So... what is it that we need, exactly?
WE NEED MEGAZORD POWER, NOW!!!
Except we gotta get through the tank mode, first. Hold your britches, Jason. Geez.
SOUL OF CHOGOKIN GX-72 MEGAZORD PART 3:
MEGAZORD SEQUENCE HAS BEEN INITIATED
Transforming the Dinozords
Starting with the Tyrannosaurus, the first thing we're going to do is open those red shin guards on either leg. When you bend the knee back, a metal pin will reveal itself. Extend it all the way forward, sliding the red knee cover up out of the way, and close the shin covers. And lastly, shift that secondary joint above the knee upwards one solid click to get the legs into position.
Now, the thighs can be shifted outward to widen the legs' area while remaining parallel. Once done, flatten its stance so that the feet and the joint toward the end of the tail touch the ground level. Be sure that the combination ports on the knees go straight forward!
Final step is to open the chest plate and push at the back of it to open up the "T" on the chest (or use your fingernail, if you're a badass who fears no paint chipping).
And though I didn't photograph it, uh, be sure to get the cannons out, at this point.
Tyrannosaurus, sequence online!
Now, for the Mastodon, remove the head, which is connected at 3 points; two toward the top of the neck, and one broad snap at the bottom. You can fold those away to hide them, as well as pull out the handle - but only about 40 degrees. Not all the way, yet. Just enough to have that tab at the top out.
The next step let's us see how we deal with those snazzy new covers for the back legs! Pull up on those from the bottom, along the far back of the leg. You'll see they connect to the shoulder armor, and are multi-hinged.
After opening those all the way, rotate the shoulder armor parts 90 degrees vertically. From here, we'll fold the panels down is an almost S shape until they can fit inside the pauldrons.
Next, we kick up the back legs, and rotate out the shoulders away from one another to create the cavity that the Tyrannosaurus will fit in.
For the last two steps here, the now-arms will be rotated straight up (With the front legs still on the ground). Then turn the whole module 90 degrees backward to access the front legs. Open up the two plastic joint pegs from the soles of the feet.
Mastodon, morphed and ready!
Now, for the Triceratops, we get to see one of the fun bits on this guy. Remember that extra width I'd gone on about in part 2? Well, that'd look silly in combined mode, right?
Not a problem! Simply press those sides into the body, and they will retract away, slimming the Triceratops for the combinations.
Not only that, but the treads themselves slide up into its tracks to keep those from sticking too far back. Very nice attention to detail, as it makes the leg look considerably more cohesive.
The last two steps are to fold away the tail onto the top of the body, making sure the barrels of the cannon are facing backward when complete. And lastly, there's a hinged flap that hides the port connection to the Tyrannosaurus. Just flip that down and we're done!
Triceratops, all systems nominal!
For the Sabertooth Tiger, we'll fold away the tail first. Be sure the cannon isn't extended. Then, we'll proceed to fold the back legs forward into the body.Watch how you angle the feet in, as they love to catch things when not quite right!
Now roll the front legs forward, with the red portions of the upper legs facing forward, not too high.
Also, rotate the fangs up. Don't worry, they move in tandem, so no making sure they're even! Finally, as with the Triceratops, fold down the port cover on the backside of the tiger.
Sabertooth Tiger, ready to roll! (Not actually, though)
Finally, for the Pterodactyl, make sure the head is out and facing downward and fold up the wings, starting with the left-hand one, and then the right. The right wing is a smidge shorter than the left in the initial height, so folding them the other way would make the left wing stick up a bit.
Pterodactyl... Nice stereo?
Combining the Dinozords
All five Dinozords ready to combine!
Connect the Sabertooth Tiger and the Triceratops on the metal posts of the Tyrannosaurus's right and left legs, respectively
Then the tab at the top of the Mastodon head's handle will plug into that open port on the Tyrannosaurus's chest plate. Rotate both of their heads down afterwards.
While the Mastodon body will wrap around the back of the Tyrannosaurus's torso. Line up the two tabs along the back of the Tyrannosaurus, and then swing the arm joints into the Tyranno's shoulder blocks to lock into place.
Rotate the arms up until they are parallel to the ground, and attach the main cannons via the plugs on the back of the cannons into the Mastodon's feet. The cannons should be set so that the "clips" that would attach to the Pterodactyl's fins will be facing up.
Speaking of the Pterodactyl, those two tabs we revealed in the Mastodon's front legs will plug into to corresponding ports on the Pterodactyl's front side.
And finally, we have
MEGAZORD - ATTACK TANK MODE
.
.
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... Except that sounds silly, and despite keeping most of this review pretty true to Saban's terminology, I much prefer to refer to this mode by its Japanese native name...
DINOTANKER
So, despite honestly being a glorified in-between for all the Zords to be in before ultimately going all Sahalanthropus on the monster of the week, its not a horrible mode in its own right.
All the individual Zords' personalities are there and all act as weapons on a mobile mass that borders on Eldridge abomination. That being said, the execution on this version is pretty well streamlined, making practically all the parts quite solid and relatively cohesive. The uniform silver really seals this, I think, as we'll see when we compare this to the Deluxe ATM... Yeah, even as an acronym, it doesn't work.
Comparisons with the Deluxe Dinotanker
There's a lot of mess going on in these pictures, but rest assured, one of these messes is doing it better. Yes, yes, the DX tank is bigger and bulkier, but it's also badder. The Sabertooh Tiger's feet can't touch the ground, The Mastodon head sticks out way too far in front, there's no nozzles to the main cannons, and the Pterodactyl's... really kinda just there in both, so no fault of her own.
But, the worst part is... That grey. "Which grey," you may ask, to which I'll answer, "Exactly." There's little uniformity in the Deluxe's color palette, and for some reason, this mode shows this the worst. The Chogokin, on the other hand, is just flawless in this mode. For a mode that just essentially sits there, limbs akimbo, the SoC does the best it can with this design. They even made sure the Tyrannosaurus's legs could slide outward so that the Triceratops and Sabertooth Tiger don't touch! That's some rightful extra thinking.
Also, now I want to talk about the rolling issue.
While it seems like a major omission to leave out the rolling wheels and treads from our leg Zords, this particular mode that would have most benefited from them also would have been fundamentally useless and damaging to have them. Because there's a LOT of weight in the back half, because of the Tyrannosaurus and Mastodon.
And in particular, parts of the Tyrannosaurus touch the ground at three points.To have the wheels functional would potentially cause damage to the parts of the Tyranno that make ground contact, be it paint scuffing, joint wear, etc. Or damage to the surface you're rolling it on. The only way they could have made that work would have been to add wheels in the feet and tail of the Tyrannosaurus, which is not a design feature, and would compromise its ability to stand.
Another easily overlooked point is also the fact that this piece is a product of Japan, a country known for its common earthquakes and tremors. Could you imagine this hefty piece rolling off of a shelf onto the floor, likely breaking anything plastic crushed underneath all that diecast?
I try not to...
Well, that only leaves one thing left to do.
Okay, Jason, you can say it this time.
"WE NEED MEGAZORD POWER, NOW!!!"
BTW, this was way harder to set up than you could possibly fathom.
Links to all parts:
Part 1: Tyrannosaurus Dinozord
Part 2: The Four Lesser Dinozords
Part 3: Megazord Sequence has been Initiated
Part 4: Megazord, Activated (FINALE)
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