About the character/toy
The character of Ginrai debuted in the Japan-only Transformers anime Transformers: Super-God Masterforce, where he was the first Autobot Godmaster and the eventual Supreme Commander of the Autobots. He also appeared in Tranformers: Victory before dying and being reconstructed as Victory Leo.
The Godmasters were the Japanese version of the Powermasters. From a toy standpoint, there is no difference between the two, they are Transformer toys that require you to transform a partner figure into an engine and plug it into the vehicle (or just push the button) in order to transform it to robot mode. However, from a fiction standpoint, there is significant difference between the two: Powermasters consist of a Nebulan who can transform into an engine for their partner and be their power supply, whereas Godmasters are humans bonded to a Transtector and transform into an engine and themselves become the Transformer.
The Godmaster toys were originally released in 1988 and all of them, save for Overlord, were also released in non-Japanese markets as the Powermasters, with only Doubleclouder (Doubledealer), Ranger (Joyride), Buster (Dreadwind), and Hydra (Darkwing) featuring different decos from their American toy equivalents and Super Ginrai (Optimus Prime) being the only one to feature any retooling from his American counterpart.
The Godmasters were the Japanese version of the Powermasters. From a toy standpoint, there is no difference between the two, they are Transformer toys that require you to transform a partner figure into an engine and plug it into the vehicle (or just push the button) in order to transform it to robot mode. However, from a fiction standpoint, there is significant difference between the two: Powermasters consist of a Nebulan who can transform into an engine for their partner and be their power supply, whereas Godmasters are humans bonded to a Transtector and transform into an engine and themselves become the Transformer.
The Godmaster toys were originally released in 1988 and all of them, save for Overlord, were also released in non-Japanese markets as the Powermasters, with only Doubleclouder (Doubledealer), Ranger (Joyride), Buster (Dreadwind), and Hydra (Darkwing) featuring different decos from their American toy equivalents and Super Ginrai (Optimus Prime) being the only one to feature any retooling from his American counterpart.
Vehicle Mode
Ginrai's Transtector is a red truck cab that looks remarkably like Optimus Prime. As stated above, Ginrai's toy was a retool of Powermaster Optimus Prime. Differences between the two include chrome on several places on Ginrai (PMOP had no chrome), retractable fists for the super mode, shortened smokestacks (yes, the Japanese version had shortened smokestacks!), the cab being partially die-cast metal with translucent blue windows (instead of all plastic with opaque blue plastic windows), and the upper legs of the small robot being painted silver instead of relying on stickers.
The cab looks fairly good from most angles, with the only bad ones being from the top and from the back. Looking at it from the top shows some of the gapiness in the back (and the robot mode fists) and the back shows what looks like a second front, not even fully covered by the rear of the cab.
In addition to the cab, Ginrai also includes a trailer. Since Ginrai's mold was an improved version of the Powermaster Prime mold, the trailer looks like an updated version of Prime's original trailer, albeit with the colors broken up somewhat near the front end. In addition to this, when looking at the trailer from the front, it does look somewhat hollow, but that doesn't detract much from the actual look of the trailer, in my opinion.
One interesting thing about the trailer is that the rear of the trailer actually opens up to form a ramp. This feature isn't used at all in the transformation of the trailer and could have easily been left out, but they didn't, so I'm glad.
As far as accessories, Ginrai comes with two black Superconductor Rifles and two grey Particle Beam Cannons for weapons, the Ginrai Godmaster figure itself, and the head of Super Ginrai. Ginrai's weapons can be attached to his trailer (the two grey ones to the sides near the front and the two black ones to holes on the roof) to form his attack mode. In addition, while it's not stated in the instructions, you can store the Super Ginrai head in the rear of the trailer. (It just sits in there, but it's wider than the gap, so it won't fall out)
The Ginrai Godmaster figure itself is a small figure with a white body, red arms, red and black legs, and a grey engine on his back (with the engine itself being chromed). He has small paint details on his helmet, meant to represent his visor; and his actual body, which are just there. Ginrai's articulation is limited to his arms, which can swing up and down, and his legs, but that's just for transformation mostly.
As far as show accuracy goes, Ginrai's vehicle mode is extremely accurate to his character model, with many details of the toy being reproduced on the animation model. The only exceptions to this are his attack mode, which didn't appear in the show, and the fact that his smokestacks in the animation are longer than on the toy.
Ginrai's vehicle mode measures about 12.6 inches all combined and the Ginrai Godmaster figure itself measures about 1.75 inches tall.
The cab looks fairly good from most angles, with the only bad ones being from the top and from the back. Looking at it from the top shows some of the gapiness in the back (and the robot mode fists) and the back shows what looks like a second front, not even fully covered by the rear of the cab.
