Review #82: Takara Legends Godbomber
and God Ginrai (God Prime) Combination
Greetings, readers. Yes, it is I! A second post in less than two weeks, rather than another gap of well over a year! Let us hope I keep it up.
In my last review, I talked about how some of the differences between the Hasbro and Takara versions of that toy meant that you would need the Takara version of the mold if you cared about comparability with Godbomber. And I also hinted I had things on the way in the mail. So, surprise, surprise! In this review, I will be taking a look at a new Classics style update to Godbomber! Now, if you haven't read my past reviews, and/or you aren't well versed in Transformers lore in Japan, you may be wondering who the heck Godbomber is. The snarky answer is, "The dude in the picture in the left." A less snarky answer would be to refer you to my review of the G1 version of this figure. |
Now, shall we take more of a look at this new, modern version of Godbomber?
Godbomber is a futuristic looking vehicle of some sort, rolling around on six wheels and sporting a huge gun called the God Cannon on top. The connection point of the God Cannon in vehicle mode is two tiny little tabs that, frankly, don't do the best of jobs holding it in place. Once you do get it in, though, it stays well enough for shelf display. But on the off chance you're buying a $70 import toy for your child to play with, that child could find this frustrating. The God Cannon features limited articulation, able to angle upwards. (We'll talk more about this later.) In addition, two little blue guns can be raised up slightly.
I still need to watch the show that Godbomber is in one of these days, so really, the only basis for comparison I have is the (reissue of the) original figure as featured in my earlier review linked to above. |
I think this new Godbomber hits all of the same marks quite nicely. The main difference I can see, beyond differences that can be accounted for by 30 years of advances in toy design technology, is that the God Cannon is centered on the new figure and off center on the original. I don't mind this, myself, and think that the new one looks quite nice. Well, I suppose another difference is that the original is blinged out in chrome where as the new one opted for silver paint. Again, personally, not a difference I mind, as I think the silver paint looks rather classy. If you insist on chrome, however, Takara has an upcoming box set release (bundling this figure and Super Ginrai together in one package) that I think you might be interested in.
Godbomber's front opens up to reveal seating for not one, but three Titan Master figures! This is apparently based off of the show Godbomber was featured in showing him sporting three of the human characters sitting in him at one point. Godbomber himself comes with the Titan Master figure seated in the middle, with the other two in these photos borrowed from other figures I own.
|
An additional Titan Master could be stored inside of the God Cannon, which opens up and reveals a seat inside. The cannon is large enough that it can be closed once more with the Titan Master still in the seat.
Takara's fiction is a bit different from Hasbro's, and their packaging still refers to this figure as a Headmaster rather than a Titan Master. In the Japanese fiction, Headmasters were not separate characters with identities of their own. Rather, they were human-sized (and often human) pilots who drove lifeless transforming vehicles, and became heads for the robots that those vehicles turned into.
Thus, I have a bit of a conundrum when it comes to this figure's Titan Master figure. It has no individual name! With Ginrai, I think of him as the Hasbro character of Powermaster Optimus Prime, so I can call the Titan Master by the Hasbro G1 name of Hi‑Q. But this figure has no Hasbro equivalent. So in my collection, where I am trying to mash this figure into the domestic fiction, what do I call the Titan Master?
Well, I decided to take inspiration from what Hasbro called Godbomber on the one occasion they released a version of him domestically. Their reissue of Powermaster Optimus Prime in the 2000's was based on the Japanese version of the toy, and included Godbomber. But, likely because they wanted to avoid names with "god" in them, Godbomber got renamed Apex Bomber. And so, I will dub this Titan Master as Apex. Ironically, Hasbro's release of Titans Return Powermaster Optimus Prime called that figure's Titan Master by the name Apex, but of course, he is supposed to be Hi‑Q. So we'll play some name roulette, swap things around, and Apex is a perfectly fine name for the Titan Master featured here as he exists in my personal collection.
