Miraculous Hook Toy, the culmination of creators' love for robots, is completed! In-depth review of "Insectatron, Guardian God of Green Green! The 8th Toys and Games by Taiyuki

In this popular series, voice actor Yasuyuki, who loves robots more than any other voice actor in the industry, plays around with the latest toys and hobbies!

Toys often sold at aquariums, zoos, and large train station kiosks are called "hook toys," but did you know that transformable robot toys have existed in the world of hook toys for a long time?

This time, we would like to introduce the latest in the "Batron Series" from one of the leading manufacturers of such hook toys, " The Access," the"Insectibatron," a green-green guardian god!

The "XX Batron" series has already included the aquatic creature "Seabatron" and the animal "Anibatron," but this time the shocking debut of the completely new design is the "Insectibatron. There are many things to see, but let's start with the package.

The motifs are the Hercules beetle andGiraffa sawtooth stag beetle, two of the world's most popular insects. The imposingly large Hercules and Giraffa are packaged against a background of cool illustrations by Kamizono (twitter account @kamizono144 ). Please save the full illustration for when you get your hands on it.

On the back, you will find an explanation of each robot's transformation. The deformations are easy to understand, so you can memorize them after you have transformed the robot once by looking at it carefully!

Let's start with the Hercules beetle.

Here are the contents of the set. The Hercules beetle and rocket launcher.

The modeling is excellent, but the paint job is also well done, and the gradation of the paint is amazing. What an attention to detail!

The body length including horns is over 20 cm, making it one of the most voluminous figures in the Batron series.

At first glance, you may think it is a model of an insect, but when you look at the back, you are reminded that this is a transformable robot toy.

From the side, it looks just like a regular insect model.

The eyes are well painted. The antennae and other parts have been reproduced without omission as much as possible. There is almost no movement in insect mode, so let's get right into the explanation of the transformation.

When you play with the actual toy, you will notice that the material (ABS) used for this toy is very different from the materials used for previous Hook Toys, allowing you to deform it with a great sense of security.

Now, let's start the transformation!

First, lift up the insect's face a little.

Then, open the sides of the head. The movable part here is a little stiff at first, so be careful how much force you put into it. It is a good idea to move it a few times to get used to it.

Lift the wings a little. (In the image, only the back feather is lifted.)

(In the image, only the back feather is lifted.) When the feather is lifted, there will be a small gap between the left and right feathers.

Spread the lifted wings and pull the belly of Hercules back.

Turn the main body over and unfold the robot's legs, being careful to unfold the parts that collide with the wings (the area circled in red).

Next, the arms of the robot are to be deployed. Since the part configuration is quite detailed, please check the image from above at an angle to see how it looks before and after deployment (the right side is after deployment).

After arm deployment, rotate the forearms 90° inward with the roll axis under the red second arm.

Slide the head forward.

Open the legs in a figure of eight position to complete the transformation. It was such a realistic looking insect, but it's hard to believe that it can transform into such a mechanical robot!

I love that it has a style without breaking the bank!

Hercules' wings are also like a cape. The horns are also impressive parts.

I would like to mention the head later, but you did a good job on the body design as well. The yellow parts in the center are also impressive.

The legs are simple, but the detail of the part that used to be the insect's belly is strange because it seems like a robot-like detail.

The arms of the Hook Toy move better than ever before. The elbows roll and rotate and flex 90°. Shoulder swings and wrist snaps. If it moves this much, it would score a hundred points as a hook toy.

Hercules "Hercules Punch!"
The knees benefit from a deformation gimmick and can be bent deeply.

Hercules "Horn Cannon!

Hercules "Horn Crusher!

Whale Shark (friendship appearance) "Stop~!

(All technique names are imaginary.)

The included weapon is a rocket launcher. It is quite thick, but it is a single part with no part divisions. Moreover, it is a gorgeous, completely new modeling.

It can be held on the wrist.

Like the actual rocket launcher, there are two grips, both of which can be held on the wrist.

This rocket launcher. The actual rocket launcher is used with both hands, but even this toy can be held in both hands!　To be honest, I was surprised by this.

The choice of weapon, a rocket launcher instead of a beam gun, gave me the impression that Hercules is a trained soldier who is used to fighting.

Next, let's take a look at the Giraffa sawtooth stag beetle.

The Giraffa sawtooth stag beetle set. The main body and a bazooka.

First, the main body. The reproduction of the characteristic jaw is excellent. Actually, I am not good at insects, but MUSHIBATRON is so cool that I can ignore such things (only insects).

