Hi all, here's my review (finally) on both the Icarus Toys United Gokin UG-00B Voltron Dark Lion Force version and the regular colored version.
First up, the Dark Lion Force version.
Item comes shipped with an outer brown shipper box.
Box dimensions: 18.5" x 13" x 6.25"
The main box is packaged with a "wrap around" layer of styrofoam.
Tray
Inner plastic cover for the tray.
Black Lion
Black Bazooka
The Black Bazooka runs on 2 pieces LR1130 (AG10) Batteries. Batteries not included. I didn't have any with me at the time of the photoshoot. Oh well.
Black Missile
Mouth Blade
I'm not sure who copied whom here, but the Icarus Black Lion can also do the sitting pose. Bandai's SOC does it better though thanks to the ab crunch joint in the SOC version.
Red Lion
The heads of both arm lions can fire thanks to triggers located here. This also helps facilitate the swapping of the heads. More on reasons for that later.
Mouth Blade
Green Lion
Mouth Blade
Blue Lion
Mouth Blade
Yellow Lion
Mouth Blade
Lions charge!
Let's form Voltron!
TRANSFORMATION NOTES-How to properly fold the lion legs (please take particular note of how the hind/rear legs fold)
-To properly connect the arm lions, make sure you align the sockets to the "locks" for the shoulders.
-To release the leg lions, just push on these tabs here. To release the arm lions, you just have to tug them really hard (no release buttons).
-The Black Lion's tail is supposed to fold up like so I think,
Voltron! 
Well, it's been delayed for almost a year but Icarus finally rolled out their Dark Lion Force Voltron. I'm glad to say that, as a toy, it rocks! I'm not going to go into the legal side of this toy since that's one messy debate, so I'll just enjoy the toy itself.
Love 'em or hate 'em, there's no denying Icarus did an amazing job with the paints on these figures.
The set comes with optional "hands" (heads) for the arm lions, they are actually different, the optional hands seem to have a smaller hole for gripping the weapons. I don't know if it's just me but I had an easier time making Voltron hold onto the shield/Spinning Laser Blade with the optional hands than with the default hands.
Form Spinning Laser Blade!
The set comes with various swords for Voltron.
-Blazing Sword
-Blazing Sword Effect part
-Flaming Blazing Sword
-"alternate", evil-looking Blazing Sword (totally "concept" only, never appeared in the Voltron show)
Form Blazing Sword!
The Blazing Sword effect is a nice bonus and I think it's my favorite accessory in the set.
Lastly, Voltron also comes with a "flaming" Blazing Sword. I know this never really happened in the show, but it looks visually stunning.
Voltron also comes with an extra "evil" Blazing Sword. Not sure why, since in the Anime he never wielded two of them at a time (he had another set of weapons which were short swords though)
Voltron comes with an optional "open mouth" faceplate. It's actually done via magnets. Pretty sweet.
Icarus Voltron can hold a slashing poses, no problem!
Supposedly, this set is limited to 1000 units produced.
The Good-The Weigh in:
--Black - 411 Grams
--Red - 94 Grams
--Green - 87 Grams
--Blue - 257 Grams
--Yellow - 278 Grams
--Voltron - 1127 Grams (SOC is heavier - 1416 Grams)
-Voltron stands roughly 11.5"
-Diecast parts include:
--Black - Most parts of the torso, Voltron's crotch joint, tail (except connector portion)
--Red - Upper half of torso, parts of Voltron's elbows, tail (except connector portion)
--Green - Upper half of torso, parts of Voltron's elbows, tail (except connector portion)
--Blue - Practically entire torso, tail (except connector portion)
--Yellow - Practically entire torso, tail (except connector portion)
-Each of the lions has ratcheted shoulders. Black lion has an extra set of ratchets for his knees for Voltron mode.
-Icarus actually included a Black Missile launcher for this set.
-While the connectors for the arm lions are plastic, they hold on really well, far better than the Toynami version by a mile.
