Goodsmile Max Combine DX Full Power Gridman Gallery

"Hyperlink combine!"

SSSS.Gridman took two communities by storm in the last year. The anime & tokusatsu fandoms were united by the amazing animation studio Trigger's love letter to the original Denkou Choujin Gridman and it's near countless references to other tokusatsu of year's past. The series was short but it's impact was immense, leading to a near endless stream of related multimedia and products since. Things like the recently announced SymphogearXGridman mobile game in particular show the power of this series. And ever since the series ended, fans have been patiently waiting for the promised big combining DX set of figures to create Full Power Gridman. But now that it's finally here, does it live up to the hype?

This review is a long read, and the images are attached across the first 4 posts of this thread.
Post 1 focuses on packaging, Gridman himself and Calibur
Post 2 is Battle Tracto Max & Buster Borr
Post 3 is Sky Vitter & God Zenon
Post 4 is Full Power Gridman

Packaging
If there's one thing this set get's right, it's the spectacular presentation. For starters a slipcover featuring some *gorgeous* Masami Obari artwork goes a long way to making this feel like something you must own. It's a nice touch after how inspirational Obari's animation was to the series. Beneath this slip cover is an old school style box with lid presentation that's styled after some of the original DX Gridman releases. I just cannot deny how satisfying the packaging looks. In box the figures and parts are broken down individually in their trays in a very similar fashion to how many old Sentai mecha used to be packaged. It has a nice vintage feel to it, that belies the actual quality of the figure's in the set. Here we go.

Main Figures
So. Where to begin? To preface the review, I'm not happy. I have a number of frustrations with this set that I'll get into in each section below. But I just want to say up front that this was advertised as a fully functional premium style combining set of robots. It cost about $150 USD after shipping to even get this set in hand, but it definitely feels like having it in hand now, that I've overpaid. And I do mean by a significant amount. For a set that was delayed by upwards of 3 months from it's initial solicited release, one would assume extra time and care were taken to ensure this turned out well. Instead it feels as though many corners were cut. I recognize fully that GSC seemed to have been going for a vintage style DX type set with this release, but they really really missed the mark in any measurable way for me. I'll examine each component individually, then combined modes.

Accessories/Parts:
With a set like this that has so many moving parts already, and new parts used to swap out for various modes and features, there isn't really a steady list of accessories to rattle off like a Figuart, a SIC, or even an SOC. However this set does come with several parts sprues. Some red ones to build articulated hands for various combined modes. An orange runner of ribbed tubing meant to accessorize a couple of modes, though when not in use for these modes they have no functional purpose. And a set of loose black display base parts. The base includes parts to basically let you display any of the Combined forms as well as Sky Vitter individually if chosen. The poseable arm is best for 2 of the 3 smaller Gridman + vehicle forms. However, wouldn't you know it? Of the two Gridman sets I bought, one for me one for a friend, mine was missing this poseable arm entirely. I had to contact Goodsmile for a replacement when Amiami refused to do anything about the matter. Not a great start when the first thing I see handling a new release is something being missing. And of course this set also, bizarrely, includes a label sheet. Something that was totally unspoken of until right at release. Every stock photo of the set prior to release showed details as paint apps. No mention was made of labels until Japanese collectors started receiving the first batch. Suffice it to say these labels were not a good idea. Anyways....

GRIDMAN:
As the core of this set I wanted to start with our titular hero. This should have been the easiest part of the set to get right. I think when most people had seen official images of this set and even display photos, they probably mistook the size of this figure. I know I most certainly did. While I think a lot of people assumed it to be a roughly 6" scale type of figure, it's really more of a measly 5.5", coming in under SH Figuarts, Hasbro Basic 6", Lightning Collection, Marvel Legends. What have you. This figure was designed by Good Smile Corporation and it doesn't even come in around the size of their Figma line. Granted there is a Figma Gridman coming as well, but this figure comes in at a substantially smaller size than most other figure lines. A disappointment for a hero of Gridman's stature for sure.

