Toybox REVIEW: THE GATTAI DX Gridknight & Goldburn

Release Date: November 2021 

RRP: 8800 yen 

Dynazenon may be a fantastic robot on its own, but as soon as SSSS.Gridman fan favourite Gridknight made an appearance in SSSS.Dynazenon fans immediately knew that a bigger combination was on the cards. Naturally it took a few episodes to happen, but the debut of Kaiser Gridknight in episode nine of the series certainly did not disappoint. And much in the same way – THE GATTAI DX Gattai Ryujin Dynazenon may be a fantastic figure on its own, but why stop there when you can have something even bigger? Enter THE GATTAI DX Gridknight & Goldburn, an add-on set that was released to coincide with the reissue of Dynazenon. Prior to its November release collectors who had previously bought Dynazenon were invited to take part in special lottery, with the prize being the opportunity to purchase and receive the set some months ahead of its official release. Unfortunately said official release wasn't quite as straightforward as Dynazenon's, with the set being made exclusively available through the Good Smile Company online store…plus any middlemen services that chose to carry it of course.

THE GATTAI DX Gridknight and Goldburn come packaged in a large two-piece box identical to that of Dynazenon's, with the only key difference being that this box doesn't feature any additional artwork on the underside. Other than that the layout is pretty much the same though, with the front of the lid featuring some nice CG artwork of the two characters whilst the sides break down the various combinations they are capable of. Despite the two figures' relatively small size in the grand scheme of things they definitely fill up that large plastic tray well, especially when you add all the additional combination components on top of that such as Kaiser Gridknight's fancy translucent purple cape. Inside the box is also a detailed instruction booklet that includes pictorial walkthroughs to all the various features and combinations.

However if you want your packaging to be a little more fancy Good Smile Company have also included a nifty little bonus with this release – a cardboard sleeve sporting artwork from legendary mecha maestro Masami Obari (who also provided the artwork for the Full Power Gridman first run bonus sleeve). In addition to Obari's gorgeous artwork on the front, the sleeve also features some nice CG artwork of the combined Kaiser Gridknight toy on the back and extensive breakdown of all the various parts and combinations on the sides. Best of all, this sleeve is large enough to fit both the Gridknight/Goldburn AND Dynazenon boxes inside – giving you the perfect way to store or display these boxes in a way that matches the Full Power Gridman release.

The first component of this set is an articulated Gridknight figure, done in the same way as the Gridman figure from the DX Full Power Gridman set. As such Gridknight is largely compatible with the pieces from that set, and in turn Gridman the components of Dynazenon (though the helmets may have trouble fitting due to the different head sculpts). This Gridknight is the same size as Dynasoldier from the Dynazenon set, and is nicely finished with plenty of sculpted details and vibrant colours. In fact it's perhaps because of the purple and bright orange that Gridknight looks a lot better than Gridman, even though they're both relatively basic looking figures (with lots of visible sockets and screw holes in the back) for such expensive sets. It is a shame that it doesn't look as sharp as Dynasoldier does (which as I said in the Dynazenon review is so good that it could easily be sold on its own), but in the context of the whole set it's meant to serve a purpose and does that well enough.

Putting compatibility before poseability, the Gridknight figure is rather basically articulated but still has enough going on with it to get a few good poses out of it. Altogether it features; 

- Ball jointed head, shoulders, wrists and hips 

- Swivel hinge elbows Hinged knees and feet

Additionally the extended shoulder pieces are moveable via a pivot, so can be comfortably positioned alongside the arms. While it isn't a whole lot of articulation and there are certainly areas where it could be improved (it would certainly benefit from a waist joint for example), the abundance of ball joints at least means the areas that do have movement are at least maximised. The elbows sadly only have around a 45-degree bend, but the additional swivel does give them more movement to work with. Gridknight comes with two pairs of swappable hands – a pair of standard closed fists and a pair of gripping hands which have rectangular plugs built into the palms.

The second part of this set is Goldburn – the heroic kaiju that befriends Chise Asukagawa and goes on to become an additional member of the Dynazenon team/Gridknight alliance. Goldburn is a lot more mecha-like in design than many of the other kaiju that appear in the series, but visually it works well alongside the other Dynazenon components in that it has a more organic edge like Gridknight does. As the name suggests Goldburn is predominantly made up of painted gold plastic, with additional colouring on the chest and wings as well as those piercing red eyes. The head/neck section is removable, and can be pegged to the torso in two different ways depending on whether you want the neck hunched over or stretched out. At first it can be a little daunting plugging those tiny gold tabs into the body, but everything holds together well and even after hours of play there are no signs of breakage on my copy.

Goldburn is a wonderfully articulated little figure that gives you plenty to offer when it comes to both standard and flight poses. Aside from the head/neck section being able to be fitted in multiple ways, the figure also all of the following too; 

- Hinged head, neck, jaw, wings (at torso connection) and tail fin 

- Rotating wings (at middle connection), hips and talons 

The combination of both hinge and pivot joints on the wings allow for some fantastic wing positioning, from having them fully outstretched to folded upwards in a flapping movement or pointed down in a divebomb action. The moveable talons on the feet provide both stable ankle movement and the ability to grip onto things, which is great for having Goldburn perch onto uneven surfaces comfortably. Whilst from the outset Goldburn might seem like the lesser part of this set, overall the figure is far more of a highlight than Gridknight is. Cleverly designed, beautifully painted (even if it is largely one colour) and fluid articulation. The tail even has a stand port built into it – perfect for not only the bigger stand included with Dynazenon but also smaller clear plastic ones (such as a Tamashii Stage) for a less obtrusive display.

