Hi all, here's a quick review of the Miracle Productions MA-01 Vehicle Voltron (Ver.2)
Despite this being a review for the Voltron, I decided to use the Dairugger clips, since they are less frequently seen as compared to the Voltron version.
Opening Credits
Rugger Teams launch!
In Dairugger XV, the team names are named after their respective team leaders.
Aki Team (Air Team)
-Rugger 1 (Command Jet Explorer/ head) - Piloted by Aki Manabu/ Jeff Dukane
-Rugger 2 (Strato Weapons Module/ upper torso) - Piloted by Kai Shinobu/ Rocky
-Rugger 3 (Advanced Recon Helicopter/ right upper arm) - Piloted by Shota Kreuz/ Wolo
-Rugger 4 (Advanced Recon Helicopter/ left upper arm) - Piloted by Mutsu Yasuo/ Chip Stoker
-Rugger 5 (Falcon VT Fighter/ chest)- Piloted by Patty Elington/ Ginger
Keats Team (Sea Team)
-Rugger 6 (Comms module/ mid torso) - Piloted by Miranda Keats/ Cric
-Rugger 7 (Space Prober/ right thigh) - Piloted by Kaga Haruka/ Lisa
-Rugger 8 (Space Prober/ left thigh) - Piloted by Katz Saruta/ Tagor
-Rugger 9 (Multi-wheeled explorer/ right lower leg) - Piloted by Izumo Tatsuo/ Shannon
-Rugger 10 (Multi-wheeled explorer/ left lower leg) - Piloted by Karateya Baros/ Zandee
Walter Team (Land Team)
-Rugger 11 (Jet radar station/ hips) - Piloted by Jack Walter/ Cliff
-Rugger 12 (Rotating Personnel Carrier/ right arm) - Piloted by Kirigas Moya/ Cinda
-Rugger 13 (Armored Equipment Carrier/ left arm) - Piloted by Chakker Mack/ Modoch
-Rugger 14 (All-Terrain Space Vehicle/ right foot) - Piloted by Izu Tasuku/ Marvin
-Rugger 15 (All-Terrain Space Vehicle/ left foot) - Piloted by Nagato Kazuto/ Hutch
Teams combination.
Kurugger (Strato Fighter)
Kairugger (Aqua Fighter)
Rikurugger (Turbo Terrain Fighter)
When the teams are combined, they have the ability to perform limited warp jumps when the three teams are in formation.
Warp Jump
Dairugger Fighting Formation On!
Transformation notesThe upper torso section is supposed to look like this. The manual is of no help here.
If you're having trouble figuring out how the hip section is supposed to transform, here's how it looks like when in vehicle mode.
To make the connections go in smoother, it's recommended that you press down on the release buttons. But, because the manual is so awesomely detailed (note: sarcasm) it doesn't show you where the release buttons are. So here's a quick guide to where the release buttons are located.
For the shoulders, the button is at the back, where the shoulder blades would be.
This button is actually for flipping the roof up.
I don't know if the mid section can be inserted any which way, but so far, this is the only position that works for me.
Mid-torso articulation.
Dairugger attacks
-Wing Beam
-Rugger Beam
-Denji Muchi (Electromagnetic Whip / Ray-Beam Whip)
-Spin Cutters (in one episode he calls them Rugger Kilders?? / Spinning Laser Blades)
-Hand beams (attack never really named)
-Shot Arrow
-Dairugger Lancer (Solar Combat Spear)
-Dairugger Sword (Blazing Sword)
Dairugger in action!
Denji Muchi
Shot Arrow
To equip the Shot Arrow and Spin Cutters, the grip hands are used, as they can open up at the knuckles.
Dairugger Lancer
Spin Cutters
Dairugger has two ridiculously powerful (dare I say, overkill) attacks, that can literally obliterate fleets in seconds. Why they don't just spam this left and right in every fight is beyond me.
Dairugger Powerful Attack (later called Dairugger Miracle Power)
Dairugger Typhoon
I'm not really sure what to make of this weapon, as far as I know, this never appeared in the series, the tip does resemble the tip of the whip in some episodes.
Dairugger Sword
Supposedly, the first editions of this set come with the blue sword as an exclusive. It should be noted that the blue sword is only painted and not chromed finish. Why are there 3 swords? I have no idea, would've been nice if one of them was diecast though.