-Arm lions have some degree of poseability in their torsos when in lion mode.
-Bending toes on all the lions.
-Mid-torso rotation and even some very minimal "ab crunch" is present in the toy.
-Ratchet joints on the "ankles", yes!
-I don't know why but I love seeing this section. It almost seems like gears I guess.
-Actual "firing" hands. I've missed this... (looks at SOC DC Mazingers, scratches head)
-There's also a ratchet joint for Voltron's neck! Cool!
-The connections for the arm lions is solid! Toynami can learn something here.
-Magnet gimmick used for swapping Voltron's face plates.
The Bad-lol... ok, who proof read this?
-Err... hehehe, really not a fan of how the connectors look in lion mode. They must really be happy to see the princess? I would've preferred it if they could somehow fold all the way in.
-Was hoping for a display stand of some sort. No luck.
-Except for the mouth blades, the lions are kinda pretty bare, but I guess it's better than Toynami's 1st attempt at Voltron (zero accessories for the lions).
-Legal issues. lol...
The UglyNo real quality control issues for me here (on mine anyways). It looks great and the paint and colors blend really well. I hope there won't be any issues as the toy ages as this is technically an untested, "new" company release (Miracle Productions, Mad Toy, Icarus Toys? Are they all the same guys? No idea) .
I loved the concept of adding LEDs to the Black Bazooka, even though the choice of batteries is odd, I wish they went with the more standard LR44 batteries for toys (easier to find).
On a personal note, I don't know how the legal side of this toy goes, since Icarus says they got permission to license the toy under Classic Media (I think), World Events Productions says otherwise. Me, I was already desensitized to unofficial bootlegs since "Lionbot" came out when I was a kid. I had a lot of fond memories of that toy before finding out a decade later it was an unofficial copy of the original Popy Go Lion. Did finding out my biggest cherished childhood toy was a fake diminish my appreciation of it in any way? A little, but it sure as heck didn't take away the memories of hours of enjoyment I had playing with it.
Overall, This toy is pretty good, ratchets everywhere, very good amount of heft (anything over a kilo is a win) and excellent articulation and poseability, beautiful paint job, the basics are all covered.
Still, I think I like the colored version better since the paint really pops, Since this is technically a "concept" figure and the color scheme isn't based on anything from the various media (I think), this isn't a completely "must have" figure. If given the choice between this and the colored version, the colored version is naturally the way to go. I was actually thinking of skipping this one but they got me with the "limited to 1000 units and this is the last piece we got in the store" line and dove in on an impulse buy. I need more willpower next time.
About the leg lions, there's actually a hidden torso joint in there to allow some "left to right" mid-torso articulation.
Since Icarus published a warning disclaimer that "exerting too much force in pulling out the joint might result in possible breakage". I don't really recommend this as it doesn't really add much to the leg lions overall. Just steer clear of doing this.
Icarus Toys United Gokin UG-00 Voltron Lion Force (aka regular colors version)
I really like the packaging done on this version a lot. Very bright and colorful
Same with the Dark Lion set, the box measures 18.5" x 13" x 6.25"
Black Lion
Black Missiles
Black Bazooka
The Black Bazooka runs on 2 pieces LR1130 (AG10) Batteries. Batteries not included. I didn't have any with me at the time of the photoshoot. Oh well.
Mouth Blade
Black Lion can sit down thanks to the design on the hind legs.
Red Lion
Mouth Blade
Trigger button for firing the head.
Green Lion
Mouth Blade
Same with the Red Lion, the Green Lion also comes with a trigger button for launching the head. A throwback to the vintage toy perhaps?
Blue Lion
Mouth Blade
Yellow Lion
Mouth Blade
Lions charge!
Let's form Voltron!
TRANSFORMATION NOTES-To get better poses with wider range of joint movement, make sure the legs on the arm lions are adjusted so they don't get in the way.
-To release the leg lions, just push on these tabs here. To release the arm lions, you just have to tug them really hard (no release buttons).
