The Energon Pub

[craggy]

Why do they cost so much? Or am I just seeing inflated import prices? Over £30-£40 for each bot on Kapow. Haven't searched ebay.

I think I can guess at part of the answer to this.

They're Takara exclusives, so far. That automatically bumps them up an extra ten-twenty quid over a normal toy. They're also pretty big. Each one looks to be around Voyager height. And...Kapow. Sometimes the price you pay for someone else importing stuff is an inflated retail price, but you do get the guarantee that that's all you'll pay, as opposed to importing from elsewhere in the world and possibly getting customs charges on top of much, much higher postage fees.

[Sabrblade]

New videos:

[chuckdawg1999]

pre-ordered the gift set of these guys. But not sure I'll keep it.

They look good, I like the combination gimmick but there's something off about them. Hmmm. Maybe need to see a proper review of them.

There's a gift set? Anything different from ordering all three separate?

[Sabrblade]

pre-ordered the gift set of these guys. But not sure I'll keep it.

They look good, I like the combination gimmick but there's something off about them. Hmmm. Maybe need to see a proper review of them.

There's a gift set? Anything different from ordering all three separate?

Nope. Just straight up repackaged, unaltered figures a la the giftsets of the good old days.

[LOST Cybertronian]

Seibertron member Sabrblade has pointed us in the direction of 4 new videos showing off the electronic lights and sounds features of Transformers Go! Kenzan. These videos come to us courtesy of Youtube member D Tagoal. Brush up on your Japanese and check out the embedded videos below.

[Ketchup]

I really like this guy and whatever he is yelling in Japanese sounds awesome. I am pretty sure I will be getting him, but will probably hold out for the gift set later this year. I can't wait to see more pics of the Ninja team now.

[Mykltron]

That video has put me right off.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

That video has put me right off.

Odd, it has done the opposite with me I could understand some of the Japanese, but I wonder if changing his position changes the sounds as well. In short, does Kenzan have the sounds for all three Sanjo Gattai?

[craggy]

That video has put me right off.

Odd, it has done the opposite with me I could understand some of the Japanese, but I wonder if changing his position changes the sounds as well. In short, does Kenzan have the sounds for all three Sanjo Gattai?

that's a bit of a Super Sentai type idea, and going by how this thing appears to have some articulation, I don't think it's emulating those things.

edit:I'm liking the light and sounds action. Zam Zam Suzie!

[Samsonator]

I've been getting Sentai Robo vibes from this lot since pics first started to surface, these videos have done nothing to dispell that. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, though.

[Evil Eye]

Gah, electronics. Meh.

Still, if it weren't for the flashing lights, the horrible sound quality and the laser noises I'd quite like it. The actual Japanese voice is awesome.

[Prime0080]

Are these triple combiner sets cross-compatible? Does anyone know???

Because I'd rather just take my favorite bots from each set and combine those instead of paying for bots I'd rather not use or have.

[Sabrblade]

Are these triple combiner sets cross-compatible? Does anyone know???

Because I'd rather just take my favorite bots from each set and combine those instead of paying for bots I'd rather not use or have.

Undetermined.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Are these triple combiner sets cross-compatible? Does anyone know???

Because I'd rather just take my favorite bots from each set and combine those instead of paying for bots I'd rather not use or have.

Undetermined.

But as far as we can tell unlikely.

[Sodan-1]

It's a pretty impressive light-show, especially in combined mode. The voice bugs me. The character doesn't look like it should have that deep a voice, but it's probably a Japanese cultural thing I don't get. I like the samurai-themed Autobot logo. That's a nice little touch.

None of this is making me want to cough up for these though. Can't get past the aesthetics.

[Sabrblade]

It's a pretty impressive light-show, especially in combined mode. The voice bugs me. The character doesn't look like it should have that deep a voice, but it's probably a Japanese cultural thing I don't get.

It's a Leader thing. Leader characters in anime tend to have somewhat deep, powerful, serious sounding voices. And since Kenzan is the Team Leader, it'd make sense for him to sound that way.

Based on the video's we've seen, Jimbu sounds like he could be the youngest member of the Swordbot Samurai Team.

Then again, the last video we saw from the Tokyo Toy Show made Gekisomaru (at least, I think it was his voice) sound pretty young and easygoing, so he might be an exception to this.

Though, I could see Kenzan as the protagonist Autobot, so he might be seen as the main leader.

[craggy]

I likes em.

[El Duque]

Japanese toy blogger Alfes 2010 has gotten his hands on the first three figures in Takara Tomy's Transformers Go! line, the Swordbot Samurai team of G01 Kenzan, G02 Jinbu, and G03 Ganoh. As usual he's provided extensive galleries of each figure including their combined forms GoKenzan, GoJinbu, and GoGanoh.

Each figure comes with three collectors card depicting their respective vehicle, robot, and combined modes, and a separate combiner head and shoulders that can transform into a weapon. Kenzan features lights and sounds that work in all three combined modes.

We've mirrored some of the images below, but the full galleries can be found at the following links:

• G01 Kenzan
• G02 Jinbu
• G03 Ganoh
• GoKenzan
• GoJinbu
• GoGanoh

[Grahf_]

If I ever get these they'll be displayed with the fire truck on top. Not only is that the best looking one overall despite the overly thin legs, it looks like it can use the police cars combiner arms/robot legs as a secondary set of arms. It also looks as though you can use the jets regular robot arms as a third set on top of that. Six armed super combiner.

[Gearslide]

So the three configurations are glowing boobs, glowing tummy, or glowing crotch.

That's the Japanese for you.

[Arctorro]

The more I see of them, the less I like them... I just can't help feeling that these guys are a step backwards from RiD's Team Bullet Train.

[Mykltron]

I have now lost interest. The gestalts seem to have non turning heads, which is normally a deal breaker for me. Apart from that they just look a mess. They've been too ambitious with this and my opinion is that they've failed.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Now that I think about it, I think Kenzan does have the electronics for all three combos. The combiner head pieces (which are proper named kabuto or "helmets") have different lengths, but they all end where Kenzan is in the configuration. In short, it seems different sounds are triggered by a certain kabuto. I like the helmets actually, another Brave throwback, to the "Met On" gimmick of Fighbird and Guardion.

With C.O.N.S. coming up, maybe they'll be available for sale... crap.

[RhA]

I like 'em. The price is steep, though.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

The price is steep, though.

What do you expect? They're Voyagers, one even had electronics.