I mentioned that I was sincerely hoping for this at the climax of my last review, and I didn't have to wait long for my wish to produce results.
Soul of Chogokin GX-78 Dragon Caesar
known in many regions as the Dragonzord
Back in 1993, the original DX Megazord and Dragonzord saw release here, and one of the first notable cases in my life of retail frenzy hit along with them. Neither were to be seen on store shelves, as they'd be swept away as soon as they were stocked. I'm sure for my mom, it was a nightmare.
That Christmas, I had received two different Megazords; One that was a large motorized one, and another smaller one with launching fists and removable legs, for some reason... And then there was a sound at the front door.
She had me run up, which was odd, given I was 7, but whatever. I was a kid.
When I went, there was no one at the door, but a wrapped box stand in front, addressed to me.
1993 Deluxe Dragonzord
(With added paint apps by me and reprolabels courtesy of ToyHax.com)
I was so happy, that I briefly forgot my disappointment regarding the other two non-DX Megazords until I tried to combine...
So, until 2008, I had a lonely Dragonzord that I'd change in-and-out of its various forms without the other Zords to join with it.
Actually, the Dragonzord I have now is not that original one, but a repurchase at the same time of my decade-long fulfillment of getting the DX Megazord. Of course, by then, they were solely for the fact that I wanted to at least slightly complete my childhood yearning, and my actual view of them as figures was quite jaded.
After getting my Soul of Chogokin GX-72 Megazord last year, I knew there was too large of a possibility we would see them follow up with the rogue Ranger's dragon familiar. And sure enough, November confirmed my suspicions.
The Soul of Chogokin GX-78 Dragon Caesar on display at Tamashii Nations 2017.
While it had been teased through a development sketch as early as August, we saw a prototype at the Tamashii Nations 2017 event, truly confirming it would be in production. I anticipated a $200 price point for it, and was pleasantly surprised when I saw it domestically going for $175. Not taking chances with Amazon, I preordered through BigBadToyStore to avoid the street date BS that occurred during the Megazord's lag in East and West releases.
However, after it released in Japan just last week, I started getting antsy.
Reviews weren't cropping up fast enough, and I really didn't want to wait a month or longer to get it. And someone pointed out to me that HobbyLink Japan had it in, and for $135... So I switched my order to them, paid for the fastest shipping, and still paid, in total, a dollar more than it would ave been if I had waited for one with a little Bluefin sticker on the back. I'm sorry, BBTS!
So, starting with the packaging, you can see there's a more unified attempt here. Yes, this is the Japanese release, but the version being sold at SDCC 2018 has the same package, save for the addition of a Bluefin Distribution sticker on the back side. As you can see, it has labeling covering both Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger AND Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The large Japanese katakana logo is that of "Dragon Caesar," the Guardian Beast of Burai, the Dragon Ranger.
I'm still mixed about this choice, because while I love the layout of this box, it doesn't jive with the design the Megazord's box has, which went out of its way to be significantly different from the Japanese version. Plus, all those additional logos, English titling, and copyrights really clutters the bottom half of the cover...
Visual comparison with the GX-72 Megazord's package.
There's also a notable size difference, but that was technically true of the DX versions. In Japan, anyway.
Because the U.S. version came with the 8" Green Ranger figure as a bonus, its layout had to change from the Japanese's Styrofoam tray, and thus, box size, as well.
The tray is very well laid out, making the most of its space with little real estate left unused. And, as per the norm, the figure and all its parts are wrapped in a clear soft vinyl plastic to both cushion and to act as a static defense.
Interestingly, the tray for the Deluxe Dragonzord actually differs in both regions from the Chogokin's. Then again, it has different parts from the original, too.
Again, the A3-sized sheet instructions are gone, replaced with a nice full-color instruction manual. This one still lacks the liner notes I've seen of older releases, leaving me to wonder if this is common with the SoC's since GX-72 or if it's isolated to JUST the Zyuranger/Power Ranger releases.
Somewhat repeating the trend of last year's reviews, this one will be broken up, however only as three parts, since there's less individual parts to go over, this time. But without further interruption, I bring you...
