Wow! Dai X Look-a-like!

[Shane]

Browsing online I found this fella:http://www.collectiondx.com/review/2007/ideonThe body looks an awful lot like something Professor Hagen might have designed. And the ground based vehicles that form the robot are very similar too. Definitely something that wouldn't have looked out of place in X Bomber. From the same year too, not surprisingly.This is a relatively new release though (2007) from the Soul of Chogokin line of remolds.Like the poster mentioned on that page, c'mon fellas time to give the Dai X the same treatment. It would be rude not too.

[FZeroOne]

Ideon and Big Dai-X are from roughly the same time period; there were a number of combining mecha anime shows around at the time - heck, even the RX-78 Gundam is one in the original TV series (not the movies)!"Space Runaway Ideon" was a work by Yoshiyuki Tomino, creator of "Gundam". Although somewhat obscure among Western fans, its generally regarded as one of his master works; despite being somewhat over long and with repetitive battle scenes (remember, this is what the kids want and in those days you saw an episode a week if your parents let you, not half-a-dozen in one go in Ogg Vorbis format! ), it was very probably a major influence on later series like Evangelion and the movie version "Be Invoked" features probably the most apocalyptic anime ending there has ever been. More information on this oft-overlooked classic can be found here:http://counter-x.net/ideon/index.htmlAnd, yes, a Soul of Chogokin Big Dai-X is high on my "want" list too. I feel that someone, possibly not Bandai, will sooner or later get round to it...

[Shane]

Thanks for the info FZeroOne.I really am a big fan of this kind of mecha design from the late 70s early 80s. With Ideon - The head says Gundam and the body says Dai X.I'm interested about the rights issue regarding a new Dai X: Soul of Chogokin release. I think most of the mecha chosen for the SOC were owned by Bandai in the first place.I know that Takatoku were responsible for the Gokin versions of the Dai X, including the incredible, Dengeki Gasshin, but the company went out of business in 1983/4 and most of their designs were sold off to various companies. Takatoku's Valkyrie design being famously bought by both Bandai and Hasbro.So I wonder where the rights lay at this time? Did Bandai buy a job-lot of Takatoku rights including the Dai X toys and have simply not bothered to incorporate him in the SOC through lack of interest. Or does some other party now hold the rights?I think it would be a good seller!

[FZeroOne]

I honestly don't know the answer to that one! Takatoku also produced a Orguss Orgoid line, and CMs Corp. (IIRC) has recently hinted they are planning to release a new toy based on this design, so it seems not all the design rights that Takatoku held belong to or were purchased by Bandai. I suspect the main reason is just perceived lack of consumer interest. Soul of Chogokin style items have become progressively more expensive (what fans call "otaku tax!"), partly because some recent toys would probably appeal only to a select audience.These things do tend to go in cycles - a few years ago, everyone was releasing VOTOMs toys; a little while back I could have hoped to own every Patlabor toy ever made (not anymore, though!) and currently Macross seems to be the toy company hot property...

[Zordon]

I know that with enough intrest the kaiydo company that make revoltech mecha figures will make any mecha model if theres enough intrest. hech they made all the getter robo line and thier upgraded versions.if we let them know that it's a go nagi line they'l bite

[Crash]

How big d'you reckon Dai-X must be in comparison to a Gundam at height, say up to 20 metres and a Valkyrie at say, 16-18?Is there a chance of a realistic Dai-X as opposed to all the horrible ones I've seen... with balloons and ... swords and ... tricycles?So yes, who do we write to?

[Zordon]

google revoltech and the company who make them. that's the best bet. a 12 inch dai-X, fully possable, with the option of the waist and feet being un pluged so you can make leg trax

[Shane]

(Crash Override @ Jan. 09 2010,23:21)QUOTEIs there a chance of a realistic Dai-X as opposed to all the horrible ones I've seen... with balloons and ... swords and ... tricycles?The top of the range Dai X that Takatoku made might have come complete with swords, spears and spinney things, but the robot mode was not bad at all and it was mainly made out of Die-cast metal to boot, none of this complete plastic rubbish.It would be nice to have a perfect version made though using current technology. Which was pose-able and looked good in both robot and vehicle modes.The new version of Ideon is light years better than the original, and I'm sure a new version of Dai X would surpass the old designs.

[FZeroOne]

Usually the biggest factor in the consideration for re-release of a toy is the availability of the original production molds. This is one reason why a number of classic Transformers toys have not been re-issued - the molds were either destroyed or have worn out and its usually not cost effective to make new ones.The next most important factor is usually licensing issues, which is why you will never, not ever, see an official re-release of the original Jetfire toy, for the obvious reasons.Some strange things have happened recently, though. CMs Corp recently released a pretty expensive re-working of a Dorvack toy (the same one used to make "Roadbuster" in the Transformers line), which was basically the original toy with a few modern tweaks. It is much more likely that that any Big Dai-X toy would be a modern re-working. I have slightly mixed feelings about this; modern designs are often superb and have lots of features and touches that would be impossible with the original technology, but this sometimes comes at the cost of their "play" value. The classic stuff were designed as toys, not as fragile collectors items...! This is only a rough estimate, but comparing my DX Big Dai-X to Bandais 1/100 scale Master Grade Turn-A Gundam kit, they appear to be roughly similar in size (based on the size of the cockpits and approximating how big the human inside would be in comparison), which for the Turn-A is given at roughly 20 metres. Of course, I don't know what scale the Dai-X is supposed to be...

[Shane]

(FZeroOne @ Jan. 10 2010,11:48)QUOTEIt is much more likely that that any Big Dai-X toy would be a modern re-working. I have slightly mixed feelings about this; modern designs are often superb and have lots of features and touches that would be impossible with the original technology, but this sometimes comes at the cost of their "play" value. The classic stuff were designed as toys, not as fragile collectors items...! There's a lot of truth in that. For the price you have to pay for some of the SOC line, they probably barely get touched at all if they even make it out of the box. (An interesting side note - Its much cheaper to buy the toy-like original GODMARS than it is to buy the updated SOC version.)When I was a mad collector of X Bomber stuff, (Owning the small, standard, DX, and Dengeki Gasshin) the prices were relatively steep, but there was always a price threshold where people would say -  forget it!For instance, The Dengeki Gasshin will go on sell for between £500 - £1000 these days, but it's not really worth that amount as very few people interested in the Dai X (i.e. Star Fleet/X Bomber and Gokin fans) are going to spend that kind of money on it. It's not too rare either as I know of half a dozen places to get one, because they can never shift them at that price.So in that regard, to a toy company, the Dai X might not look like a viable option, but hands up anyone who would pay a realistic price for a new perfect version of the Dai X? Star Fleet, X Bomber, and SOC fans might surprise the toy companies with their interest.