BANDAI official Ultraman toy information site

Hello everyone.
My name is Nno, and I am in charge of planning and development of Ultra Toys.

This may be a bit sudden, but are you already aware of this product that is scheduled to be released in mid-September?


"DX SC-3 / Special Airborne Armor Unit-3"!!!

This is the third robot from Strayge that appears in the hugely popular "Ultraman Z."
The special air force robots chosen so far are robot monsters closely related to "Seven," such as Sevenger and Windom, but the third one to appear is his arch enemy, King Joe!
Looking back at the online production announcement, Director Taguchi hinted that "There may be more hidden cards in store after this!?" and this is what he meant...!
I'm sure there were people who had predicted the "King Joe" motif back then, but it must have been quite a surprise to see him appear as a "Storage Custom" figure, which is different from his original form.

This product has received an explosive response since its release, not only for its amazing design, but also for its three-mode transformation and sound gimmick, and it is an item that I have developed with great passion.
This time, I wanted to personally appeal to the product's appeal, so I decided to take up my pen!

The DX King Joe special feature will be a comprehensive four-part series!
Until the release date, we will be introducing this product from various angles.

I'll let you know in advance that in future articles we will be including a section where we'll be letting you know little by little about a certain product that has not yet been announced, so I hope you'll check it out every week!

In this first installment, we will be introducing the specifications of King Joe Storage Custom's basic form, "robot mode."
Let's get started! This is the product packaging for the "DX King Joe Storage Custom"!



The packaging design is reminiscent of a "robot toy" and at first glance it doesn't look like an Ultra series product.
King Joe reigning majestically as the friendly robot, is an eye-catching shot from above!
It may be a little early, but be sure to look for this bright blue packaging when you're in the store to find the product.

Now, let's open the brand new product sample.
When you open the package and take out the contents...



Shazam!



This is what SC-3 / Special Airborne Armor Unit-3 Robot Mode looks like!



The overall coloring is not the dazzling gold of the original, but a monochromatic black and white color scheme.
It has the appearance befitting a special aircraft from a military organization, STORAGE.

On the other hand, bright colors such as metallic blue, red, and gold are used as accent colors in various parts of the body, and when you pick it up, it has a surprisingly toy-like exaggerated feel.





The size is approximately 165mm in total height up to the top of the head.



This product has a variety of built-in gimmicks based on the concept of "being able to play with the current soft vinyl series", but in terms of size, the mode in which the soft vinyl and scale match best is the separate mode and tank mode, which we will introduce in the next article.



Due to the balance between the various gimmicks and transformation mechanisms, the combined robot mode is a little larger than the soft vinyl figures, but the balance is ultimately closer to the "Ultra Action Figures" and the "soft vinyl series from the old size era," so it's a specification that will please adult fans.
(Now I want a robot mode soft vinyl figure too...!)

In terms of the standing pose, the clever design means that the arms are angled even when the figure is standing, and my personal favorite thing about it is that "it looks cool just standing."



Because the small body has three transformation modes, the only movable parts are the roll of both arms, but they are equipped with click joints so you can move the arms with a satisfying click.



In addition, the legs, which are angled V-shaped by default, can also be closed.



When you close the legs, it immediately takes on the feel of a box robot, which makes it feel like "this is acceptable in its own way" as a robot toy.
I hope this situation will be depicted in the movie...


Now, the main gimmick that we want to tell you about above all is the "Pedanium Hammer" equipped on the left arm!
It is one of the main fighting forces in robot mode, and by pressing the switch on the shoulder, the forearm automatically deploys!







The moment you press the switch, the arm shoots out with a bang!

This feels so much like a toy.
It's a little different from the so-called "rocket punch," and the strangely "Z" shaped trajectory gives it a fresh feel.
Its firing power is also quite impressive, and when it's used against an alien-like soft vinyl toy that stands on two legs, it can knock it down with great force.



Although it is a gimmick that involves some pretty bold action, the mechanism only consists of two springs.



It takes up minimal space, so even in the default position with the arms closed, it doesn't give the impression of the arms being unnecessarily fat.



I may be biased, but I think it's quite amazing how they've managed to create such a gimmick in such a small space while still maintaining the safety of a toy for children.

That should be it.
Within the Ultra series, "robot toys" are a rare category of product, but these toys are made by members who have brought many of BANDAI DX robots to the world.
The product is packed with BANDAI 's pride and joy, its know-how in robot toy development, so we hope you will enjoy it from that perspective as well!

So, this week we'll be focusing on "robot mode"!
Next week we will review the two-stage transformation into "Separate Mode" and "Tank Mode"!
Just the mention of "King Joe that separates into four units," which pays homage to the original, is enough to get your mouth watering, but are there any other secrets to be discovered? It's getting exciting!



●This week's short story●
In this corner, we will delve into some nerdy points that we couldn't cover in the main part, but this time we would like to touch on the attention to detail that went into the molding color and texture of the "DX King Joe Storage Custom."



In fact, the "white molding color" of toys is a difficult element that can make development a nightmare...
If you choose a pure white molding color just for the sake of white, there is a concern that the detailed carving will become blurred and stretched out, or that it will simply look cheap.
However, if you use a pearl color, it can be too shiny and differ from the image you had in mind, and using additives to create a metallic look can make it more fragile.
In the case of toys for currently airing shows, the development period is particularly short and the number of prototypes is limited, so the instinct to choose colors with a high degree of accuracy right from the start becomes important.

In particular, because this King Joe is a weapon used by a military organization called "STORAGE," the actual suit used in filming has an exquisite color scheme of matte white paint with some dirt added, making color selection extremely difficult.
But we still wanted to recreate this atmosphere somehow! So we kept retrying the molding color a total of six times until just before mass production!



It's a subtle nuance that can't be conveyed in a photograph, but we chose a calm white color with a slightly toned-down blue tint.



And what's more, to recreate the "military weapon" feel, we've applied a "textured finish" to it that kills the "shininess" that is typical of toys.
Embossing is a type of mold processing technique in which a mold that has been polished and prepared well is used to remove the shine or create a specific pattern.

This time, by adding an extremely fine grain, we have created an appearance as if the entire piece has been sprayed with a semi-matte spray.
Furthermore, in order to prevent the screws from standing out too much, we made fine adjustments such as using black screws for the black parts and silver screws for the white parts!



Although customers will likely not have many opportunities to see the actual suit used in the film, I wanted to make it as close to the real thing as possible...with that in mind, I made repeated adjustments until I was able to make something that I, as the person in charge, was very satisfied with.

The whole body is also packed with detail, so if you're skilled at it, I think it would look even cooler if you tried shading it.

So that's it for this week's update!
Next week's update will be on Friday, August 28th at 5pm! Look forward to it!