Playmates is releasing a 16" classic Voltron with lights & sounds. Multiple weapons as well. What do you think /toy/?
That's neat but after the Chogokin I think I'm tapped out on classic Voltron. I wonder what they'll do to put their own touch on it. so many companies have done their own take on Voltron. Actually, I still kinda want Mattel's, shitty as it may be.
They really based it off the soul of chogokin mold but they probably cut out a lot of engineering and articulation in favor of the electronics and budgeting.
Best to actually wait for reviews of these guys to pop up and see the inevitable fuck ups in the paint apps that Playmates does.
>>6519543
While it certainly has it's flaws, I love the size of the Matty Voltron and the ability to put 3.75" pilots inside each lion. If only Matty had gone with a lights/sounds gimmick like these instead of that stupid auto-transformation nonsense.
Is there any pics of the combined form? If it looks good, then I might be interested for a cheap golion.
How is the die cast Korratron?
>>6519663
Die cast korratron retains 99% of the problems of the bigger plastic version + more problems because they omitted certain points of articulation. The only articulation points they fixed were the full 360 rotation on the black lion's arms and thighs.
The blue lion looks the best out of all of them but it's more for the fact that the fragile red plastic piece on it makes it stand out a lot. But the combined mode over all is ballbreaking to stand up properly. I don't know who at Playmates thought it was a good idea to scale down the regular plastic sculpt down and add in die cast in all the same place for each lion, it makes it feel all wonky to actually handle.
>>6519619
It bothers me that all the feet fold the wrong way.
Heh shitty diecast.
I've been enjoying this baby since the first week of January.
>>6519519
Well fuck. Why did I buy the netflix 16"
I want a 6" posable classic voltron, why did SRC never get to Go Lion?
>>6519519
Holy fuck, it's so obvious that they used the SoC as a template for those that Bandai should seriously consider suing them. They pretty much recasted all the pieces, only real changes are the tails and the new joints on black lion's hind legs.
>>6519742
Which one is this?
>>6519753
Cause they're both cool. But it looks like these guys might have more, other than the larger weapons.
>>6519758
I don't see it
Can i get a side by side
>>6519774
I own the SoC and can assure you they have based those on it. Just look at the head sculpts and overall proportions. The most obvious is blue lion's head, the SoC was the first to give it those elongated eyes, but the shapes and sizes just look the same on all of them. Even the weapons have the same proportions and sculpts.
Several things are simplified, but they clearly used the SoC as the base.
>>6519781
I own the soc too and I can't see it. I mean i see similar desig and aesthetic traits that most voltrons have shared since the 80s but i can't see how it's similar. I guess we'll see when it actually comes out
>>6519679
I might just buy these to have some small flix lions
and just never transform it
>>6519795
>I own the soc too and I can't see it.
How is that even possible? To me it's painfully obvious. Each Voltron toy has their own style, the SoC was the first one to mold the heads like that (more rounded snouts, for exmple). The ears and eyes shape and position, the specific leg details, the overall proportions and shapes of the body... There's not a single Voltron toy that match in all of those with any other except this new one and the SoC. Just compare each Voltron toy closely, if you still can't see it I guess there's nothing I can do.
I don't know how you can look at both the soc and playmates classic black lion and say they aren't almost identical
>>6519796
The real reason I got them were for their size and novelty value as a die cast robot toy being sold in toy store shelves.
I've been thinking about whether or not I should fix them by just adding in the missing paint apps.
>>6519756
I always wanted an SRC GoLion
>>6519519
Combined pics when?
>Missed out on SOC Voltron
>Now it's $500
Not gonna make the same mistake with Big-O.
>>6520718
Dunno if the Big O iron finish will sell as fast, but yeah, releases like golion makes you regret not pre-ordering. And the fact that Playmates is using what is very clearly based on the SOC sculpt makes me wonder if they struck a deal with Bandai or something resulting in no more GX-71s being produced for a while in favor of Playmates' version.
>>6519737
Yeah that's one of those stupid needless things that ruined what could have been an amazing toy. The front legs on the arm lions is the most perplexing to me. There's plenty of room for them to fold up proper, why the hell did they make them lock into place there?
>>6519761
16" legendary defenders playmates
>>6519519
>want to buy 2016 Voltron
>there's never a bogo sale on them
drat, and double drat
>>6521914
I guess it's related to the auto-transformation. That gimmick was always a stupid thing to add, not only it unlocks by itself sometimes, what's the point of the legs transforming from robot limb mode to lion mode? You never see that in the show.
>>6519781
Is it at all possible that this is some kind of collaborative effort? Bandai somehow going through Playmates to market a toy similar to the SOC version to younger audience at western retail stores?