Takara's fiction is a bit different from Hasbro's, and their packaging still refers to this figure as a Headmaster rather than a Titan Master. In the Japanese fiction, Headmasters were not separate characters with identities of their own. Rather, they were human-sized (and often human) pilots who drove lifeless transforming vehicles, and became heads for the robots that those vehicles turned into.
Thus, I have a bit of a conundrum when it comes to this figure's Titan Master figure. It has no individual name! With Ginrai, I think of him as the Hasbro character of Powermaster Optimus Prime, so I can call the Titan Master by the Hasbro G1 name of Hi‑Q. But this figure has no Hasbro equivalent. So in my collection, where I am trying to mash this figure into the domestic fiction, what do I call the Titan Master?
Well, I decided to take inspiration from what Hasbro called Godbomber on the one occasion they released a version of him domestically. Their reissue of Powermaster Optimus Prime in the 2000's was based on the Japanese version of the toy, and included Godbomber. But, likely because they wanted to avoid names with "god" in them, Godbomber got renamed Apex Bomber. And so, I will dub this Titan Master as Apex. Ironically, Hasbro's release of Titans Return Powermaster Optimus Prime called that figure's Titan Master by the name Apex, but of course, he is supposed to be Hi‑Q. So we'll play some name roulette, swap things around, and Apex is a perfectly fine name for the Titan Master featured here as he exists in my personal collection.
Of course, the original Godbomber's vehicle mode could attach to Powermaster Optimus Prime (or Ginrai, for those following the Japanese fiction) as a second trailer. With the new toys, this will not work with Titans Return Powermaster Optimus Prime. But one of the remolded parts on Takara's Ginrai figure allows for a place that a little red clip that can swivel out on Godbomber's front bumper can attach to Ginrai's rear end. It is worth mentioning, though, that Hasbro's Magnus Prime toy (mentioned briefly towards the end of my last review) also features this remolding, so Godbomber will work with that toy as well.
|
Here's a few comparison shots with the G1 figure:
Remember in my last review, I mentioned that all Leader Class figures in the Titans Return toyline had base modes? Well, Godbomber is a Takara designed figure that isn't being released in Hasbro's Titans Return line, so I would not have been surprised if they hadn't bothered with giving Godbomber such a mode. After all, Takara seems to enjoy going as G1 as possible sometimes, and the original Godbomber never had a base mode. But as it turns out, Takara decided to stick with the play pattern! And, while some partsforming is necessary to achieve it, Godbomber now can turn into a base!
Is it kind of just a made up jumble of Godbomber parts? Yes, yes it is. But does it work? In my opinion, yes.
Now that we've looked at at least two of these bases, we can look at an interesting feature of the Titans Return bases. They can all be connected together. Each Titans Return base has (what can sometimes only charitably be called) ramps, and these ramps can be connected together. Below are images highlighting this using God Bomber and Powermaster Optimus Prime.
Before we go onto robot mode, I wish to talk about the transformation a bit. If you recall G1 Godbomber, he transformed through massive amounts of partsforming. You pulled apart the vehicle mode and reassemble the parts into a robot. While a bit of partsforming is necessary with the new Godbomber to make his base mode, if you are going straight from vehicle mode to robot mode, it is entirely possible to do so without any partsforming. Well, almost no partsforming. Obviously, having a Titan Master involves his head being a separate piece.
That being said, many people have reported that it is easier to remove the parts that make up the figure's forearms, as they often fall off anyways mid-transformation. I seem to have either gotten lucky with my copy of the figure, or have had enough forewarning of this issue that I've just been taking subconscious care while transforming him, however. I haven't had too much difficulty keeping those forearms on while transforming the figure.
So... Robot mode? Let us take a look! But before looking at the whole thing, let's look at the Titan Master integration.
That being said, many people have reported that it is easier to remove the parts that make up the figure's forearms, as they often fall off anyways mid-transformation. I seem to have either gotten lucky with my copy of the figure, or have had enough forewarning of this issue that I've just been taking subconscious care while transforming him, however. I haven't had too much difficulty keeping those forearms on while transforming the figure.
So... Robot mode? Let us take a look! But before looking at the whole thing, let's look at the Titan Master integration.