It is also a very powerful figure, measuring approximately 20 cm in length. At the beginning of development, it was difficult to keep the size of the insect to this level. For more details, please refer to the "Interview with The Access" article (tentative) to be updated at a later date.

The back side also shows a glimpse of the mechanism.

It would make a nice picture if it were placed on a stump.

The eyes are painted. The sharpness of the jaws is modest due to safety standards, but they are still very powerful! The antennae and legs are made of PVC, and should not be damaged so easily if not handled too hard.

Let the transformation begin!

The head unfolds to the left and right. The head in robot mode is exposed.

Lift up the wings just like Hercules.

When the wings are lifted, there is a small gap in the middle.

Pull the belly back to expose the thighs. The deformation in this area is the same as Hercules.

Legs unfolded.

Bend the elbows 90° while rotating the forearms 90°, taking care not to interfere with the wings.

The shoulder area is also pulled outward, taking care not to interfere with the shoulder area, and the legs are opened to the left and right in a figure of eight to complete the deformation!

Here, too, the stag beetle's characteristic chin has a nice silhouette. The style is also outstanding!

From the back, the stag beetle element remains strong.

Bust up. The head is finely color-coded by dividing the parts and painting. The light blue parts on the chest are impressive.

In order to reduce the thickness of the stag beetle's body in insect mode, the design of the body could have been simplified, but the details and the waist are unique and heroic in the limited conditions.

In the Batron series, it is very rare to find an item that has even the back of the head sculpted well.

The legs have a toe-like design. By slanting the soles of the feet, the Insect Batron is designed to look comfortable even when standing with its legs open.

The stag's legs attached to the arms look like weapons.

Due to structural limitations in the shoulder joints, the range of motion is more modest than that of Hercules. Still, the elbows can bend and the forearms can roll and rotate, and the figure moves well for a hook toy.

Giraffa "Giraffa Scissors!"

Gyrafas(Friendship)"Stop~!"

Giraffa "Stag tackle!"

Gusokumushi "Stop it~!"

Giraffa "Agito Thunder!

(The names of the techniques are all imaginary.)

Giraffa's weapon is also a single part without a hole.

Naturally, it can be held in the hand.

The length of the grip suggests that this weapon may have been designed almost exclusively for Giraffa.

I was able to take a photo of the weapon as if it were aiming at a target.

Insectibatron is an item that sets itself apart from the previous Batron series in many ways, but the most noteworthy point is the design of its head, which can be said to be the lifeblood of the robot.

First, please take a look at the heads of the previous Batron series.

The design has a certain direction, and is very tasteful. Each of them is unique, which I like, but the new MUSHIBATRON has revolutionized the BATRON series.

Let's take a look at the head of Hercules.

The head of Hercules the Hercules beetle was designed by Alan Moriguchi (Twitte account @AlanMoriguchi ), who has created prototypes for many super robot toys. Although he cannot be decorated with parts such as horns or antennas due to his deformation, he still has a manly and powerful expression. The figure looks cool from any angle, so we encourage you to pick it up and look at it from various angles! (Mr. Moriguchi designed only the head.)

Next is Giraffa.

Giraffa was designed by Kyoryu Kuramochi (Twitter account @kyoryu_kuramo ) not only for the head, but also for the entire body. When we asked him about his design, he said, "I tried not to destroy the exciting world of Hook Toys, and I tried not to make it look like a realistic robot. My dream of designing a Hook Toy has come true.

Well, when you look at Giraffa's head in light of this story, there are many points scattered here and there that seem to pay homage to the super robots of the 1970s and 1980s.

Comparison with the Giant Slug from "Seabatron ACE," which was designed before Seabatron. The scale is almost the same. Good size to play with side by side.

Weapons can be lent from Seabatron and others.

Nice!　Batron series!

They are really realistic when lined up in insect mode. Thanks to its larger size than the real thing, even I can play with it, even though I'm not a fan of insects!

In robot mode, I'm even better!　It would be fun to buy a lot of them and display them in a case for keeping insects in a corner of your room. Or display them with the real thing!

Considering that there are insect fans all over the world, I would like to encourage children in various countries and regions who are insect doctors to pick up and play with these items.

What I embraced when I touched this item was, "This is not the level of a hook toy!　The level of perfection is too high!　What's going to happen to future items? I was filled with a sense of anticipation.

Although the bar may have been raised with this item, I am sure that The Access will continue to produce amazing transformable toys in the future. (Of course, they also deal in many other toys as well.)

We will keep our eyes on you!　Thank you, The Access!