Zootron Review

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RANT BEFORE REVIEW

With only a few days from July, I finally got the last issue needed for the current gestalt to finish, which is of course, Zootron. Now, this has got to be the hardest to complete, because you'll need seven parts (including Baluti and the unnecessary gestalt parts.) Before we move on, I would really want the next sets to be less complicated, and not to mention the huge waste on later issues like now, we got into the 'Trosonator Syndrome' for the second time, only worse. Why you ask? If you already have the all the Zoobots' patterns, you'll notice tons of spaces left in some of the simpler ones like Komando, which led us to getting only the remaining parts now which I would be happier if it was added to the previous parts. And if this happens again with the future gestalts, a lot of veteran Folda-Fans will be retiring and move on with something else, especially now, we'll be looking forward to Toy Book 8 for the next 5 months.

Now on with the review...

I will not do this in chronological order, nor what I did with other gestalts I covered already. I will review each of these in my preferred order, so please read along...

BALUTI

We begin with the 'Fighting Ball' of the team, the Giant Armadillo, Baluti. Oh, how I love his special gimmick of turning into a defense ball. I would consider him being a stand alone because he doesn't form a physical part of Zootron. His leg parts come separate, as it is stored compactly in animal mode. The concept was based on Lakbay's leg gimmick, so that's why we have this guy along.

TINDIG

Up next is the West African Giraffe called Tindig. Don't let his height fool you, the way Tindig was designed is to have a body shape like Batikron (of the Likasbots) only larger. It's long neck and head is detachable, so you can store it inside when in robot mode. He also come with the first half of this massive blade which I thought it will be just this part alone, and I will be covering that later on.

LEONATOR

Our next Zoobot is the proud Asiatic Lion, Leonator. It's a first we finally got a lion in this line. The legs on this guy may be moveable, but that doesn't form arms or legs of the robot mode. One other example is Tulos which doesn't use the forelegs as the arms. This I suppose may look simple, but it had Likastron like gimmicks added which is nice.

KOMANDO

The next one is Komando, the Komodo Dragon. His simplicity stands out among the set. At first when I got this, I am confused about this black strip placed under the tail, not like with the Magmabots Apoy and Sunog, which their T-joints were meant to place onto Abominator's shoulders. What's fun is the legs are unique and a first of its kind. If we ever remake Gubatron with more modern parts, Kagat's legs would be twice better than before.

NARANJA

Coming next is the Bengal Tiger called Naranja. When 2015 began, we are all excited for this to come. There is actually a defect in the design where the right arm is the same with the left arm. So if you glued them as followed, you'll be ending up with two left arms rather than a proper robot. My suggestion is if you're gluing his right arm, glue it with design side down. It may look ridiculous, but it will make Naranja less awkward. 'Nuff Said.

GADYA

Now let's look at the true leader of the Zoobots, the 'Heavyweight Lutabot Champion', the African Elephant, Gadya. A big change over the Sungay concept with the addition of a stockier body shape, fatter legs, and a well designed head. For me, he has got to be my personal favorite of the set, while Naranja being the most hated because of the flaw. Having him pose in simple ways is no problem for this big guy.

ZOOTRON

At last, we move on to the completed and finished gestalt, the treat we've all been waiting for... Zootron! The extra pattern that we got has got to complete the set, but it leaves us with a part that is 1% useful, and 99% useless. The huge flame effect for me is probably the most useless part I've ever encountered, especially it's for the one who is the Fighting Ball. Initially it includes the gestalt head, the hands which I can dig somehow, and the other part of this blade or in my opinion, the 'butcher's knife'. Combine the five in their respective formations, leaving you with most chaotic gestalt ever seen (Not like in TFGen's: Combiner Wars). I will be forming Zootron in my personal configuration, where Tindig is formed the other way around with legs spread out, placing both hands evenly in their positions. I will also utilize Gadya's arms as shoulders for the gestalt.

CONCLUSION

I have already compiled videos from my good friend Hooded Cloak, but he seems to be inactive lately after he covered about every Summer Workshop creations, and Baluti's review in between. I will be posting the playlist somewhere soon, after I'm done with the upcoming CW Menasor review, which I'll be posting tomorrow. Until then, this has been The Foldabots Blog, we'll see you next time!

Pre-Independence Day Special: Foldabots Gestalts 101

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While we all wait for the July issue to come out later this month, I decided to postpone the Combiner Wars Menasor review for next week, and instead making a filler blog about every gestalt in Foldabots.

