Chogokin Tetsujin #28

 

Since I have been getting into and somewhat impressed with the Chogokin series of toys from Bandai, I decided to get this guy.  Why?  Well I’m not too sure.  All I knew about him is that he is a remote controlled robot of sorts from the olden days of anime and the better half likes him.  I gotta admit that his cool chunky retro-style really appealed to me too.

 

After keeping an eye out for him for a while, I noticed that despite his modest original price, he commands a huge amount of money on the second hand/after market.  Actually, I should clear that up a little bit.  There were two colour variations for this dude initially.  One was a flat blue and another a metallic blue, with an extra character.  I decided to get the metallic blue.  Naturally, it’s the rarer more expensive one.  Luckily I found one a reasonable price.  And now we shall have a look at him!

 

 

Starting with the box, as I often do.

 

 

It’s a fairly small box but being a Chogokin he is rather heavy.  This one’s codes is GX-24M, the other one was of course GX-24.  I am not too sure if this was a Wonderfest exclusive (or some other exclusive for that matter), but there are plenty of them about, just all expensive!!

 

This guy’s name is 　鉄人２８号。　　Which is pronounced Tetsujin Nijuhachigo.  Literally translated as ‘Iron person Number Twenty Eight.’  So as it could be understood, there might be another 27 running around somewhere, and as a result, I am not 100% sure if he should be referred to as ‘Tetsujin’ (as there could a whole heap of them) or as ‘Number 28’ (really a bit more logical), so as a result I will probably flick between calling him Tetsujin at one time and #28 later on depending on how I feel at the time.  But rest assured that I am talking about the same thing.

 

He is (being a bit of an older figure now) encased in lovely (probably un-environmentally friendly) Styrofoam and comes with a flier showing gimmicks and instructions.

 

Hmmm, nice and encased.

 

And now to un-encase him.

 

Hmm, look at that!  So nice and chunky!  The green, well I was going to say belt, but it’s around his chest, can come off and when it does he looks like this:

 

What I like the most about this guy though is his awe inspiring shininess!!

Soooooo, beautifuuul…!  Look at that shine!

 

The sculpting is. Um. Smooth.  I guess originating in the 70s (  ?) he is gloriously retro looking!  The head is great but doesn’t turn at all.  No great loss, since having the head move would probably mess with the lines of the robot.  I think I would have liked him to be able to look up, mainly for a flying pose but since the stand is only designed for holding him on his feet, there isn’t much likeliness that one would pose him flying.  After all, it will need a strong stand to hold this.

 

Man, I just ADORE the look of this guy, the rivets that keep him interesting, the gladiator look of his head, the accentuation of his wrists with the golden ball bits (almost like Chun Li), topped off with the sparse red that breaks up of the blue with his belt and toes.

 

He comes with a few accessories which are mainly hands and HUMANS.

And a jetpack.

 

 

He comes with a limited but adaptable set of hands in various shapes.  I can see a use for each type.  He also comes with a little kid named Shotaro Kaneda who is able to control him (I think) through the remote control box that he holds (and is also an accessory for the robot itself!!).

 

Shotaro is rather well detailed for such a little accessory.  You can really see the anime look and I think it’d be pretty close to the anime!

 

The Metallic Blue Tetsujin (i.e this one) GX-24M also comes with a bonus Shikishima  Hakusei (Professor Shikishima) who ends up being Shotaro’s mentor.  The regular release of Chogokin Tetsujin 28 doesn’t have Shikishima, but still comes with Shotaro.  Again Shikishim Hakusei is well detailed for such a little guy!

 

 

 

Damn! He is so shiny, you can almost see my face in these pictures.

 

He also has a damaged arm and his jetpack.  The arm can be used on either left or right and attaches at the elbow.  The elbows are all connected via a magnet joint, which clips in rather nicely.  The jetpack is also attached by a magnet as well and holds in well.

