Danguard old vs. SOC

[godaikincolector74]

One of my favorite childhood cartoons other than Voltron that I had access to as a child from this great genre, was Danguard. Always thought he was one of the cooler looking robots, the wings on the side of the head, the neat shin/saber weapons, the chest crest, and even unique shaped cylinder fists and forearms.....

I noticed in an attempt to find a good example of the above mentioned, that you have your common Popy vintage mid 70's, which is usually marked anywhere from 300 to 500 nice in box, and one crazy case it seems like 1300, and the lowest I saw him go was nice loose complete in USA on a 100 buy it now which did no last long, as seller took 60 I think it was. And that was way early for me, before I realized what a good deal that was....

The old set DOES NOT transform I am thinking, is this correct?

Sorry, I am ranting as usual, anyhow I like the SOC version better than the old, and this is true in a few cases with me. Like for example I love the shogun robots better in SOC sets via Raideen Gaiking, Dragun, Mazinger Z, and the Getter brothers, via Liger Getter and Poseidon, than the vintage robots. And also Zambot seems nicer in SOC IMO. I just missed him by the way by 1 dollar out of USA on one, as I bid 90, and he went 91 plus 11 more shipping....

I like this set below and this is best price you can find on this item, as I can only find a few listings for it, and they are all out of Asia. I would just type the name of it, but I really like these pictures, this
Danguard looks great, but very modern looking and not as much of the vintage look in my opinion. Which is not not a great thing in my mind, but I like that this one transforms into a great looking airship, which seems accurate to my memory of the great childhood cartoon....

cgi.ebay.com/GN-U-Hagane-Chogokin-Danguard-Ace-Limited-Plated-Ver-/160514639778?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item255f6b07a2#ht_1282wt_932

Any thoughts on Danguard, or does anyone have either of these sets, which strikes me as a very stupid question, lol?

[lurkerx]

Though, I seldom frequent this section of the forum as I usually collect modern contemporary versions such as the SOCs

In this case, I actually have both the Popy DX Danguard Ace and the new Yamato version. Awhile back when I thought that the likelihood that a modern version of this bot was very remote I bought the popy version.

Both transform, only the ST Popy version does not transform.

The modern yamato version comes with a lot of bells and whistles and was meant to be “anime” accurate as opposed to getting that vintage toy look. Its paint, detail, weapon’s effects and look, feel and diecast content is simply top notch.

However, the popy one is classy in its own way, its transformation is simply and elegant requiring no parts swapping other than removing the helmet & fists. Unlike the Yamato’s where in an attempt to capture the essence of the anime character, transformation is more of a “chore”, very tedious with a lot of part swapping but if you’re into SOCs then this shouldn’t deter you.

I guess it all boils down to what you’re looking for: Anime accuracy = Yamato Simplicity vintage toy-ish look = Popy

If you’re like me and prefer the SOCs to vintage then yamato’s version will satisfy you more.

Had I known Yamato was going to come out with this, I probably would have foregone the Popy version. Having said that I really don’t regret getting it now I can display DA in both modes

My DX Popy cost me $250 + shipping years ago. The Yamato cost $216.58 including shipping from BBTS (metallic & silver version)

At short notice here's a pic of mine: yamato is behind the bots on the top shelf whereas popy is below in "ship mode"





I hope this helps

[godaikincolector74]

I actually like to collect both, mostly old, but the SOC's sets I love with all the Bells and Whistles as you put it, well said....

Wow Lurker X that is an amazing collection both SOC and vintage, thank you so much for the picture and great information, about these two great items, as that is a very nice deatiled evaluation of the old and the new! And wow the new one is big eh, as it took me a moment to notice him the back as your center piece robot, that looks fantastic, and the old popy looks great in ship mode, I don't think I could go wrong on either!!!!

Voltes V is what 13 inches tall, and it looks like the SOC Danguard is around the exact same height?

One last question, how large and tall is the older Popy deluxe model there, and I imagine the small one which does not transform is around six inches tall?

[Chen]

The Yamato (not SOC) Dangaurd Ace is around 11 inches tall and a great piece.

[godaikincolector74]

Interesting Yamato you say, not SOC....

Forgive my lack of knowledge here, but is Yamato another company who does re-issues, perhaps SO's competion?

By the way Chen, I love that picture. Interesting since I had also mentioned how much I liked the SOC Zambot earlier, thanks for the info....

[Chen]

Yeah the Soul of Chogokin line is from Bandai while Yamato makes Danquard. They haven't done re-issues of Danguard but they do release a lot of color variants and are mostly known for their 1/60 scale Macross figures.

There were three versions of Danguard released, a normal version which I have, a metallic/pearl version and a chrome Hong Kong version. The metallic version seems the most rare/wanted while the chrome version is easier to find.

