Now we’re talking. After a successful toy run based on Netflix’s animated Voltron: Legendary Defender, Playmates Toys has set their sights on the series that started it all: Voltron: Defender of the Universe. I have nothing but respect for the new show, but classic ’80s ‘toon is MY generation’s Voltron.

I watched Voltron: Defender of the Universe religiously; after school, home from school with the flu, and anytime in between. The colorful Lion Force team was great, with each character defined by a unique personality: Keith, the all around heroic nice guy; hot-headed Lance; nerdy Pidge; soft-hearted Hunk; and the hot Princess Allura (yeah, I had a crush on her). Each episode saw the Lion Force grow as a team as they took on the evil King Zarkon and his witch sidekick Haggar. While the overall story arc kept me captivated, it was the end of each episode that I looked forward to the most. That was when Haggar would create a wicked new Robeast… and the Lion Force would form Voltron to fight it!
Playmates’ new Voltron Classic ’84 Legendary Lion Collection presents collectors with all five of the original Lions – Black, Green, Red, Blue, and Yellow – which can combine to create a towering 16-inch tall Voltron that features phrases and sound effects from the show, as well as a light-up chest! These are at retail now priced at a MSRP of $17.99, with the much larger electronic Black Lion coming in at $29.99.
Each Lion comes packaged in a window box that screams VOLTRON. The Lion toy is front and center, clearly visible with all of its accessories. Then there’s the iconic Voltron logo, picture of the animated Lion in question, a pic of Voltron fully formed and a bazillion call outs telling you what this toy can do. It’s bold, colorful and sure to grab your attention in the toy aisle.

After freeing each Lion from its plastic coffin (have scissors handy, there is an abundance of plastic ties), you’ll immediately be impressed by the wealth of accessories. Black Lion, because of his size and electronics, doesn’t include any gear, but red, Green, Yellow, and Blue come loaded. each includes a shoulder missile launcher (with real button-firing missiles), a hind quarter laser weapon, and a jaw-held blade.

The shoulder weapons, which can be plugged into any port on the Lion’s four legs, are cool extras, but the mouth weapons are the real stars. Each lion receives an unique blade design, each blade featuring a rectangular peg. To use, open the spring-shut jaw of each Lion and insert the peg into the corresponding slot at the roof of the mouth. It’s a secure fit and a highlight of these figures in Lion mode.

Each Lion is constructed of a nice, dense plastic. There’s nothing flimsy feeling about these toys. Articulation is also quite impressive. In addition to the spring-closing jaws I mentioned, each Lion has a rotating head (with up and down movement on the Black, Blue, and Yellow Lions), jointed waists ( hinged for Green and Red; cut joint for Blue and Yellow; nothing for Black due to electronics), and fully jointed legs (shoulders, elbows and feet). Articulation is smooth, yet firm, perfect for striking a number of running/pouncing battle poses.

Each Lion is awesome on it’s own, but who are we kiddin’? You’re gonna want all five figures to form Voltron. It’ll cost you a little over $100 when all is said and done, but I gotta say that it’s well worth it. This is a LARGE, well constructed Voltron figure. 16-inches tall and full of useful articulation and electronics to boot.

Transforming the five Lions into Voltron is very similar to how past Voltron toys executed it (Trendmasters, Toynami, etc). Each lion’s tail folds back or tucks into the body, their legs curl up (and out of sight with the Black Lion), and the heads of leg Lions bend 90 degrees to form feet. Right away I was impressed with the wings that fold out on the Black Lion. On past Voltron toys the wings “free floated” – there was no locking mechanism to keep them in place and straight. The wings on Playmate’s version stay in place due to the Black Lions thighs that you rotate back. It’s an awesome touch.

Another cool thing that surprised the heck out of me while building Voltron were the electronic sound effects emitted as you plug each limb Lion into the main body (Black Lion)! At first I though that I was accidentally hitting the sound button while holding the Black Lion. Nope, there must be some sort of sound trigger in each connection port. It’s a really cool feature!

Once all the Lions are connected and Voltron is formed, the figure stays together very well. Despite its large size, the fully formed Voltron also stands extremely well. Part of this is achieved by added cut joints on the rear of each leg Lion, or the “thighs” when in Voltron form.  This allows you to splay Voltron’s legs out slightly instead of being stiff and wooden like previous Voltron toys.

Hinged joints in the Red and Green Lion torsos allow Voltron’s arm to bend, acting like elbows. Voltron’s Blazing Sword and Shield lock firmly into place the same way each individual Lion’s mouth-held weapons secure: via peg, hole and the snap-shut feature of each Lion’s jaw. Lastly, the Black Lion’s head – now Voltron’s head – features a great range of ball-jointed movement. This lets Voltron look up and down, side to side. I own the Trendmaster and Toynami Voltrons, and while both are excellent pieces, they both suffer from being stiff figures. Aside from the non-forming Mattel Voltron action figure, Playmate’s Classic Voltron is the most articulated version I’m aware of.

The icing on the cake with this toy is the electronic sound effects. While only Voltron’s chest lights up (eyes would have been cool), the Black Lion emits “60+ Phrases & Sound Effects”. There is an On/Off switch located on Voltron’s back and the sounds can be triggered anytime by pressing the button on his waist. As mentioned, specific sounds are also activated when you plug in each Lion to form Lion!

Overall, Playmates Toys did an excellent job designing the Voltron Classic ’84 Legendary Lion Collection. Today’s youth being introduced to this incarnation of Voltron for the first time will no doubt be impressed, while older “kids” – like myself – that grew up with this version of Voltron will be wallowing in the awesome nostalgia of it all. Playmates’ Voltron: Defender of the Universe is a very welcome addition to my Voltron collection.

Review and Photos by Jeff Saylor

Review Samples Courtesy of Playmates Toys

[See image gallery at www.figures.com] [See image gallery at www.figures.com]

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