BANDAI official Ultraman toy information site

Hello everyone.
My name is Nno, and I'm in charge of planning and developing Ultraman toys.

Following on from our last article, we will feature "The Shining! The Sounding! Special Air Unit No. 1 Sevenger "!



First of all, thank you so much for all the feedback on this product.
The first batch of reservations was closed early, but we are now accepting second batch reservations for delivery in April.
Please note that we may close reservations for the second batch early once we reach our production capacity limit!

Now let's move on to the main topic.
This week we will be introducing three topics: "Light," "Sound," and "Gimmick."​

■ Part 1: Illumination
As you know, the selling point of this Sevenger is the eye light-up gimmick!!



On the product page we have used many images of the eyes shining brightly, but how do they make them glow?



As can be seen in the photo above of a disassembled prototype, the LED extending from the torso illuminates the entire head.
There's also a secret to the color of the LED; it actually uses a white LED instead of a yellow LED to light up.

There are two reasons for this. The first is to improve color reproduction.
In the footage, Sevenger 's eyes are a bright, fluorescent yellow, but it's difficult to recreate that atmosphere with the LED light color itself.
For this reason, the eye parts themselves are made clear yellow, and the color of the parts is adjusted to enhance the reproduction of the image in the movie.

Another reason is the brightness of the light itself: white-emitting LEDs are easier to produce brightness (luminance) than yellow LEDs.
In addition to the brightness of the LED itself, the inside of the parts is painted to diffuse light to the edge of the pupil, making the eye look natural.
(This has the added benefit of making your eyes look less dead even when the lights are turned off.)

I think it looks beautiful enough in photos, but the sense of realism when you turn on the LED with your naked eye is quite impressive!
In addition, when it comes to the way the lights light up, we plan to incorporate more than just lighting up, such as the LEDs turning off in time with the audio line "Battery dead!" so please look forward to it.


■ Part 2: Sound
Next we'll focus on the sound gimmick.

We often see products with the specifications of "light-up!" and "action figures",
It's quite rare to find a product that combines all three elements: it lights up, is an action figure, andmakes sounds.​
Given this background, as a planner, I particularly wanted to challenge myself with the "sound" element.

Having developed many NARIKIRI items myself, I have long fantasized that if we could incorporate the fun of voice play, such as with transformation items, into figure products, it would lead to a new toy experience.
The DX SC-3 / Special Airborne Armor Unit-3 was one part of this series, and we saw some success with it, so this Sevenger is an evolution of that, with voice play included.

The internal program that forms the basis of the sound gimmick is currently under development, so we plan to announce the details on our blog once it is completed, but for now we'd like to introduce some of the specifications that we are currently planning to include.

[The secret of the power switch]
I'm going to jump ahead a bit suddenly...
Do you know where to put the battery in this Sevenger?



On social media, we saw some astute customers who noticed that there were no screw holes on the back, and that's no surprise.
In fact, the entire backpack unit on the back forms the "battery cover" itself.



This allows us to both hide the screw holes on the inside and create a design that does not make the battery cover stand out.



When you remove the battery cover, you will see the power switch as shown in the image, but the knob on the switch actually slides in two directions, up "●" and down "●●", and depending on which direction you put the knob in, you can choose between two pilots, "Haruki" and "Yohko" (and decide which line of dialogue to play).



When you turn it on, you hear the voice of either Haruki or Yoko say "Sevenger, start up!" to let you know which mode it's in. (This is pretty exciting!)

As for the audio that follows, we plan for the lines of the pilot selected at startup and related sound effects to be played according to the scenario seen in the movie: "Start-up ⇒ deployment ⇒ confrontation with the monster ⇒ victory (or escape)."​
Furthermore, the character voices recorded this time have been kept to a minimum, with the kind of "famous lines" that are often found in NARIKIRI items.
Since "Z" has many famous scenes, there are many lines we wanted to include, but we chose the lines with the understanding that the sounds come from Sevenger, and positioned them as "voice lines to enrich the gameplay."