SHORT HISTORY

January 2007 marks a big milestone in Foldabots history by making the very first combiner (or in this blog, a gestalt) beginning with its theme as Philippine Mythology creatures. Tikbalang, Nuno, Manananggal, and Kapre make up the enormous Higantechron. The original toy itself possess a lot of unique combination gimmicks such as Tikbalang's humanoid head can be tucked inside the horse head, PUNSO which is inserted into Nuno to form the full right leg, Manananggal splitting into half and forms as both arms, Kapre's hands somehow hook onto the gestalt's arm parts (unless you use paper and not cardboard in making this replica) while it's legs slot onto the gestalt legs, and the use of a simple small strip of paper forming a sleeve which becomes the gestalt's head.

Another gestalt came into the scene in July of the same year, but this time the theme was all about the elements. Siklab, Tutubi, Ukay, Alon, and Layag (later called Agos) are the components of the mighty Elementron. Again, new gimmicks were introduced including the fist parts disguised as parts of the vehicles, two similar looking components forming into a cargo ship, and a very clever way of stowing the robot arms in the treads of the excavator.

For my version of these classic patterns, do check this blog:
http://ejsotto.blogspot.com/2012/11/pre-birthday-special-part-22-classics.html

The craze continued in 2008, where we are introduced to not one, but two gestalts. One being aquatic animal themed, and another being forest animals. Yet again, gimmicks evolved and the introduction to the T-joints that is superior to its previous system.

As we officially shift to cardboard, new possibilities were unlocked as early as Toy Book 1 was released, 7 years ago. Before that, we got the rare Metallic collection which include 10 same characters that was also in TB1.

Paperclips were first used in the Aura-Sans, where masking tape was also used to secure the strap onto the wrist. The primary use for these, were to hold separate pieces which are not glued on and it provides range of articulations depending on the part. Bakunawa Dragon, Saurotron, Yelotron, Komyutatron, and Kontrolion are just a few of the gestalts that use paperclips. No matter how simple like Mikrokosmos and Pestetron, or complex like the Sporticus and the Diadrones, there is always a new gimmick applied onto them.

Almost all of the recent gestalts like Malvin Roix Orense's Magmatron and Stormicus, and Lester Bernaldez' Likastron need paperclips, and some utilize their parts as weapons. Trosonator, and now Zootron requires you to collect one more issue to get the gestalt pieces such as the feet, hands, and the most important, the head. Also included in the pattern are extra accessories which I believe are not really that important if you are a veteran fan like me.

Check out the original patterns of Magmatron and Stormicus at these links:
Magmatron: http://ejsotto.blogspot.com/2013/02/pre-cnyvalentine-special-magmabots-by.html
Stormicus: http://ejsotto.blogspot.com/2013/04/bataan-day-special-stormicons-by-malvin.html

MY PERSONAL DESIGN IDEAS

Are you short on paperclips or you just not want to use even a single piece? Well I have some design ideas I can share to you, the readers so you can save paperclips for other Foldabots, especially official and those individual ones that need it so.

1. SHOULDER SLEEVE - This is also the same system used for Komyutatron. Boltahedron, one of my gestalts have this concept too. The only way for your character to have this is to restrict tucking the arms into the inside of the body, and utilize a new way to hide the arms such as using sleeves or a slit on the side.

Pattern for Boltahedron can be found on this link:
http://ejsotto.blogspot.com/2014/02/payasotron-vs-boltahderon.html

2. SIDE SLEEVE - Unlike the last one, this one is never used in official designs, whatsoever. Placing the sleeve on either the arm or under it will give the gestalt's arms some support especially if the flap is longer and can be folded to lock into place.

3. FOLDABOTS MINI SYSTEM - First debuted in 2009 as a part of a promotion, later returned in early 2011. The leader's hand has usually a vertical slit that can connect the arm components that have vertical slits between the legs. Probably the easiest style to make, and it can save up space on your pattern, so you can add something like one part of another member or any weapon or accessory you desire.

Check out my version of the Foldabots Mini at these links:
http://ejsotto.blogspot.com/2014/09/bahaghari-remake.html
http://ejsotto.blogspot.com/2014/10/foldabots-mini-5th-anniversary.html

4. DUAL PURPOSE GESTALT HEAD - For the record, none of the known Foldabot or Lutabot gestalt has this design technique where the gestalt head is fixed onto a certain part which is detachable. The crowning feature of this system is you'll never lose the piece when one unit forms its alt mode.

