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Magmatron: Revisited + Alpha

It had been 6 months since my last blog, and just after some anonymous stranger sent me a scan of the last Magmabot I've been missing fo...

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Short Blog: More Zoobot Speculations and Foldabots Mini 2 Possible Remake

#TheFoldabotsBlog #foldabots #Zootron #FoldabotsMini

Now recently, I finally know what animals Baluti and Tindig are, but still, it's unknown who's next. According to this Folda-Fan, Baluti is the armadillo, and Tindig is the giraffe.

Baluti's concept in my opinion, will still either be the arm if he ends up the same size as Komando (this is false), weapon if this will be the first ever to utilize a ball gimmick (confirmed) or as Zootron's head due to his actual size (that's not even going to work).

He also said Tindig is fitting to be the right arm of Zootron, depending if Tindig will be based on the same pattern as Komando. However, giraffes have a different body shape just like Batikron of the Likasbots. The only thing I realized with Batikron is the shape of the body is different than in real life, so that means Tindig could end up in the same case. Aside from this, he said Tindig's neck also forms as a rod for Zootron.

In the end, I would say Tindig will form as the right arm, and Baluti will be a ball. That's all. And if not convinced, do pick up the May issue of K-Zone and find out who's next in line in the Foldabots 9th Anniversary issue!

Our other topic is about Foldabots Mini, but this time I'll remake Series 2 with the addition of combiner heads and their weapons. Aside from this, I will be doing two versions of them, one being their original designs with the extra parts, and another using Series 1 designs. I don't know when I'll start making these guys again, but it will be out alongside Dagitaborg after we're done with the Zootron problem.

And as always, this has been The Foldabots Blog, we'll see you next time with yet another Zootron update.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Special Review: Crystal Robot and Grand Phoenix (Crystal Warior)

#TheFoldabotsBlog

Introduction

Not all toys from China are bootlegs of other toys. One good example is the recent toys like this one. Here is a video demo of Solar Saver, Planet Saver, and its combined form Galaxy Saver from "Giant Saver 2: Space Deleter"




Videos Courtesy of とい★はっぴー

The series also has a third robot which will combine with the existing gestalt to form an even massive robot. But that's just an example and not the one I'm going to review.

The Main Review

If you don't know yet about this yet, go read one of my earlier blogs right here. There, I explained the origin of how I came up with the Foldabot combiner Jewel Guardian. Now, on this review, I will be taking a look at the actual toys from the show Crystal Warrior.

GRAND PHOENIX

First, let's look at the combiner ship Grand Phoenix. The box art has a lot of Chinese which I don't much understand.

Front: This here is a window box like most other toys. Also, you can see the pilots and Crystal Robot in the art.

Left: Shows all the units, which still I don't know what are their names.

Back: Shows how to combine into the Grand Phoenix. Notice also the blue jet has an add-on which is not included in this box set.

Right: Here, you'll see the ships again, but this time with its respective pilots, which are almost like Super Sentai, specifically, Choujuu Sentai Liveman (take note of the female blue member.)

Top: Pictures of the five ships again combining into Grand Phoenix and the five pilots as civilians.

Bottom: Information

Insert: Half-completed Grand Phoenix

Instructions are still in Chinese, sorry guys. But following the illustrations makes it real easy.

The first time you play this toy, you'll find out that the red, blue, and yellow jets are connected already, while black and green are apart. The next photos will show you the parts out of their box.
All the landing gear are functioning well, and some of the jets have folding parts, which are involved in the combination process.
The red unit is the largest jet in the set. Lacks paint apps, but still a great toy. A piece on the nose part is actually detachable.

The black unit may be smaller, but it has a wider wingspan than the red one. A lot of its parts are needed to fold in before combining such as the wings and the nose.

The blue unit is the smallest of the five, and like I said, it doesn't have the add-on, which probably can be found if you buy the separate packs.

The yellow unit is the second largest in this set and like the red, it doesn't have folding parts.

The green unit is a copied version of the black one, except it's a different mold and the folding gimmicks are only in the wings.

All five jets, ready for action anytime, anywhere and anyhow.

 Separately, the individual jets don't have much playability, but if you combine them, it's going to be awesome!

Behold... The Grand Phoenix. Take note, the black and green can swap places due to their design.
For me, this is a very good design. I'm not saying it's the best design ever, but the way the five joins together to form a bigger jet is impressive. Combined, it still rolls well on its landing gears, while it has a lot of rudders sticking out due to the design.

CRYSTAL ROBOT

We move on to the Crystal Robot. Like most Super Sentai with a giant robot, this one right here is a good example. The individual units are humanoids with no alternate forms, which means they are similar to combiners like Mighty Orbots, Muteki Shogun, and Oh Blocker etc. First, let's look at the box art, then we look at the units itself.

Front: Similar box art to Grand Phoenix, except this one has the individual units in one side.

Left: Specs of the units.

Back: Shows the combined Crystal Robot toy, but the individual units are from the Deluxe versions which are sold separately.

Right: Shows the five individual parts and how to combine to the gestalt.

Top: Similar again to the Grand Phoenix, but with the Crystal Robot in it.

Bottom: Information again.

Insert: You get all the units plus the other parts.

Instructions are almost the same as the other one, but still you can follow the illustrations shown. What is also not mentioned, is how to put the chest plate as the wings of the blue robot.

Now that we covered the box art and what's inside, let's look at the toys itself.

The red robot has no much paint apps, making him less detailed. The combiner head is stored on the back.

The blue robot is sometimes mistaken for black, but it's actually navy. Also when standing him with the wings is very tricky, which makes him back heavy with it.

The pink robot is a mix of very pale pink and fuchsia, she also suffers from balancing problems.

The yellow robot is my personal favorite, not only it's because it can stand on its own, but also the well-built of the set.

The green robot is the stocky one, and also a well-designed toy. My issues with him is one of the arms and one of the legs are loose, the rest however are good.

The five individual robots.

Behold, Crystal Robot. The one mistake I found with most other reviewers is they forgot to loosen the parts on the green robot's legs which forms the big feet. To do this, you'll need a knife and carefully pry the gap between the green and white parts in order to make it loose.

The sword, it does nothing to the individual units but to the gestalt.

Crystal Robot with the sword. DYK that in the show, it also uses another sword which is a copy made from water, but it's not included in this toy.

Now that we've seen both sets let's look at them once again before we finish.

The individual jets and robots plus the sword.


Crystal Robot and Grand Phoenix.

Conclusion

The Crystal Warrior series actually has a lot of toys in the lineup which includes the Deluxe version of Crystal Robot, the base, and well others which I don't currently have. Coming soon, I'll be doing a video review of these which I'll also post here on The Foldabots Blog.

#Zootron

Rumors regarding Zootron having six members had stirred me recently. According to a Folda-Fan, some were saying there were actually five winners in the art contest, the said last two members were Tindig and Baluti. With this case, if either of the two will be Lutabot for the month of May, it's automatically the right arm. Now, if that fifth Zoobot which is possibly Baluti has the combiner head included, which means the combiner is finished. If not, it could end up like Trosonator (which wasted one issue with the combiner parts and not a new Foldabot.) Otherwise, if rumors of the sixth member are true, it will include the parts.

Be sure to check back next time for more updates on Zootron. And as always, this has been The Foldabots Blog, SEE YOU NEXT TIME!