Specifically, these include lines that are frequently used while piloting Sevenger, such as "Cleared for takeoff!", "Monster appears!", and "Hard-core iron fist bullets, fire!", as well as attack calls such as "There you are!!" and "Oryaaaah!".

This allows you to play in ways that, for example, include changing your battery pack in sync with the AI voice saying "One minute of practical action time left!", or flying your arm in sync with the line "Hard-core iron fist bullet, fire!" It 's really exciting!
The joy and excitement of hearing the lines, cries, and attack sounds that you used to play out in your head as a child while making soft vinyl figures fight each other, actually come from the figure itself!
(Oh, please convey this feeling...!!)

So, please look forward to the time when you can actually play with the product.

[The secret of the voice button]
Now, the "button" used to play this sound has also been designed with some ingenuity...
In fact, the left and right units on Sevenger 's backpack are themselves audio buttons!



Usually, sound activation switches are provided with a dedicated round button, but since this product is a figure to begin with, we didn't want to ruin the appearance just to make it produce sound.


Perhaps that feeling was conveyed to Sevenger (?), because the backpack design was in a very convenient location, so I took the opportunity to use it.

In addition, we previously introduced the mechanism of the "2-channel IC" in our review article for the "DX King Joe," and this model follows the same specifications, allowing you to layer two types of sound at the same time using the A/B buttons.
We are currently developing this product to maximize the degree of authenticity to what is shown in the movie in terms of both appearance and sound, so please look forward to it!


■ Part 3: Gimmick
Lastly, let's talk about "gimmicks" today.

The most iconic element is the "hard core iron fist bullet firing gimmick" built into the right forearm!



The Hard Core Iron Fist Bullet, implemented at Haruki's request, is a very memorable special move for Sevenger in the game, and we felt it was essential to recreate the gimmick when planning this product.

but!!

If you look closely at the design...
Sevenger 's forearms are incredibly thin.



If it were a DX toy for children, I think it would have been acceptable to make some deformations and make it a little larger, but this is a high-end model for adults.
We want to keep the impact on the exterior appearance to a minimum, and we cannot compromise on this.

The pedanium hammer of the DX SC-3 / Special Airborne Armor Unit-3, which has a similar gimmick, is moved using the entire left arm.



Although this gimmick also fits into a fairly small area, we were able to fit it in because we could fit springs and other components throughout the entire part.

However, with this product, the forearm unit is detached when you first insert the elbow joint, so there is no way to do anything unless the gimmick is concentrated within this "forearm part."
As a result of prioritizing the shape, we had to fit a spring into the arm, which ended up being the size of the tip of a pinkie finger, and then use that force to generate the energy to launch the forearm...this was an extremely difficult challenge, but in the prototype just before going into the mold, we finally succeeded in making the arm fly, and the "Hard Core Iron Fist Bullet" gimmick was finally created!
The impact on the exterior was also kept to a minimum, with the launch switch sticking out slightly.



The entire forearm can be rotated, so if you are concerned about it sticking out, you can rotate it behind your back to hide it.

In addition, in terms of action performance, there are more than 20 movable parts throughout the body.
Since we don't yet have a prototype molded using a mold, it's difficult to give a concrete example, but we have illustrated the movable points in the product images.



Some parts have a limited range of motion, so the product page lists fewer movable parts, but in reality there are a total of 27!
As development progresses, we would like to continue to adjust the action figure so that it moves well and is easy to play with.


So, I have explained the product specifications of Sevenger in two articles.
I would be happy if you could find our products even a little attractive!

We plan to update this article once a prototype has been made using an actual mold, but as mentioned at the beginning, we may close orders early depending on the pre-order situation, so if you are considering purchasing, we recommend that you use the information above as a reference and place your order as soon as possible.
Well, see you next time! Thank you for watching until the end.