Tomica Hero Rescue Force Rescue Vehicle Series DX Rescue Striker and Rescue Commander Set Review - THIS IS BIG AND LONGHello fans and people, Dave here again with another DX toy review. Today I am going to do a BIG ONE, yes very big. Behold, the primary machine for the Tomica Hero Rescue Force series, the Rescue Striker. YES, it's the DX Rescue Striker and Rescue Commander Set. These 2 came together in a set but in Japan, there was one Rescue Commander that was released separately, comes with multi coloured lights at the monitor screen and could read more cards than this one. In the show, the Rescue Commander was used as the Henshin device as well as summoning vehicles and so on. Let's take a look at their packaging:
The front of the box shows the Rescue Striker and our titular hero R-1 slashing a card in the Rescue Commander. The packaging says that you can control the vehicle with card slashing.
The back of the box shows the actual toy's look as well as some of the other vehicles released that can be combined with this one. Also, a small manual at the back shows what each card does.
We get the same small manual in this side of the box as well.
And this side shows the combined form of a hybrid vehicle when you connect all the (available at time of release only) vehicles together
The top of the box is nothing special while the bottom of the box shows the contents and the smaller vehicles from the Rescue Force Line and the basic Tomica lines that can be played with this piece.
This is what you see when you open the box.
The contents are fairly simple. You get the orange coloured Rescue Commander, front part of the Rescue Striker, back part of the Rescue Striker, a strange attachment piece and a manual pack with the Cards inside.
The Commander comes with a small sheet of thin paper to protect the screen sticker from getting scratched.
The front of the Commander in closed mode.
The back of the Commander and how it fits the batteries. Do note that this piece requires 3 AAA batteries and does not have an ON/OFF switch.
All 6 cards in the set. They are namely, Build Up (for Henshin), Dash, Back, Go, Start, Water Cannon and Back.
These are how the 2 pieces of the separated Striker look like.
The front portion of the Striker and how it stores batteries. This piece requires 3 AA batteries and does not come with an ON/OFF switch either. This makes this toy requiring a total of 6 batteries.
This is what happens when you press this white button on the side of the Rescue Striker. It sounds like it is ready for action
VIDEO 2
CHAKUSOU! This is what the Rescue Force team members say when they suit up. The Commander will read Build Up as per the card.
As per the box's explanation, this is how the Card Slashing and the Striker interacts. The 2 clear panels above in the 2 photos are Infra Red sensors. As long as both can be connected at a certain range, the Striker will respond to the Card slash command.
VIDEO 3
The first card that is interactive with the Striker is the Dash Card. The Commander will say Dash once it is slashed and the Striker will move forward.
To assist me in reviewing the other cards, I will have to introduce to you the Rescue Tomica Series vehicles. Of die-cast build, these small critters are actually an essential part of the Rescue Striker when it comes to fulfilling the commands from the various Cards.
This one also comes with one Rescue Card and this one is RFT-01 (Rescue Force Tomica 01) Core Striker. This is the same unit seen in the show and is used to pilot the Striker from within this small vehicle.
For those who have Tomica experience, this one can actually have the 2 doors at the sides open. Forgive me as I forgot to take a photo of it with the doors open.
VIDEO 4
The next Card command is named as Go. However, the Rescue Commander says Dash and the Striker will have a strange mechanism sound from within while counting down from 3...2...1...Go!. Finally, we get to see the Core Striker launching out like in the show. There's another item that is able to aid in this function more effectively and it is called the Rescue Loop. I couldn't get one so I could not demonstrate it. It is basically an emulation from the show whereby R1 will do a Loop Hasshin or Loop Launch.
VIDEO 5
The following card is named as START. However, the Rescue Commander says Go and again we can hear some mechanism sounds from within. However, if you need to play this function, you need to first insert an RFT vehicle at the back of the Rescue Striker. Thus, we can see that the Core Striker is launched from the back through this command.
VIDEO 6
This card is named Back. The Rescue Commander reads it as Back too. This makes the Rescue Striker move backwards
VIDEO 7
This is the Water Cannon card. The Rescue Commander will say FINAL RESCUE WATER CANNON. Interacting with the Striker, will let you hear a Water Splashing sound like in the show.
Finally, this strange piece. This is a connector of somesort which I will cover later once the true function of this piece is revealed.
In general, this toy is worth every bit but it doesn't come cheap. Got mine at retail price at about US$90 and it is hefty. If you are a true Toku fan and collector you can try this. I'd give 4 stars for playability and 3.5 for value and price out of 5. That's all folks, thanks for reading for my review and see you again later. BAKUSHIN, KANYOU