But the disappointment doesn't end there either. While the sculpt is pretty exquisite and the paint apps are mostly well done, Gridman suffers from a crippling lack of articulation where it does exist, and in some cases a total absence of it. The feet are hinged to move forward and back. That's it. Don't expect to get too many dynamic stances using them, with no outward movement everything is limited. The knees can only perform about a 90 degree bend so once again, don't expect much out of them. The hips are similarly limited by design. There's no waist or torso articulation whatsoever, though the head can rotate decently. And the arms wind up being the biggest problem area. The shoulders can spin pretty freely and have lot's of flexibility but the poorly placed and fragile silver padding that runs around them can get in the way. You pretty much have to angle them straight up to get any real use out of the shoulders. The elbows are very odd. They can spin completely but the forearm guard can also spin, so the arm can bend up at nearly a 90 degree angle, but if you're trying to put the forearm in the right spot it can be very difficult. Sadly the wrists are sunk so deep into the arm that you don't even get a full rotation out of them before impacting the forearm armor either. Not to mention the hands fall out rather easily. Pretty much any time you rotate them it pushes them out far enough to just fall.

Speaking of hands there is an alternate set included to hold Samurai Calibur, but the wrist joints are so weak and have so little meaningful articulation to them, that getting this thing posed with Gridman is very very difficult. There's a 50/50 chance of the hand falling out of the joint with the sword at any point. I'd also like to mention just how ugly the open screw hole are that line the back of this figure. Once again, this was supposed to be a pretty nice premium set of figures, and it feel like it came in very cheap. As a standalone figure, Gridman will look pretty puny in your collection and won't function well enough to do much on his own. It just can't recreate the dynamic poses of the character well enough to be a decent representation. If you aren't in it for the combination gimmick, skip this set and just wait for the Figma to come out.

GRIDMAN CALIBUR:
Less a figure and more of a weapon, Calibur is Gridman's trusted sword and partner. In his Primal Fighter standalone form, Gridman wields the massive Calibur at many foes. In this mode Calibur has the chest component of Full Power Gridman wrapped around the base of the blade as well. I always prefer the extra bulk this provides, it honestly looks a little too puny when used with Full Power Gridman. The paint on Calibur is pretty rough in places though. Also be extra careful when sliding the chest plate down onto the blade. It's an extremely tight fit, repeated use is almost guaranteed to strip paint. While you're at this stage you also have to put a label on the center of the chest plate to complete the look you'll need later. The first instance of these frustrating labels.

This is also the point where the shoddy wrist design comes into play. Gridman's alternate hands meant to hold calibur sit even worse inside the wrist joints than the original closed fists do. Trying to move the figure at all with Calbiur results almost half the time in the hand and sword simply falling. However it doesn't help that no matter which set of tab holes you use on the Calibur for Gridman to hold it, neither is secure enough and the sword can easily pop off. Calibur does compliment Gridman well, it looks good with him. But his inability to hold it well makes it difficult to do much with him. Unexpectedly, the handle of the Calibur can rotate, which is useful for it's Axe Mode transformation for God Zenon to wield.

BATTLE TRACTO MAX:
This mini tank is a pretty interesting design on it's own. I always dig overhead cannon barrels like this, and they can each angle up or down and rotate independently. For whatever reason, the Tracto Max has to have labels applied to the cannon scopes to complete their look. This is such an easy paint app to have applied, it's hard to believe they opted for labels that size. However, this is another instance where expectations meet reality. This Tank can also combine with Gridman to form it's own power up, and as such has a unique helmet for him. However it has a ridiculous storage area. Simply and loosely pegging onto the rear end of the tank on 4 precariously thin plastic tabs that barely fit into the slots they're made for. I'd also like to point out more of the iffy QC on this vehicle. Look no further than the really bad plastic flashing on several of the wheels. Again, expensive toy made cheaply.

In any case, to combine Tracto & Gridman, split the tank halves apart into arms. Oh wait. More labels to apply! I'm particularly upset that these shoulder labels weren't made apparent basically until this set released. Every photo we'd ever seen of this set showed the 3-D sculpted properties of this section of the figure in color, clearly suggesting it was a paint app. Lo and behold we have to put stickers on top of the sculpted details of the shoulders instead. Open up the shoulder components then rotate Gridman's arms up at the elbow and Max can peg into them on the back of the bicep. when you get to this point, you see how flimsy and cheap feeling the hinges and plastic used in Tracto really are. Nothing about this feels high quality. The shoulder panels will just barely stay closed and once you start posing him, they fall right off.

