{"id":1424,"date":"2012-02-29T00:53:20","date_gmt":"2012-02-29T00:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/2007\/04\/15\/gakken-120ish-transformable-ride-armors\/"},"modified":"2014-07-11T06:10:21","modified_gmt":"2014-07-11T06:10:21","slug":"gakken-120ish-transformable-ride-armors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anymoon.com\/blog\/?p=1424","title":{"rendered":"Gakken 1\/20(ish) Transformable Ride Armors"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Review (updated):\u00a0Not the hot collector’s item it once was<\/p>\n

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Packaging & Extras (3\/5)<\/strong>
\nThis toy is available in no less than four different packagings.\u00a0 You can get the original Gakken of Japan packaging which includes a version of this toy that is made in Japan and may have some slight differences from the Singapore version reviewed here.\u00a0 Gakken of Japan offerings come in boxes that usually contain almost no English writing and prominently display the Genesis Climber Mospeada name.\u00a0 Another box that’s available is Henshin Robo variety that appears to be amongst the most prolific.\u00a0 Henshin Robos are Singapore made toys.\u00a0 Another common option would be the Robotech-branded version of this toy which is an exact repackaging of the Henshin Robo product.\u00a0 The final version is a gift-set\u00a0which is also a product of Singapore but this version comes bundled with Gakken’s 1\/72 Legioss toy.\u00a0 All versions of these toys, regardless of box or which character’s ride armor you purchase, will come with a black scope piece, a gun, decals, and instructions.<\/p>\n

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Charm & Collectibility (2\/5)<\/strong> + 1 for Giftset & Japanese versions
\nMany people out there have gained\u00a0a true hatred of these toys from hasty purchases made online at prices that were far above what these toys are worth.\u00a0 People saw auctions for Yellow’s transformable ride armor and leapt at it bidding the price up only to one day receive a box in the mail that contained this rather pathetic offering.\u00a0 Anyone who assumed they were purchasing something akin to Gakken’s stellar 1\/8 ride armor toys was in for a huge let down.\u00a0 For those that do\u00a0know what they’re purchasing, the Japanese version of the toy is slightly more sought after as is the case with all Gakken products.\u00a0 In this particular instance though, I’m not sure there’s any difference at all between the Singapore version and the Japan version, I only have Singapore samples and I can’t imagine a toy this small having anything that shoots.\u00a0 The gift-set is also a bit tougher to come by and it offers two toys in one.<\/p>\n

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Sculpt, detail, & Paint (4\/10)<\/strong>
\nIn motorcycle mode this toy doesn’t to a horrific job of emulating the bikes from the show.\u00a0 I give Gakken credit for doing more than a simple re-color.\u00a0 The bikes do feature quasi-correct front sections rather than being squared-off cookie-cutters of Stick’s\/Scott’s VR-52F.\u00a0 Sadly,the figure that rides the bike is a horrific rendition of the characters from the show and features pieces of the ride armor at all times rather than the standard armor.\u00a0 When the bike is actually transformed it sorta folds in half to become a giant back pack that isn’t believable at all.<\/p>\n

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Design (4\/10)<\/strong>
\nI really don’t get what the makers of this toy were going for.\u00a0 It seems like it would have been very easy to make just a few pieces of this toy removeable to make it similar to the vehicle from the show.\u00a0 Unfortunately it seems like some huge importance was placed on keeping this toy a “perfect transformation” toy and boy does it ever suffer as a result.\u00a0 What makes even less sense is that you do have to remove the engine from the toy to transform it so it isn’t even perfect transformation anyway.\u00a0 The armor actually requires a hook to keep it attached in armor mode.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Durability & Build (5\/10)<\/strong>
\nTo be fair, these are very old toys now so the rigidity of the plastic seems to be going which isn’t something I could ever see coming on brand new toys.\u00a0 My toys feel frail.\u00a0 Any peg on the toy seems proned to breaking including the ones necessary for holding guns and the ones that keep the front shocks attached to the handle bar area.\u00a0 The arms are pretty easy to dislocate.\u00a0 Joints that need to be stiff also can become sloppy after this many years.<\/p>\n

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Articulation (3\/10)
\n<\/strong>The wheels move in bike mode.\u00a0 The head turns, the shoulders and hips rotate, and the knee bends.\u00a0 Once the ride armor is attached the toy can pretty much just stand.\u00a0 In bike mode the rider looks uncomfortable at best.\u00a0 This toy really just isn’t good for any sort of display beyond a static pose (I recommend the rider standing next to the bike).
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