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Post by megatroptimus on Aug 19, 2008 9:20:41 GMT -5
?
He said the knee joints are the same as on the first version.
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Post by quinjester on Aug 19, 2008 9:47:55 GMT -5
Ah, but then he clarified later after opening the leg up. there's a metal pin instead of a plastic breaktastic one on the inside.  |
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Post by rizuan76 on Aug 19, 2008 10:20:34 GMT -5
? He said the knee joints are the same as on the first version. Just go back to the first pg of this thread & scroll down to the last post made by Gold (all will be clarified there). |
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Post by happosai on Oct 10, 2008 0:33:48 GMT -5
Gold
Do you have the contact info to Max Factory? I need a part for my GGG.
Thanks
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Post by rizuan76 on Oct 10, 2008 1:11:30 GMT -5
Gold Do you have the contact info to Max Factory? I need a part for my GGG. Thanks Why not you try & PM Gold personally?  |
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Post by Gold on Oct 11, 2008 23:43:19 GMT -5
Gold Do you have the contact info to Max Factory? I need a part for my GGG. Thanks Go here: maxfactory.cms.drecom.jp/contact.htmlThe first box is for emailing questions, I forgot what the second box is for.  You can Email them in English, they will reply also in English. Gold |
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Post by happosai on Oct 15, 2008 21:06:54 GMT -5
Thanks so much. Max Factory GGG is awesome but is fragile.
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Post by nikodiablo on Nov 11, 2008 6:09:16 GMT -5
My experience with CMS GGGG Ver. 2.0 – although this is old news to some of you, please bear with me (also because this is quite long)…
I just received my 30% discounted Genesic Gaogaigar Ver. 2.0 from HLJ several days ago. I got a shipping notice from the post office, informing that I have to pay a f&*%@n’ $48 custom – something that I haven’t received in a quite a while since I ordered SOC Grendizer in 2006. D@mn customs! Always strikes when we’re least expecting…
So I went to the post office with my motorbike (this was Thursday last week), not realizing that the package was HUGE – I ended up strapping the box on my motorbike’s backseat all the way back to my office and my home. When I got home, I eagerly opened up the shipping box, and lo and behold, HLJ made a real secure shipping package – the whole outer box was filled with air bubbles. The GGGG box itself was contained in a smaller cardboard box – needless to say, the contents were safe.
I was truly intimidated by the size of the box – this has to be the biggest toy box I’ve ever held in my hands! Immediately opening it, I was even more intimidated by the contents (please note that I have no previous experiences with any GGG products, nor have I ever seen the anime, so this is the first for me. I’ve always wanted one since the Ver. 1.0 was released in 2006, tho…)! I picked up Gaigar, and begin fiddling with it, trying to transform it into Galeon. The joints are so tight that I was afraid of breaking them, and the truly crappy instruction sheet doesn’t help either. Finally, after about 30 minutes, I managed to transform him, although not completely, because I cannot lift the flap on the lion’s back since the hinge is so tight and I was afraid of scratching the pretty chrome plating… Gaigar has to be the best part of the entire figure – Lots of diecast, great sculpt and poseability, and has solid joints all over. Lion mode is really nice too – kinda remind me of ol’ Predacon Razorclaw, only much slimmer.
My next target was Gadget Gao. Picking it up, I was amazed at the amount of detailing that went to it, and fiddling with the “feathers” (before getting to Gadget Gao, I already unwrapped the plastic covering from Straight and Spiral Gaos, marveling at their weight). However, I noticed that there are many attachments you need to attach before it becomes the complete bird. After trying to configure (without avail) on how to attach the head (due to my failing eyesight + being really sleepy and the really crappy instruction sheet), I disappointedly repacked all the things that I have unpacked before and returned them to the box. I quietly thought to myself “Have I bought a robotic jigsaw puzzle, or only the instruction made it seem like so?!” before fading away to sleep. However, I was determined not to give up.
I only have time to pick GGGG up again the following Saturday. This time, I allocate the whole afternoon to fully scrutinize him. I started with Gadget Gao and managed to install all the accessories, but was really scared at how thin the claws attachments are. CMS should have made these out of metal or semi-flexible plastics, because these were made of quite thin ABS plastics. Getting the neck to retract and extend is also a pain, and there are too many pieces to attach and remove during combination. Somehow, I didn’t think that the pylons for the arms attachments need to be separate pieces (inserting them into the arms are also difficult, and I have constant a fear of breaking them). CMS could have designed them better. Finally, I was able to get Gadget Gao to work, and although aligning the neck to keep from drooping takes some finesse, it was manageable. Although fully made of hard plastic, Gadget Gao is quite spectacular on its own.
Next are easier, the Straight and Spiral Gaos. These are perfect transformation, and all you have to do is to insert the drills. They have lots of diecast and nice transformation, but trying to get the mole arms to return flush to the sides for feet transformation requires some effort. Also, the rear flanks have difficulty in maintaining retracted position (although these use ratchet joints) and sometimes went out of alignment. Overall, nice details and weight, but they could be more solid.