Weigh inRugger 1 -21 Grams
Rugger 2 -153 Grams
Rugger 3 -63 Grams
Rugger 4 -58 Grams
Rugger 5 -33 Grams
Rugger 6 - 57 Grams
Rugger 7 - 35 Grams
Rugger 8 - 38 Grams
Rugger 9 - 159 Grams
Rugger 10 - 157 Grams
Rugger 11 - 83 Grams
Rugger 12 - 78 Grams
Rugger 13 - 69 Grams
Rugger 14 - 86 Grams
Rugger 15 - 91 Grams
Kurugger (Strato Fighter) - 329 Grams
Kairugger (Aqua Fighter) - 448 Grams
Rikurugger (Turbo Terrain Fighter) - 407 Grams
Voltron Fully Combined - 1184 Grams
Stands roughly 13 inches.
Comparison with Toynami's Lion Voltron
The Good-Diecast parts include
..... well.. almost every vehicle has diecast, except for maybe the joints and plates on the undersides of most of the vehicles. Impressive really.
-Rubber treads on the back of the legs.
-Ratchet joints! I'm glad the knee joints are particularly solid.
-Excellent packaging! Even though my outer box got a bit dinged up, the inner contents were pristine! I love it! I think I would gladly pay extra for SOCs if they gave the option for this kind of packing.
-Ankle joint is supposed to work this way. I originally made the mistake of using the rotating car roof as the ankle joint until I discovered the joint in the leg.
-Folding wing joints on Rugger 5 is a pretty clever idea.
The Bad-Still some minor QC issues on mine, particularly the paint chips and scuffs on the upper torso unit.
-While the articulation is well done, as far as we can expect, I think the ab crunch joint needs to be stronger, as is, posing the Voltron with hands forward will cause him to crunch down.
-This part came off on mine, easily fixed with glue though.
-Awkward panel here
-and here...
-and here....
-The manual.. why in the world is it that over-simplified???
-The propellers, I wish they were automatically removable for show accuracy. Instead, one has to remove the halves of the shoulders and unscrew the propellers from the inside.
-Possible rust popping up here? The plate seems like it could rust easily later on. I'm not 100% sure about this though.
-Rugger 5 (the chestplate) falls off a bit easily when you accidentally tap it, I recommend taking it off whenever you want to change the pose or change Voltron's weapons.
The UglyWell... nothing really strikes me as super terrible, unlike the QC misses of the first batch, based on that, the problems here are minor really.
I guess I'd have to say the biggest issue for me was the collapsing ab crunch. It does seem like Voltron might do a shelf dive one day if you're not careful about how you pose his arms. I don't know if there's a fix for this joint. I think I'd be happier if there wasn't any ab crunch at all, all things considered.
Overall, I'm decently happy with the toy, considering it's a first release from a new company. It's big, it's got lots and lots of diecast, it's heavy, it's articulated, got lots of solid rachet joints. I think the only things I could ask for would be light up eyes and maybe an accessory stand (and maybe a better, colored manual), but that's just me.
Funfacts: - After viewing the entire series of Media Works' English Subtitled DVD of Dairugger XV, I was surprised by how the translators really took a lot liberties in terms of the script. In one scene, Aki was up against a Combat Machine/Robeast and went "No you don't, b*tch!" . I was laughing so hard when I read that. Somehow I don't see that actually being what Aki/Jeff said in the literal translation. lol, can you imagine if all of our favorite super robot pilots talked like that in combat??!
The only swear word that didn't appear in the translations was the F word, everything else came up ( "Galveston a**holes" made me chuckle a couple of times ; ) ).
-Apparently, "Dairugger means youth", if the Japanese theme song is to be believed. lol.... ;D
-For whatever reason, the Galveston army keeps changing their mecha name, from Combat Machine, to Battle Machine, to Battle Attacker.
-If any of the 15 pilots get incapacitated, all they have to do is just switch on the autopilot and the team can still form Dairugger.
-Dairugger was named after the sport, rugby, it also somewhat explains why there are 15 components to Dairugger, as rugby requires 15 players per team.
-No "5 minutes of Nuclear Operating Power" time limit in the original Japanese version like in the early US Voltron episodes version.
-Through the course of the series, logistical support from Earth kept getting blown up almost every time, it's close to becoming a running joke.
-Considering how many c0ckpit canopies that are readily exposed all over Dairugger's surface, and how often Dairugger gets shot at by entire fleets of enemies. it's a miracle that none of the pilots ever get killed in the entire show.
-Dairugger can still be combined, even if he's missing Rugger 1 (The head), unfortunately, it will have all the combat capability of a targeting dummy.
- In the series, even when combined, Dairugger can still be disconnected if a powerful shot hits them directly.
Miscellaneous stuff When returning the toy back into the box, be mindful of this little fold in the back of the box, I kept pushing the styrofoam tray down but it kept popping back up, it turns out the styrofoam kept hitting this strip of cardboard. Easily overlooked but can ruin your styrofoam tray if you're not careful (if you're particular about that kind of thing).
Ending credits 1
Ending credits 2 (same song, slightly less sissy video)
Gold