This is also an instance where the included sprue of ridiculous orange hose parts comes into play. This is a $130 set before shipping, and in order to even complete this one piece of the set for it's minor transformation, you have to cut parts off a sprue. Maybe I'm overreacting, but that's absurd. And these hoses are made of an incredibly cheap and inflexible plastic. They don't plug into the Tracto helmet securely and even when you can get them to, once you plug the other end into the shoulders they tend to just pop everything apart. And that's in a static position. Try posing the figure in this combination at all, and you'll quickly become frustrated with hose wrangling and opening shoulder compartments. The combination of Gridman & Battle Tracto Max is known as Max Gridman. In this case I believe that's for maximum frustration. Because of how limited Gridman's arms are by design and how they have to fold upward into the shoulders, the toy fails to be capable of doing almost anything other than rotating the arms and moving outward slightly. There's no bicep swivel either so there's just a big ugly elbow joint in the middle. The fists "rotate" a fraction of a degree to either side before hitting a tank panel. The fingers are hinged to open as one piece to hold Gridman Calibur as well.

At this point I should mention the equally absurd parts sprue included to build the articulated hands. While the articulated hands are optional display parts for either this mode or Full Power, the mere fact that they must be built is nonsense. This reveal was saved until nearly the last second before the set was released as well. Shame on GSC for withholding that if you want your Gridman to have expressive hands, they have to be built. These parts are clearly a very late cost cutting change as well. This is made evident by the fact that there are literally empty spots in the figure tray to accommodate them and even those silly hose parts. So they were clearly planned to be there from the beginning, and I belive GSC simply cut costs by leaving them for us to build instead. The hose parts by the way have to be removed every time you turn Tracto back into a tank. They don't properly store anywhere at all. As is articulated hands as an alternate option can be great, when done properly. In this instance they were either an after thought or left over at the end to cut costs. They do not save the Max Gridman mode from being pretty abysmal. Thanks to poor engineering of the core Gridman figure (like no ankle tilts!) this thing is super top heavy and falls easily. Be prepared to use the included display base if you want it to do anything other than just stand around.

BUSTER BORR:
Borr is another ground vehicle, of the drill tank variety. This little guy can't really do much on it's own frankly either. There are some side panel missile pods you can open but that's about it but they're really intended for combined mode. To complete the vehicle you will have to shove the Buster/Full Power Gridman helmet into a slit on the back of the tank though. The tolerances were very tight at first and difficult to work with. The helmet is made of a thin plastic and can scratch easily so be cautious while sliding it in. to complete the look of the tank, you will have to tackle that silly label sheet again to get a couple silver rectangles on the drills. Why couldn't this have been a paint app GSC? I just don't get what's up with all the labels. The back of the helmet also requires 5 labels but you won't see it until we make God Zenon so it can wait for now.

The transformation to make Buster Gridman is rather involved. Remove the helmet from the rear of the tank. Un-peg the side treads and rotate them down and inward. Swing the drills up and straight, then rotate them down and forward. There's a small grey peg within the yellow chest plate that you'll need to flip up now to connect to Gridman's chest too. However you will also have to plug on a totally separate gray semi-circle accessory just below this as well. I just don't get why it needed to be a separate part at all. This could have been incorporated into the figure. It snaps not totally securely around the core Gridman's waste while the gray plug actually presses down into his apparently spring loaded yellow chest panel. Then bring the tank treads down and attach the precarious helmet over Gridman's face to complete the look.