Voltron!
For whatever reason, the Dark Lion Force version was released a few months earlier than the full color version.
I think both versions are really good. But the colored version wins it for me over the dark one.
The arm lions come with optional heads, these heads actually seem to have a smaller gap in them (I'll have to recheck to be 100% sure, maybe it's just me) and make the weapons easier to grasp.
Form Spinning Laser Blade!
Voltron comes with an optional "open mouth" face plate. Swapping the parts out is easily done thanks to the use of magnets.
Like with the Dark Lion Force, the colored version also comes with the same multiple swords (Blazing, Flaming Blazing, "evil" and effects part)
Form Blazing Sword!
Icarus decided to take some liberties and added a more sinister looking Blazing Sword to the set. I guess Voltron can "dual wield" now. In the show, he did occasionally "dual wield", but that was using his "Solar Combat Spears/ Dual Sword" attack, which were smaller swords and not two Blazing Swords.
Icarus also added a "flaming" Blazing sword. It looks really cool!
Comparison with the Dark Lion version.
Darker shade of silver on the Dark Lion Force lion legs.
I really wish I had the time to break out the SOC Voltron and do comparison shots but I was already pressed for time and was scheduled to go out of town again the next day and it was already 2am in the morning. I'll revisit this next time and try to update this post for the comparisons (and maybe with Vehicle Voltron too.. maybe).
The Good-The Weigh in:
--Black - 412 Grams
--Red - 94 Grams
--Green - 87 Grams
--Blue - 258 Grams
--Yellow - 278 Grams
--Voltron - 1132 Grams (SOC is heavier - 1416 Grams)
-Diecast parts include:
--Black - Most parts of the torso, Voltron's crotch joint, tail (except connector portion)
--Red - Upper half of torso, parts of Voltron's elbows, tail (except connector portion)
--Green - Upper half of torso, parts of Voltron's elbows, tail (except connector portion)
--Blue - Practically entire torso, tail (except connector portion)
--Yellow - Practically entire torso, tail (except connector portion)
-Voltron stands roughly 11.5" tall.
-Each of the lions has ratcheted shoulders. Black lion has an extra set of ratchets for his knees for Voltron mode.
-Icarus actually included a Black Missile launcher for this set.
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-While the connectors for the arm lions are plastic, they hold on really well.
-Arm lions have some degree of poseability in their torsos when in lion mode.
-Toes can flex on all of the lions.
-Mid-torso rotation and even some very minimal "ab crunch" is present in the toy.
-Ratchet jointed ankles, always a welcome sight to see.
-The use of magnets for swapping the face plates was clever.
-There's also a ratchet joint for Voltron's neck! Nice!
-No issues with connecting the arm lions. The connection locks in pretty well.
The Bad-Manual is the same as the black version, still black and white and still has the wrongly labeled lions.
-Heh, I can't say I like the design of where the shoulder connectors stick out in lion mode for the arm lions. Anatomically correct lions?
-Well... this happened, luckily, it's just a matter of putting super glue on it (release the Kragle!). Hmm.. it was because of this I figured out that the rear sections of the torsos on the arm lions were wholly plastic.
-Still no display stand.
-Legal issues.... lol..
The UglySome quality issues with my Red Lion, one of the feet is installed upside down. Also, some minor chest scrapes on my Voltron's chest panel.
Overall, It's not as streamlined as the SOC version but it's got great heft and the ratchets and paint on this thing are all very well executed (loving that neck ratchet on Voltron), it stands out on any shelf. I saw this in person in Hong Kong a few months before its release and it really made me stop to stare for a while. To be honest, if Bandai didn't release the SOC, I dare say this would've been the definitive diecast Voltron to get, legal issues aside.
Between this and the SOC, the SOC clearly wins it for me but If you have spare funds for this, then I recommend getting it as well. I actually enjoyed this more than the DX Combattler, to be honest. The paint and colors just look really good and impressive.
Gold
