Restoration - KO Oversize Shadow Dagwon (Brave/Yuusha Series)

Gotten this oversize KO Shadow Dagwon set (and comes with some fire-able missiles!) some time ago... very happy then, as I missed out buying a mini Kabaya-style (snap assembly) version of it while I was in Thailand for my reservist some years ago (still kicking myself in the butts whenever I think of it)...



...and after some touching up, the figures are quite playable, and decided to give a super quick review here...




Dag Shadow
A triple changer, Dag Shadow is oversized to roughly same height as Thunder Baron (robot mode). The colours are quite similar to the real one, but the stickers are modified too cheesy, so I took out most of the stickers, which I slightly regretted as now the gestalt mode looks a bit plain... The beast mode has a hollow back and hollow hind legs exposed, weird but still ok. Articulation is only the front limbs swivel, and the head and neck do allow some poses when swiveled. Mouth cannot open though. Wings can flap.


Jet mode - There is a slight gap at the back of the jet, but too lazy to fix it. Sigh, should not have removed the wings' stickers... Anyway, I mis-transformed: the robot arms should be folded more backwards so that they won't be seen from front. No landing gears/wheels, so the canopy droop down when placed on a surface. The main wings look small in jet mode but big in gestalt mode.


Robot mode - The front canopy is plugged onto the back (at the side of the beast's neck), and now it acts as a sheath containing a yellow sword. Swiveling articulation possible for the head, shoulders, elbows and feet. Other than these, he is basically a big block, but very nice aesthetically. The ninja "stockings" are gone in this KO version, thank goodness... But still can't understand why the big elephant symbol on his chest... * Edit: Ok, so it is supposed to be a dragon head...




Guard Hawk
This KO has the wings purple-chromed! The neck of the hawk looks hollow if you push the gestalt head to hide, so I flipped the gestalt head (facing a side) to fill in the gap. Very bad stability, but could also be the looser leg joints for my set... Wings can spread out and flap. Neck has swivel articulation. Do not open the beak too much, else the robot face will be revealed.


Robot mode - Very funny body proportions. He is quite stable due to the long back heel. Articulation is swiveling on his shoulders, hips, knees, and feet. Overall, the weakest of the robot modes, in my opinion, mainly due to the big head and funny body proportions.



Guard Tiger, Guard Wolf
I will review these 2 together, as they are similar with only slight remold differences. There is actually a KO gestalt that has the limbs based on this mold, and I happen to own one ... Hahahaha... Seriously, The pure beasts modes are good, but they are made to carry the big backpack-cannon which might make them look un-beastly...


Beast mode - As mentioned earlier, the beast mode looks very nice. There is only swivel articulation at the joints connecting limbs to body (no knee joints whatsoever for beast mode). Oh, the mouth can open and close. The robot arms are exposed badly (see the white portions in the front legs?)... Same for Guard Wolf.


Robot mode - He comes with a small handgun which I can't figure out a good place to store on the gestalt in combined mode, so might just have to keep them in the bag of miscellaneous. Waist can turn, double-jointed knees but must pull him all the way up to get a good height. The shoulders rotate with elbows swivel. However, when the backpack-cannon is attached to the back, the shoulders are almost locked, leaving only elbows articulation. The cannon can rotate higher if desired. Same for Guard Wolf.


Guard Wolf's pictures here...





Shadow Dagwon
This figure measures 30cm from tip of head to feet! Huge gestalt... The small head is somehow blocked by the dragon/beast head though... He is basically a improved G1-ish gestalt : head can turn 360 degrees, shoulders rotate and arms can move sideways, biceps rotate, elbows bend, fists swivel up/down; but with static legs. Very very nice aesthetically looking gestalt, mainly the jet wings give him a broad upper body look, with a small waist. Arms and legs are chunky, unlike some G1 gestalts with small limbs and slim look (Superion, I am looking at you, hahaha!) The main feature has got to be the big wings that spread behind him, very reminiscence of G1 Predaking, which is also 1 of my favorite gestalt. Yeah, the chest needs some stickers, to break the monotonous blue colour...


The canopy is now stored on his buttock... yeah, right, disgusting...




Overall, I like this oversized KO gestalt VERY VERY VERY MUCH! Hahaha.... So what's next on the restore list? Hmmm... KO shampoo-bottle-plastic Guard Diver!