Soul of Chogokin Gx-76SP Grendizer D.C. anime color version
The illustrated insert is printed on a single leaflet. Kinda underwhelming
STORY
The highly scientific Planet Fleed is attacked by its neighboring planet, Vega. Duke Fleed, the crowned prince of Planet Fleed, manages to escape by stealing the Grendizer, Planet Fleed’s most powerful weapon, before his home planet is turned into an uninhabitable wasteland. Fleeing to Earth and believing himself to be the last survivor of his planet, Duke establishes a new life of peace. Two years later, the Vegan Empire begins its invasion of Earth.
Planet Fleed’s ultimate weapon, Grendizer was created to be its God of War. Now, it serves as the Earth’s only chance of stopping the Vega Empire’s invasion, Duke risks it all to protect his new home.
The figure is a straight up redeco of the Gx-76 Dynamic Classics Grendizer, now done in Anime accurate deco.
Unlike the original Gx-76 (seen here), this version’s clear c0ckpit parts are now painted over.
Hidden ab crunch joint.
One of the biggest problems with making an articulated action figure of Grendizer were the fins on his forearms getting in the way of its elbow joints. Bandai solved this problem by making the fins closest to the elbows adjustable to allow for some clearance for the joint to properly work.
Similar to the other Dynamic Classics, Grendizer also comes with optional “higher cut skirt plates” so he can do more dynamic poses. This time around, you can swap the plate one leg at a time. With the other DC figures, the “skirts” were a whole single piece for both legs, leaving an awkward gap unless posed with both legs raised.
Grendizer’s attacks
Hand Beam!
Hanjūryoku Storm (Anti-Gravity Storm)!
Punches
Grendizer actually has 4 variations of his “Rocket Punch”. All except the “Dizer Punch (a standard “Rocket Punch”, without any of the fins deployed) require you to swap out the forearms and attach the various accessories to recreate the pose.
Same as the regular Gx-76 release, Bandai included optional covers for the biceps so Grendizer will now look “show accurate” when he launches his firing punches.
Screw Punch! -the fins on Grendizer’s forearms are opened up halfway. I guess this is to do a wider area of damage on a target?
Screw Crusher Punch! – the fins on Grendizer’s forearms are closed almost entirely and rotate at high speeds, as the entire forearm bores through its target.
The Screw Crushers are also sometimes used as a melee attack by Grendizer (supposedly capable of generating up to 4000 revolutions per minute)
Crusher Punch! – the fins are completely closed and Grendizer’s flying punch stabs through his opponent.
Shoulder Boomerang! – blades eject from Grendizer’s shoulders and act as super sharp boomerangs.
Harken! – the Shoulder Boomerangs produce handles for Grendizer to grab onto, allowing him to use the weapons for melee attacks.
Double Harken! – Grendizer combines both Harkens to form a larger, singular weapon.
Space Thunder! – Grendizer’s ultimate attack, a high voltage, concentrated spark attack formed from the Grendizer’s horns.
Display Base – The set still uses the same display base as the other Dynamic Classics figures.
You can use the C-clip to make Grendizer “quake proof”.
As with other Dynamic Classics Soul of Chogokins, an alternate display arm is included, which allows for some supported action poses with the figure.
Links to the Grendizer Dynamic Classics review gallery:
The Good
-Dynamic Classics Grendizer stands roughly 7.5 inches and weighs 347 Grams.
-Diecast parts include
–Main joints
–Mid Torso and waist (abdomen is plastic I think)
–Forearms
–Thighs
–Lower Legs
–Feet
-Practically 100% spot on to Grendizer’s TV appearance thanks to the new color scheme.
The Bad
-A straight up redeco of Gx-76 Dynamic Classics Grendizer with no improvements.
-The clear canopy on Grendizer’s “mouth” has been painted over. I was hoping Bandai would keep it unpainted.
-The hip plates are now plastic. They were diecast on the other DC figures.
-No effects parts for the Space Thunder.
-Same as with before, no firing gimmick for the Screw Crusher Punches.
The Ugly
No QC issues for my copy of this release. Given that this set was released as a P-Bandai Tamashii Web release, I expected it to not have any quality control issues as compared to mass retail releases, as they’re usually produced in lower quantities and have more stringent quality controls in place.
Overall, I love it! Easily the most Anime accurate Grendizer released, the Gx-76SP easily blows the mass retail Gx-76 out of the water. This is the best Grendizer figure in the Soul of Chogokin line by far.
Given that Bandai re-released Dynamic Classics Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger in “SP” colors, it was pretty much a no-brainer that Grendizer would get the same treatment and I am glad they did. I just wish they executed this color scheme from the start, but I guess Bandai needed to maximize the molds first. Sigh…
I suppose the only real negative here is that Bandai didn’t include the Spazer and instead repacked all the Spazers together in another set. I really think they could’ve at least included the original Spazer with Grendizer for this release.
On a side note, I am curious to see if Bandai will eventually do a Kakumei Shinka (“Revolutionary Evolution”) version of Grendizer, since they already did Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger versions. Lol… it just never ends, does it?
Gold
