This is going to be a really niche review. Bandai’S Robot Spirits Tetsukyojin Panzer World Galient is an old giant robot anime from the mid ’80s (looked it upon on wikipedia and it’s 1984). My introduction to Tetsukyojin was via Hobby Japan Magazine in 1987.
Oddly enough I’ve never watched the anime, or read any manga based on it, but the design has stuck with me ever since I first saw Tetsukyojin grace the cover of issue 2 in 1987. I was a weird kid, I would religiously collect every issue of Hobby Japan that I could get my hands on, sometimes the numbers were sequential other times not. But it was an eye opening experience for me, amazing designs, beautiful sculpts and plastic model engineering that I’d only dreamed was possible. If I remember correctly, the Galient figures in this issue were vinyl kits that were painted and then photographed. Oh and if anyone is wondering where my interest in taking pictures of toys came from, blame Hobby Japan.
I don’t think the Fwoosh ever covered a Robot Spirits action figure before, so here’s a brief lesson. At some point and time in recent history, Bandai decided that it would start a new brand of action figures, or toys, called Robot Spirits. This line is, essentially, a line of action figures based on models, instead of building them yourselves, they are already assembled. This makes for an interesting product, the toys have an ABS feel to them and are light, but have the quality, durability, of a manufactured action figure, like Marvel Legends. Now, there are different sides, think game, Tetsukyojin is side PB, Panzer Blade. There are sides for Gundam, Aura Battler Dunbine, and… many more. It’s a catch all brand for Bandai, and tons of fun.
Tetsukyojin is my first Robot Spirit action figure and I am super happy to have it. Not just from the nostalgic point of view, but this is a pretty damn cool toy. It’ll shelf well with the few Soul of Chogokin figures that I have (and for those of you wondering, way way way cheaper to collect). The figure is packed with articulation and can pretty much strike any pose that you can think of. I was a bit worried about the plastic durability, I can confirm these toys are durable and will not break if you look at them incorrectly.
If I had one major quip, the back flaps are not permanently fixed to the figure and fall out constantly. Otherwise the figure is a big solid. There are no loose or stuck joints. No boiling was required and the figure was ready to play with out of the box. the figure is molded in out of the box colors and where there is paint, it’s solid.
Tetsukyojin comes with a shield, sword, and hands. Not a ton of extras but the core needs are there, sword and shield. The shield has a bit of articulation that helps Tetsukyojin hold it better, and the sword sheaths nicely in the back.
All in all, Tetsukyojin is an amazing figure, one that I can highly recommend. But it is a niche item and is probably not for everyone. But if like the design you can still pick him up at: