Soul of Chogokin Gx-79 Full Action Voltes V
A bit of a downer, the manual is now black and white? No colored pages? Sometimes I wonder if this release was really meant for the SRC line.
Tray inside the display base
VOLTES FIVE!!!!
When Bandai first announced that they were releasing a new super poseable Voltes V figure, many first assumed that it would be under the Super Robot Chogokin line since the toy obviously did not have transforming capabilities. It was a bit of a surprise to find that this would be released under the main Soul of Chogokin line. This new figure marks the fourth time Voltes has come out in the SOC series, which now puts him in third place with the most number of varied releases per character in the toyline, behind Mazinger Z and Tetsujin.
Bandai’s Full Action sub-line for the SOC series gives us non-transforming toys with very high levels of poseability. The reworked designs are by Anime mecha designer and director Masami Obari of Fatal Fury, Gravion and Dancouga Nova fame.
The toy features some really great poseability and is really fun to mess around with. It looks great and very stylish in even the most basic of poses!
Grand Fire
Requires some parts swapping for the belt buckle.
Removing the fist
Swapping out the fist pegs can be tricky. First, do note that the pegs sizes are different on each side. The bigger peg goes into the forearm side.
The using this tool (it comes with the tray), extract the wrist joint.
To properly pop the joint free, use the tool and position it like so, then press down with your thumb. It should pop the wrist ball joint loose with almost no effort. DO NOT use the tool like a pick, that’s not how it works, you could end up ruining the tool or worse, the ball joint.
Chain Knuckle
Welp, it took Bandai four Voltes V releases but we finally got a set that comes with TWO Chain Knuckle accessories for once (all three previous releases only came with one Chain Knuckle). That’s a win right there lol.
Originally in this pic, the end was tied to a string (dental floss), I just erased the string with Photoshop. 😀
Voltes Bazooka
I really love how we finally get a Voltes figure that can pose so well in the Voltes Bazooka pose. Unfortunately, Bandai didn’t complete the look and didn’t give us a decent left hand to go with the pose. Sigh…
Chodenji String/ Ultra Electromagnetic Whips
I do wish we had the option to remove the loops on the Strings. Oh well.
When I first saw the promo pics, I thought the Chodenji Strings/ belt would feature bendable wires inside and would be flexible. It is not, and I’m okay with that. I’m glad they went with fixed plastic over bendy ones.
Chodenji Goma/ Ultra Electromagnetic Tops
Tenkuuken/ Heaven’s Sword
Thanks to all the joints in this figure, it’s a whole lot of fun to display in dynamic poses, particularly when it comes to the Tenkuuken/ Laser Sword.
Miscellaneous Notes Dept.
-Heh, I don’t think I will ever get used to seeing Voltes with a slim waist. But it’s a regular thing for Masami Obari (re)designs.
-Because the toy needs to super posey, they decided to drop the connection piece for the Crewzer to the head to allow for greater range of motion. So much for Anime accuracy, I guess they went with function over form.
-Since the toy does not transform, don’t bother trying to flip out the Frigate wings. They may look like a separate piece but they’re not designed to fold out.
-When returning parts to the tray, make sure the belt/ whips are positioned correctly, this is what they should look like, otherwise you run the risk of overlapping them incorrectly and warping the accessory.
Display base
Nameplate has still has the plastic film cover.
The display base arm now features a new locking mechanism. To work it, you have to pull the joint outwards first, position it, then, press it back down to lock the position into place. I like it, this prevents accidents like ratchet joints on a display base arm giving out from happening.
Comparison with the Gx-31 Voltes V
The Good
-FA Voltes stands roughly 7 inches tall and weighs 279 grams.
-Diecast parts include:
–Main joints
–Upper half of the torso
–Front halves of the lower legs
–Top halves of the feet
-Beautifully sculpted, looks great from any angle.
-VERY highly poseable. I had a lot of fun handling this guy.
The Bad-Non-transforming. Can’t volt out. No tank mode either.
-Manual is now black and white, a first for the SOC line. Very disappointing.
-Seriously Bandai, you need to give us a proper left hand for the Voltes Bazooka pose.
-As cool as this toy is, I do wish he was taller, as is, he’s just only as tall as Dynamic Classics Mazinger Z. While this might do it for some folks, I like Voltes to be taller (or Mazinger to be smaller than Voltes).
-Zero ratchet joints? Did not expect that. Joints are nice and tight though. So not really an issue.
The UglyNo real issues for me here, but I guess if there was one thing that I find a bit annoying here, it would have to be the hip skirt plates. When I pose Voltes’ legs, the hip skirt plates tend to open very awkwardly and in the end pop off very often. I guess your mileage may vary but this was something I wasn’t expecting to have an issue with. Oh well. I hope this won’t be a regular issue with future FA SOC figures.
Overall, it’s great, lots of poseability, loads of accessories and just plain fun to mess with. I do wish the toy could “volt out” but it is what it is. I’m really excited to get FA Daimos after playing with this.
Gold
