Ninninger EX Otomonin DX Dinomaru Gallery

Today we return to Shuriken Sentai Ninninger with another look at the series' DX Otomonin line! But this one's a bit special, today's subject is EX DX Dinomaru from the recent Shuriken Sentai Ninninger The Movie: The Dinosaur Lord's Splendid Ninja Scroll! Following on from the now usual annual "EX" releases Dinomaru is exclusive to the film itself and is actually quite the creative remold, read below for more!

Packaging
DX Dinomaru comes in the now standard packaging that all of the additional Otomonin of this toyline have shared. Nothing new to report here as the only changes to the basic packaging are the images of Dinomaru and the "EX" designation for this special release.

Main Figure
It needs to first be noted that DX Dinomaru is a remold & repaint of the first Otomonin released in the line, DX Paonmaru! It's kind of bonkers that Bandai were able to get an elephant & a dinosaur out of essentially the same toy, but they did it. And while the results are a little mixed it's still pretty damn cool. Dinomaru has an interesting transformation method to say the least. The standard configuration of this figure is obviously it's T-Rex form. To create it you need to first take the core humanoid body and ben it forward at the hips. Then take the the two hammer like weapons (which were axes on Paonmaru) and plug them on to the back of of the robot. Then attach the included T-Rex head onto the pair of clips on this back section and rotate the face down, the mouth can then open as well. The Shuriken itself with the disc attached then plugs onto what winds up being the tail of the figure, on Paonmaru it would have been the chest. Then simply plug the T-Rex tail on and use the joint at it's base to angle it up to allow clearance. Thus completing the look! It's actually a pretty intricate little figure in this mode, it's a little orange brick, but a fun one.

The basic robot mode for Dinomaru can be achieved by reassembling the given components. Separate everything back down to it's base and start from scratch with the small humanoid robot. Straighten the legs out properly and then fold the head up out of the back of it's chest. Take the T-Rex head and plug it onto the Dinomaru robot's chest which gives you the basic robot. The head actually completes the arms of the robot weirdly enough, though not quite in the same way as Paonmaru did. The base robot only has elbow length arms but some tiny fists are sculpted into the head section to complete them. Then take the Hammers/arms and attach them to the shoulder/backpack area. This give the appearance of 2 giant claws coming off his bath and sadly means there's a lack of missle launchers that were present on Paonmaru. The actual Shuriken and disc aren't used for this mode at all. But that gives you Dinomaru in robot mode. As you can see the molding differences between Dion & Paon are that great but the affect the figure greatly here. The moving joins in the hammer weapons are gone entirely. Premanently molded handles give the impresseion of claws so this figure can't really assume a "down on all fours" type of mode.

Accessories
Included with DX Dinomaru are 2 accessories integral to it's T-Rex mode, and it's further combination with Shurikenjin. The Nin Shuriken Base & Disc. This electronic item is what forms the head and face of Shurikenjin Dino. It's normally stored on Dinomaru's animal form as the connector for the tail. I still think it's weird these Shurikens only have storage options in one mode for the Otomonin rather both forms. A pair of triggers on this piece detect when it's combined to form Shurikenjin Dino and plays out the appropriate phrase & music when done. When not connected pressing the physical button on top will cycle through three sound bytes "Dinoger" "Dinomaru" & "Otomonin Shuriken".

Shurikenjin Dino
To get Shurikenjin ready for this combination you need to remove and rearrange a few things. Remove the standard Shurikenjin Shuriken and leaving that to the side, it won't be used. Remove Shinobimaru from the throne, then remove the right arm made from Dumpmaru. Plug Dumpmaru arm onto the back peg of Shurikenjin & transform Shinobimaru into the new right arm and plug him on. Now take the basic Dinomaru robot minus the shoulder cannons and fold his legs up to seat him in the throne.

Then simply plug the Dino Shuriken onto the the neck of Shurikenjin. As a side not the new faceplate is pretty awesome looking compared to the standard Shurikenjin face or the on the Paon Shuriken. It's sort of reminds me of Abare Killer's helmet. Now take the T-Rex tail and straighten it back out, then flip the small handle out at the base. Plug it into the combined robot's hands and there you have it, Shurikenjin Dino is formed! Whether it's intentional or not you can plug the unnamed hammer like weapons onto Shurikenjin's back for storage, or you can alternatively plug them right into Shurikenjin's hands in lieu of the Sword.

While you won't be using the standard Shurikenjin shuriken in this combo, you can still use the Drago Sword & Shield optionally. Either way Shurikenjin Dino is pretty great. It's by far my favorite combination thus far. It may only have appeared in one movie thus far, but I'd say it isn't out of the realm of possibility to see it in the show at least once if the past is any indicator. Oh, and because of the dynamic hips Shurikenjin has you can get some decent poses out this form!

Final Thoughts
With what seems to be the final single Otomonin release in the line I have to say I'm satisfied. The 4 unique releases have been a bit hit or miss, but EX DX Dinomaru is the clear winner of the bunch.

Check out our previous DX Ninninger galleries below!
DX Shurikenjin
DX Paonmaru
DX UFOmaru
DX Surfermaru
DX Bison King

And all the rest!

Nope. Just can't get in to it.

I really miss when the mecha/zords looked like animals and/or vehicles.

To be honest I lost most of my positive sentiment towards the figure after shooting the gallery. Handling it for an extended period like that I had some good fun, but it doesn't have a lot of replay value afterward. This line as a whole has been like that though.

It's strength is in the combined mode, but even then it's still disappointing. I do like the Abaranger/Dino Thunder nod with the angry looking red eyes, but looking at the rest of the figure it's like ... why did they think this would sell? Is the B team on Super Sentai and the A team now working on US Power Rangers toys?

Holy shit is does kinda feel that way, huh?

Dinomaru looks more like a Turok enemy than a dinosaur. For a supposed 40th for Super Sentai they aren't really putting in any real effort into the mecha designs, the highend versions of Shinobimaru and Rodeomaru, Momo's train and Surfermaru being the line standouts.


Dinomaru is oddly fitting of Ninninger as a whole: it's fun at first but it feels disjointed and odd when you really spend time with it. Hopefully the next Sentai series will see some improvement.

Considering this isnt the 40th Super Sentai I'm not sure where you're going with this. It borrow elements of a lot of shows, and even has that special anniversary episode that was meant to land on the 40th anniversary of the premiere of Goranger. But the 40th series will be next years show. But anniversary doesn't equal putting more effort into to something either. Or need we be reminded of Gokaiger's rather lackluster anniversary toyline. Big ideas with flat executions.

Now that you brought it up Super Sentai hasn't been, for a lack of a better term "outstanding" I get that it's meant for kids first and foremost but surely they aren't too pleased with these sunpar Ninninger mechs.

Also I meant to type anniversary after 40th. I shouldn't type while tired but my point on the Ninninger toys being more miss than hit still stands.