Figure Review: The Gattai – Brave Express Might Gaine
The Brave hero has arrived on time on silver wings!
Aside from the most popular Braves Gaogaigar, the 2nd most well-known yuusha is no doubt the Brave Express Might Gaine (definitely not because Nobuyuki Hiyama voiced the mc in both). Many companies has tackled the toy version of this series, but few is able to combine the combination gimmick with aesthetics and articulation. Good Smile Company – the newest mecha powerhouse – has chosen Might Gaine for its Gattai line – the premium mecha figure which focus on combiners.
– Info:
The Gattai – Might Gaine
Series: Brave Express Might Gaine
Price: 23,842 yen
Release date: 29 Sep 2023
The Gattai – Might Gaine
Series: Brave Express Might Gaine
Price: 23,842 yen
Release date: 29 Sep 2023
– Design: Well, let’s address the elephant in the room first: the arms – more specifically – the biceps. GSC did their best to combine the transformation and combination gimmick with playability – and the result isn’t perfect. The small connectors between the arms and shoulders look a bit off. Which if they have more engineering budget, they would have fixed that I’m sure. Nevertheless, every other parts are very anime-accurate and look extremely nice. The figure perfectly captures the looks of the hero with his blocky choo-choo aesthetic. The big shoulders are also a trademark of Masami Obari – which is a good way to incorporate the transformation gimmick as well.
Well, as always, you win some you lose some. To get a good-looking Might Gaine, we have to sacrifice the base Brave – Gaine. He looks pretty like the old Takara DX toys which is…silly yes. But it’s a necessary sacrifice to preserve the overall combined look – which most of the collectors will be displaying it as. If you want a good looking Gaine, waiting for the Kotobukiya kit is a nice option.
Well, as always, you win some you lose some. To get a good-looking Might Gaine, we have to sacrifice the base Brave – Gaine. He looks pretty like the old Takara DX toys which is…silly yes. But it’s a necessary sacrifice to preserve the overall combined look – which most of the collectors will be displaying it as. If you want a good looking Gaine, waiting for the Kotobukiya kit is a nice option.
– Quality: The Gattai started as Hagane Works – which is a die-cast premium figure line by GSC for non-combiners. So the quality of the finish and paint-app is very nice. The metallic gold really pops against the red and dark blue finish. The finer details on Might Wing and Gaine himself is quite accurate to the Japanese’s Shinkansen. The joints are solid enough, but if you play with them too much or too heavily, it can get loose.
– Articulation: One of the stigma of combinable toys is that the articulation will suffer the more accurate the transformation and combination is. But that was decades ago and now, with the advancement of toy engineering, they have found a perfect balance between both of them. The articulation of the figure is pretty good. Of course it won’t be Riobot-tier good or any of the SOC FA style, but it is plenty to pull off Might Gaine’s signature. However, aerial pose can be quite difficult because of the size, weight and the lack of back connectors etc… But on the ground, the Express Hero is very solid and posable.
– Accessories & Gimmicks:
x 1 normal Dorinken
x 1 golden Dorinken
x 2 Gaine Shot (Gaine’s pistol)
x 3 pairs of interchangeable hand parts
x 1 pointing hand parts
x 1 Might Wing tail
x 1 Might Wing stand
The accessories is adequate but for a premium die-cast figure, I expect a bit more – at least an Obari-style Dorinken would be nice. Some beam effect would be great for Signal Beam.
x 1 normal Dorinken
x 1 golden Dorinken
x 2 Gaine Shot (Gaine’s pistol)
x 3 pairs of interchangeable hand parts
x 1 pointing hand parts
x 1 Might Wing tail
x 1 Might Wing stand
The accessories is adequate but for a premium die-cast figure, I expect a bit more – at least an Obari-style Dorinken would be nice. Some beam effect would be great for Signal Beam.
–> Overall: The Gattai Might Gaine is a good figure quality wise. However, the bicep design can turn away many collectors and be the deal breaker to some. It definitely could have been better engineered. Aside from that single point of issue, the rest of the figure is very solid and have a lot of playability. If you’re looking for a vehicle display for Might Gaine, then this is literally the perfect choice. For the robot mode, if you can get over the biceps, then this figure will be a great addition to your collection.
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