Toybox REVIEW: Engine Sentai Go-Onger mini-pla EngineOh

After having so much fun with the GokaiOh mini-pla, it seemed like a good idea to check out some of the other Super Sentai mecha mini-plas Bandai have done. After all, they tick all the boxes of what I've been looking for in Sentai/Power Ranger mechs - they're small, affordable, posable and transformable (plus they come with the satisfaction of building them yourself). The first to catch my eye is EngineOh from Engine Sentai Go-Onger, or the High Octane Megazord from Power Rangers RPM if you'd prefer.

There is a dividing opinion on the mecha from Go-Onger, which I imagine stems a lot from the fact that they are compact, anime style cars (complete with eyes and faces) and that, in the case of EngineOh, their combination is very 'totem pole' (as in, they pile on top of each other). I am firmly in the 'love' camp with the Go-Onger mecha, who for me really stand out from the others and have a more interesting combination than "torso + 2 arms + 2 legs". EngineOh is made up from Engine Speedor (Red), Engine Bus-On (Blue) and Engine BearRV (yellow).

It should be noted that the kit I bought is the Hong Kong reissue of EngineOh, rather than the original Japanese release. It has been said in the past that these reissues are somewhat 'cheaper' than the original releases, and while there were a few issues with mine that might suggest that (which I'll go into in a moment) the overall quality is still pretty damn good - everything fits together securely. The issues I had were that one of the connector joints on Engine Speedor broke in half as I was putting it together (luckily they still fit in properly in two halves anyway) and that some of the stickers are poorly cut and uneven (which isn't a huge deal if you plan to buy the set and paint it instead anyway). Bus-On probably has the most stickers (after all he is the biggest one), but BearRV is moulded in black, meaning the yellow (the colour the whole bear head pretty much is) is all done through stickering. Be careful to get it to look even. When in vehicle mode, the Go-On sword (which is supplied with BearRV) can be stored in one of Bus-On's trailer compartments.

It is when the three are combined as EngineOh that the appeal of these candy toys really shines. EngineOh is blessed with a great variety of articulation - particularly in the head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and feet. The only real niggles I have is that the robot would benefit from both better hands (they're on a hinge so don't have a huge range of motion) and some sort of heels to make action poses more stable. Even then, EngineOh can be displayed in a wide variety of poses, with both the Go-On sword and shield (which is securely stored on its back when not in use). There are probably some details I've missed out, but on the whole EngineOh doesn't even need that much paint to look accurate either - just a dab of silver on the sword and then some silver and gold for the pipes on the head.

So while I do have a few minor issues with this set, it's still pretty fantastic overall. Not quite at the level of GokaiOh, but then there's a lot more going on with him. I wish I'd gotten into these a lot sooner, because going back and picking more up is going to prove costly. I'll definitely be picking up GunbirOh at some stage, and I also have my eye on Magiking and GoseiGreat. I'm at the top of a very slippery slope.