Gridknight and Goldburn have two individual combinations that can be recreated with this release, the first of which is Goldburn forming an oversized shield which can then be gripped in Gridknight's open hands. Thanks to Goldburn's impressive array of articulation the figure folds up into the shield shape really well, and although it can be a little heavy for Gridknight to hold without additional stand support he can at least grip it really well thanks to the tabs built into the hands. Compared to some of the other modes these toys are capable of it isn’t especially extravagant and somewhat limited in poseability, but the fact Goldburn still has the ability to form it is impressive (and appreciated) nonetheless. The addition of a shield to Gridknight's arsenal suits the character really well, as well as calling back to the original Gridman who also fought with both sword and shield.

However for a more exciting combination, Goldburn can also attach to the back of Gridknight to create a wing pack – resulting in the pair becoming Gridburn Knight! This combination (along with the larger Kaiser Gridknight) makes clever use of Goldburn's origami-like construction, with the legs folding back so that they lay flat alongside the wings. In this mode the stand port at the bottom of Goldburn's tail is still free to use, which means a variety of mid-flight poses are at your disposal (with Gridknight's articulation completely unimpeded by the additional backpack as well). It's a great mini-combination that adds a little more oomph to the individual Gridknight figure, as well as giving the pair something to offer combination-wise if for whatever reason you don't have Dynazenon to hand.

Of course the pair are also compatible with Dynazenon in several ways, one of which is Dynasoldier able to transform into the "Dynamic Cannon" – a giant cannon to be wielded by Gridknight. Dynasoldier's transformation into the cannon is as straightforward as it looks, with the robot essentially just straightening out and then the chest/back pieces (which form the head of Dyna Rex) folding out to form the front). Dynasoldier's tail then becomes the cannon's grip, which can slot into Gridknight's gripping hands the same way Goldburn does in shield mode. The cannon is so big it needs additional support from the other arm (and in turn the figure may need support from a display stand), but the pose itself looks great. You really can't beat a giant cannon weapon, and this mode is a fantastic call-back to Dyna Dragon's cannon mode from the original Hyper Agent Gridman series.

An adapter piece has also been included which allows Gridburn Knight to stand atop the back of Dyna Rex, simulating the pose they make during their final attack. Connecting this piece requires separating Dyna Rex, plugging it in and then reconnecting, which creates a solid support for the additional components. Gridknight plugs into the front of the piece, while Goldburn plugs into the back – retaining the silhouette of the base Gridburn Knight even though there's now an extra piece between them. Despite not being the "main" combination Dyna Rex looks so impressive so it's not surprising many would rather display the set like this, and it's nice that Gridknight and Goldburn are able to connect to it in a way that looks imposing even if it isn't really a "combination" of sorts.

But of course what we're all here for really is the main event, which brings together Dynasoldier, Dynawing, Dynastriker, Dynadiver, Gridknight and Goldburn together in one glorious combination - Kaiser Gridknight! This combo sees Gridknight replace Dynasoldier as the central component (complete with some awkward leg folding at the back), connecting to the other three Dynazenon parts in the same way before Goldburn is also added as an additional shield piece at the front. Dynasoldier (in a slight variant of its Dynamic Cannon form) attaches to the right shoulder, and finally the Dynawing wing tips open out as they do in the Dyna Rex formation. As an optional extra, the set also comes with two translucent purple cape parts to represent the purple energy cape Kaiser Gridknight produces at the end of its combination sequence. It's a stunning looking robot in animation, and the toy looks pretty incredible as well. Given how Gridknight is built exactly the same as the Gridman from the Full Power set, it's amazing how (nearly) everything locks into place perfectly yet the previous set came out as such a floppy mess. I guess that's the difference between a collaboration with Sentinel and GSC attempting to handle a combining robot toy all by themselves.

In Kaiser Gridknight mode the set has all the same articulation as the base Dynazenon figure, however with the addition of the extra parts things have become a little fiddlier. The arms now have the added restriction of the Goldburn chest shield being in front of them, which admittedly doesn't have a huge effect on them overall since you can simply swing the wings forward but at the same time doesn't look quite right. What's easily the more frustrating issue however is Dynasoldier and how that component fits onto the shoulder. Using Gridknight's gripping hand as a connection point is a good idea in theory, but between the way Gridknight's arm is enclosed into the overall combination and the abundance of parts surrounding that area getting it to clip on firmly can be troublesome. While there is admittedly a plug socket to the side which you can fit Dynasoldier into, the fit still isn't tight enough to give the component the support it needs to attach firmly. Rather surprisingly you can still get a fair bit of articulation out of the arm even with it attached, but it really doesn't take much for the piece to become uncoupled which really stands out given how tightly everything else fits together. The more limited articulation isn't that much of a flaw given how that's always going to be the case when you're piling more parts onto an existing combination, but that connection in particular definitely could do with some workshopping.2

Theres's no denying that THE GATTAI DX Gridknight & Goldburn is an incredible add-on to the already brilliant Dynazenon set, but is it quite on the same level? The exclusivity isn't so much a flaw but a minor annoyance, as is what can seem like a comparatively high asking price (not so much the 8800 yen RRP, but that combined with no retailer discounts, GSC's 2000 yen flat rate shipping fee and any middleman fees that may incur buying it elsewhere). But while Gridknight himself might not be a lot to write home about, Goldburn is a fantastic little figure and the combinations made possible with the pair of them definitely enhance both sets. Sure Kaiser Gridknight can be a little fiddly, but with just how good it looks (especially with that glorious cape) that can easily be forgiven. Given how superb Dynazenon is it's perfectly fine to be satisfied with that alone, but if you want to go the extra mile and get this set too it's unlikely you'll be disappointed.