Is something like that unheard of?
rather than it being based off of the SoC I think it's just both companies coming to the same conclusion of how to do it. they're both trying to do the same thing after all, make a good classic voltron/golion, and there's only so many way to accomplish that well.
>>6522385
You can't have two companies doing toys of the same robot come up with identical looking products though. All past Voltron toys done by different manufacturers look different with different proportions and whatever despite it being based on a rather simple robot.
>>6522319
I don't see what about the auto-transformation would prevent them from having the legs lock in higher. But yeah, not only was the gimmick insanely stupid, it worked backwards. What the hell were they thinking?
>>6519758
>Holy fuck, it's so obvious that they used the SoC as a template for those that Bandai should seriously consider suing them
It'd be laughed out of any court.
even though it really does looks really similar, all one would have to do is bring up the many times Voltron has been done by dozens of companies. After a certain point it's expected that companies that adapt it after a prior license holder would use the prior's ideas for reference. Besides, I think WEP has the rights to Voltron and GoLion outright, so they have a say and I doubt they care.
Unless Playmates actually cast their molds from Bandai's, which I doubt, there's no case to be had. Now, they probably rigorously studied it and dissected it ever since the first teaser, sure, but as long as they didn't directly copy the model itself there's nothing to be done. Its fair play. Early on, and into the 90's, companies were taking Popy/bandai's engineering for their own Voltron releases, but again, it was all licensed.
>>6519795
What kinda words-per-minute can you get on that Braille keyboard?
>>6519753
Because you are impatient and impulsively buy anything that looks cool and your collection is full of regret.
>>6521641
Great pic.
>>6522385
Open your eyes and dare to compare. There are plenty of Voltron toys out there now. Only one looks like a knockoff of the SOC.
>>6522269
Everytime they try to redesign Voltron he looks worse. Why not just leave well enough alone and use the iconic original design?
>>6523500
The new show wears the knight/ mythology aspect more on its sleeve, its more of a sci-fi show. Where as the original Voltron almost seemed like a god-warrior made metal lions, modern Voltron is more a sleek robot witha lion motif. Hence simplifying the Blazing sword, toning down the chest emblem
I kinda liked some of EJ su's ideas for Voltron Force, but it was better suited for the individual lions, not Voltron. And the final design looked terrible.
Not the first time this has happened, and it won't be the last. Anytime a good Voltron figure comes out, it becomes the one everyone copies until the next great one.
>>6523471
It's definitely likely that they had an agreement with Bandai. WEP obviously gave this the okay.
This is Voltron. They constantly re-used sculpts/modified molds to release them over the years. We've seen that with the popy golion and the toynami voltron with different materials and price points to make the most out of them. That would inevitably happen to the SOC.
I wish they'd make classic figures, particularly villains since Matty only did the pilots.
>>6523566
If Playmates really did replace Toynami, then maybe they would take a shot at making action figures of the classic characters for collectors. I don't know if the addition of the classic Voltron was aimed with the adult collector in mind.
>>6523533
I like that the new black lion looks like a fat house kitty.
>>6522281
Stil waiting on all those black lions to go on clearance at walmart. TRU has a full set box for $99 or something. I'm sure those will go on sale.
>>6519519
Getting the LEGO one next year and this as well.
>>6525803
Who else would they be aimed towards?
>>6526202
Kids who like the netflix cartoon and just want more voltron figures to buy? Especially considering they have those 12 random episodes of the 80s show up on Netflix.
>>6525930
I'm just holding out for Lego Voltron. They'd have to really fuck it up for me to skip it and that seems unlikely.
>>6526202
>>6526215
See that's the thing. While it does make sense that kids would just want more Voltron stuff esp with like 12 eps of dotu on Netflix, theres also the fact that the classic one resonates with older people or specifically collectors.
If the classic lions are something thats also aimed at collectors (that was the happy bonus to the die cast lions even tho they're shit,) then it makes me worry that Playmates really did replace toynami. And yeah toynami was shit and recycled the same mold for ten years w/o change, they have been aiming at toy collectors since the beginning unlike playmates.
And while a Bandai rep did say in an interview that tamashii wanted to do more with the Voltron license beyond the SOC, Playmates would probably be the easy go-to company for WEP/DWA.
>>6526466
>it makes me worry that Playmates really did replace toynami
I would assume that to be the case. Didn't Toynami lose the license when Mattel acquired it, and then required it when the Mattel was finished with it?
>>6526907
Yeah that happened after Mattel finished that awful Matty collector voltron and realized that the live action movie will never be made. I think between the time toynami regained the license to today, WEP also continued talking with Bandai who really wanted that SOC to be approved.
But in all honesty, Playmates replacing toynami doesn't worry me that much as long as bandai is still a licensed partner too. At least long enough to do SRC and a dairugger SOC.