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Post by xiombarg on Jun 26, 2007 18:35:07 GMT -5
I've been debating starting this thread for about a month, ever since the last batch of updated pics came out on CMS site of the upcoming DX Baan Gaan. But I wanted to wait and see if my feelings changed from my initial reaction. Unfortunately they haven't, so here goes. First things first, let's do a picture comparison of the old pics compared to the new pics. Old New Old New Old New Old New Old New Ok, so there are the pics back to back. With the news of low metal content and CM's past problems with DX toys, well, I'm not really impressed with the new pics. The old pics really looked like a serious piece of work with nice metallic paint, good sculpts and good poses with posability for each figure. The new pics look more like a toy with lots of plastic, standard flat paint, and bad stances with low posability. The closer I look at the new pics the more I'm seeing the limitations. In fact the red figure (I can't remember which one he is) doesn't even look good anymore, but he looked awesome in the first pics. I mean where did his wings go?! And as for the rest, where did the metallic paint go? What happened to figures being able to stand flat? Now with that said, it's not exactly a bad robot, but for his price we should expect a lot, especially for something that is mostly plastic. I liked what we were seeing back then much more than what we are seeing now. I will make it my life's goal to destroy the CM company if they make a crappy, broken DX figure only to release a better and cheaper Brave version that has higher metal content. Are you reading this CM?
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Post by xiombarg on Jun 26, 2007 18:43:01 GMT -5
Here's two more pics I forgot Old New
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Post by nikodiablo on Jun 26, 2007 19:51:05 GMT -5
Well, there's one thing you can be sure now. From the earlier pictures, you can't tell how much the metal content is. In the new pictures, you can easily tell how much the diecast content is, which is, sadly, seems to be none or minimal.
CMs is asking too much for this figure. The dude that transforms into the light blue car looks too much like a minicon transformers...
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Post by Nostalgia on Jun 26, 2007 22:34:39 GMT -5
If you ask me the old pics are of a painted resin prototype, while the new ones are from an actual production sample, which explains the difference. I don't have the hots for this figure as I initially had when it was announced, and the price tag is a tad hard to swallow.
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Post by borg001 on Jun 27, 2007 1:16:13 GMT -5
What a disappointment!!!Look so plastic!! The paint job suck, hate that Gold Chrome, and where is the red paint on the dragon's neck? Oh no, change to blue??? Why CM's? Does it nicer in blue??? To save cost??? You charge us a like US$300 on this piece of Sh**t... I have preorder it because I saw the old pic from toy magazine back on april, I normally don't preorder Cm's stuff, but because it limit to 2200 pcs and the old pic which CM's is not going to base on it,I feel like cheated.....
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Post by rodrevil on Jun 27, 2007 9:05:35 GMT -5
Really this reissue will be all in plastic?
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Post by xiombarg on Jun 27, 2007 10:59:30 GMT -5
The only parts I can see that look like they could be metal are maybe the inner torso areas. I seriously doubt that the lower leg portions will have metal because you can see those square areas that will work as clips to hold other pieces to them and they have to be plastic. To me it looks like the red guy won't have any metal at all.
Although I'm disappointed with the changes from Prototype to production figure, I suspect it will be an ok figure, but just ok, and very plastic. CM never should have released those prototype photos because of the misleading changes, and as I've already expressed, it's far from what I initially thought it would be when it was first posted on their site.
I don't really like gold chrome either, only because chrome always means plastic. At least with metallic paint it looks like it could be metal or plastic.
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Post by xiombarg on Aug 1, 2007 17:59:49 GMT -5
Everything about this figure has been a sham. But now we move on to the big enchilada.. (drum roll please) $580 USD. Yes, $580 or more is the going price that most resellers are trying to hack it out for. Not because of demand or amazing quality, just pure capitalist silliness. It's a 95% plastic figure that was probably not worth the original issue price of $350.
So the plastic DX Baan Gaan wins my vote as the winner of the "Wet Sock Full of Horse sh*te Award."
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Post by Orbitron on Aug 1, 2007 19:15:59 GMT -5
MAN! That is bad news Mine is coming next week.
