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Post by greengetterguy on Aug 7, 2019 10:07:51 GMT -5
Are the feet at least diecast?
I can be the devil's advocate. (But You all know I'm the BIGGEST critic of Bandai.)
the reasons for lot of the Said issues could be due to trying to achieve "a source accurate" "non gatai" "anime magic" combiner...
I can very well be very wrong BUT, the engineering for Getter combo might be more complex then previous SOC combiners.
Don't get me wrong, I wont be getting this release as my feeble brain just cant handle "the origami like" transformation....besides, I'm lazy as hell. I think Voltron "transformation" is as much as I can handle haha
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Post by bocasas on Aug 7, 2019 14:30:24 GMT -5
Are the feet at least diecast? I can be the devil's advocate. (But You all know I'm the BIGGEST critic of Bandai.) the reasons for lot of the Said issues could be due to trying to achieve "a source accurate" "non gatai" "anime magic" combiner... I can very well be very wrong BUT, the engineering for Getter combo might be more complex then previous SOC combiners. Don't get me wrong, I wont be getting this release as my feeble brain just cant handle "the origami like" transformation....besides, I'm lazy as hell. I think Voltron "transformation" is as much as I can handle haha I agree with this... there's a lot of anime/manga magic in the getters transformation. So it's a very complicated piece to load with metal (that's why it is a tamashii mix like their ohrai mechagodzilla, which I love). As I said I would change some metal for the combination any day |
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Post by smokinchogokin on Aug 8, 2019 7:10:21 GMT -5
Are the feet at least diecast? I can be the devil's advocate. (But You all know I'm the BIGGEST critic of Bandai.) the reasons for lot of the Said issues could be due to trying to achieve "a source accurate" "non gatai" "anime magic" combiner... I can very well be very wrong BUT, the engineering for Getter combo might be more complex then previous SOC combiners. Don't get me wrong, I wont be getting this release as my feeble brain just cant handle "the origami like" transformation....besides, I'm lazy as hell. I think Voltron "transformation" is as much as I can handle haha Hahahaha Stay away from God Gravion then. I was CERTAIN the thing was gonna break |
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Post by surlyj on Aug 10, 2019 2:56:14 GMT -5
It looks great, but I may cancel. My
Gokin collection is becoming minimalist, so unless I become convinced this is a centerpiece type in one of my 5 besta cubes, I don’t see how I keep it. I’ve been selling gokins that mean more to me just because I don’t want clutter anymore.
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Post by rx79msg on Aug 11, 2019 6:25:11 GMT -5
It looks great, but I may cancel. My Gokin collection is becoming minimalist, so unless I become convinced this is a centerpiece type in one of my 5 besta cubes, I don’t see how I keep it. I’ve been selling gokins that mean more to me just because I don’t want clutter anymore. I agree with you. I have been thinning out my collection a lot and mainly focusing on things that I have an emotional connection to from my childhood or things that really grab my attention later in life. |
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Post by S_Gokin on Aug 11, 2019 11:22:00 GMT -5
I agree with you. I have been thinning out my collection a lot and mainly focusing on things that I have an emotional connection to from my childhood or things that really grab my attention later in life.
actually this is my code since day 1 lol
thats why i love most of collection
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Post by mpchi on Aug 12, 2019 2:33:20 GMT -5
Finally opened this, and spent some time put together the 3 ships and the stand. Have not combined to Getter Emperor yet, so can't really comment on that. Even though in ship form, the overall design feels very intricate, especially Emperor Eagle (red ship). Simply adding the 'tomahawk spine' to finish Emperor Eagle took me a good 10 mins for a few seemingly simple steps, since there are a good number of small joints and hinges I need to be careful with. Though the joints are all pretty tight out of the box from what I can tell, so no floppyness regardless of the delicate hinges. And each ship holds its shape well with some locking tabs, though you will find yourself fiddling with a panel or two, or straightening an antanna here and there due to the nature of the design and small parts on ball joints. Ships look great on the stand.
