Hello again fans, David Lee back with part 2 of my Tensou Gattai Series review. My items for this round are the above mentioned Brother Sets. First, before we look into them, let us take a look at the box size differences between one Brother set and one auxiliary mecha from 2 past series, GoOnger and Shinkenger
By looking at this, Shinkenger's auxiliary mechas are the biggest in terms of box size and no doubt, the Brother set is the smallest.
This angle also tells us the same story, Brother set is still he smallest among the pack. No matter how big or how small the boxes are, only Shinkenger's auxiliary mechas and the Brother sets use hard cardboard trays as internal storage. GoOnger's ones use clear plastic trays. This is seen to be a better way as hard cardboard trays are not only firmer, it is also more environmental friendly.
First up is Gosei Blue's Seaick Brother set.
The contents are very visible. For those who cannot identify them, they are arranged as follows:
Top: SawShark Headder
Bottom Left: Manta Headder
Bottom Right: Hammerhead Headder
This year Bandai made us by boxes of three small auxiliary HEADS and I would say this is money sucking. As you can see that they are very small and although each of them has a specific gimmick, it still does not add up to the value of 2200 yen per set. The above are the three Seaick Brothers.
Let's examine Sawshark first. This is the longest of the three and has the better gimmick of the three. As you can see from the photo, by turning the dial on the Head, the saws on the nose will move also. This is to be done manually which I was surprised it wasn't a 'roll and spin' feature.
Next, we have the Hammerhead. Shorter than Sawshark and has a very 'boring' gimmick. As you can see again on the photo, there's a button that you can push on the head. Once pushed, the Hammer opens wider and would result to something like this:
Boring eh? Well, I'd say so myself.
Finally, the Manta Headder. Also under the shorter range, this one has a gimmick similar to Hammerhead's. Press the button on the head and the fins open up and becomes like this:
I still say they are boring.
In the show, the Goseigers mainly Gosei Blue will summon the Seaick Brothers using the Seaick Brother card included in the set:
The sound from the Tensouder will be "SUMMON! SEAICK BROTHER!" followed by the wavery sound I explained earlier in part 1.
By combining the Seaick Brothers with the DX Gosei Great, Seaick Gosei Great is born. His finisher is still the Victory Charge card but with a different artwork which is called SEAICK STRIKE. However the Tensouder still reads the card as Victory Charge and this card is made available in one of the few released Dice-O waves.
In one episode, Gosei Red summonned the Seaick Brothers and he used an alternate formation known as Another Seaick Gosei Great which looks like this.
Now, we move on to the second set, Landik Brother set.
This is the arrangement within the box for the Landik Brother set.
Top: Sai (Rhino) Headder
Bottom Left: Kuwaga Header
Bottom Right: Tyranno Headder
This is how the Landik Brothers would appear in the show. As usua and following the trend previously, it is also a three piece set.
Kuwaga Headder, the first of the three is full black. Its gimmick is at the yellow button on the head. By pushing that button forward, the horns open up and becomes like this:
Do you feel it's fun? I'd say I got them because they are merely mecha and not because they are fun.
Next comes the Sai (Rhino) Headder. This one is in bright yellow with a silverish drill as its nose. The gimmick of this is that you manually push the gear piece on the head frontward and the drill on his nose turns clockwise. Too simple gimmick I would say.
Tyranno Header is of a brown orange paint. It is smaller than the Rhino and is about the size of the Kuwaga. The gimmick is here is to manually press the button on the back of the head a few times to create a munching action. If you want his mouth to open wide, hold the button for a little while like this:
I can't believe they are using this again, after how they used this on the GaOh Liner Kiba.
And from the show, Gosei Black and/or Gosei Yellow summon the Landik Brothers with this card. The card reads "SUMMON! LANDIK BROTHER!" in the Tensouder followed by the generic Landik sound.
This is Another Landik Gosei Great. This is similar to its alternate counterpart Another Seaick Gosei Great whereby the Dragon, Shark and Phoenix Headders are replaced with the Brothers.
Finally, the last of the three sets, the Skyick Brother set.
The arrangement in the box is as follows:
Top: Ptera Headder
Bottom Left: Crow Headder
Bottom Right: Taka (Eagle) Headder.
This is again how they appear in the show when they are called upon. Again, they come in a set of three. I wonder why three again.
The main attraction here is the Taka aka Eagle Headder. The gimmick here is slightly different than the first two sets. Again a button on the forehead is present. Press the button and the face opens up to a three fold like this:
This is for Eagle Headder to attack faster and more furious.
Here's the Ptera Headder. This is based off a dinosaur we saw in 2003's Abaranger and 1992's Zyuranger namely, Pteranodon. The gimmick of this piece is that you push the white button on the head forward and the mouth opens wide.
The mouth stays open as long as the button is still frontward. Simply close the mouth with some force and the button returns to its original state
Lastly, Crow Headder is of a white bird but ain't crows black in colour? Anyway, the gimmick here is the small rounded button on the head which you can press to open its mouth and reveal a blaster in its mouth.
The mouth doesn't stay open firmly and I still don't know why. However, it is rare to have a nicely sculpted cannon like thing in his mouth. Some detail wise changes for a change.
Combining the DX Gosei Great and the Skyick Brother set is a little different compared to the first two sets. Unlike the first two sets, the Crow Headder and the Ptera Headder here have neck joints. Their heads can be pushed down at an about 90 degree angle to achieve the above formation. Only the two mentioned can do that, the Eagle Headder has no such neck joints.
Generally, if you have followed mecha traditions, these single sets might come strange and buying them individually might be a pain. However, when you are revealed to the end result of the combinations, you'll be shocked to see how these small pieces complete your final unit. I remembered how hard I searched to get a complete G-12 set and I amnot repeating my mistakes anymore. I will get them first and if they all come together, let them be.
Stay tuned for the next part, part 3 for this strange animal and more:
http://hshobby.blogspot.com/2010/08/tensou-gattai-part-3.html