So, last time we checked out the Lions and this time we get to see what they create when joined together. Transforming the Lions is pretty easy, at least where the limbs are concerned. You basically just tuck in the arms and legs, stuff in their tales, and for the feet you fold back the heads. The Black Lion is a little trickier and getting his feet folded up just right can sometimes be fussy, but it’s still no big deal. The Lions snap together with a sastisfying click and hold together just strongly enough so as to make me nervous when pulling them apart.
Once assembled Voltron looks amazing. The figure’s proportions are excellent considering its an actual combiner and not just an articulated figure. In fact, on first glance, I could easily be convinced that this guy looks too good to separate into the Lion Force. I’m particularly happy with the head sculpt and the paintwork on the face is crisp. On the downside, some of the seaming on the silver plastic is a little more pronounced than I’m used to seeing on the toys. Does this have something to do with going from diecast to plastic? I don’t know, but it’s there. I commented last time about how much I love the coloring on the Lions, and that’s doubly true for Voltron’s combined form.
Voltron’s has an impressive amount of articulation. His head is ball jointed. His arms rotate at the shoulders and have lateral movement, the elbows have hinges and swivels, and his hands swivel at the wrists. His legs have ratcheting joints and some lateral movement in the hips, they are hinged at the knees, and hinged again at the ankles. Voltron can also swivel at the waist. I think my only complaint about the articulation here is that while the ratcheting joints are nice and strong to hold the figure in place, they don’t allow for as much tweaking in the actual poses.
While on the subject of articulation, I should point out that Voltron is a tad top heavy. I was hoping that this problem would be improved upon by the all plastic version, as it’s very similiar to the balance issue present in Hasbro’s Masterpiece Optimus Prime. It’s not a critical issue, mind you. Voltron can stand perfectly straight with no problem at all, but when you start to put him into some action poses, his tendency is to fall forward.
Voltron comes with his sword and shield. Both pieces are simple sculpts but perfectly fit their iconic on-screen counterparts. They each have pegs in the handles that fit into sockets inside the Red and Green Lion’s mouths so Voltron can hold them in a nice and secure fashion. Displaying Voltron with his sword is pretty much a must. I’ve never been a big fan of the shield, but it’s been growing on me a lot likely.
Toynami really made my day when they released this set. I spent a lot of time handwringing about whether to blow the cash on the Masterpiece set when it came out. And when I didn’t, I spent a lot of time wondering whether I should have. Being able to get this set in my collection was a great compromise. It only set me back about $60 with shipping, and I still consider that a steal. It’s hard to imagine that a better looking combining Voltron figure could be made, but I’ll be anxious to see if Mattel can pull it off when they start producing their classic-based Voltron toys.
FigureFan Zero 