I thought I’d do a comprehensive comparison of the various transforming diecast Daitarns made by Clover. These include the smaller Push Daitarn and larger deluxe Daitarn. Now there is also a smaller Clover Daitarn (commonly referred to as the standard sized one standing a little over 5 inches tall), but this does not transform, so other than a single comparison photo, I am not addressing it here. In addition, Clover made a larger plastic toy called the Electromotive Giant. I already did a comprehensive review here (http://robotjapan.proboards.com/thread/14596 ) and created a shorter photo gallery on the website (http://www.robot-japan.com/gallery/item/daitarn-electromotive-by-clover-2.html ), so again I will not discuss that in this thread.
The Push Daitarn stands around 7 inches tall. It comes in two different boxes – a smaller one with most parts compactly packed, and a larger one with each part separately displayed. Although the larger box has a much nicer interior presentation, for some reason, I just like the look of the smaller outer box more, even though its more simple. Maybe its just the color scheme. Anyway, the smaller box appears to be much more common, and it was released in Italy too. (I believe it had an “Atlantic” marking on it, if I recall correctly. I will have to look into this to confirm). This toy was never released in the US.
As I was doing this photo comparison, I came upon a few discoveries. Because I’ve owned a few loose Push Daitarns in the past, I always assumed they were the same. And Ed finally graced me with a boxed one a few years ago. This too was consistent with my prior ones. But recently I upgraded to the two boxed ones you will see below, and I found a few discrepancies in the toys. The one in the smaller box had silver bands on the fists. I am not sure if this was an optional sticker sheet that came with the set, if it was just something that the prior owner added but was not part of the toy, or it came like that. But more important, the Daitarn in my larger box came with plastic lower legs! This was a major surprise to me, because this toy in all the variations I owned prior is almost all diecast. Its basically an amazing brick of a toy. And that is why I love it so much. So the discovery of plastic lower legs came as a shock. I am not sure if this distinction is really related to the box type or just random specimens. But it is worth noting and asking if you are to buy one in the future.
The deluxe toys, which stand around 8 inches tall, are much more common. Not only can these be found often in Japan, but they were also reproduced in Taiwan and sold throughout the US. These are amazingly common on ebay. Now many typically call these bootlegs, but they were actually licensed productions by Sunrise, the company that owns the rights to the show. So don't simply disregard them because of their high numbers and Taiwan manufacturing. They are still a spectacular toy, even with less spectacular packaging and some other shortcomings. The Taiwan version is packed in a much smaller box, and one of the weapons (a mace-like weapon in the Japanese toy) is missing the rubber spiked-ball portion of it. Instead, just the chrome shaft is included. The Taiwan toy came in two different packaging styles – a solid box and a window-box. Both can be seen in the photos below. The contents are identical.
The Japanese version of the deluxe toy came in two different styles. One is labeled Deluxe Daitarn 3, and this toy is similar to the Taiwan version, with the exception of those differences noted above. The other is labeled Change Daitarn 3. Although I don’t own this version, photos of it are presented below. This toy is distinct in that the upper legs are white plastic instead of diecast. I am assuming that this version came out first, but this is purely conjecture based on the fact that it appears to be more rare.
OK – enough talking. Time for some photos. Let’s start with the Push Daitarn. Here is a comparison of the two sets. You can see the difference in the box sizes and interior layouts. Both come with a styrofoam cover (not shown) over the styrofoam trays. As mentioned previously, while the larger set comes with all parts distinctly separated, the smaller one shoves parts in compartments. In addition, the tracks and wings come attached to the figure.
These are the fist variations I found:
This is the size comparison to the standard-sized toy (mine is a loose beater with a custom head crest).
The larger set is actually similar in size to the Taiwan deluxe version, only slightly smaller.
Here are some additional close-up photos of the larger set:
Here are the deluxe versions in comparison to each other and also the larger Push Daitarn set.
This is the white-legged Change Daitarn version:
The Japanese version includes an inner window box lid, while the Taiwan version only comes with the outer lid. Under the inner lid, you can clearly see that the layout for the Japanese toy is much more spacious.
The instructions for the Taiwan version have always been a source of great amusement for the horrible translations. But the artwork is similar to the Japanese version. Unfortunately, mine appears to have been cut, but you can see enough here.
Onto the toys themselves. I used the Taiwan version for my comparison shots.
Both can transform into the Dai-Tank and Dai-Fighter (a jet), but the transformation methods are different. The head on the Push Daitarn is removed for the transformations, and the chrome should parts have more limited motion. The chest of the deluxe version opens up to reveal nice artwork inside, and the head folds down into the chest of the toy.
Unfortunately, this will invariably lead to paint loss.
The leg transformations also differ. The lower legs on the Push Daitarn can be removed, and they are reattached with a black plastic plate in the various configurations. The deluxe version’s legs fold out from the rear (this joint can break under stress, so be careful) to form the jet, plus the legs bend at the knee to form the tank.
Onto the vehicle modes. Let’s start with the Dai-Fighter. The accessories can be added in a variety of ways (the same holds true for the tank). I am only showing one such configuration. I like the large tail fin on the Push Daitarn better than the smaller one on the deluxe version.
Unfortunately, the weight of the rear legs for the deluxe toy makes this toy impossibly to stay level in this mode. Even using the larger tracks, it still falls back. Thus if you look closely at the photos above, you will see that I propped up the rear of the jet with the extra tracks.
Now for the Dai-Tank.
Using parts from the deluxe toy, you can even make an additional smaller vehicle.
The robots can use the accessories in a variety of ways. The deluxe version can become a beast with the accessories.
But the Push Daitarn won’t be undone, and can also become a hyper-armed death machine. It even includes an interesting fan/shield.
So there you have it. If you have any questions, I will try to address them. Thanks for reading.