Here's a review by Gold.

robotjapan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=SOC&action=display&thread=4040&page=18

Zambot is a decent figure but being one of the earliest SOC large combining robots it's not that up to date than say Daitarn. It has pretty limited leg articulation and has some fiddly bits. But if you have Zambot then your gonna want Daitarn and on on lol.

[Chen]

.

[repairtechjon]

Popy Dangard is one great looking robot to me also.
Like other DX toys of the day, you'll find fixed version toys of each mode also, in the lineup known as Popinica. So that can confuse.

You not only have the transforming main GA-79 DX toy, and the similar looking box of the ST GA-78, but there are seperate PA-01 thru -03 Popinica toys, with their own model numbers, like the Gard Launcher , very common Sky Arrow, and Gaurd Machine car/truck thingy, the PB-22 Satellizer full ship mode, and probably a couple more of the small vehicles I'm brain-stalling on now.

Seeing the seperate, vehicle only toys, can make it seem that the main bot must not be a changer, I can see that. They made them...just because! They're fun on their own.
Check this list : www.toyboxdx.com/datafiles/data/popy_data/pb.htm



BTW, did you see these awesome vintage magazine ads in the main R-J Gallery?
www.robot-japan.com/item/danguard-ace-magazine-ad.html

And Kevin, you seriously need to do some major surfin' in the "Newfangled Robots/ SOC/ Aoshima" section of the forum.
Chen dug up the thread to make your dreams come true, on Yamato Dangard, and there's indepth discussion of every single one of the new style bots in there. Some good stuffs.

[godaikincolector74]

I think in my nooobness, I have confused Daitarn with Zambot, as they are rather similar in appearance on a quick first glance anyway, that last picture really helps with that....

So Lets see if I am correct here, Zambot above on my left and Daitarn on the right?

So if Yamato does not make re-issues, when was this great Danguard released, or should I say all three versions?


Thanks for that most recent link to the older thread, that was some really great picutres, esp of some of his more unique weapon assortment, that chest thing is one of a kind feature eh, or at least I have not seen another similar anyhow....

[godaikincolector74]

Thanks Jon! Yeah I need to start taking advantage of that section of the site, as there is much to absorb here....

Thanks for the aditional links, I am going to check them out next....

[repairtechjon]

Whoops, Daitarn3 is on the left.
Remember Zambot3 easier with the tilted crescent moon on his head.

The "SEARCH" button is a little hard to pick out in the top header here on the forum, but using it with the names of each bot you're interested in will bring up more info than you ever need, and you can jump into those threads too. Some of them could probably use a dusting off, LOL.

EDIT: Forgot to say to LurkerX, awwwweesome case shot man!

[godaikincolector74]

Exactly Jon the crescent which reminds me of Turkey's flag, lol....

So I missed out on the shorter bot on the right which went for 91 and I bid 90, as I bid cause I love that crescent, lol.....

To bad to, cause he is not easy to find in Asia under 200, would have been great buy IMO at 102....

Yeah I found the search section. It is small, the magnifing glass, good info....

[Chen]

Yeah Daitarn is the taller one and pretty easy to get in the $150 price range.

www.angolz.com/store/soul-of-chogokin-gx-53-invincible-steel-man-daitarn-3.html

Review.

robotjapan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=SOC&action=display&thread=12802&page=59

Zambot is a little harder and more expensive since Bandai hasn't re-issued it yet, but knowing Bandai they will sooner or later.

[lurkerx]

godaikincolector74 my pic isn't good to judge height I use "transparent raisers" for the bots that are at the back so that they remain more visible, save fro V5. Either way you really can't go wrong, perhaps if vintage was less expensive I'd probably have more of them in my stash.

Thanks repairtechjon

[Erik Sjoen]

Just to clarify, these new toys are NOT "reissues", they are completely new renditions of the characters.

Now, as some of you may know I'm a diehard vintage collector and have very little love for the new stuff as they aren't really toys as much as collectors items. Clearly looking through the gallery section virtually every collection looks the same as they are all the same 50 or so SOCs or whatever. It does nothing for me, but to each his own. That being said, there are a few new toys that actually speak to me, so I slip every once in awhile.

Last year I was in Osaka and was just browsing through a store called Kiddy Land www.kiddyland.co.jp/en/stores.html and found that they had stacks of those Yamato Dangards for like 6000Y. Having loved that character as a kid I just couldn't resist. BEST $60 I've ever spent. I totally love this toy. The proportions, the heft, the transformation. It's a really great piece. If I were you I would hold out for the regular color version as the shiny version just doesn't look as cool IMO. After seeing the Yamato Groizer X I had little hope for the Dangard, but considering I just paid 6000Y for lunch for a friend and I, I figured WTF. Glad I pulled the trigger.

My 2 cents.

[Erik Sjoen]

Oh yeah, I wanted to second what Jon said about LurkerX's case shot. Now that I can totally get behind. The mixture of vintage and new looks DOPE!!!