Much like with Powermaster Optimus Prime, the head made by the Titan Master would look a bit small on a Leader Class sized figure. But unlike with Optimus Prime, the Titan Master doesn't form a tiny head that will get hidden behind a mask, only the eyes peaking through. Rather, the Titan Master makes an appropriately sized face without a lot of actual head around that face.
One big difference between this and Hasbro designed Leader Class Titans Return figures is that rather then have a mask or helmet that is connected to the toy and flips out to cover the head, and in the process limits the articulation of the head to some sort of swivel, this figure has a helmet that is a separate piece. When not in use, it stores plugged into the back of the God Cannon. (Look back up at the vehicle mode photos.)
One big difference between this and Hasbro designed Leader Class Titans Return figures is that rather then have a mask or helmet that is connected to the toy and flips out to cover the head, and in the process limits the articulation of the head to some sort of swivel, this figure has a helmet that is a separate piece. When not in use, it stores plugged into the back of the God Cannon. (Look back up at the vehicle mode photos.)
The helmeted head looks very nice, and the helmet being a separate piece has the advantage that none of the articulation that the ball joint built into the Titan Master provides is lost. It isn't much more than a swivel provides, just an extra little bit of wiggle, but it is appreciated.
There is one downside, however, in that the helmet fits quite snugly over the Titan Master. Not so much that it makes it difficult to remove, but where it becomes an issue is where compatibility with other Titan Masters is concerned. Some Titan Masters the helmet will not fit over at all, and with others the fit is just plain ugly. If using other Titan Masters, it is probably better to leave the helmet off and just deal with him having a tiny, tiny head.
There is one downside, however, in that the helmet fits quite snugly over the Titan Master. Not so much that it makes it difficult to remove, but where it becomes an issue is where compatibility with other Titan Masters is concerned. Some Titan Masters the helmet will not fit over at all, and with others the fit is just plain ugly. If using other Titan Masters, it is probably better to leave the helmet off and just deal with him having a tiny, tiny head.
So, let's take a look at the guy all properly noggined up!
He's a great looking Godbomber!
Godbomber is mostly decently articulated with a few annoying bits. His head, as discussed, is on a ball joint which offers a decent range of movement. Shoulders swivel forward and backwards without hindrance. The red wings at his shoulders are also on separate swivels, however, and moving one often will move the other. So often moving his arms will mean also needing to readjust the wings to achieve the desired look. There's a strong ratchet joint for outward shoulder movement. This, and other ratchet joints on this figure that will be mentioned, are on quite stiff ratchets that can require some force to move, in some cases potentially pulling other parts of the figure away from how you want them and requiring further additional readjustment. Arms also feature an upper arm swivel and an elbow bent.
The figure's hands seem a bit weird at first glance, but this was likely necessary so that they would fold away leaving room for the combination with Optimus Prime. (We'll get there eventually!) The hands have swivels at the wrist, ball jointed thumbs, and a joint on the rest of the fingers. The hands do not accommodate weapons on a 5mm peg, alas, so the God Cannon can only be shoulder mounted. There is a tab on either hand which can allow Godbomber to hold a sword that he also comes with, however.
The figure's hands seem a bit weird at first glance, but this was likely necessary so that they would fold away leaving room for the combination with Optimus Prime. (We'll get there eventually!) The hands have swivels at the wrist, ball jointed thumbs, and a joint on the rest of the fingers. The hands do not accommodate weapons on a 5mm peg, alas, so the God Cannon can only be shoulder mounted. There is a tab on either hand which can allow Godbomber to hold a sword that he also comes with, however.
There is no waist swivel, but honestly, I am not sure how one would have been included with how this figure transforms, anyway. The hip joints are a bit frustrating, as they ratchet (again, very tightly) forward or backwards, or splay directly outwards slightly. It feels like a swivel right at the top of the leg could have gone a long way towards giving his legs the ability to be a lot more expressive. As it is, it feels like you can almost get his legs going a way you'd like them, but not quite. There is a swivel in the upper leg, but it is directly above the knee and feels like it is less useful than you want it to be. The knees bend as you would hope, however, and finally there are ankle tilts much more expressive then you would ever need with how little outward movement the hips allow for.