Where to begin, here... This thing is downright gorgeous. As a stand-alone unit, this thing looks great. Its color balance, gratuitous chrome parts, elegant paint apps, and just a fantastic sheen finish all over put this leagues over prior Dragon Caesar releases. This is without hesitation the one I'd pick over the Legacy Dragonzord, any day!
Because he's a stand-alone Soul of Chogokin release, his composition is abundant with diecast parts. The helmet, wings, internal part of the brestler (The chest core), dragon emblems on the thighs, the entire silver parts of the calves, toes and soles of the feet ALL are hefty metal. I was astonished how much the thing weighed in hand.
Articulation starts with the head, as just like the DX, the SoC has an opening mouth. However, unlike the Deluxe counterpart, this one isn't spring loaded, allowing free ability to open and close the mouth. The hinge is quite tight, too, so it can hold any position you put it in.
By design, the head is unable to move. Understandable, but I'm sure someone out there wants to know.
The hands are on ball joints, which itself is on a lateral hinge joint (mostly for the transformation). What I wasn't expecting was rotation of the entire forearm. The arm pivots just outside the cavity of the shoulder wings, and can turn a full 360 degrees.
Aside from the straight-fingered perfect transformation hands, which also can be used for its "Dragon Harley" missile attack, it also includes a set of relaxed hands that better reflect the image of the suit-acted on-screen Zord.
The hands themselves are very soft PVC plastic, which makes getting them off and on the ball joint surprisingly easy. I'd still give caution, though, as the joint is, to my surprise, ABS plastic, and not diecast.
Another new feature is the wings having minor rotation, as well. The hinge joint at the body also swivels up and down, which allows minor "shoulder" rotation. It's not much, but it does allow some more dynamic posing than prior iterations.
Also, the wings free-float rather than peg into the side of the body while in beast mode. The joints are loose, but not floppy, so they hold their position as long as it's not jostled vigorously.
Also, if you pull the front plate of the brestler forward until it clicks, this gives allowance to a generous ab crunch, which uses two joints, one on either side of the black parts of the torso, that are situated at the base of the waist.
Legs are a bit hindered, unfortunately. The thighs have limited ratchet-based back and forth movement, and have a VERY shallow friction spread. It's better when the legs are straight down, but I still wouldn't give it more than 20 degrees, total.
Knee joints are good, and surprisingly easier to move than I though. They're not on ratchets, which definitely surprised me. The black portion is actually spring-loaded, and go into the calves. The feet are on a ball joint that also has a hinge base, allowing a deeper stance than I think the thighs can allow.
The tail is a considerable feat. Like more recent iterations, it sports the 6 segments (including the drill tip), though in box, it is split in to two parts which you have to simply snap together. This adds a lot of length to the limb, but incidentally, not much weight. This is nice because along with the tight ball joints connecting each segment, it can hold any pose with no fear of it toppling the Zord.
The segments can extend from each other to create good allowance of movement. It's much more free-motioned compared to the Chogokin Tyrannosaurus Dinozord.
Speaking of which...
It appears the two beasts have come to a stalemate.
Though one place where the SoC has more to it is the tail length. While the 4-part tail was more accurate to the original Plex design, the added two segments is what was shown on-screen, which likely was to allow the fights to look more dynamic. It definitely feels more intimidating, that's for sure!
Comparisons with the 1993 Deluxe Dragonzord's package
Because the U.S. version came with the 8" Green Ranger figure as a bonus, its layout had to change from the Japanese's Styrofoam tray, and thus, box size, as well.
The tray is very well laid out, making the most of its space with little real estate left unused. And, as per the norm, the figure and all its parts are wrapped in a clear soft vinyl plastic to both cushion and to act as a static defense.
Again, the A3-sized sheet instructions are gone, replaced with a nice full-color instruction manual. This one still lacks the liner notes I've seen of older releases, leaving me to wonder if this is common with the SoC's since GX-72 or if it's isolated to JUST the Zyuranger/Power Ranger releases.
Somewhat repeating the trend of last year's reviews, this one will be broken up, however only as three parts, since there's less individual parts to go over, this time. But without further interruption, I bring you...
