Come, Invincible Robots! Tamashii Nations Event 2013 Chogokin Line Up feat. a Special Guest!

The Tamashii Nations Event is ready to go, and robot figures are ready to be shown off. Making a big show is Bandai with their Soul of Chogokin and Super Robot Chogokin lines with a long list of figures. In the Soul of Chogokin line, there’s the new adjustable display bases displayed using Combattler, Votoms, Daimos, Daltanious, and Godmars, and we’ve got a new GaoGaiGar, the 2199 version of Space Battleship Yamato, the Macross 30 YF-30 Chronos, Hello Kitty, and Trider G7. In the Super Robot Chogokin line, we’ve got the very excellent OVA style Mazinkaiser and Shin Getter 1 with the totally sweet rocket punch and Stoner Sunshine accessories you can see above, and the real star of the show:

Super Robot Chogokin Kantam Robo from the show within a show of the same name from Crayon Shin-chan. Of all the robots in the world, Kantam is getting his figure in one of the strongest figure lines there is. I know it would be really hard to do, and you might not even want it for a display figure, but I’d love it if they have the pilot that is the miniature Kantam Robo be removable from the figure. That is an awesome place to go for a new robot figure, but I shouldn’t be too surprised. Kantam Robo does have it’s own full fledged OP after all.

(Thanks to the news from Collection DX and Taghobby.)

Aim for Surpassing God or Devil of the Heavens! Mazin Lagann Buster!

A little bit ago back in October, there was a new set Soul of Chogokin figure set of Gurren Lagann and Gunbuster. The best thing about these is that their parts were interchangeable with each other and with some older Chogokin figures, so you’d get awesome things like this.

Looks like the concept was in good hands because this Tamashii interview with Gurren Lagann animation director and key animator Akira Amemiya and another artist/designer for Bandai whose name I can’t translate to save my life shows that they’re interested in making a new figure and maybe a show based on that idea.

It’s a pretty good poster. A lot of the interview talks about design and and drawing, how drawing Gurren Lagann after so many years feels nostalgic, designing how Mazinger parts like the Scrander would be used, even at one point talking about a Mazinger Weapon Set. It’s really cool that this is getting considered because I’ve wanted a Gurren Lagann 70s style team up movie forever.

Yes, like this, but with the above robots and made during a time when studios had money.

If it gets off the ground, you can be sure we’re going to be all over this.

Mazinger Z, now with sound!

So, you know about the recent Mazinger Z DX Soul of Chogokin figure?

Image from the official DX Soul of Chogokin Mazinger Z site, so please give them all the credit.

Yeah, I’m not a figure collector and I think that’s one sexy beast. It’s the first Chogokin figure to feature light up and sound, including for the “Pilder On!” sequence, light up eyes for Photon Beam, light up fins with exchangeable translucent plates so you can see Breast Fire in action, Drill Missiles in the arms with exchangeable arms for a firing pose, joints for Rocket Punch, and, honestly, it’s just good looking in general.

It’s so good that Soul of Chogokin did an interview with Go Nagai getting his thoughts on Mazinger Z from creation until now and how the figures have grown with the franchise. Even now he continues to look to the future of figurines, lamenting the serious cost that a one meter figure would have. But back in the day, the light up and sounds were too much, so maybe one day, one day, we can all have a little waist high Mazinger.