Overall, the articulation in the lower body feels like it is good, yet frustrating. Like most of the joints you want are there, but they don't quite do what you want them to. Godbomber will need to come apart for when he combines with Powermaster Prime, and Takara decided to use some existing engineering where his legs are concerned. His lower legs are attached via the same connectors used in Combiner Wars limbs. A side effect of this is that you can totally take off his lower legs and throw a pair of Combiner Wars limbs on there if you so choose, adding some extra play functionality. |
Godbomber's weapons have a few issues. The God Cannon has a point of articulation in its base, but it only has a few stopping points, basically pointing straight forward or sticking pointing high up. And the weight of the cannon itself is enough that it often overrides those stopping points and flops the cannon down to its lowest possible point.
He also has a sword, which I gather is based on a sword that God Ginrai wields at some point in the Japanese fiction. This sword comes apart into two pieces and stores hidden away on the God Cannon when it is not in use. Unfortunately, the connection point between the two pieces of the swordcould be tighter, and it doesn't take too much pressure to pop the blade off of the hilt. Fortunately, the hilt at least tabs securely onto either of Godbomber's hands, so you don't have to worry about that. Not so fortunately... well, more on the sword in a little while.
Now for a few comparison shots. On the left below, Legends Godbomber with his G1 equivalent. On the right, Legends Godbomber with Legends Powermaster Prime. (Well, Ginrai, but you know the drill.)
He also has a sword, which I gather is based on a sword that God Ginrai wields at some point in the Japanese fiction. This sword comes apart into two pieces and stores hidden away on the God Cannon when it is not in use. Unfortunately, the connection point between the two pieces of the swordcould be tighter, and it doesn't take too much pressure to pop the blade off of the hilt. Fortunately, the hilt at least tabs securely onto either of Godbomber's hands, so you don't have to worry about that. Not so fortunately... well, more on the sword in a little while.
Now for a few comparison shots. On the left below, Legends Godbomber with his G1 equivalent. On the right, Legends Godbomber with Legends Powermaster Prime. (Well, Ginrai, but you know the drill.)
Of course, Godbomber combines with Powermaster Optimus Prime. Well, at least, he combines with Powermaster Optimus Prime if your Powermaster Prime is actually Super Ginrai or "Magnus Prime" pretending to be Powermaster Optimus Prime. The remolding Takara did to both the arms and the feet of the Powermaster Prime figure is essential to how Godbomber connects, and without it there is no way to attach Godbomber's parts.
Here Godbomber is true to his G1 origins in that you essentially pull him apart into a bunch of different pieces. The parts that make the arms and feet are pretty self explanatory. The part that goes over Prime's body requires quite a bit of Transformers origami to get there. |
Connecting it to Optimus Prime is a bit of a process. Especially putting the part that goes over Prime's body on. There are two tiny little clips that are frankly a bit scary, I worry repeatedly taking it on and off of Optimus Prime might eventually stress and snap these little clips. And everything feels rather fiddly getting it on. Once it is on, however, everything feels quite secure. And the end result:
Ultra Francine! I kid, I kid. Officially, this combination of Super Ginrai and Godbomber would be called God Ginrai. If we wanted to go by the official name that was given to this combination when the G1 Powermaster Optimus Prime reissue came out, this would be "Super Optimus Prime with Apex Armor." If you're a weirdo like me who wants to just mash up names like crazy within your own collection, this is God Prime. Hello, God Prime!
Godbomber's Titan Master doesn't really have anywhere to go in this mode, so you could take advantage of the fact that he would fit inside of the closed God Cannon as someplace to hide him. Or, you could take advantage of the fact that the pilot compartment from Godbomber is intact and sitting there on God Prime's chest to have a little dude in there looking out at the world waving hello. Godbomber's helmet, meanwhile, has a convenient place to store on God Prime's back.