BTW, those Ultraman chogokin are GREAT, aren't they? I have all the vintage ones and plan on displaying them with these at some point. Just posted a pic of the Taro here:

toyboxdx.com/brog/?p=8638

Some of the few new toys I had to break the oath for...

[godaikincolector74]

Great story Eric thanks, that is a great 60 dollar buy. I hvae heard nothing but good things about this item old and new, and will probably go after both in time....

I am with you on holding out for the old color pattern, as he vintage look means everything to me....

I just added my 2nd SOC(my first tet 28 gb-44 and it is pretty basic with the features), the 1999 Combattler V what is gb-03 I think, and I also own one of the Popy mini Combattlers which goes for like 15 bucks, the little 3 inch guy, which I recently just discovered he seperates at the waiste, which I did not know, and it is a magnetised connection, again great little clever features, even on such a small simple low cost item. He transforms into tank mode, and the head launches as well as fists, so it is neat, esp to use for scale comparisons. When I get Get nice old example of Combattler, I plan to do a video review of all three, including the new 120$ SOC GB-03....

And one quick note on this new SOC addition, I do love it, the bells and whisltes are way cool, love the weapon stand, the throwing blades very detailed is all the weapons, and the hand design is well done. Decent articulation and it displays nice in many modes, but I noticed some things right off that bug me and here they are, and sorry to jump tracks again, but this seems like good info on the on going old vs. new debate on which is better, and like Eric said "To each his own."....

1. I don't like how the tank treads fall of where the connect to tread arms....
2. I love the screw tip missiles on feet retracting an all, but come on all robots should have some form of firing missile IMO, or it strays a bit to much from the original line IMO....
3. He does look great, perhaps a bit Anime, but not porportioned some how like the old, can't put my finger on it, esp since I don't have good old example yet, and his head almost looks flat, and the V on head I can't make up my mind on just yet, perhaps I am just nick picking....
4. He does not appear that he would fall over an wreack havoc, but he could be a bit more stable in robot mode, and that again IMO is due to the way the ankle region is engeenered to allow for 90 degree bend into tank mode....
In the end, if I could suggest one main thing for SOC to improve on, would be using the firing missiles, and desgin these parts, esp the plastic parts to connect and hold together a bit better, and that is a total green horns first obersveration....

Still, I like it alot, and very happy to have in collection....

[repairtechjon]

Hey, cool that you like it, but generally, us old grumps (and you are old enough to be in this club, haha, Please deposit your annual dues at the front desk ) would prefer the full point by point SOC dissection discussion go happen in that Newfangled Robots section of the forum. Plenty of discussion there about it.

But, since you mention comparisons, the comments before about Dangard are good ones, in that mostly the vintage toys did have a few removable parts to complete various modes, but not near as much as new style Yamato. Most gripes boil down to that the old pieces were kids' toys. Period.

For vintage Popy Dangaud DX vid, and lots of others, Ed did some nice shots on the RJ Youtube channel. He's got the box and insert in there, and the bot, and plane modes, and the paperwork, in great view. See here:

I'd love to see your thoughts on Combattler vintage in a vid. I remember that the thread yakking's been done a bit in the past on the comparison with the SOC, but can be hard to search up the old threads, as they're about ten years old or so now. In here somewheres.
Have you seen the CDX reviews on both the Yamato Dangard , and SoC Combattler? Good stuff.

As to those "THE Chogokin series you mention, with the model #s starting with GT-##, they were exact minis of the old ST 5" vintage toys. And it's a shame they didn't get around to doing one of Dangard. That woulda been real cool.

[godaikincolector74]

That is a great review Jon, thanks! It had slipped through the cracks on me some how, as I had not seen before. And before I joined here, that was my next "teach myself" if you will type research on youtube, and Ed's videos were a huge inspiration for me to begin collecting these robots too begin with, as I think I had only purchsed Daidenjin at that point, and he had not even arrived in mail yet. It was the 3 part Tet 28 review, when I first realized the collecting potential of these unique robots, and I watched most I could find there after....

I like the music, good visual relaxing review, and the spin table really adds to the display, as the back designs of these guys seem to get little attention, since most don't display there robots backwards, lol. Like for example I like the vintage design of the back of Combattler from what I could see in pics anyway, as its designed obviously to have the appearance of the top of a tank, for when in tank mode....

[repairtechjon]

Good note about the backs. Yeah, many vintage were horrendous looking from the side/back, but vintage Dangaurd looks pretty excellent all around with the wings pack, and back of legs looking super. Not like Dairugger or something (**ducks JoshB throwing stuff**)

Oh yeah, here's the CDX youtube review of the Yamato version, with some cool history on the cartoon, and toy comparison to the vintage discussed a bit. (RIP Shogundan)
The Yamato series is GN-U Hagane (Hagane = "Steel" apparently)