Monday 17 August 2015

SACRED BEAST LEGEND BIOROID - TRIANFORCE - PART I


By




INTRO
Now it is time to talk about the DELTAFORCE's counter-parts the TRIANFORCE from the toy line "SACRED BEAST LEGEND BIOROID"  by MARK, SELECT, and HERO. 
This is Part I which focuses only on the Trianforce leader, Octymus. 
If you'd like to see the rest check out my Part II here: Part II
The TRIANFORCE had also 9 toy collectibles for their side just like the DELTAFORCE but I will be just talking about the first 5 which are the transformable Bioroid robot kats.
 FIRST TRIANFORCE MEMBER!
(TRIANFORCE - OCYTMUS - TOY PACKAGE - FRONT VIEW)
My very first TRIANFORCE toy member named "OCTYMUS" who is the leader of the TRIANFORCE. I was very happy to find him in wonderful condition and complete with everything. I always like the Japanese toy packaging from the 80s with the great designs, colours, clear plastic window to see the toy and especially the toy artwork, it really captures the essence of a well presented toy.
I'm hoping to translate all the Japanese writing on the box 1 day but I'll just mention out what is written in English. So we see the on the bottom of the box it has a email I believe and next to that is "1987 HERO MADE IN JAPAN" meaning HERO was the one who produced the toys but later shown on the toy I will show the SELECT trademarked on the toy.
 
(TRIANFORCE - OCYTMUS - TOY PACKAGE - BACK VIEW)
Back of the toy package is also wonderful to look at. It shows the toy series title on the left hand corner and name of the toy in the right hand corner. Below that is the toy instructions on how to transform the toy. Then lastly pictures of the 5 TRIANFORCE members in their kat modes which gets me excited to find the rest one day!

(TRIANFORCE - OCYTMUS - TOY PACKAGE - LEFT + RIGHT SIDE VIEW)
Left and right side views are the same showing toy title on the top and the bottom and in the middle a picture of the toy in kat mode with his name on top of the picture.
(TRIANFORCE - OCYTMUS - TOY PACKAGE - TOP + BOTTOM SIDE VIEW)
Top view has the written toy story background and bio of the character on the right.
Bottom view shows some Japanese writing on top and bottom BIOROID title with toy artwork beside it. 
(TRIANFORCE - OCYTMUS - TOY UNBOXED)
 Unboxed, the most exciting part which is to find out what kind of contents you get!
(TRIANFORCE - OCYTMUS - TOY CONTENTS)
 The toy comes on nice styrofoam insert and includes a toy catalog and with the weapon accessories stored underneath.
(TRIANFORCE - OCYTMUS - TOY + CONTENTS)
Toy freed with catalog and weapon accessories.

OCTYMUS - KAT MODE
(TRIANFORCE - OCYTMUS - TOY - KAT MODE - 1)

(TRIANFORCE - OCYTMUS - TOY - KAT MODE - 2)

(TRIANFORCE - OCYTMUS - TOY - KAT MODE - 3)
The kat mode is well proportioned and designed except for the visbile humanoid skin coloured legs below his stomach but hey its from the 80s!
He comes with 2 cool chromed weapon accessories called "Laser Cannons".
I like the stickers, they are a nice contrast to his black plastic parts which makes him stand out.
It has nice articulation on the kat legs which both can rotate 360 degrees and tail articulation that can move up and down. The weapons too can rotate 360 degrees but just have to be careful since when you insert them in or out his front leg shoulders, they fit in quite tight and the plastic on these toys isn't so solid which can cause them to snap off so please take extra care.
Overall I like the kat mode. 


OCTYMUS - BIOROID MODE
(TRIANFORCE - OCYTMUS - TOY - BIOROID MODE - 1)
(TRIANFORCE - OCYTMUS - TOY - BIOROID MODE - 2)
The Bioroid mode is quite cool looking. Its easy to transform from kat mode with exceptions of just rotating, sliding, things in and out to complete the transformation correctly. For his articulation, he can rotate his arms and weapons 360 degrees. Has a ball join at the elbows. The design of his hands isn't the best due to them being hollow but its alright since he  can't hold his weapons but design wise I think it would of been nice they added them in. His legs are simple, can only bend at the knees. His head mold design shows off the purpose of the toy line of the toys being humanoid robot characters. The paint job on the head is ok but faces are well molded.
Overall I like his bukly look in Bioroid mode.

 TRADEMARK
Here is the printed "©SELECT 1986 MADE IN JAPAN" trademark. It is inside his back. 
So the TRIANFORCE toy or toys were made in 1986 by toy companies SELECT and MARK then HERO came along to work together to produce them or SELECT and MARK went into bankruptcy, leaving them to find a produce the toys and market them which they went onto to do with many more other toy lines using these molds that SELECT and MARK created. 
TOY CATALOG
(CATALOG - TRIANFORCE SECTION)
These are shown from the inside or back of the catalog. It shows the wonderful toy artwork along with toy pictures of the characters' alt modes. It also has written their bio's for each character.

Super B-class Morfing Robot Wars Dagangu - Book
(OCTYMUS (Top) and BLARDE (Bottom).)
(GLUVERDA (Top) and GALLAGA (Bottom).)
(THAITAN)

These are scan pages from a book called "Super B-class Morfing Robot Wars Dagangu".
Essentially it has a lot of information on the toy makers, the toys they made, and pictures, a really great book. I'm hoping to find these last 4 one day to complete the 5
OTHER VERSION COMPARISONS

Left side: Original Japanese version
Middle: TATSUMIYA - FIGHTING ANIMAL, CHAMPION CROWN (AKA LEADER SHINE) - FIGHTING ANIMAL, TEK TOYS - ROBO-KATS,
Right: CHAMPION CROWN (AKA LEADER SHINE) - FIGHTING ANIMAL,
TEK TOYS - ROBO-KATS, TRENDMASTERS - ANIBOTS


(KAT MODES)
(ROBOT MODES)
There quality is quite the same on all 3 except with certain plastic parts being either painted colour differently or plastic changed and painted different.
Weapon accessories from the original from the other versions is slightly different. With the original version his chrome weapons aren't as chrome or shinier than the other 2.
Head molds are clearly changed with the 2 which are painted chrome and detail of paint design is very low quality which was meant to be robot heads instead of human heads which explains why it isn't the best looking but the toy artwork of them is what made me love them regardless. 
Paint jobs with 2 are overall are good, uniquely different and aesthetically pleasing.
With the stickers, there is some new ones added for the 2 which aren't on the original and vice versa which is pretty cool to get variety from other versions.
Overall I find the original to a bit more stronger quality and more easy to handle without breaking it. Whereas for the other 2 they are some joins or parts that I make sure I'm wary about because they do tend to have not the same quality control as the original but still easy to play with and enjoy.
 
CLOSING THOUGHTS
The overall presentation of the TRIANFORCE toys are really cool. What drew me in to collect these was they were made in the 80s and I like the choice of the animals they based these toys on. To me they are like a Voltron + Transformers combination except with the combining into a giant robot feature but regardless I love them!
I hope in the future to add and extend this topic when I find the rest of the TRIANFORCE members but for now I hope you enjoyed this topic and review!

If you have any questions or feedback please let me know, I would gladly appreciate it!