SOUL OF CHOGOKIN GX-78 DRAGONZORD PART 1:
DRAGONZORD - BEAST MODE
Where to begin, here... This thing is downright gorgeous. As a stand-alone unit, this thing looks great. Its color balance, gratuitous chrome parts, elegant paint apps, and just a fantastic sheen finish all over put this leagues over prior Dragon Caesar releases. This is without hesitation the one I'd pick over the Legacy Dragonzord, any day!
Because he's a stand-alone Soul of Chogokin release, his composition is abundant with diecast parts. The helmet, wings, internal part of the brestler (The chest core), dragon emblems on the thighs, the entire silver parts of the calves, toes and soles of the feet ALL are hefty metal. I was astonished how much the thing weighed in hand.
Articulation starts with the head, as just like the DX, the SoC has an opening mouth. However, unlike the Deluxe counterpart, this one isn't spring loaded, allowing free ability to open and close the mouth. The hinge is quite tight, too, so it can hold any position you put it in.
By design, the head is unable to move. Understandable, but I'm sure someone out there wants to know.
The hands are on ball joints, which itself is on a lateral hinge joint (mostly for the transformation). What I wasn't expecting was rotation of the entire forearm. The arm pivots just outside the cavity of the shoulder wings, and can turn a full 360 degrees.
Aside from the straight-fingered perfect transformation hands, which also can be used for its "Dragon Harley" missile attack, it also includes a set of relaxed hands that better reflect the image of the suit-acted on-screen Zord.
The hands themselves are very soft PVC plastic, which makes getting them off and on the ball joint surprisingly easy. I'd still give caution, though, as the joint is, to my surprise, ABS plastic, and not diecast.
Another new feature is the wings having minor rotation, as well. The hinge joint at the body also swivels up and down, which allows minor "shoulder" rotation. It's not much, but it does allow some more dynamic posing than prior iterations.
Also, the wings free-float rather than peg into the side of the body while in beast mode. The joints are loose, but not floppy, so they hold their position as long as it's not jostled vigorously.
Also, if you pull the front plate of the brestler forward until it clicks, this gives allowance to a generous ab crunch, which uses two joints, one on either side of the black parts of the torso, that are situated at the base of the waist.
Legs are a bit hindered, unfortunately. The thighs have limited ratchet-based back and forth movement, and have a VERY shallow friction spread. It's better when the legs are straight down, but I still wouldn't give it more than 20 degrees, total.
Knee joints are good, and surprisingly easier to move than I though. They're not on ratchets, which definitely surprised me. The black portion is actually spring-loaded, and go into the calves. The feet are on a ball joint that also has a hinge base, allowing a deeper stance than I think the thighs can allow.
The tail is a considerable feat. Like more recent iterations, it sports the 6 segments (including the drill tip), though in box, it is split in to two parts which you have to simply snap together. This adds a lot of length to the limb, but incidentally, not much weight. This is nice because along with the tight ball joints connecting each segment, it can hold any pose with no fear of it toppling the Zord.
The segments can extend from each other to create good allowance of movement. It's much more free-motioned compared to the Chogokin Tyrannosaurus Dinozord.
Speaking of which...
TYRANNOSAURUS MAKES ITS STAND
SPINNING CAESAR!!!
It appears the two beasts have come to a stalemate.
Comparisons with the Deluxe Dragonzord
As was common between the two Megazords, the DX Dragonzord is larger and bulkier than the newer Soul of Chogokin model. But, where it lacks area, it makes up for in improved proportions and higher articulation, as well as an overall more cohesive color palette. It looks far more fearsome here than it did in the '90s toy.
Though one place where the SoC has more to it is the tail length. While the 4-part tail was more accurate to the original Plex design, the added two segments is what was shown on-screen, which likely was to allow the fights to look more dynamic. It definitely feels more intimidating, that's for sure!
So far, everything is looking good, and already, it's become a welcome addition to the SoC family.
Next part, we will discuss its "Battle Mode."
Part 2 should be out in a few days!
Links to all parts
Part 1: Dragonzord - Beast Mode
Part 2: Dragonzord - Fighting Mode
Part 3: Mega Dragonzord (Finale)
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