The Broken and Protect Gaos are my next target. These feature lots of add-ons pieces to make them resemble their TV screen counterpart, and these add-ons don’t like to stay, because the pegs are not tight enough. On top of that, the fins are quite scary, because they’re so thin! One mishandling, and they’ll be broken. To transform them into the shoulders and upper arms of GGGG, you have to remove the bottom attachment, and insert a new one. I kept thinking “If these were made by Bandai, they would’ve made less parts removal…”
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Post by nikodiablo on Nov 11, 2008 6:11:51 GMT -5
-Continued-
Final Fusion
Allrighty then. I have fiddled with all individual components, and am ready for the Final Fusion. First, I reconfigured Spiral and Straight Gaos to become the lower legs. Like I have mentioned previously, the metal flanks don’t like to stay in alignment, because the treads are just bumping with one another and keeps pushing the flanks away. Also, on Spiral Gao, when retracted, the bottom half likes to slide back to extended position, because the locking mechanism is not tight enough and the bottom part is too heavy. It also took me some times to figure how to retract the front claws flush against the body. Finally, I inserted Gaigar’s legs into the slots. Tight fit. Nothing is wobbly at all.
Then, I configured Gadget Gao to become the back packs. Lots of parts to remove, but no real problems. Gotta remind you about the thin claw attachments on Gadget Gao, tho. Be extra careful with those claws. I flipped the arms of Gaigar back from the shoulder, and encountered some difficulty due to the tightness – but nothing broke. I really like how the backpack attaches to the pegs hidden within Gaigar’s torso. They hold up fine, and are quite easy to remove.
I inserted the connection block to Gaigar’s now hollow torso, and was initially skeptic at the small connection point. “Why wasn’t it made in square shape?” I thought. Against Gold’s recommendation, I installed the chrome “arm-pits”, and pushed Broken Gao in. It got in fine, and was quite tight. However, putting Protect Gao in was another question. Each time I tried to push it in, it pushes the whole block and takes out the chrome armpit on the other side. After a while, I finally got both shoulders in, tightly and securely. I positioned Gadget Gao’s claws to clamp the shoulders, but then discovered that the arms cannot be displayed in a forward position without unclamping the claws. In all, the shoulder connections are tight, shoulder and arm joints are also ratchety tight.
The only things left to fuse are the lower arms, the extended lion manes, and GGGG’s head. Connection of the arm was simple, but the lower arm slots do not quite fit the elbow pegs, therefore I have to push really hard to get the elbow in. It finally went in, but the edges become jagged due to the forced insertion. I hope the slot holds for prolonged connection… I had an annoying experience when using the elbow extension pieces. With the extension installed, removed the lower arms by pulling it off without pushing back the fist. As result, the extension piece was stuck in the lower arm cavity, and it took a while to get that piece out of the cavity. The mane extension can be installed without any problems, and the head stays quite snug over Gaigar’s head. Finally, my GGGG was fully assembled. When I looked at the time, I noticed that over 2.5 hours has passed since I took out the contents from the box….
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Post by nikodiablo on Nov 11, 2008 6:12:51 GMT -5
-The final segment-
My humble opinion of the assembled figure
The final assembled figure is truly beautiful, and is really heavy (I believe Gold measured the weight to be about 1.2 kg). It truly catches the spirit of GGGG, a super robot that signifies spirit and power. I particularly love the gadget feathers, because so much detail was put into the part. CMS really went out of their way to bring this fabulous piece to collectors like us. Ver. 2.0 also boasts some improvement of the design, such as redesigned head crest, ability to extend the upper legs of Gaigar (doesn’t help much, tho), metal knee joints (as verified by Gold), and some new accessories.
Stability
The connection stability was very good. All connections points are tight, and nothing is wobbly at all. It can stand very well on uneven surfaces such as mattresses, and the crotch and knee joints can support the weight of the upper body without buckling. However… I found that GGGG has trouble standing on smooth surfaces! The legs tend to split apart sideways, and unless positioned in such a way it won’t stand at all! At the moment, my solution is to have him stand over some rough surface like a newspaper to keep his legs from performing unwanted splits. Big, heavy feet do not always mean extra stability here…
Poseability
Due to the legs issues, GGGG is hard to pose in any dynamic poses. The arm poses are also troublesome, since to pose arms in forward position you have to unclamp the shoulder, rotate the shoulder, and then clamp it again. No “dramatic” open hands are included with the accessories either, unless you count the old Heaven and Hell hands.
Finishing
This is one of the saving graces of the figure. The finish is excellent on my specimen. No paint overspray or bubbles, and the chrome plating are glorious. Just wondering how long the chrome plating will last tho… Details also show up nicely on the plastic parts, particularly on Gadget Gao, and also on Broken and Protect Gaos. However, some of the plastic used are dangerously thin and must be handled under extra care.