Speaking of God Prime's back, he does have a heck of a backpack! But it doesn't stick out too obnoxiously when looking at him from most normal viewing angles. Some people have complained about the red wings on his back, specifically that they stick up over his shoulders rather then coming out from behind his shoulders. They've even come up with some fan mode transformations to reposition the wings lower, but at the expense of the kibble on his back not being tabbed together and tucked away as much as it should be. My personal feelings, however, are that the wings look fine as they are and I'd rather not have the backpack be even more messy than it already is. I just chalk the higher wings up to the slight differences you get in Classics style figures when compared to their G1 inspirations.
Godbomber's Titan Master doesn't really have anywhere to go in this mode, so you could take advantage of the fact that he would fit inside of the closed God Cannon as someplace to hide him. Or, you could take advantage of the fact that the pilot compartment from Godbomber is intact and sitting there on God Prime's chest to have a little dude in there looking out at the world waving hello. Godbomber's helmet, meanwhile, has a convenient place to store on God Prime's back.
Speaking of God Prime's back, he does have a heck of a backpack! But it doesn't stick out too obnoxiously when looking at him from most normal viewing angles. Some people have complained about the red wings on his back, specifically that they stick up over his shoulders rather then coming out from behind his shoulders. They've even come up with some fan mode transformations to reposition the wings lower, but at the expense of the kibble on his back not being tabbed together and tucked away as much as it should be. My personal feelings, however, are that the wings look fine as they are and I'd rather not have the backpack be even more messy than it already is. I just chalk the higher wings up to the slight differences you get in Classics style figures when compared to their G1 inspirations.
Articulation uses pretty much the same joints as the base Optimus Prime figure. The only odd thing is where the ankles are concerned. Placing the leg extensions and new feet on him moves the ankle joint farther up on his legs, meaning he effectively has his ankle tilts half way up his lower legs. And even beyond that, the ankles joints are a bit of an issue on the figure.
|
Many people already complained about his ankles being weak on the base figure alone. Adding the weight of another whole leader class figure makes the ankles have to bear a lot more. My figure's ankles don't seem that bad, in my opinion, but even in my case the extra weight makes the combined figure a bit more difficult to get standing.
That being said, once I get him in a balanced position he seems fine. I can poke him a bit, and as long as I don't get ridiculously vigorous in my poking, he may wobble a little but he stays standing. |
I hinted above that there was another issue with the sword in addition to the one already discussed. That issue comes into play in this mode. Optimus Prime's fists have 5mm holes in them. A very standard size for Transformers for many years now. And so, you'd think Takara would give the sword a 5mm thick handle. Obvious, yes? But apparently, someone at Takara must have been just off in their measurements, as the handle is ever so slightly smaller to the point that it is completely loose in Optimus Prime's hands. You can slide it in there, and as long as he is holding it at an angle where gravity will assist, it will look fine for display. But play around with him at all, and you can expect he will drop his sword faster then Prince Humperdink when faced with a challenge of "to the pain."
Above, comparing God Prime with his G1 equivalent. Below, a size comparison of both Godbomber and God Prime (thanks to split-screen magic) with a standard DVD case.
So... Godbomber. Yea or neigh? Well, it depends on a lot of things. Looking for a toy for a child to play with? Heck, go with Hasbro's version of Optimus Prime and forget Godbomber even exists. Are you an adult collector with desire for Powermaster Optimus Prime in your collection? Maybe you still don't need Godbomber. After all, he was never really a part of the Hasbro fiction. If you're into the Japanese fiction and looking for the ultimate version of Ginrai, or if like me you are a crazy nut that just thinks that Godbomber is an awesome addition to Optimus Prime and want to force him into your collection regardless of sense, then it is hard to deny he looks really cool! He has his fiddly bits, and he's not perfect, but I can't help but be happy to have him in my collection.
Now, if only there was some way that I could get over that non-transforming cab that Powermaster Optimus Prime has...
Now, if only there was some way that I could get over that non-transforming cab that Powermaster Optimus Prime has...
Review added 4 September 2017 by Yotsuya. (Happy birthday to my sister, Beth!) Comments are welcomed!