands close to 11.5 inches tall. Counting the height of the wingtips he’s a little over 12 inches tall.
-The Weigh in:
–Black Lion – 518 Grams
–Red Lion -99 Grams
–Green Lion -98 Grams
–Blue Lion – 344 Grams
–Yellow Lion -349 Grams
–Voltron/Golion – 1409 Grams
-Voltron stands roughly 11 inches tall (12 inches counting the tip of the wings).
-Diecast areas:
–Black Lion
—Shoulders, lower legs, Voltron’s thighs, Voltron’s groin joints
–Red &Green Lions
—Voltron’s Elbow, Shoulder Connector joint. Not sure about the lion’s legs
–Blue & Yellow Lions
—Upper part of the lion legs, main section the torso, Voltron’s ankle joints and Voltron’s “heels”
-Really nice finish on the new chrome parts.
The Bad
-Straight up redeco of the previously released Gx-71, with nothing new added or improved.
-Some of the chrome areas have smudges straight out of the box. It’s recommended that you use a “scratch-free” cloth like the ones from 3M to wipe them down.
-I really wish Bandai included the missing “Double Rod” nunchuks this time around. It occasionally appeared in the Anime, but was not included in the Gx-71 toy release back then.
-The hinges on the wings could’ve been improved. Blitzway did this better by hiding the hinges on the back of the wings instead of glaringly upfront.
-The locks for holding Voltron’s shoulders together on the Black Lion have not improved. They still tend to pop free very easily. Sigh..
The Ugly
Thankfully, no real QC issues for me here. The chrome parts are pretty well executed for the most part.
Overall, it’s still pretty good. The original Gx-71 was a solid release and it should come as no surprise that this redeco does generally capture the spirit of it with some added vintage flavor for nostalgia. I just wish Bandai improved on a few things such as changing the wings to have the hinges properly hidden or add the missing Double Rod weapon to give fans more bang for the buck.
Still, I guess this a nice chance for folks who missed out the last two releases (they did a “blue Bandai logo” run 3 years or so after the original release) for Soul of Chogokin Voltron from the last seven years ago or so (man… time flies by). Personally, I’m more of a “toon accuracy comes first” kind of guy, so I’ll still pick the original Gx-71 if I had to choose only one.
Gold