You guessed it, this form has about as much useful articulation as the last. Everything comes back down to the lazy design of the core Gridman figure itself. Lack of ankles, poorly designed arms, no waist no torso joint, that's all detrimental. The entire Buster getup is top heavy like Max and the legs aren't always strong enough to hold him up meaning you'll have to rely on that included display base for a lot of things. This is especially true when you rotate the tank treads around and forward and open up the Borr drills for attack mode. Gridman has no hands included that can actually hold the sculpted triggers on the back of the treads. The drills/cannons whatever can be angled back and out if you so choose, but doing so will kill any neck movement because of the larger helmet. And when you open up the Borr drills, surprise! You're going to have to sticker them up with 24 labels. Yes, 24 individual labels! This is absolutely the most egregious thing about this set having labels. There is no reason at all that this shouldn't have been paint apps. None. And these are not good labels either, they just aren't a good fit for the shape of these parts. This tedious activity ruined most any of the good will I might have had left for the set. I build model kits and sticker them up all the time. This just should not be something you have to do with a release like this.

SKY VITTER:
As the biggest chunk of the Gridman formula, I had slightly higher hopes for Sky Vitter. Sadly though there are many of the same issues present. First up, apply a whole bunch of labels to the top side of the jet mode. Oh and couple to the underside. And two more in between the two halves that make up the jet. To complete jet mode, push the wings up, pull them down, then plug them into the sides of the jet. Honestly they feel very thin and a bit cheap, but Vitter on the whole feels this way as well. With no landing gear and a single display base option, things are limited for display. But the QC is particularly odd on this one. The forward section of the jet, which detaches to combine, is two separate parts. The cockpit/helmet section plugs on very loosely, and for some reason crookedly. It all bends upward and shows a decent gap between parts. The hinged wings on the mid section behind this can fold up down and inward but that hinge is so thin I'm honestly afraid they'll break. They're really only needed for Full Power mode anyway.

Then there's the really shoddy color matching. Like the gray plastics & paints that don't match. The forward section of the jet, the area that becomes the knees of either combined form, those parts are molded in gray plastic. Part of the side protrusion where the wings are stored and the wing stripes adjacent to this area are then painted silver. Then the rear section where the fists are stored, almost looks like the same color as the knees. But no, it's painted gray, not molded. And it's painted with a very cheap primer like gray that is very badly applied. So many imperfections in the paint and the plastic itself, so poorly done. GSC mentions in much of their online material, and specifically in my Customer Service request about the missing stage arm, that parts are hand painted on most of their products so quality varies. Well quality went out the window here didn't it? $130 for this? These parts also generally just seem to be molded poorly. Which is a shame, I really like the Sky Vitter's design. It feels like a decent cross of something like a Gundam Core Fighter and a Mospeada Beta Fighter. But as a vehicle it doesn't really offer us much.

You'll also need to assemble the black display base with it's lowest configuration in order to display the jet properly. There is *no* hard connection point to hold Vitter on the base in this position either. It's just a curved piece of plastic that rests in between the two halves of the jet. Gravity and friction hold it in place. None of the other base parts can hold it in any other sort of dynamic fashion either. So this is pretty much as good as it gets. Posing Gridman to ride on top of him yields similarly limited results but it does look cool. Now to combine.

To create Sky Gridman, first separate Sky Vitter into it's 3 components. Once you have, split the legs apart and fold down the gray tabs on the backside of each. This is the only locking mechanism that holds Gridman in them, when folded back up they latch over some ugly wholes in the backs of his legs. It gets the job done though, thanks to the fact that the Vitter parts weigh almost nothing. But the legs do wiggle about in there. Now to display Gridman in this combo you will also need to prep the display base with the 2nd tallest part to hold the legs up high enough and give the appearance of flight. Each leg pegs into the sides of the stage arm using combination tabs which I'll give GSC credit, is smart. Though it means this figure is effectively a statue. Next you take the Vitter mid section and fold out two pegs to plug them into Gridman's back. The Vitter cockpit then goes down over Gridman's head, though you will need to pop up the canopy to give the head clearance. Unfortunately, this is easily the least secure of the helmet combos. It just sits on his face. Oh and to complete the look of Sky Gridman you'll have to grab some more of that cheap orange tubing and run it from the helmet to the backpack, then from the backpack to the legs. Once assembled you can't really get anything meaningful pose wise out of this combo sadly. It probably looks the most cohesive of the 3 individual combos and is the most stable, but that's largely due to it's inability to do anything.

