FANTASY JEWEL DARK VOLTRON / GOLION (KO) (EVIL VOLTRON or VOLTRON CLONE)

17 July 2021

The Fantasy Jewel Voltron (regular version) was plagued with QC issues. When they announced there's going to be a dark or black version re-issue, I wasn't interested. But when news came that the dark version comes with the skull chest piece, I was sold! The skull chest piece is based on one of the episode where Hagar the witch created a Voltron clone to fight Voltron! If I am not mistaken, this is the first Voltron toy with the skull chest! After waiting for some time, the set is finally here.

First improvement over the regular release - the packaging! The artwork is pretty cool.

The joints for the red and green lions are very tight.

The joints of the legs on both yellow and blue lion is a bit loose on my specimen.

2nd Improvement - The yellow and blue lion's head doesn't pop off easily like its predecessor. Its more secure here. But it did pop off once during transformation.

The black lion - the head joints are loose.

QC Issue on my black lion (pic below). The side of the Black Lion have an ugly seam gap.

Similar to the regular version, you have to assemble the weapons and the face plate, which leads to the second problem.

The problem encountered was attaching the face plate to the lion's head. As I was trying to get it snap on, it got stuck in between the upper mouth and the plate. After hours of frustration trying to get it out, decided to unscrew the head to see if it can be fixed. The small screw (pic below) holds Voltron's forehead. Only after removing this part, I was able to release the stuck face plate. Had to carefully re-assemble the piece and screw it up, which was a very challenging task. In the process, one small piece of plastic dislodge from nowhere.(see pic below,) The damaged is done - the side of the face was scratched badly and the piece of plastic...oh well I just let it be.

The good news - it doesn't affect the Voltron's head transformation. It opens and closes with the face plate attached without any issues. And the faceplate is attached securely.

Transforming the Voltron - The experience was scary as some parts feels flimsy. It's easier to lock the limbs in place this time, The joints are very tight which leads to another problem - disassembling the Voltron back to the Lions. It feels stuck and something might break if you use force to pull it out,

Not recommended to play. this is more of a display piece.

The KO is quite pricey. Unless you are a Voltron completist, I do not recommend getting this. While there are some improvements, overall this toy feels fragile and QC issues are still there. I hope Bandai re-issue their SOC Golion with some upgrades. Perhaps Bandai can give us a swappable chest piece in the re-issue version.