For those saying this thing has little diecast, you might be surprised on how much it weighs. While it is not big and it is true it is no heavyweight, the Emperior Bear (fat yellow ship) weigh almost as much as SOC Danguard Ace. It has most diecast parts of the set, with diecast mostly on the lower legs and inner joints of the hip/groin. Jaguar is pretty much all plastic with a small diecast spine, while Eagle has some metal on the chest plate, and shoulder joints. When combined, expect it to weigh similar to Big O and heavier than Danguard Ace, and way heavier than Raideen. At 22cm tall, its about on par with SOC of similar size when it comes to heft.
As Charles pointed out, the cardboard box is a thicker cardboard. More sturdier, but you might find the trays harder to go into the box and get caught by the thicker flaps inside. The instruction booklet is very nice, and very thick. All full color with bio and combination steps. Display stand can store all the parts it came with, which is very nice and thoughtful.
Overall first impression, this is a very unconventional SOC, on character choice, aesthetics, and "Studio Half Eye style" engineering. To some, it may be an ugly duckling of the group. But I welcome the more obscure choices they chose on this release. Interestingly shown in the booklet, was the first prototype that actually has a closer to manga and more heroic proportion. Kind of like that a bit more than their final sculpt. But still pretty cool as is. Figure has decent heft, tight joints, and complex combination. But it feels quite a bit different than the somewhat simpler, chunky, and straight forward SOC combiners that we are more used to.
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Post by mpchi on Aug 13, 2019 3:00:43 GMT -5
CHANGE! GETTER EMPEROR!!!
Finally combined this thing, did take me about an hour for my first time. While the combination sequence is complicated, following the instructions carefully should get you through no problem (watch some youtube video helps too, especially wotafa's). The only couple things I wish the instructions pointed out are a couple connections need to hear a 'click' before its fully secure, like the connection of Bear and Jaguar at the waist, and the little extension backpack hook of Jaguar. Once combined, figure is pretty solid with multiple locking mechanisms to keep the parts secure.
The Good - Looks imposing. Very nice clear green getter slots with rich inner details. Joints are tight, with some high quality joints & fitment tolerance that I don't know if any other company besides Bandai can pull it off. If this is manufactured by someone else, this can very much be a floppy mess. The engineering is very interesting. Its not quite Bandai nor SOC, but yet more sophisticated than Megahouse, CMs or other smaller gokin houses. Probably due to the fact that this was Bandai X Freeing collaboration for the Tamashii Mix line, which later shrunk and rebranded as SOC. Figure is well balanced and stands very well. Has decent heft. Quite a number of joints are diecast.
The Bad - Most of the waist panels don't tab or lock, just ball joint, friction, and gravity. However, they did made an effort to sculpt the pieces so they have specific shapes and surface where they rest on each other, and formed a solid enough torso even without locking tabs. But I wouldn't hold or grab the figure from there and mess up the panel alignments. Articulation is bad, similar to SOC Zambot 3. Legs can barely swing forward like 10-20 degree, though knee has 90 degree ratchet. What hurts more is the very shallow ankle tilt, making the feet not able to sit flush with the ground in any action pose. Not sure why they made the ball joint tilt so shallow, when they have plenty room for wider range of movement. Feet expansion doesn't lock, so every time you grab the feet, the sides collapse, kind of annoying. Head antannae/horns are very long, often hit the big shoulders.
Interesting Tidbits - The close fists are much smaller than the open palm hands and weapon holding hands, due to perfect transformation. They have big size fists on the early prototypes, but didn't include them in the production model. And for some reason, Getter Emperor's hands have very fat thumbs LOL. Tomahawk is pretty cool concept using parts from all 3 ships to form, and has the 3 Getter faces on it. Unfortunately the lower bottom is not very solid and can bend at the hinge once the weak notch/tab start to wear. Does look cool on the stand or held by the figure. There is a clip that let the small closed fist to hold the tomahawk without the need to swap hands. Getter Emperor is pretty much the exact height of Riobot Mazinkaiser (minus his long antannae). Even their small head sizes match very well. Emperor got beefier torso and legs however, and sure is heavier.