GOD ZENON:
Before we hit the Full Power Combo, we'll stop off at this one which only involves the 4 vehicles. Starting with the vehicles, first take Gridman Calibur's sheath part and slide it off, flip it around and slide it back down the blade. Then open it up and twist the handle sideways, this creates the aptly named Gridman Calibur Axe Mode. Now take Battle Tracto Max and remove the Max Gridman helmet, split Max apart, then open up the shoulder casing. Here you'll have to swap out some parts to even combine. There are some hip components that replace the top of the shoulders on Max, as Max is about to become a pair of legs. The knuckle guards over the fist slide down and out while some heel pegs fold out of the wrist for stability to finish up the legs. I use the word stability very loosely here. Now take Buster Borr and remove the drill parts. A pair of dummy drills are included that are used only for this combination. I'm not entirely sure this was necessary. It would have been just as easy to design the standard ones to work to combine in my opinion. As is they don't plug in very securely at all. The legs can't do much either since the elbow joint in the former arms only goes sideways. The drills can angle somewhat but it doesn't help you do much either. There are also a pair of black locking tabs you need to fold up just behind the yellow chest plate on Borr before the next step.

Next split Sky Vitter in two, fold the wings into the side panels, flip him over and fold out two blue pegs. Then split him in halves and plug these parts into the Borr torso as arms making sure to keep the wing side faced back. The forward half of Sky Vitter doesn't need to be split in half this time. Instead it pegs directly onto Borr, making use of the pegs on the grips behind the treads. You can then fold out a small tab on the rear of this jet, which allows you to store the Max Gridman helmet in this combination. Though it's a precarious connection at best, and I appreciate that it can be stored at all, but it literally just rests there. Now just take the helmet from Borr, flip it around to the backside where the God Zenon face is, apply a bunch of labels and attach! The helmet connects with friction around those black tabs you folded up earlier. It's a very loose connection and leaves that entire upper section of the body, basically hollow.

Equip God Zenon with the Gridman Calibur Axe Mode and you're all set. To look at this brick. Admittedly, this was expected. Promotional photos clearly showed that this mode didn't do much. Ggiven how physically limiting everything else in the set is anyway, this one seems to make sense. But if GSC had taken the time to improve everything else, then they could have strengthened this mode and made it actually do something. As is it feels like the ability to form this mode comes as an after thought. I guess I should mention it does have shoulder joints, technically. Though you have to un-peg the arms and re-peg them at a different angle to fake that. These are hexagonal pegs and sockets, so they can't spin freely. There is also a specific connector for the display base just for this form, but at least with mine, it's too short? I have to spread the legs apart and use those elbow joints in the legs to even manage to make it work.

FULL POWER GRIDMAN:
This is the main event. The reason this set exists. But at this point I imagine you know where this is going to go. We'll start with everyone in vehicle form again to get started. Split Sky Vitter apart down into all of it's base components. Only this time when you split the rear section in half, fold the wings in as well, fold down the yellow knee spurs, and pull up the gray hip covers. Fold out the feet from in front of the Zenon hands in the heels and plug Gridman in just as before with the Sky combination. Only now he'll be slightly taller. Then attach the Borr helmet over Gridman's head but this time flip up the yellow horn as well. Next take Borr and position in exactly the same way you did to create Buster Gridman, using the semi-circle gray piece as well. You'll also need to flip down a small red peg on the front of the chest and attach the chest plate that was around the blade of Gridman Calibur as well, splitting it open. This connection is incredibly loose and mine has fallen off several times. The Battle Tracto Max transformation is identical as well, split it apart, fold up Gridman's arms and all. Then you need to angle up the cannons outward as sort of big spikes.

The real problem here is that there is just so much junk trying to navigate around each other. Attaching the Max arms without knocking the Borr parts out of whack is almost impossible. Then positioning the Borr parts knocks the Max arms off. Everything else that's left just sort of, gets shoved onto Gridman's back. The Sky & Max helmets do not store well at all, both are just loose pieces to lose at some point. As with most anything in this set, nothing is secure. Nothing works right.

