A month after Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger‘s first round of toys released, we now get the final missing piece to the wave 1 merchandise: Good Striker.
DX Good Striker is a big and bulky mecha with 2 “modes” and 4 various functions. The first mode is his Dial Fighter form, where he more closely resembles one of the Lupinranger’s mecha and, through some very simple and not-so-creative motions, he can assume his Trigger Machine form to more closely resemble the Patranger’s mecha. Honestly, I think most people would agree Good Striker was really only meant to be an aerial vehicle. It’s the mode he looks the best in and his car mode is a stretch at best, though I do admit the slight changes do make him fit in better with the respective teams.
Good Striker also comes with both a Trigger and a Dial on him which, in this case, activates different sound effects when pressed or turned. On his own, right out of the box, this is really all that Good Striker can do. It’s not much and certainly not worth the pick up on its own, but Good Striker is very versatile and the more you’ve bought in the LvP line, the more he’ll do for you. If we add the DX VS Changer to the mix, DX Good Striker can now make the finishing attack sounds for the two individual teams as well as the summoning sound. He also looks really good on the DX VS Changer, turning this small hand gun into a bigger, almost shotgun-like, weapon.
Lastly, if you have the 6 VS Vehicles, you can combine them with the DX Good Striker to make either LupinKaiser or PatKaiser. Admittedly, these are not my favorite mecha we’ve gotten out of Sentai but they’re not bad. PatKaiser is pretty standard but LupinKaiser has some excellent arm articulation that is pretty new and unique for a DX mecha toy. Overall, on its own, DX Good Striker doesn’t seem worth it, but this toy is a key item for the entire toy line to come. In other words, the more you buy and collect in the LvP line, the more and more this toy will do for you, and the more and more it becomes worth it. Kind of like a Kamen Rider DX Driver toy in that regard. So don’t buy Good Striker on its own, but if you already have the full first wave of LvP toys, then this item is 100% worth the pick up.
So, last year we had, in my opinion, a super successful line of Candy Toy (mini pla) mecha figures for Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger. Does Lupinranger VS Patranger’s line hold up to those standards? Kinda?
Wave 01 is comprised of all the pieces you need to make LupinKaiser, so 1 Red Dial Fighter, 1 Blue Dial Fighter, 1 Yellow Dial Fighter and 1 Good Striker set comprised of 2 pieces for a total of 4 vehicles across 5 boxes. The 3 Dial Fighters are incredibly simple to build and sticker. Good Striker is easy to build too, but far more complex by comparison. The stickering is far more minimal compared to the Kyurangers line and personally I find that to be a good thing. Individually, these guys look great, super accurate for their size and they even scale with the mini pla VS Changer if you’re into collecting the mini pla weapons as well. These 4 combine just like the big DX toy to make LupinKaiser and……..well…..it’s really small. Compared to Kyuranger’s Mini Pla Kyuren-Oh, he’s about a head or so smaller and, as far as general bulk goes, he’s a bit on the scrawny side. Now, in all fairness, he is very show-accurate, but when placed on the shelf I feel that he stands out in a negative way. Going back to the positives, the articulation is excellent, as you would expect from a mini pla figure, and he poses pretty well. He is missing head articulation but, due to the nature of the transformation, I don’t see how that’s possible. At the end of the day, I like this figure and I look forward to PatKaiser next month. He’s super accurate in aesthetics and transformation, he poses really well, sure I wish he was bigger as a whole but I can get over that. Definitely grab this guy if you are into model kits and like the look of LupinKaiser.
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