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Post by Nostalgia on Aug 1, 2007 19:26:51 GMT -5
I had great hopes for this fella. Ah well.
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Post by joydivision on Aug 2, 2007 4:31:20 GMT -5
the small blue robot is really bad... that colour really makes me want to throw up... but i wont be losing my sleep about it. what i am daydreaming about is fewture mazingers!
tsc... and to think that not along ago they released a great goshogun... i say feck you cms!
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Post by roanstalker on Aug 2, 2007 6:03:56 GMT -5
I actually like the non metallic look. It'll fit better with the other braves. I'm disappointed with Sperion (small bird) and Baan (small car) though. They just look really simplistic. I guess thats because they ARE minicon sized. btw about Mach Sperion's wings, you can still make it look like the proto version I'm assuming. But the closed look is how it looks normally. Do you have Sperion comparison pics?
I thought you were getting it this wwek Orbitron.
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Post by Orbitron on Aug 2, 2007 12:09:04 GMT -5
I know, I thought I was getting it this week. I had too many stuff and it didn't make it from the Monday shipment. I actually like the non metallic look. It'll fit better with the other braves. I'm disappointed with Sperion (small bird) and Baan (small car) though. They just look really simplistic. I guess thats because they ARE minicon sized. btw about Mach Sperion's wings, you can still make it look like the proto version I'm assuming. But the closed look is how it looks normally. Do you have Sperion comparison pics? I thought you were getting it this week Orbitron.
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Post by lurkerx on Aug 2, 2007 14:51:22 GMT -5
$580USD for this sucker is just plain insane!
but then again as I understand its limited just like the 1st DX GGGG?
so I guess that somewhat justifies the price for some people.
The burn comes for people who got it when CM's decides to have a regular issue run just like it did for the GGGG with less design flaws than the original issue.
I guess this is CM's Ryoma Black getter (sort of)
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Post by roanstalker on Aug 2, 2007 15:16:06 GMT -5
Not sure if they'll make a regular run. The smaller braves (Baan and Sperion) are already too small (minicon sized) and if they make it any smaller and simplified they wont even have bot modes.
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Post by xiombarg on Aug 31, 2007 15:58:09 GMT -5
Well, I finally threw in the towel and purchased the DX Baangaan, so here's my review for those interested.
DX Baangaan is a tough figure (set) for me to review because it doesn't follow the standards of what you get out of your average robot.
After putting everything together my initial reaction was one of bewilderment. This thing really does have tons of parts. Some big parts, and small parts galore. When I say small, a couple of the add on pieces are so small that if you have bad eyesight you might not know they are there. It also seems there is almost an infinite amount of little moving hinges and connections and removable pieces. So far I haven't seen a photo session that accurately portrays this aspect.
DX Baangaan seems to have been designed by modelers. And in retrospect, most of the CM DX line leads me to this conclusion also. It's very much a line where you put things together to make other things. And modelers don't have as much of a sense of the "zen" that comes with perfect transformation and smooth, simple transitions. The modelers mind set is put together two things to make a bigger thing, with the more parts the better..and that is exactly how DX Baangaan works. I continually had the sensation I was putting together a half completed model, where the larger pieces are put together for you. In a sense it has similarities to something like Armored Core, where the pieces are interchangable to make different robots.
I can also see where the $320 price tag came from. It's an extreme piece of robot engineering. In fact it's too extreme. CM tried to do too much with this, and it would have been much more successful if they had streamlined it down.
Without covering too much that has already been stated, you basically take apart Mach Sperion and attach some of his parts along with several additional parts onto Baan Gaan in order to create Great Baangaan. All in all it works out ok. I didn't have to force anything putting him together, and it all seems relatively stable once combined. There are some very small easily breakable pegs to watch out for though. For anyone still planning on purchasing Great Baangaan, keep in mind that you shouldn't really have to force any of the parts. If you are having to force pieces, chances are you are probably doing it incorrectly.
