Daitanken / Super Daibouken / Ultimate Daibouken
Does this count as a Movie Toy? I know all five of these auxiliary machines appeared in the series proper, but they only combined during the movie. It’s a bit of a strange situation when you think about it, as that hasn’t been done before or since.
The Good: Another set of five good toys. They all do more individually than most of Daibouken’s machines, and can each individually be used in combination with Daibouken without needing the five of them together to form the messy amalgam of parts that is Ultimate Daibouken. Like Chou ToQ-Oh, he doesn’t really gain much height by combining as much as bulk, but it’s still an impressive final result none the less.
This is a great example of interplay. You can swap out arms for any of four of the Daitanken set, can make a giant gun mode, have two separate combined modes, GoGo Jet can carry around any single limb robot, and the second robot is an afterthought rather than a main focus, meaning that the combination comes together more smoothly than normal.
The Bad: Most of my problems come from GoGo Jet. It’s more finicky than any other machine in the line, with long appendages that constantly require you to detach and reattach them to the wings between modes. Some of its landing gear gets easily stuck. Those sockets for Daitankens legs are SO tight that I spent five minutes searching for a release button, and the piece used to carry the other machines around has no place in Ultimate Daibouken, and it’s the only piece like that. It certainly gives up the most to make the other toys shine.
Overall, this set is exponentially improved by having the 10 of these machines together, but as I said in the Daibouken review, it’s $250 for a new set of them all. If you don’t mind a scruffy version like mine, you can certainly find it cheaper, but I know not everyone is into that.