 

 

The jetpack is nicely rotund, much like #28 and fits well with the aesthetics of the figure.  I really like the option they have included with the jetpack which allows you to take off the cover of the jets to see what’s inside!  Most impressive!  It also has some nice sculpted detail underneath where the actual jets are.

 

The proper red belt covers up the way you get to and change the batteries and it’s rather clever as it also becomes a waist joint.

 

 

The reason for the batteries? Why to light up his beautiful eyes of course (and allow you to make him creepy torso floating #28).

 

They light up really well and as his head is METAL there is no seepage through his head in the dark.  Gawd I love this line!

 

 

MMmm, they reflect off his chest as well.  Oh how sexy!

 

As an added bonus, with a bit of usage with the remote control that isn’t attached to Shintaro and the eyes can change colour.  This also changes colour with the usage of the other Chogokin Black Ox if you have him.  Which I don’t.

 

So remote on his chest, a faint ‘click’ noise can be heard and RED EYES!

 

 

Damn! They come up so nicely!

Instructions showing his eyes with Ox in place.

 

He also comes with the as expected Chogokin stand that holds all his goodies.  Well almost all, there is no spot for the little squishy humans.  Which is a shame, although I bet could overcome this with some Blu-tac.

 

 

I do quite like the look of him on his stand with all his stuff around him but I would have really liked it if the humans had a solid spot to stand.

 

While his accessories and gimmick is a little, well not that special, I discovered it is a remarkable articulate figure.  Although his head doesn’t move, Tetsujin 28 is well balanced and easy to pose which is surprising considering how rotund he is and his weight.

 

 

What I love, is that they have included a double jointed elbow for getting a really tight bend in it, as well as toe joints and some fabulous options in the ankles.  The most impressive point for me though is the groin.  Well underneath the groin.  It’s not quite his hips, erm, between his legs, where his nuts would be if he were a human I guess. 

*Thinks that this talk isn’t doing much for my reputation after making a specific section for Racing Miku’s pantsu*

Anyway, to get some extra bend from where his thighs join to his body, they have put in a section that folds down, adding just that little bit of extra clearance to get his legs angled forwards more.  When he is standing straight, the piece just folds into the body.  It is most noticeable on the third row, right picture above.  Brilliant.  He also comes with some plugs for the screw holes in his back, which work a treat.  Well almost they are designed for the normal coloured one, so they lack the ‘metallic’ paint, but the colour is still the same and they are so small that you won’t notice.

 

So that pretty much covers him and  as you may have surmised from my writings (well, that was my intention, so I hope you did) I really like this guy.  He is a big blue beautiful chunk of retro-robot and it’s fan-frigging-tastic!  After looking for this guy for a while, I have found there are 3 colourations, one is the normal matte blue version, another is this metallic blue version and a third is a silver/black and white version.  The Silver one is by far the most expensive, I think he came with a dvd and was a limited release at a convention.  The metallic is cheaper than the silver, but more than the matte blue.  Having said that though, all of these guys are quite expensive now.  

 

I would avoid paying the average ebay price for him at the moment.  I am not sure why he is so much there, but obviously I managed to get mine for less, so they are out there, just keep an eye out and your options open.  One thing though, even though he doesn’t seem that popular a character, when I showed off to a few pals that I had him, there was much interest shown.  I am not sure if they just knew the character or just that the toy is a bit of a tricky one to find now, but it might explain the high prices.  I suspect scalpers are the main problem though.

 

As it is, I love this toy a massive heap!  He is heavy, chunky, retro, well made, well designed and the metallic blue just looks bloody beautiful in all it’s shiny glory. Since he is a fairly small guy (when compared to other Chogokins), I wouldn’t recommend paying more than $150 for him  And that is being generous.  But if you have the opportunity to grab one at a good price, I would, well, only if you like the look of him.  The smooth lines might not be to everyone’s tastes and if you don’t like the round, then leave him for someone else who does.