Battle Fever Robo is one of a small number of Soul of Chogokin figures that isn't based on a cartoon. It's from a show called Battle Fever J, which fits into the genre of Super Sentai. Probably the most recognizable example of Super Sentai in America would be Power Rangers. The elements of a Super Sentai series are that a number of normal people receive special powers in order to fight some sort of threat, and they also pilot a giant robot(s) to fight larger monsters. Super refers to the robots, and sentai is literally "squad" in Japanese. These are actually live action, with monsters and robots being portrayed by people in rubber suits.
Battle Fever Robo was actually preceded by the Japanese Spiderman show, where Spiderman was actually a normal person, fighting with alien technology, and a giant robot! Interestingly enough, BFJ was also coproduced by Marvel, and is supposedly inspired by Captain America. I'm assuming the only real thematic tie there is that the different members of the Battle Fever team are all representatives of different countries, Battle Fever J refers to the leader of the team, and representative of Japan.
Okay, enough of the background, onto the toy!
I love a lot of things about this toy, the "look" of it is alright, it's got a kind of cool samurai look, and really, it looks like a guy in a suit, which is what it was, so there's that.
Battle Fever Robo was actually preceded by the Japanese Spiderman show, where Spiderman was actually a normal person, fighting with alien technology, and a giant robot! Interestingly enough, BFJ was also coproduced by Marvel, and is supposedly inspired by Captain America. I'm assuming the only real thematic tie there is that the different members of the Battle Fever team are all representatives of different countries, Battle Fever J refers to the leader of the team, and representative of Japan.
Okay, enough of the background, onto the toy!
I love a lot of things about this toy, the "look" of it is alright, it's got a kind of cool samurai look, and really, it looks like a guy in a suit, which is what it was, so there's that.
The "BF" on the chest is a little silly, but hey it was a Japanese kids' show from 1978!
And okay, I know I've spent a bit of talking about how boxes and packaging don't matter that much to me anymore, but I love how the weapon tray is presented with this figure:
And okay, I know I've spent a bit of talking about how boxes and packaging don't matter that much to me anymore, but I love how the weapon tray is presented with this figure:
It's got this rather handsome cardboard overlay that showcases each of the weapons and gives them a label.
The core figure has one prevailing gimmick, which is the "Chain Clasher" chains which are stored inside it's forearms, a hatch lets them fall out, and they remain attached to the inside of the arm through a hole.
The core figure has one prevailing gimmick, which is the "Chain Clasher" chains which are stored inside it's forearms, a hatch lets them fall out, and they remain attached to the inside of the arm through a hole.
Really, it's just cool, I couldn't tell you why, it just is. The chains are metal, and have a ring clasp at the end that allows them to be attached to some of the other weapons, and I assume function as a convenient weight on the end of the chain.
Up next are the Sword Fever swords, these are also metal, and can be stored in the yellow holsters on the sides of the legs.
Up next are the Sword Fever swords, these are also metal, and can be stored in the yellow holsters on the sides of the legs.
Next up is the Denkouken katana, BFR has a special hand designed to hold the scabbard, and the actual sword is again made out of metal.
There's a remarkable amount of detail on the scabbard, hilt, and even the blade has some Kanji imprinted on it.
I don't know that you can get cooler than that.
Up next is a trident, called the Attack Lancer, which has a ring in the butt that allows the chain clasher to be attached.
And then the Stick Attacker, a spear with an odd wheel and spike combination in the butt. I've never really seen anything like it before, so I'm not sure if it's a traditional martial arts weapon, all of the other weapons seem to be.
And here we have the Cane Knocker, which has got to be one of my favorites, just because I always see weapons like this being used by old men to punish young punks, not really as an effective fighting weapon, although I'm sure it is.
It's not all offense, there's also he Battle Shield, which again has the signature "BF"
And an axe! Specifically the Fever Axe. I keep saying that the weapon I'm showing is my favorite, and then I get to the next one that I forgot, this is why I love this figure so much!
Tied for my favorite, along with all the rest, is the Knuckle Punchers. Otherwise known as spiked knuckles!
I don't know what kind of monsters Battle Fever Robo was pitted against on the show, but I'm pretty sure they seldom died the same way twice.
That's pretty much the whole enchilada, the only thing in the box that I haven't shown you yet is the frankly fabulous stand.
That's pretty much the whole enchilada, the only thing in the box that I haven't shown you yet is the frankly fabulous stand.
Obviously, he comes with so much stuff, that they had to have a pretty intricate stand to hold it all, and they did this by giving him a scaffolding rig/weapons rack.
Giant robot toymakers, take note, if you want your robot toy to see massive and impressive, all you have to do is give it a stand that's made out of scale girders and scaffolding, it just makes it seem so much bigger, even though it's only about 6 inches or so.
Giant robot toymakers, take note, if you want your robot toy to see massive and impressive, all you have to do is give it a stand that's made out of scale girders and scaffolding, it just makes it seem so much bigger, even though it's only about 6 inches or so.
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