5. BUILT-IN WEAPONS - There are some weapons that are meant to be separate, and some can be easily stowed inside some, but there are those that can be a part of the alt mode. One example is Bugbog's upper horn that is also used as his weapon. Built-in weapons are very versatile when you want something useful in any modes. In addition, you can make a combining weapon using most of the parts you want, even make one weapon as the gestalt head! Talk about all-purpose.

Another point, if you want something more useful, be sure to learn various design techniques from what you see in your patterns, and try using your imagination to perfect the best Foldabot design not only for individual characters, but also for those that belong to a gestalt.

With all the info I gave to you, I hope most of you are getting inspired already especially those who are currently having a hard time to make the patterns of their new creations. Be sure to check back next week for the Combiner Wars Menasor review. Until then, this has been The Foldabots Blog, we'll see you next time.

MiniPla Shuriken Gattai Series 01: Shurikenjin Review

#foldabots #TheFoldabotsBlog #Zootron

I'm so thankful myself I got both K-Zone issues of May with Baluti made by Ronnie Aberin and June with Tindig by Yuri Han. That means, all roads leads for July, which will include Zootron's parts such as the head, the flame effect for Baluti, and the hands which I never mentioned in an earlier blog. According to the picture which shows the (roughly) combined Zootron, the gestalt appears to have hands, which could be necessary to hold the Bolo blade that can be found with Tindig. One other thing I never mentioned before, is Leonator from March, was made by Vince Vios. Once we got all the components for making Zootron, we'll be reviewing the whole thing as soon as I get the July issue, later this month.

A little something I want to mention before we move on. In the Crystal Warrior reviews, I mentioned at the early parts of the blog, "Planet Saver". The name of that robot is actually "Star Saver", which was mentioned in the packaging. In addition, the third robot is called "Uranus Saver" and the final combination of Solar, Star, and Uranus is "Cosmos Saver".

THE REVIEW!

Some big things can be found in small packages, especially if you are on a budget and you can't simply buy the more expensive and hard to find toys. During my shopping, I came across to a lot of model kits which comes in several small packs bundled, including the rare TF GAIACROSS kits (with free gum inside) which a lot of buyers there were never seemed to be interested to pick it up, even me although I wanted to get it real bad. However, this one caught my eyes, as if I recognized this somewhere else.

The first time I saw this, was back in YouTube. I was watching this.


Video courtesy of youheidx

And finally, I got what I needed.

WHAT IS MINIPLA?

MiniPla, is a small-scale plastic model kit made by the same company who makes GunPla. MiniPla mostly focuses on Super Sentai and rarely on Kamen Rider. More recent kits include a piece of candy wafer which sometimes shaped like a flower. One other good thing is, each include the instructions printed inside the box.

Now, the one I got is Shurikenjin from Shuriken Sentai Ninninger. The set has a nice gimmick of having two different configurations in just one set of five small boxes. I'll explain why as we move on. Also, this is the first of the "Shuriken Gattai Series", and the next set coming up is Bison King.

THE BOX ARTS!

First things, first, let's all take a look at the box designs. I decided to take pictures of all the boxes at once, so that this blog would not end up long.

Front: Right to left, #5, #3, #1, #2, #4. Two of the box arts feature Shurikenjin Drago instead, and each feature the individual members except in #4 where Momoninger is behind Shironinger.

Left: Same arrangement as above, here it shows you the lineup, and the part it forms.

Back: You can either form Shurikenjin or Shurikenjin Drago, using the five OtomoNins. In other words, it's the same image on all boxes.

Right: Safety hazards and precautions. Nothing interesting.

Top: Almost the same thing in the front, but with just the parts, and the characters in it.

Bottom: More information written here.

THE CONTENTS!

Now that we've looked at what's on the outside, let's open it out and take a look on the inside.

Contents: One plastic pouch containing the runners, sticker sheet, combination instructions, and candy. Yes, candy. What's a CANDY TOY without a candy in it?

With careful hands, and bit of patience, here are the contents out of their pouches, and the boxes folded out revealing the building instructions.

Building guide for Part 1: OtomoNin ShinobiMaru with OtomoNin Shuriken (Aka/Red).

Building guide for Part 2: OtomoNin DragoMaru with OtomoNin Shuriken (Ao/Blue).

Building guide for Part 3: OtomoNin DumpMaru

Building guide for Part 4: OtomoNin WanMaru with OtomoNin ByunMaru [A].

Building guide for Part 5: OtomoNin ByunMaru [B].

Runners for part 1: White and red. All the stickers in this set are metallic like in GunPla.

Runners for part 2: Black and blue.

Runners for part 3: Black and yellow.

