Brave Gokin GaoGaiGar
I had been looking for the GaoGaiGar stuff from the Brave Gokin line for some time, but I always wanted to get most of them in a single order. Luckily, they apparently released a limited edition box set that comes with GaoGaiGar, the Goldymard and Star accessories, Dimension Pliers, GaoFightGar, GaiGo, and a gold figurine of Guy. It was also surprisingly cheap for being unopened 18-20 year old toys, with the entire set coming out to less than $50 a toy. I mean, shipping something that big wasn't cheap, but at least I saved on the products. I was super happy with the deal I got on these guys.
Too bad they suck.
The Good: It does all the things. Lion Mode, Robot Mode, Combined Mode, weird alternate combinations. It also has a bunch of accessories, like the Hell and Heaven hands, effect parts to recreate Broken Magnum and Protect Shade, the Dividing Driver, a Zondar Core, and a few other small things. On the surface, it looks like everything you'd want out of a GaoGaiGar.
The Bad: Except age has not treated this thing well. Heck, I'm not sure it was good to begin with? One of my Galeon's knees was broken out of the box, and the other broke as I was finishing up taking photos. (It was a small mushroom peg? This thing has a bunch of diecast; why didn't they make it bigger?) Its joint tolerances are also bad, often being super tight or way too loose, and very little in between. And it doesn't hold together very well. The chest additions as GaoGaiGar don't even peg in. It's the most disappointed I've been with a toy since I accidentally got a Korean Kyoryujin instead of Brave Dino King. It's such a bummer.
But we're not done yet. I said this was a box set, and I plan on getting all these disappointments out of the way, all at once. Strap in, folks.
Goldymarg and Stealth Gao II Upgrade Set + Dimension Pliers
Still hoping they eventually do these parts for the RG kit they did. I know it's been a while, so it's unlikely, but I can dream.
The Good: It looks nice.
On the note of Dimension Pliers, I was surprised to find it was a model kit, but because of that, it's the most solid of this set of releases, mostly because the tolerances are technically new. It's not perfect, but all the individual robots look good, the combined mode is both solid and huge, and it also has a wrench configuration that I show off in a later photo.
The Bad: Tolerances on Goldymarg are bad, and the hand has no tension, so it can't hold the hammer. The new parts for Stealth Gao are also weak connections and fall apart easily.
Brave Gokin GaoFighGar
I'll say this, I wasn't aware of how different the new Gao Machines were until handling them. There's actually a lot of differences between them.
The Good: All the armor parts are swappable between all the bodies, so if you want to use Stealth Gao II, Drill Gao II, Broken Gao, Protect Gao, and Galeon, you can, which is a really cool bonus to collecting the line. I mean, don't, but if you did. The drills also do this cool expand-contract thing.
The Bad: FighGar has very weak tolerances. It also has a number of parts that just pop off, and the armatures for the chest/shoulders are too tough, so I'm worried they'll bend. The vehicle mode is also kind of crap; doesn't hold together and isn't easy to transform.
The Gao Machines also feel much more rickety than FighGar, since a lot of FighGar is diecast, and none of the Gao Machines are.
Brave Gokin GaiGo/GaoGaiGo
So the reason I specifically wanted the Brave Gokin versions of the GaoGaiGar crew was specifically because of this release. To my knowledge, this is the only DX-style release of GaiGo, and I really wanted a GaiGo. I think GaiGo is really neat. And, luckily enough, it's the best release of this set, which is crazy because this came out way before the manga did, and GaiGo became prevalent. This was designed based off the few second teaser it got post Final.
The Good: The GaiGo transformation is simple, but pretty cool. My favorite part is that the cover for the heads are based on gravity, so just turning it upsidown reveals the new head. The tolerances are also better here than the other two bodies.
It's also almost entirely diecast, which is cool.
The Bad: The shoulders don't attach as well as with the others; they lay closer to straight than the v-shape the others have. The waist comes apart pretty easy. And the neck guard that I like as GaiGo gets in the way of the helmet. It just doesn't wear the armors as well as GaiGar and FighGar.
Overall, don't buy these. They have aged very poorly, and they will more than likely be a frustration for you than anything else. There are plenty of better releases for most of these machines in other lines, though I believe GaiGo only has a Super Minipla as an alternative.
