BANDAI official Ultraman toy information site

Hello everyone.
I'm Nno, in charge of planning and development of Ultra Toys!



Following on from last week's article, this time we will be taking a closer look at the "DX SC-3 / Special Airborne Armor Unit-3 "!
Let's get started right away.


A monster appears in town!



"Cleared for takeoff!" King Joe makes an emergency sortie!!



Upon arriving, there were only two enemies...



I don't have enough hands to fight them all at the same time!!



...Oh no! The Barossa alien is approaching from behind...



At that very moment, the surprise attack was launched!!



Ah!!



King Joe 's torso has separated!!


Wow, the Storage Custom can be separated into upper and lower halves?!
...or so you think, but then the upper body separates!!



And the lower body is also separated!!!



The lower body is dramatically transformed into a long, flat carrier form!



So King Joe that S-Storage modified was hiding such a secret...!!


So that's it....

As I continued to recreate scenes from the movie, I came up with this!



This is" King Joe Storage Custom Separate Mode"!

King Joe head unit transforms into a flying machine called the "Head Fighter" equipped with five cannons!


King Joe chest unit is transformed into the iconic "Breast Tank" tank, with its armaments on both sides!


King Joe abdominal unit becomes the "core ship" that acts as the control tower for each unit and is responsible for remote control!


King Joe leg units transform into "leg carriers" that also function as monster transport vehicles!


Each unit has its own unique role to play as a guerrilla force, and they will play an active role in the story!
The core ship has no gimmicks due to its size, but the head fighter has mode-specific sounds using a voice unit!

The breast tank comes with a pedanium hammer!


You can load a soft vinyl toy onto the leg carrier and roll it around!!!


...In other words, it is packed with toy-like gimmicks.

While the concept of "separating from a robot form into four mechas" respects the original King Joe, the design of each mecha has also evolved into a newly redefined "Reiwa version."​

While I am once again impressed by the greatness of the original King Joe, I believe that a product that reproduces this gimmick of ``separating into four units'' in a DX toy for children is a rare example in the history of the Ultra series, which has been running for half a century.
(The "Soul of Chogokin King Joe" for adults and the simplified replica "ULTRA-E.G. King Joe" are also masterpieces in Ultra toy history, so we'll mention them here!)




However, simply "separating into four units" is, in a sense, a foregone conclusion for fans of the Ultra Series.
I don't think it will surpass my imagination.

Another concept incorporated to provide new surprises for "Reiwa King Joe" is "recombination from a separated state"!

This is what it looks like!


"SC-3 / Special Airborne Armor Unit-3 Tank Mode"!!

The robot mode silhouette reveals a giant tank form that you would never expect!
Its appearance reminds me somewhat of a battleship, and even reminds me of Iron Rocks, which also appeared in Seven. (Isn't that super emotional?)



Although the silhouette changes dramatically, the transformation process is quite simple.
After combining the breast tank and core ship in separate mode, simply join each unit to the leg carrier to complete the combination!







The leg carriers that serve as the receivers can be folded up to become the robot's legs, so a somewhat unusual space-saving joint structure is used to combine them into tank mode.

Those who are familiar with BANDAI 's DX robot toys may be confused at first, but the combination is held together by having the ribbed convex parts sandwiched together.




When I think that this small innovation is what makes the proportions in robot mode work, it makes me excited, even though I'm in charge of the product...!!

Even in tank mode it can be rolled by hand, and you can even adjust the angle of the pedalium particle cannon!





The tank mode's special move is a simultaneous radiation attack using all equipment!



It will crush any strong enemy with a single blow.
GO! STORAGE!!!



So, continuing from last week, we have been introducing all three modes of "SC-3 / Special Airborne Armor Unit-3."
However, this is not the only attractive feature of this product!

Did you notice there's another important factor that I haven't mentioned up until now?

It's "sound"!!

In next week's update, we will provide a detailed explanation of the sound gimmick, which is packed with the best specifications from our editor, Nno.
Stay tuned!


●This week's short story●
This week's maniac tidbit corner is about the paint job on King Joe.
This is a common problem when developing robot toys, as robots that transform in multiple stages often have many painted areas, which can increase manufacturing costs.

This is because, in order to change the appearance with minimal transformation steps, the same part will often have different sides shown in each mode to express a change in silhouette, so if you try to make each mode attractive, you will want to paint many different parts from all 360 degrees.

For example, what bothered me about King Joe this time was the "Head Fighter."



The muzzles of the five barrels are positioned so that they are completely invisible in the main robot mode.



For that reason, when we first started developing the product, we did not intend to paint it.
However, when I looked at the samples that came out of the factory, something just seemed lacking...



It's... white...
I want to paint it black, but there are five places...
That's not a number of colors that can be accepted on impulse...
But if it stays like this, even if you hear the sound of artillery fire it'll be hard to imagine where the attack is coming from...

After all, I would like to send him off proudly as "Reiwa's King Joe."
...You can't have worse than worse!!!

So I decided to go ahead and paint all five muzzles black.



When you compare it to the white sample above, the effect is immeasurable!

In this way, I ended up painting many other areas as well...In the end, the number of colors used is almost the same as the miniature that appears in the movie.



The key point is that the gold ring-like paint on the head is also applied all the way around!



I think the final result is quite a flashy look, so be sure to check it out!



···by the way.

This is about the "slip-up about an unannounced product" thing I mentioned briefly last week.
I wish I could announce it right away, but since there are two more weeks of updates, I will only show you one of the included parts.

Boom!!

(*The image is a prototype, so it is uncolored and transparent.)

If you can guess what part this is just from this photo...that's ultra amazing!
However, I'm sure you've all seen it somewhere in the movie at least once!
Please try your imagination!

So that's it for this week's update!
Next week's update will be on Friday, September 4th at 5:00 PM! Look forward to it!