Gojulas Giga Action Figure Review Capsule

When Hasbro started their Zoids, they often made pre-assembled low-cost action figures for kids who couldn't afford or assemble the larger kits. Gojulas Giga was one of the largest kits, and at the end of 2003 was released as part of their Deluxe Action Figure assortments. Originally selling for $10-$12, we found our sample in March of 2004 for $3.98.

Introduction

With Zoids now just ending in the USA, at least for a while, it seems only right to take a look at one of Hasbro's original offerings.

The Zoids action figures started showing up a few years ago alongside the model kits, mainly for a much younger audience that saw the show and wanted something they could play with. Gojulas Giga was a large, complicated kit that required a few hours of assembly from an adult that knew full well what they were doing, so this smaller figure is much more suited to tiny hands.

Gojulas Giga includes three projectiles, a Zi-Comm unit, and a small painted pilot figure. It can also interface with the Zi-Comm Gauntlet but we don't have one of those.

Action Figure

Compared to the larger kit, he's really everything he needs to be with a giant missile launcher strapped to his back.

The sculpting is right on par with the better figures from the series, and it looks like a scaled-down Zoids kit with slightly more rubbery and kid-friendly plastic. There isn't a lot of color to him, as most of the detail on the kits comes from stickers. Hasbro opted out of painting them here, or offering them for you to add if you're so inclined.

The figure has a few points of articulation, but not enough to really impress anybody. The tail is sculpted so that it can be pulled back and strike foes, and the arms and lower jaw are free-moving. The lower legs trigger the rocket in his throat to fire, and also raise the top part of his jaw. You can also move the top part of his jaw if you wish, and it won't cause the rocket to fire. Moving his legs, though, will cause the rocket to fire on an unwary toy reviewer.

As we keep referring to a larger, better toy, we feel it only proper to show the action figure alongside the domestic release of the kit to give you a sense of scale.

The figure is essentially what it needs to be and nothing more. The canopy glass isn't transparent or painted to look like eyes, and there are a few moving parts and details that could have been included on the figure that were left off. The package shows the "tail stinger" as being black plastic, the final toy is grey. Still, for clearance prices it's hard to fault it.

Accessories

Gojulas Giga includes three projectiles, a Zi-Comm unit, and a small painted pilot figure.

The Zi-Comm unit supposedly activates some electronics if you have a Zi-Comm Gauntlet, which I do not. There are metal pins on the sides that undoubtedly complete a circuit and cause something nifty to happen. Should the offices of 16bit.com opt to buy one of these, we will update the review with information of our findings.

The two smaller rockets fit into the Zi-Comm unit, which plugs into his back the same way a Zoids Custom Parts set might have done. It gives him some extra firepower, which is a plus seeing as how the initial kit has no weapons of any kind. The missiles are the kind you have to sort of flick out of the back, and as such are a little tricky to launch well compared to other forms of toy projectiles.

The third rocket can launch out of his mouth, and I must say does so quite well. Having the firing mechanism tied into the legs prevents him from having unsightly buttons and switches, but it decreases his posability. As the figure is covered in bolts and parts that would make excellent "hidden" switches, it seems that it may have been better if, say, adjusting a fin on his back caused the launch instead.

The figure is merely referred to as "the pilot" on the packaging and has no identity given to it by Hasbro. It has no moving parts and, amazingly, can stand on its own. Hasbro can't even do that for all of its Star Wars product, so this is pretty amazing stuff.

The standard Zoids pilot figure is a little bit larger than the one included with this set, as you can see in the picture. It looks almost like the painted pilot is meant to resemble the standard pilot figure, which is pretty neat given that most of the action figure pilots have been based on anime characters.

Packaging

Staying true to the rest of the American Zoids look, there's a lot of grey and because it's a Republic Zoid, there's a lot of blue too.

It looks nice on the package and the coloring matches that of the toy. It isn't exciting or especially special, but it is good enough to let you have a "try me" hole for the figure's tail feature... which we should probably say doesn't let you get a good idea of what the tail is supposed to do and probably only encourages unnecessary fondling of his appendage.

On the back are a few other figures, some of which were released and others, as of this review, remain MIA. The yellow Sea Striker has yet to be spotted, and I don't recall seeing a red Shield Liger. The others have been seen at local stores.

Fin

If you like Zoids enough to be reading this, odds are you should get this little guy. He's by no means a replacement for the larger, better kit but for your desk at home or the office he's a real winner. It looks like something kids would probably like, especially at the clearance prices. For full price, it doesn't seem to be worth the money especially considering the Gojulas Giga kit could have been had for $12.50 at some stores shortly after the post-Christmas 2003 clearance season.