Overall, this is a decent release with some refreshing design that also brought some structural flaws with it. Very good QC on mine with tight joints and hinges. But if you have no love for the character, the interesting engineering and limited articulation is not gonna win you over. But if you are a Getter fan, or simply don't mind trying something a bit different, Getter Emperor is a decently good release. And the ships are great!
A 7.5/10 from me.
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Post by GetterBoi on Aug 13, 2019 11:10:45 GMT -5
This is my review I posted on some FB groups (minus the pics)
GetterBoi Review of SOC Getter Emperor
Height: 20cm at top of head, 22cm top of spike
Weight: 559g
Released: 2019 July
MSRP: ¥23,000
First impressions: Thicker SOC box than usual. The cardboard is much more premium than what we have been getting. I like the overlay on top of the styrofoam that had the names of the Getter machines. The 3 Getmachines are okay. They look weird and kinda like robotic blobs with faces. It is manga accurate but this is not how I plan to display them so it doesn't bother me. Lots of details. Every surface is etched with detail, and lots of tiny metallic green paint and clear green parts that really pop. It is painted perfectly. I did not find any splatter or sloppy paint. Getter Bear (legs) are where most of the diecast is found, also the chest plate of Getter Eagle, and then all the joints and hinges.
Instruction manual: Unlike the b/w single sheet garbage we got with the SOC FA bots, GX-87 comes with a 27 page full color booklet, with some pages dedicated to the character back story and SOC design.
Transformation: Quite complicated the first time. I would watch the official Bandai channel on YouTube to assist. Making a combining Getter is no easy feat, and I think Bandai really showed some amazing engineering here. The only parts-forming involve the axe weapon, which looks good on one side but complete ass from the back.
Articulation: Some movement is sacrificed die to the combination gimmick. There is no waist articulation or swivel. Ankle range of motion is limited. And while the knees can do 90°, the joint is ugly. The elbows allow 90° and shoulders allow full rotation if careful. The bulky shoulders will knock into the head of attempting to raise sideways. The head has limited up and down but as much side swivel as you would need. This is definitely not an action figure SOC like the FA releases. It's more of a combine and display piece like GX-34 Gunbuster.
Accessories: The axe (separates and forms with the Getmachines), 3 sets of hands (smaller perfect transformation fists, larger holding hands, and large open hands), and a display stand. That's it.
What could be better? 1) Due to tranformation, the feet collapse on the sides to store into the lower leg, however, this is easily pushed in accidentally during handling. I wish there was a locking mechanism under the feet. 2) There is an optional(?) latch for the wings/cape thing to hook onto the back but I couldn't get it to attach. Might be I missed something during transformation. I say"optional" because it's not necessary to keep the wings on in place. 3) An alternate non-parts-formed axe would have been nice.
Conclusion: I heard some complaints about the weight, but Riobot Shin Getter weighs 507g with the wings on, while SOC Getter Emperor weighs 559g. Even without the axe it weighs 534g. I counted the axe because they are party of the Getmachines. It's not bad at all. It is very close to SOC Big-O in both size and weight. Personally, I wish it was much larger because of GE's status on the Getter Robo canon, but then it would prob cost closer to $400. I think the transformation definitely added to the production cost. It is made from a lot of parts. The transformation is not much fun due to the intricacy. Making a combining Getter is almost akin to magic. It is solid when combined. Much better than Riobot Gaiking in terms of staying together. I could hold the figure by the chest and shake it without worrying about detaching. The paint is perfect and I am amazed. We've heard a lot of sloppy paint, ugly nub marks on the plastic, and other QC problems lately from SOC, but it's like they made this at their Metal Build or Macross DX factory. Really on another level.