In addition to the cab, Ginrai also includes a trailer. Since Ginrai's mold was an improved version of the Powermaster Prime mold, the trailer looks like an updated version of Prime's original trailer, albeit with the colors broken up somewhat near the front end. In addition to this, when looking at the trailer from the front, it does look somewhat hollow, but that doesn't detract much from the actual look of the trailer, in my opinion.
One interesting thing about the trailer is that the rear of the trailer actually opens up to form a ramp. This feature isn't used at all in the transformation of the trailer and could have easily been left out, but they didn't, so I'm glad.
As far as accessories, Ginrai comes with two black Superconductor Rifles and two grey Particle Beam Cannons for weapons, the Ginrai Godmaster figure itself, and the head of Super Ginrai. Ginrai's weapons can be attached to his trailer (the two grey ones to the sides near the front and the two black ones to holes on the roof) to form his attack mode. In addition, while it's not stated in the instructions, you can store the Super Ginrai head in the rear of the trailer. (It just sits in there, but it's wider than the gap, so it won't fall out)
The Ginrai Godmaster figure itself is a small figure with a white body, red arms, red and black legs, and a grey engine on his back (with the engine itself being chromed). He has small paint details on his helmet, meant to represent his visor; and his actual body, which are just there. Ginrai's articulation is limited to his arms, which can swing up and down, and his legs, but that's just for transformation mostly.
As far as show accuracy goes, Ginrai's vehicle mode is extremely accurate to his character model, with many details of the toy being reproduced on the animation model. The only exceptions to this are his attack mode, which didn't appear in the show, and the fact that his smokestacks in the animation are longer than on the toy.
Ginrai's vehicle mode measures about 12.6 inches all combined and the Ginrai Godmaster figure itself measures about 1.75 inches tall.
Robot Mode
As a G1 figure, Ginrai's transformation is incredibly simple. Detach the cab from the trailer, plug the Ginrai Godmaster into the grill (if you misplace this, simply push in the white button), fold down the rear of the cab to form the legs, rotate the bottoms up to form his feet, fold the sides of the cab forward, turn him around to reveal a fake front, fold down his crotchplate, fold down his forearms, and flip up his head.
Despite the simplistic transformation, the Ginrai cab in robot mode still looks really well, at least from the front. When looked at from the side, he looks very flat; and looking at him from the back shows his vehicle mode front. (Interesting trivia - this mold was the first Transformers toy to use faux-parts.
Ginrai's articulation is limited to being able to swing his elbows up and down. He can wield his Superconductor Rifles, but I feel they look too big for this mode and, since they're too big, he can't actually aim them any higher than an angle to the ground.
As far as show accuracy goes, minus the flatness when looked at from the side, Ginrai is extremely accurate to his animation model, much like his vehicle mode. The only real differences are longer smokestacks on the animation model and the animation model has Autobot logos on each shoulder, whereas the toy only has one. Even the fake front is part of the animation model! While it's not Masterpiece-level "it looks exactly like the cartoon!", it's still extremely good for the time.
While you have the cab as the small Ginrai robot, you can transform his trailer into a base. Swing two panels down, split the rear of the trailer, place the trailer so the front is facing up, fold down the roof, fold out grey panels and then ramps from those, swing the blue connector (where the trailer connects with the cab) over to form a cannon, fold out the red parts out and up, plug in the two black rifles to the red towers, and plug in the two cannons into the blue parts.
Ginrai's base mode is actually really good, despite basically just being a thing you can do while you have the cab as a robot. In fact, if it wasn't for the wheels visible on the back of the base, you wouldn't even be able to tell this transformed into something. It must be stated that there are stickers that go on the base, but I haven't applied them yet.
As far as play features you get in base mode, there's really not much. Ginrai (or any Godmaster/Powermaster figure) can sit in the particle beam cannon to man it (there's a peg that goes between their legs), the cannons can rotate around, the black guns can swing up and down, and the center cannon can be swing up and down. However, that's okay, as most of the play value comes with manning the base. Ginrai himself looks really good standing in the center of the base, commanding the Autobot armies, and you could have other smaller figures placed all over it.
I'm not going to dwell on animation accuracy for the base because I don't remember it ever appearing in the show. However, Transformers: The Ark II shows that it did have an animation model and, like everything else Ginrai so far, it does look extremely accurate to the animation model.
Ginrai's robot mode measures about 7.5 inches tall and his base mode is about 6.6 inches tall and about 15.3 inches wide.
Despite the simplistic transformation, the Ginrai cab in robot mode still looks really well, at least from the front. When looked at from the side, he looks very flat; and looking at him from the back shows his vehicle mode front. (Interesting trivia - this mold was the first Transformers toy to use faux-parts.
Ginrai's articulation is limited to being able to swing his elbows up and down. He can wield his Superconductor Rifles, but I feel they look too big for this mode and, since they're too big, he can't actually aim them any higher than an angle to the ground.