Metal content is mostly on blue Baan Gaan, and almost exactly what I expected from the beginning. Blue Baan Gaan has a basic skeletal metal frame on his back to support the white, fanning wing system. This wing system is actually surprisingly well engineered and very stable whether folded in or fanned out. But all in all, the metal content is ver minimal. I should note there is also a couple of detachable metal plates on Mach Sperion's feet.
The articulation of both Mach Sperion and Baan Gaan are average. So mostly face forward and in the arms and shoulder regions.
There are a number of ratched joints on blue Baan Gaan to give added support.
The end result of Great BaanGaan is impressive looking and holds together ok. I didn't find anything falling off (which is surprising for how many parts he has) and nothing was defective. He's not the most solid figure I've ever held, but he isn't unstable either. He's not very posable, but you can get a couple of power poses out of him so that he makes a strong impact on the collector shelf.
Conclusion: Hmmm. He's ok, but it really depends on what you look for out of your robot experience. This is not a gokin, and not really a gattai or henkei transformer in the classic sense. DX Great BaanBaan is mostly a hybrid sort of model. If you aren't into modelling and demand the smoothness of play and zen transformation that come from SOCs or Transformers etc, this is not the robot for you by any means, but if you like to tinker with parts and doing transformations using lots of parts swapping, DX Baangaan will be hours of fun. I would also say unless you are an experienced modeller and understand connections work, I would recommend maybe taking it a little slow. I would have much more enjoyed a diecast simplified SOC version of Great Baangaan, but for what the CM version is, he's ok. After about three hours of putting things together the price didn't bother me anymore either because I could see where it came from. Once again, not ideal, but ok.
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Post by xiombarg on Sept 1, 2007 1:23:33 GMT -5
Review part 2:
There are a couple of things I felt maybe I should add after a little bit of time to reflect. One observation is how there is a vague Sentai feel to this set, and most especially in the combined Great Baangaan figure. It's like an "advanced" Sentai set. Even with a number of small-ish parts, the majority of the mass comes from the large, iconic pieces that have a chunky Sentai look about them.
Also upon reflection I would compare Great Baangaan's posability to being one step down from Dancouga maybe... basically a "power stance" robot, where even though there is a fair degree of movement in his arms and legs, you end up putting him on the shelf in his face forward power stance, if only for the sake of looks and overall stability.
I guess I haven't said anything about all the other transformation forms yet, being the Mach Phoenix, the Mach Jet, the Gaan Dragon, and the Gaan Dasher. Even though it's kind of cool that you can do all these things out of one toy set, it's a lot of work with all the parts swapping and interchanging of pieces to make them happen. I don't see myself changing them back to these forms often. Out of all of these I probably like the Mach Phoenix the most for some reason. The Gaan Dragon could have been made to look much bigger and tougher where his extra pieces aren't used for anything else.
One thing I would mention also is that for how tiny little Sperion is, which is tiny, he is used for a lot for different things. His detail is fine, but they really should have made him bigger. Baan is tiny too, but where he isn't really used for anything other than being a little transforming car, not a big deal.
Mach Sperion and Baan Gaan on their own are decent figures with a fair degree of articulation and decent size. Both of these figures also have quite a few accessories like Mach Sperions shotgun, different fists and some cool swords, all of which nobody seems to take pictures of for some reason.
Well that about raps it up. For what it is, DX Great Baangaan is a fine set, and I really feel I've been too harsh on CM about it. Honestly I can't say that I'm not disappointed, BUT in all fairness my disappointment more stemmed from having assumed this set was going to be a different type of figure altogether than that of what it is on its own terms (I hope this makes sense). I also have to say that now that I have him in the showcase, DX Great Baangaan looks quite stunning. Definitely a big plus!
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Post by joydivision on Sept 3, 2007 8:44:11 GMT -5
i knew you would end up getting one! for me it is not a priority but if by chance one gets in my way i will get it!
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Post by xiombarg on Sept 4, 2007 11:04:11 GMT -5
i knew you would end up getting one! for me it is not a priority but if by chance one gets in my way i will get it! I had no intention of buying this guy, but then I just couldn't resist. My curiosity always rules over my common sense. Robots have taken over my will power! ;D
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