My Shiny Toy Robots

Power Rangers Wild Force is the 10 th entry in the Power Rangers franchise, following on from Power Rangers Time Force. It is the last season to have involvement from Saban until 2011’s Power Rangers Samurai, and the last season to be filmed in the US. Closely based on the Super Sentai series Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, the story follows Cole Evans – a young man who has lived with a jungle tribe for many years, until they send him out to find his destiny – with only a picture of his biological parents and a mysterious red orb. As he arrives in Turtle Cove, he meets the rest of the Wild Force Power Rangers - Alyssa Enrilé (The White Tiger Ranger), Danny Delgado (Black Bison), Max Cooper (Blue Shark) and their leader Taylor Earhardt (Yellow Eagle). They take Cole to the Animarium, a floating island in the sky shaped like a turtle, where they meet Princess Shayla – the guardian of the Animarium who serves as the series’ mentor character. She explains they have all been chosen by their r...

The Big O is a 26 episode noir-style mecha series that possibly received just as much praise in the West as it did in Japan. The setting is Paradigm City, 40 years after a mysterious occurrence known as ‘The Event’ led to its citizens, both human and robotic, losing all of their memories. The protagonist is Roger Smith, an ex-military cop now turned negotiator. Aided by his faithful butler Norman Burg and later the gynoid R. Dorothy Wayneright, Roger provides the city with this ‘much needed service’. When it is needed, Roger is able to call upon the colossal ‘megadeus’ Big O, a robot that is a relic from the city’s past and may also be the key to its future. The first season (13 episodes) provides fairly stand-alone stories, but overall work toward to larger story that is explored in far more detail in the second series. As stated earlier, the series is very much in the style of 1940s film noir – with Roger filling the role of the private detective type character and the mysterio...

Just over a week after one of my new favourite animes finishes I manage to get my hands on its star robot. Star being the keyword here, as what we have here is Taubarn, the cybody piloted by protagonist and Galactic Pretty Boy Takuto Tsunashi in the anime Star Driver. The first thing that should be mentioned about Taubarn is its size - what it lacks in bulk, it certainly makes up for in height. The picture below illustrates it better, but most Robot Spirits/Revoltech/figures of similar scale only come up to around its waist. The sculpt lives up to Bandai standard - managing to accurately recreate the outlandish proportions of the Taubarn while retaining full posability. The colours are particularly vibrant - metallic red on top on white. The joints are gold The plume is moulded in clear plastic, and the propulsion parts that float freely on Taubarn's back in the series are held on via a clear connector to help carry out the illusion. Tauburn comes with a variety of al...

The 33rd entry in Toei's Super Sentai franchise. For eighteen generations, the Shiba household have protected the world from the evil forces of the Gedoushu - monsters that enter our world through cracks and plan to flood the world with water from the Sanzu river (which is essential to their survival). In present day, their leader Doukoku Chimatsuri is freed from his seal and intends to continue this ambition. Takeru Shiba, the youngest head of the Shiba clan and ShinkenRed, must gather together his four vassals (servants from other households) to fight the forces of the Gedoushu. Initially Takeru maintains aloof and detached from his vassals, preferring to fight alone. But as the story progresses and Takeru's childhood friend Genta joins the Shinkengers as ShinkenGold, Takeru becomes far more comfortable around people, beginning to treat them as friends. But Takeru is different from the lords that have preceded him, and the vassals slowly learn that his dark secret may be the...

Another classics release, another Dalek boxset based on a Davros story. This time its 1985 2-part story ' Revelation of the Daleks' starring 6th Doctor Colin Baker. This boxset includes the 6th Doctor (with removable cape), Davros (with alternate hand), a Necros Dalek and a Skaro Dalek. Thoughts on each figure can be found below. First off is the Doctor. Once again he is nothing more than a re-release of the Classics Wave 1 6th Doctor, which makes it the third release of the figure (the second being the 6th Doctor included in the 'Attack of the Cyberman' 2-pack , and as such I shall not be making any new comments about the figure as it has been previously reviewed). His new accessory comes in the form of the blue cape which he wore in the episode. The cape is made of PVC and is both light and dark blue, with gold trimmings. Its a pretty good likeness, and fits snugly on the Doctor (but isn't actually fixed in any way to him). As I already own the figure, I...

From acclaimed anime studio Bones (responsible for Eureka Seven, Soul Eater, Fullmetal Alchemist and much more) comes Star Driver, a story of super robots gone fabulous. Star Driver tells the tale of Takuto Tsunashi, a young boy who arrives on the remote Southern Cross Isle. The island has a dark secret though, as a group of masked individuals known as the Glittering Crux Brigade are attempting to release a hoard of mysterious mecha known as 'Cybodies' from an alternate dimension known as Zero Time. To do this they must first break the seals of the four maidens of the island. Takuto has a secret of his own though, as he soon reveals himself to be the 'Galactic Pretty Boy', a legendary fighter who defends the maidens with his own Cybody, Taubarn. Takuto not only becomes popular at school, but soon enters a complicated love triangle with his two best friends - South maiden Wako Agemaki and Sugata Shindō, Wako's fiancee and pilot to the most powerful Cybody of all, Sa...