Runners for part 4: Black and white. In Ninninger, the members are Akaninger (red), Aoninger (blue), Kininger (yellow), Shironinger (white), and Momoninger (pink). No black nor green like in Kyoryuger where there was no yellow (and sometimes white) in the team.

Runners for part 5: Black and red.

In total, we have 4 black runners, 2 reds, 2 whites, 1 blue, and 1 yellow.

Combination guide for Shurikenjin and Shurikenjin Drago. Same on all five.

Shurikenjin Drago continued.

All the five candies that came with it. The candies are called "Ramune" due to their flavor. I tried it myself, and it tastes good, especially since it's still new.

After a few days of putting it together, I found out that each of the parts are made of ABS, the same plastic used in making LEGO, making them durable yet good enough for children to play with. And unlike GunPla which have special soft polymer parts for articulations, this can have sometimes loose and sometimes tight joints, depending on the part.

THE OUTPUT!

SHINOBIMARU - The only humanoid in this set.

A lot of action packed in this small figure. The head can rotate, arms can go 360, but the position of the elbows are stuck due to gimmick. It also has bending waist, bend at the legs and at the knees due to combination gimmick. It could have more pose-ability if the fist part placed between the legs is removed, but it will dismantle the left leg.

DRAGOMARU - Enter the dragon... that is blue.

Unlike the first one, this had more parts, especially if you're looking at how big its wings are. It somehow lacked paint app or in this case, stickers because they don't want to damage them sooner as they're played. So that's the reason why the body's more black than blue. Articulations are the head pivot, arms rotation, waist bend, leg swivel, knee bend, and of course, the wings flap like a boss.

DUMPMARU - Big box that actually throws shuriken! No kidding, it's true.

I had no problems with this one, but the only part that annoyed me was getting the small stickers to the tires, especially around the mags. Wheels can roll well, but sometimes the grills and bumper get in the way.

WANMARU - Not all 'Zords' are cute, this one is.

The smallest of the five and probably the one with the cutest pose gimmicks. Head is on a ball joint so you can rotate or tilt the head like a real dog. Both front and hind legs are stuck as pairs due to  gimmick, but you can swivel them in or out.

BYUNMARU - Something ToQGer left behind for their successors. A Ninja-themed bullet train.

This is actually a two-part unit (like UberZord's Uber-Liner), one being a small part that came with the one before it, and the other being the rest of it. There is no pink plastic this time used in this one unlike Dricera from MiniPla Kyoryuzin and Pink Ressha from MiniPla ToQ-Oh.

All five OTOMONIN in this set.

Now, let's look at the figures again, but in the way they come in their respective box. I didn't add DumpMaru because the whole thing doesn't include extras or lack parts which can be found on another box.

ShinobiMaru with OtomoNin Shuriken (Aka)

DragoMaru with OtomoNin Shuriken (Ao)

WanMaru with the first part of ByunMaru

Rest of ByunMaru

Since we've looked at the main components of the set, let's look at the items, which actually forms the heads of the combined giants.

OTOMONIN SHURIKEN - Right: Aka, Left: Ao. I intentionally left the blue one faceless because of my preferences.

SHURIKEN GATTAI!

Combination for this is pretty easy, yet uncommon.

SHURIKENJIN DRAGO - I decided to do this first because it requires more posing to get it right. Also note ShinobiMaru is the left arm on this configuration and the OtomoNin Shuriken corresponding to the figure.

SHURIKENJIN - Here's the star of our review, or in this case, the SHURIKEN. Utilizing DragoMaru's wings as the Drago Shield, and the tail as the Drago Sword, you also need the Shuriken for the combination.

I decided to put the posing in another picture, and here's one example. Articulations are on the face swivel (Drago: head swivel), arms rotate on both sides (Drago: limited range due to the wings), elbows bend with extra bend on the left arm, right wrist rotate, left wrist hinge, waist pivot, leg rotation and extend, knee hinge and pivot, and lastly ankle pivot due to combination process.

THE CONCLUSION!

Overall, I would rate this toy 17 out of 20 Agimat because it has playability options, but it gets better if you got Shuriken Gattai Series 02: Bison King, which unlocks a new combination called King Shurikenjin. Though misses some paint apps, but it can be done with Gundam Marker and a bit of colorless nail polish to fill them out, especially if you haven't added the stickers yet. Pose-abilities are excellent, both separate and combined.

Next time, we'll be taking a look at Combiner Wars Menasor! So stick around for that, and again this has been The Foldabots Blog, WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT TIME!

WASSHOI!!!