I’ve always been a little weird as a kid. Then again, what kid wasn’t weird? However, I can safely say I was just a bit more different than average as, while everyone was losing their minds with the Voltron Lions, AKA GoLion in Japan, I was definitely in the minority in thinking that Voltron Vehicle Force, AKA Dairugger XV, was better. I don’t know but there was just something about fifteen different vehicles that could combine into either three massive vehicles or one gigantic robot that appealed to me more than five lions that could combine into one giant robot with animal heads on its limbs.

Of course, this meant that, during the height of the Voltron series, I wanted to get a Voltron Vehicle Force toy. But that was simply out of the question as, one, they were extremely difficult to find in the Philippines then and, two, they were super expensive. Even as an adult with expendable funds, I still couldn’t rationalize spending a small fortune on the newer and much more well-made Voltron Vehicle Force or Dairugger XV models that companies like Soul of Chogokin would put out. I would need a cheaper alternative.

Recently, I did stumble upon a more affordable version with Action Toys version of Voltron Vehicle Force. And, not only was it relatively inexpensive, it was also pretty cute as these were mini versions of the large scale toys. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, whatever it is, I finally got my own version in the Mini Action Series 09 of the Voltron Vehicle Force!

Now, I’m not familiar with Action Toys and their previous products but I can tell you, from this model, they do a pretty good job of making very accurate figures of these kinds of things… for the most part. Despite their small stature, all of the individual vehicle have a lot of really cool detailing to them and do look cartoon accurate for the most part. Sure, they’re all made of plastic but the coloring and paint on them are really vibrant and bright. As this is a “budget” figure, some corners had to be cut so don’t expect any of the vehicles to have any wheels on them, even the Land team vehicles that just slide across the table instead of rolling.

These is also a significant lack of accessories. Most of the accessories are needed for the transformation process, such as a new face plate as well as extra hands. Don’t expect Soul of Chogokin levels of extra stuff here. The only real accessory is the most important one: the Blazing Sword. I will say I do love the sculpt on the Blazing Sword as it’s nicely detailed and, while just a hunk of plastic, does feel incredibly solid. Oh, it also does come with the Spinning Laser Blades but those act as the helicopter blades on two of the vehicles. So, no. I don’t consider them to be accessories; they are integral parts of the vehicles. Also, while the Spinning Laser Blades look fine when their in vehicle mode, they come off as too small when you assemble all of the vehicles into Voltron. This is where I do wish Action Toys or a third party made larger versions of the Spinning Laser Blades to make them look as awesome as the included Blazing Sword.

Going back to the individual vehicles, like with the original toy, you do have to really use your imagination with some of them as there are several, namely the ones who form the torso of Voltron, who are just ugly. The vehicle that forms the waist is the most passable just because of the two turbines it has, which is used to connect the other two torso vehicles who do not fare better. The worst is definitely the vehicle that forms the chest as it’s supposed to be a flying ship and it has two dinky wings on its side when there is no way those plastic thingamabobs would give it enough support for flight. Then again, it’s a cartoon so just imagine it can. Still looks like a school bus, though.

Combining the individual teams into their combined vehicles is just like the original toys for the most part. The Land team’s combined vehicle still looks like trash but the Air and Sea teams both look incredibly good when combined. However, this is where you can see some of the flaws with how Action Toys went about with the transformation and combining them together. All of the connecting points are held together with friction. While they do hold really well for now, these parts will get looser and looser each time you plug them together. Some of the connection points, such as the chest vehicle to the chest plate, can be difficult to put together as they are incredibly small. This can be dangerous as you might accidentally snap the connection points while combining the vehicle. This hasn’t happened to me but I can see that happening if you’re too rough with them.

This is also where you start to see how many extra parts Action Toys used in ensuring the vehicles look as good as they do in their individual modes. This is very evident in the Sea team as you have to remove two while chunks of plastics which fill in the holes of the vehicles which forms Voltron’s lower legs. I cannot fathom why Action Toys couldn’t find a way to fill in the space with something like a flip over panel that folds neatly into the shin. Still, the combined vehicles do look nice and very cartoon accurate.

But we finally have the main event: the actual big robot, Voltron. And it is just gorgeous! I cannot believe how well thought out this robot mode is since these are fifteen individual bit and pieces glommed together. I didn’t thing there would be much, if any articulation. Yet Action Toys made it work! I guess they followed a lot of what Soul of Chogokin did with their molds but it’s still astonishing to see how many parts actually move! The darn thing even has a waist tilt and I thought there was no way they could do that! But they did by adding a joint to the waist vehicle and it’s really ingenious.

I do have one minor and major issue with the robot mode. My minor complaint is, once again, you have to remove a couple of pieces from the vehicles to facilitate the combining of ships. This time it’s with how the upper arms connect to the lower arms. You have to remove the fins/spoilers from the helicopters to reveal the elbow joint. Okay, fine. That makes sense as the fins/spoilers would be practically impossible to fit in the vehicle that forms the lower arm. But for the cars which form the lower arms, you have to remove a big chunk from the rear of the vehicle! I honestly would’ve been fine if they left this portion hollow! While adding that extra bit makes the vehicle mode look good, I don’t think it’s worth it because having to remove two extra parts, the fins/spoilers and the rear of the car, to facilitate the connection of these bits.

My major complaint might be just with the figure I have but I do have to mention it as it is something I really hate. No matter how I try to plug in any of the upper legs to the right hip connection point, it’s still going to be very loose. This isn’t a problem with the left leg connection point, though. That thing is a super solid connection and I can shake Voltron and it’ll hold in place. The right leg connection point will slip out if so much as a fly lands on the leg. It also never as flush as it needs to be, making the right leg slightly longer than the left leg. This makes posing Voltron very problematic as, not only does his right leg come off easily, you have to finagle the legs so they’re both level and Voltron can balance on his own two legs! Hopefully, this isn’t a widespread manufacturing problem and it just affected me. But, just in case, I did have to let you know about it.

Even with this major manufacturing issue, I’m still pretty pleased with how Action Toys did Voltron Vehicle Force. It does look very clean and the level of articulation is astounding. I still do wish they limited the number of parts you have to remove to facilitate the combining feature and I do hope the problem I have with the right leg is just a me problem. Still, as a big fan of the Voltron Vehicle Force, I am very pleased indeed.

Do you have the Voltron Vehicle mini figure from Action Toys? Did you have problems with the hip joint like me? Let me know in the comments section below!