Accessories
Ver. 2.0 includes the entire accessory for all of GGGG signature moves and attacks, you get new Heaven and Hell hands, new bolting driver extensions, and I believe the remaining accessories are the same as Ver. 1.0 (will knife, bolting driver, protect shade, various hands and fists). Still need to get Goldion Hammer separately.
PROS
Excellent combined piece. The awesome sculpt truly represents the GGGG’s character.
Excellent finishing, the chrome plating made it look like a high class product.
Lots of diecast content, making the figure really, really heavy.
Nice individual components. Gadget Gao is particularly inspiring, while Broken and Protect Gaos are less. Gaigar is truly awesome, but Spiral and Straight Gaos could be more solid.
CONS
It has trouble standing on smooth surfaces!
Limited poseability – due to the inherent design of the ‘bot itself.
Not a perfect transformation, many pieces has to be removed and attached for final fusion.
Crappy instruction sheet!!!
Final Verdict
The price of the CMS GGGG is not cheap, and will probably drive away the casual non-diehard fans. In fact, my wife hated it. She thinks that it is not worth the price, even at discount, because it has trouble standing on smooth surfaces and really limited poseability. She also thinks that the design is too busy, which detracts on the overall appearance of the robot.
However, since in my opinion this is the best figure / model representation of GGGG available on the market, I’m still giving it a 7/10 based on the traits of excellent representation, finishing and diecast content, however the difficulty to stand up and limited poseability kinda hurts its value. Not recommended for the casual fan, and ensure that you get Ver. 2.0 because of the improvements (metal knee joints, particularly).
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Post by ace19th on Nov 11, 2008 15:53:30 GMT -5
^^^ Woww, a very nice & thorough review bro (not to mention a very long one, too  ), nice to hear that you've gotten that cm's 2.0 gggg, congrats ;D |
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Post by rizuan76 on Nov 12, 2008 0:18:52 GMT -5
Great review there niko. btw bro you should watch GGG-Final anime, it's definitely worth watching & an emotional roller-coaster ride. it's EPIC. Makes you appreciate yr CMS Genesic GGG even more after watching it. |
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Post by zman on Nov 12, 2008 11:41:27 GMT -5
What an excellent review Niko. If you added photos, it's almost like reading Consumer Digest ;D Here's one 4 yah!  I've had my 2.0 for months now but haven't been able to mess with it yet due to other hobbies on the way  . With your review, I might do it tonight |
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Post by nikodiablo on Nov 12, 2008 20:37:21 GMT -5
I really would like to add pictures to my reviews, but all I got is a crappy camera phone.
It would've just add insult to the injury.
I'm looking for the GGG Final OVA, BTW. Rizuan, can you recommend a good online seller that still have them instock?
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Post by rizuan76 on Nov 13, 2008 6:38:43 GMT -5
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Post by Gold on Nov 13, 2008 6:54:54 GMT -5
Great Review Niko! Congrats again on scoring a GGGG. Gold |
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Post by nikodiablo on Nov 14, 2008 0:44:54 GMT -5
Thanks for the links rizuan. However none of these stores ship to Indonesia  . I'll keep searching for other stores, tho. Gold: Thanks! You know I've always wanted a CMS GGGG since ver. 1.0 came out a couple years ago. Now I've got my sights on the improved TV GaoGaiGar ;D! |
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Post by rizuan76 on Nov 14, 2008 8:30:51 GMT -5
Thanks for the links rizuan. However none of these stores ship to Indonesia . I'll keep searching for other stores, tho. But i thought when i check it out the FAQ page for foxanime it states that they do ship items overseas. Here's what it say on the FAQ page (copied & pasted): "Do you ship internationally?
Yes, we can ship products internationally?. We DO ship to any foreign countries or to any U.S. territories such as Guam, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico." |
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Post by nikodiablo on Nov 18, 2008 0:26:04 GMT -5
Thanks for the links rizuan. However none of these stores ship to Indonesia . I'll keep searching for other stores, tho. But i thought when i check it out the FAQ page for foxanime it states that they do ship items overseas. Here's what it say on the FAQ page (copied & pasted): "Do you ship internationally?
Yes, we can ship products internationally?. We DO ship to any foreign countries or to any U.S. territories such as Guam, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico." I know... but when I proceed to check out to pick out the shipping destination, Indonesia is not listed in the drop down menu if either sites... I'll keep searching for other possibilities... Thanks anyway ! |
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Post by Gold on Nov 18, 2008 0:50:14 GMT -5
BTW, just to clarify, there aren't any English Dubbed versions of GGG Final. Only Hong Kong Engrish (yes "Engrish") subs. Hehe, the work isn't too bad though.
I'm still trying to find subbed versions of GGG Final Grand Glorious Gathering. I have only the first 7 episodes of 12 (Hong Kong police and Ebay started cracking down on bootlegged DVDs just when the second volume of GGG final GGG started to get released).
Gold
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