[Soundwave.ca]

Been plugging away at the anime (Gaogaigar) for a while now and with the coronation of the Toyark I think it's about time I asked this, what Brave toys would you recommend too a newcomer of the Brave series? Being a noob to the series I'm not familiar with what's available so what's say you guys what's worth looking into for a possible and perspective Brave buyer out there?

[Vangelus]

Well, first off it depends on if you want to delve into the whole franchise, or just stick with Gaogaigar at first.

As far as Gaogaigar goes, the original '97 toyline is incredibly durable and decently engineered for its time. Newer toys tend to just be really expensive and somewhat fragile versions of Gaogaigar himself.

If you're alright with touching on other Brave series, Might Gaine and Goldran both have a lot of badass stuff. I'm really hoping to do a video on God Silverion sometime soon, he's a really well-done combiner for his time.

Dunno about availability though...the most readily buyable stuff used to be Sonokong's official Korean releases but I dunno if they're still common.

[Soundwave.ca]

I would definitely be interested in seeing some video reviews of these guys.

[Vangelus]

I've got two videos of '97 Gaogaigar toys:

...but going by a lot of the comments, I suspect these two have become a lot harder to find than I recall.

Also, this thread needs some Sol Fury. He owns almost every Brave toy one could own, including the newer stuff.

[Soundwave.ca]

Ya I've asked him many a time before so I have a good idea what the series is like in general, it was because of him I checked out the anime to begin with lol

Looking to pick at least one of these up sometime though however will probably have to wait a wile till the cash flow get's a bit better. Mostly just want to get a feel for what's out there and what are the must have's, or at least have to look at toys out there.

[Roanstalker]

The Sonokong stuff was running thin a while ago but seems to be coming back with a vengance. I was looking for Granbird for a while now and its finally vailable again at Toyarena. Only problem is its quite expensive. Ugh.

As Vangelus said, Goldran and have very cool stuff. Might Gaine's partner Braves may be slightly harder to get a hold of though. I also recommend Pegasus Saber. Its initial 3 combo is cool but the 4 combo makes it a centaur! One of my favs .

[Sol Fury]

Yes, Pegasus Saber is one of the best toys to come out of the Brave series. You have three jets, who merge to make an awesome robot in their own right, and then the fourth team member gives you the Centaur form.








Personally I have a soft spot for everything that came out in the Da Garn series, they all have a lot of what I enjoyed most about the later line of Transformers like the Turbomasters. As well as Pegasus Saber, Land Bison is a nice introduction to the line:








From the other series, you've got lots of cool designs. Exkaiser has the Raker brothers, bullet trains who merge to form Ultra Raker. There's a Taiwanese version which is relatively easy to find under the "Excaesar" label and is not bad for a Taiwan KO. The robot transformations are complicated and fun, the symmetrical docking is also very awesome if a bit heavy on parts.

Fighbird owns another spot in my heart. All of the main mecha from that series come highly recommended. I got started with Fighbird, who is a cool jet with a different transformation compared to other jet robots. It's kind of like Star Saber from Transformers, but the arms transform differently to give the jet a better overall look. The series also plays host to Guardion / Super Guardion, who is another extremely cool piece. He's big, and the individual robots are quite large again embodying a lot of that late Generation 1 Transformer feel while bringing in a fresh anime mecha style.

I think though the best introductory piece for the large "hero" mecha of any series would be Great Goldran. The design of Goldran himself is second to none, and the way the different mecha combine and link up is something else. He's also a beautiful piece to behold on display. If you can find one, check out the Brave Revival version which added even more chrome.



Here's Goldran's three mecha. Goldran himself is on the right.



Here's what they turn into.



Goldran merges with the bird ninja Sorakage to form a Sky Goldran mode.



This is the final combination of all the mecha, Goldran, Sorakage and Leonkaiser, the Great Goldran. Every Brave series has a "Great Brave" form for the hero robot, except Gaogaigar. In that respect Gaogaigar is not really the perfect introduction since it lacks that concept which is one of the Brave series staples. It also does not do the "powered up support robot" concept which you see in most of the other series, which I personally consider another Brave series staple. You've seen pictures of Sky Saber and his powerup Pegasus Saber, so I'll leave you here with Guardion and his enhanced form, Super Guardion.

[Roanstalker]

Speaking of Brave Revival Great Goldran . It wasnt just chromed over. The Jewels are now all translucent plastic (Sorakage and Leon Kaiser's were chromed previously) And Kaiser's mane was give a ginger makeover which is more show accurate. But I find it odd that Sorage and Goldran's faces were chromed but Leon's wasnt.



Btw thats a original Takara Super Guardion right? I regret getting the Sonokong one. Its horrible in a lot of aspects. The blue paint on Guard Star's hood is very light so it doesnt fit in with the dark blue stickers at all and theres two different window sticker colours on Guard Rescue, the preapplied front window stickers are light blue but the others are dark blue making it stick out A LOT. The mask/helmet for Super Guardion is also painted black for god knows what reason. Now that doesnt mean I dont love it. Its just these small things that make me roll my eyes. I hope Granbird's stickers wont be downgraded so badly that they contrast with Fighbird's cos that would majorly suck.

Reminds me I'm gonna watch eps 11-20 of Fighbird soon. Cant wait till Guard Wing appears (23 I think?).