VINTAGE 1984 TAKARA GOKIN DX GIANT GORG (JAIANTO GOGU) 1/48 SCALE

24 November 2021

Few years ago I saw a Jumbo Giant Gorg toy for sale locally. Researched online and found out there were hardly any play features on the Jumbo. The design and the color wasn't interesting so I skipped. Online reviews of the anime was good but I didn't watched it...until I got this figure.

I saw this DX Gorg for sale in a Japanese online store. What attracted me to this 1/48 scale DX Giant Gorg was the firing bazooka, mini figures and it was relatively cheap. But it looks very plasticky. So I did some research online and found out that this is indeed a Gokin (diecast figure) and the price offered was way below the market price. eBay SOLD listing for this figure was USD260. Average asking price now is USD380-700. So I went back to the online store but unfortunately it was sold out.

Few months later, another DX Gorg came up for sale but this time a bit more than the previous asking price. Still, it is lesser than USD260. The toy arrived today and after checking it out, I must say - if you can find this toy for a good price, buy it! Let's check out the packaging.

This specimen that I have is complete. The stickers is still unused. But Giant Gorg has discolored due to age, which is a common problem.

Close up of the three mini figures. From left - Yuu (the hero), Doris (Yuu's girlfriend...sort of) and Zenon (the alien). These figures are painted in the box art.

Lift up the backpack and you'll see the extra fists and missiles on a sprue. Do check this out if you're buying this.

The inserts - stickers and instruction.

Giant Gorg is about 11 inches tall. The huge feet are diecast. It feels heavy overall.

This figure has lots of articulation for a 1980s toy. Head moves up and down and sideways. There are articulation in the shoulders, elbows, wrist, waist, legs and knees.

Now let's look at the play features.

Play features 1 - Bazooka Magazine. My specimen comes with a loose missile, detached from the sprue by the previous owner. What's cool about the bazooka is that it has a removable magazine.

The small missile can be attached to the magazine!

Play Feature 2 - Firing Bazooka. This is another unique feature of the toy. To load the missile, you pull the Bazooka revealing a small hatch. The missile is inserted into the hatch, push back to close and and press the button to fire! This departs from the more common "insert missile to the nozzle to fire" mechanism of other robot toys. Tested my specimen, and happy to note that this firing gimmick still work!

Play feature 3 - Opening chest and mini figures.

The alien pilot Zenon fits into the left chest cockpit just like in the anime. Yuu and Doris figure can also fit into the cockpit. In the anime, there is another alien called Menon and he pilots the magenta color robot similar to Gorg.

Yuu and Doris sits on top of Giant Gorg's head, also accurate to the anime.

Giant Gorg comes with a set of open palms and Yuu or Doris can be placed there. Added display options.

The Bazooka rest on Giant Gorg's shoulder. He can't really hold it. In the anime, he only use the Bazooka once (episode 9).

When the Bazooka is out of bullets, he uses it as a club to smash the baddies! Unfortunately his open hands can't hold the Bazooka.

After watching the anime, I've grown to appreciate Giant Gorg. The story is more grounded. It's about a boy and an alien robot. It's about aliens wanting to connect with earthlings. It's about people wanting to get their hands on alien technology. This is not the traditional mecha vs monsters anime. This is why it is so unique, and the same goes for this toy. Highly recommended.