Finally, the Black Lion has come after too many months of waiting! If the huge box was any indication of how big this thing was, then opening it was a shock to the system! Complete with Pilot Keith, the leader of the Voltron Force, this final selection is the icing on the cake!

Keith also known as Akira ‘Chief’ Kogane in the original Anime Go-Lion, was a true heroic character. Leading his team in battle against giant monsters and Prince Lotor—and guys from other shows…ugh…WHY!!! Anyhow…the butchered Go-Lion wasn’t so censored in Voltron that Keith couldn’t show his bravery against the evil that would threaten the peace of Princess Allura’s rule.

OK, let’s be realistic…you want to see Voltron. Well, let me finish with Keith and we’ll move on…

Keith’s package is as awesome as the rest with great Anime art and the window showing the figure.

The back of the box has info—you know that don’t you!

The inner tray has the figure, alternate head, black figure stand/key and the final “Collect and Connect” Blazing Sword piece in the form of the top of the blade—just look at the detail throughout, how cool is that! Also included is the second part of the sword stand and the directions to assemble it. I want to mention that the white dots on the shoulder pads are not only from the Panosh Place figure line, but also the cartoon.  The white dots appear two ways, one as being light reflected off of the shiny plastic shoulder pads as a visual effect for the artwork and the other as being part of the outfit, so that’s a pretty good detail to include for such small figures.

The super showcase package houses this beast—complete with paint smears—wow, 60 bucks and the window has paint marks…oh well, it’ll be opened soon, but still.

The back has info…

As said above, the Black Lion is huge!!! It’s actually a bit smaller than my runt, eldest cat, as you can see; Holland has become friends with Black.

It’s amazing that this lion is as large as it is and you truly can’t tell until you hold it in your hand.

The core of Voltron, the Black Lion can form the body (torso) and Keith can form the head. Complete with the Blazing Sword and squishy rubber shield that resembles a throwing star; this final piece of the subscription is just amazing!

The cockpit opens by lifting the red wings and either using a fingernail or the figure stand/key it opens a large plate on the top of the lion. The inside has a white seat and the stickers have been applied pretty well. The blue button is depressed to auto transform the front legs.

…And now, with all 5 lions assembled–TEAM, GET READY TO FORM VOLTRON!!!

The fully formed Voltron is just gigantic! However it is oh so rickety, although the legs have an extra heel part that flips out for stability, I still don’t trust it enough to leave the giant figure for long. Articulation is decent for its size, but the balance is off because the piece is top heavy. He can do leg splits to a point and there are knee joints—he might be able to sit…somewhat, but other than that, when the arms are outstretched or even bent at the elbows the weight leans forward and you have to be sure that he wont tip over before walking away. The arms move and the head can look left and right. The wrists turn and the Red and Green heads can hold the sword and shield by pressing the handles into the inside of the mouths on pins and then closing the jaw.

The face detail is really great and appears to be 99.9% like the original, the shield at his chest is a button that when pressed—forms the head by opening the mouth, dropping down the face and opening the ears.

The back of Voltron shows the full detail of the red wings and how his tail just sits up—I remember the original Matchbox Voltron having a slot to press the tail into, this one gives use of it on a few joints.

Finally, in my best example of size comparison, Voltron stands next to Masters of the Universe Classics Tytus. Tytus is a very large figure and even in the package he looks small compared to the great height of Voltron.

Now the question is, was Voltron worth the wait? Was it worth the cost? Everyone is going to have a different answer, so I’ll just say that I believe that in the end it was worth the wait and as for cost, well, what can you do? Voltron is awesome and kicks ass in every way. The figures are cool in their collectible packaging and the fact that they can be placed inside the lions to pilot them is just cool in itself. The stands are nice additions and the “Collect and Connect” Blazing Sword is a well thought out extra. The swappable heads is a “new standard” modern touch and allows for high quality sculpts and gives the collector a choice in how they wish to display them.
The lions are mixed in how I feel about them. The auto transformation action feature was really not needed, just tight leg joints would have been enough, if this is a collectors piece it should be stable, the last thing I would want is to come home from another horrible day at work and find Voltron on the floor because it tipped over. However, the size alone makes the Classics Voltron simply awesome. If the whole collectible piece has the cost matching the value, I’m not sure what to say on that, I feel the exclusive piece in the form of Sven was a smart extra and actually having individual figures made the deal even better.

My final say on Voltron is that it is an excellent piece of my personal toy history and having something this huge with action figures makes it all the better.

GRADE: Based on Quality.

Keith: A+ (The figure is just nice, I can’t really find a flaw and that alone makes me happy with it).

Black Lion: A+ (A new feline member of my family (I hope you know that I am kidding)! Not perfect, but awesome enough to garner such a high grade, worth every penny and full of value)!

Voltron: A (although rickety and the Yellow and Blue Lion’s front legs pop open more times than not, this Voltron is totally awesome and is a focal point of my collection. Mattel did a good job with Voltron, but could have done better in how sturdy its construction was. Nonetheless, Voltron gets an “A” for Awesome!!!

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