This entire combination is a stability nightmare. Nothing is pegged well, nothing is tight or secure. There is almost zero useful articulation of any kind. Balance is an issue without the stand, which you can't use well with this form either. Things pop apart anytime you move anything. Of all the disappointments of this set, this one is by far the biggest. Those hose parts and alternate Zenon parts just get left to the side entirely too. You can use the articulated hands you built if you so choose, but ultimately they serve almost no purpose. The arms can barely move already so the articulated hands add nothing at all. This set fails in absolutely the most essential aspect of it's production.


Final Thoughts
I've handled some iffy toys in my time. I've been doing reviews for 8 years now, and I've been disappointed before. But I've never been quite as disgusted by a sub par release as this. Goodsmile has had such a long history of making great 1/12 scale Figmas for collectors of various properties. Their upcoming Gridman Figmas look phenomenal. But sadly, so did DX Gridman. Now it puts my opinion of how their products *look* in a whole new light. This set was the chance to deliver on something that fans of SSSS.Gridman desperately wanted from this lauded series. Confusion did set in rather quickly when GSC got the license to do a large combining set and even Figmas. But most of us I believe thought they made quality products as well. However most people, myself included, had expected Bandai/Tamashii to pick up this license. But given how poorly they handled the original Gridman license for Ultra-Act (which in retrospect now are actually wonderful) it's not surprising Bandai missed out on this one. Having only so far been given the go ahead to do a Super Minipla set of these designs, we can only hope to see a Soul of Chogokin at some point. As is their SSSS minipla set is about $100 and requires much more building and just as much stickering as the GSC DX. Meanwhile megahouse has their Acti-Builder set, which costs almost as much as the DX, is far less accurate, and maybe about the same functionally. Meaning this is a lose lose lose situation for collectors. There is no best option really.

What Full Power Gridman needs is a truly SOC style treatment. Something to fully realize the potential of the design. Swap out parts are fine, labels are fine, accessories you have to build are even acceptable. But not on a $130 set of figure's that works out to more like $150 with shipping included. In every sense imaginable the Max Combine DX Full Power Gridman from Goodsmile is a failure. The individual vehicles are largely boring and very cheaply manufactured. The core Gridman figure doesn't even remotely meet the standard set by other contemporary figures, even of those produced by GSC. Each of the combined modes suffers from a need to be accessorized by extra parts and labels that weren't advertised as such right up until the day of release. And the big draw of the set, Full Power Gridman himself, is absolutely pathetic as both display piece and functional toy. I cannot recommend this set to anyone. I won't. I want to sell my set after reviewing it and I honestly know that I can't. It's not good. I actively recommend you not buy this. Just wait for something better. Even if you can get it for some drastic discount like 70-80% off, just don't bother. It isn't worth the frustrations or shipping costs. I hate to end a review so negatively, I can't even remember another time that I've done that. But Goodsmile has clearly missed the mark so hard with this release, that I can't to any other conclusions about it. For anyone else who purchased it, I'm honestly really sorry you have to handle this dud as well.

Part 2
- Battle Tracto Max
- Buster Borr

Part 3
- Sky Vitter
- God Zenon

Part 4
- Full Power Gridman

Heartbreaking.

it's such a fantastic design; this deserved at least a chance but instead it's stuck with a company that just doesn't seem to care...

Yikes! Glad I didn't pre-order anything yet. Looks like it's Super Minipla Gridman for me.

EDIT: A quick thought about the Masami Obari art on the packaging: I wonder if that was arranged to smooth over the plagiarism controversy.

I really don't think a hyper poseable Gridman was an option for a set this price. As we've seen with the Actbuilder set, which is more expensive, still has cut out pipes which are super finicky, and nearly half the size, it just doesn't lead to a stable combination. The only thing I've truly been disappointed with so far is the stickers.

I really, really wish that I followed my initial hunch and didn’t pre-order it. But the show was just so damn good and I needed some merch to buy. Curse you Trigger.

The question now becomes - store it away sealed and hope that decades from now it's actually rare enough for me to get the price I paid back or open it and actually maybe enjoy it for what it is? I'm leaning towards the later as I can’t see this thing becoming rare, especially now that everyone knows its crap and a second run is coming up.

You'd think the core figure would be hard to screw up, but wow, they sure did it.