Score: GetterBoi's Getter bias gives GX-87 a 9 out of 10. Standard score would be 8 out of 10, due to smaller size and not fun transformation. But if you can appreciate the engineering involved to make this gattai (combination) happen, you'll find this to be an amazing piece.
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Post by mpchi on Aug 13, 2019 11:25:47 GMT -5
Nice review. About that 'optional' latch, I managed to get it on. First, the latch needs to be pulled out until it clicks on its sliding groves on Jaguar, so it stays extended at its fullness. Second, rather than clipping onto Getter Emperor's back, it simply slides top down onto it, with a bit of push and wiggling/nudging on the backpack downwards. Hopefully that helps.
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Post by GetterBoi on Aug 13, 2019 14:25:58 GMT -5
Nice review. About that 'optional' latch, I managed to get it on. First, the latch needs to be pulled out until it clicks on its sliding groves on Jaguar, so it stays extended at its fullness. Second, rather than clipping onto Getter Emperor's back, it simply slides top down onto it, with a bit of push and wiggling/nudging on the backpack downwards. Hopefully that helps. I'll give that a try. Seems like no mention of it in the instructions, unless I missed it. |
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Post by mpchi on Aug 13, 2019 15:04:29 GMT -5
Nice review. About that 'optional' latch, I managed to get it on. First, the latch needs to be pulled out until it clicks on its sliding groves on Jaguar, so it stays extended at its fullness. Second, rather than clipping onto Getter Emperor's back, it simply slides top down onto it, with a bit of push and wiggling/nudging on the backpack downwards. Hopefully that helps. I'll give that a try. Seems like no mention of it in the instructions, unless I missed it. Yeah. Instructions are good, but they missed mentioning a couple of those 'clicks' as footnote. Check out Wotafa's video (I bookmarked the time stamp on that latch). His grey latch is stationed (fully extended on the click), instead of sliding up and down on the rail. Then he simply slide it down onto the back of Emperor from the top. You might need to give it a bit of a downward push. Mine didn't go down as easy as Wotafa's, but a bit of nudging and wiggling did the job. |
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Post by rodimus1138 on Aug 18, 2019 7:27:58 GMT -5
Honestly I hate it. Jaguar and bear keep popping apart unless you leave the bottom of the crotch untabbed, there's a detail on the shoulder joints im sure scraped off mine because it was stuck, and eagle keeps popping apart when I move the arms.
Im only keeping it because its prob the only emperor we will get
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Post by faelon on Aug 19, 2019 20:53:11 GMT -5
Thank you for all the great reviews. I'm both tempted and yet completely turned off by the fiddly nature of this transformation. I like complicated figures. Although I wish the end product was more articulated. It's not a subject that I have any real knowledge of or interest in. As cool and complicated as it looks, it looks like one I would spend half a day transforming once, then be terrified of ever touching again. I think this guy goes on the "Will purchase in a few months when it drops to clearance prices" list. It's not that it's not a nice figure. It's just one I can happily wait out and not be deeply regretful if the price never drops.
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Post by Actarus on Aug 22, 2019 18:29:48 GMT -5
I totally forgot I preordered it at BBTS. Well it's one the way now!!!
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Post by Actarus on Sept 6, 2019 17:11:53 GMT -5
Mine arrived today. Didn't open the box, because I can't display right now. But it's an interesting one. Like a modern Transformers more than a SOC. But still a get a good impression.
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Post by Gold on Oct 31, 2019 0:23:45 GMT -5
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Post by chogokinabdul on Oct 31, 2019 6:59:14 GMT -5
the review that I was waiting for , thank you man |
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Post by greengetterguy on Oct 31, 2019 9:06:47 GMT -5
The BEST Photo review out there.
Thank you as always. Much appreciate it.
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Post by bocasas on Oct 31, 2019 9:16:44 GMT -5
Great review gold. I won't get it but reading your review and seeing your pics it is the closest to handle it that I'll be.
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