As far as show accuracy goes, minus the flatness when looked at from the side, Ginrai is extremely accurate to his animation model, much like his vehicle mode. The only real differences are longer smokestacks on the animation model and the animation model has Autobot logos on each shoulder, whereas the toy only has one. Even the fake front is part of the animation model! While it's not Masterpiece-level "it looks exactly like the cartoon!", it's still extremely good for the time.
While you have the cab as the small Ginrai robot, you can transform his trailer into a base. Swing two panels down, split the rear of the trailer, place the trailer so the front is facing up, fold down the roof, fold out grey panels and then ramps from those, swing the blue connector (where the trailer connects with the cab) over to form a cannon, fold out the red parts out and up, plug in the two black rifles to the red towers, and plug in the two cannons into the blue parts.
Ginrai's base mode is actually really good, despite basically just being a thing you can do while you have the cab as a robot. In fact, if it wasn't for the wheels visible on the back of the base, you wouldn't even be able to tell this transformed into something. It must be stated that there are stickers that go on the base, but I haven't applied them yet.
As far as play features you get in base mode, there's really not much. Ginrai (or any Godmaster/Powermaster figure) can sit in the particle beam cannon to man it (there's a peg that goes between their legs), the cannons can rotate around, the black guns can swing up and down, and the center cannon can be swing up and down. However, that's okay, as most of the play value comes with manning the base. Ginrai himself looks really good standing in the center of the base, commanding the Autobot armies, and you could have other smaller figures placed all over it.
I'm not going to dwell on animation accuracy for the base because I don't remember it ever appearing in the show. However, Transformers: The Ark II shows that it did have an animation model and, like everything else Ginrai so far, it does look extremely accurate to the animation model.
Ginrai's robot mode measures about 7.5 inches tall and his base mode is about 6.6 inches tall and about 15.3 inches wide.
Super robot mode
The big part of Super Ginrai, Super Ginrai himself! Presuming you have the Ginrai cab as a robot and the trailer in base mode, combining them into Super Ginrai is a snap. Simply transform the base back into a trailer, however, fold the post that connects the trailer onto the roof of the trailer, do not peg the two rear halves back together, don't fold the side panels back up, and fold the towers around and extend out his fists. Once you've done all that, simply transform the small Ginrai robot back into cab mode and then fold his legs against his body, then just slide the Ginrai-cube into the slot on the large body, plug on Super Ginrai's head, attach the Particle Beam Cannons to his shoulders to act as shoulder stacks, and give him his rifles.
Super Ginrai is the best part of this toy, in my opinion, he's big and imposing, with the only real flaw being that his head looks too big for his body.
Super Ginrai's articulation is limited to being able to rotate his arms and swing his legs out. But, that's okay, it's the look of this toy that makes it so great. It's a much improved version of the Powermaster Optimus Prime mold.
For show accuracy, Super Ginrai is, once again, very accurate to the animation model. (Or rather, the animation model is very accurate to the toy, but I digress) The only real differences between the toy and the appearance in the anime are in the head and hands. In the animation model, the head had better proportions with his body and had blue eyes, whereas the toy has red eyes. (Interestingly, my Ginrai is the 2001 Takara God Ginrai reissue which gave the small robot blue eyes to better match the animation model, so why they didn't also give the Super Ginrai head blue eyes as well is a mystery) In addition, while the toy's hands are blue, the anime depicted them as being red and blue and sometimes entirely red.
Super Ginrai measures about 9.4 inches tall.
Super Ginrai is the best part of this toy, in my opinion, he's big and imposing, with the only real flaw being that his head looks too big for his body.
Super Ginrai's articulation is limited to being able to rotate his arms and swing his legs out. But, that's okay, it's the look of this toy that makes it so great. It's a much improved version of the Powermaster Optimus Prime mold.
For show accuracy, Super Ginrai is, once again, very accurate to the animation model. (Or rather, the animation model is very accurate to the toy, but I digress) The only real differences between the toy and the appearance in the anime are in the head and hands. In the animation model, the head had better proportions with his body and had blue eyes, whereas the toy has red eyes. (Interestingly, my Ginrai is the 2001 Takara God Ginrai reissue which gave the small robot blue eyes to better match the animation model, so why they didn't also give the Super Ginrai head blue eyes as well is a mystery) In addition, while the toy's hands are blue, the anime depicted them as being red and blue and sometimes entirely red.
Super Ginrai measures about 9.4 inches tall.
Final thoughts
As I stated in my Minerva review, I am hugely biased towards Masterforce toys and things such as Godmasters.
Despite this, I do feel that Super Ginrai is a great toy that is a huge improvement on the Powermaster Optimus Prime mold. What he lacks in articulation, he makes up for in looks and having four modes.
Is he worth getting, however? I would honestly say yes. Ginrai's toy is one of the more common Masterforce molds (primarily due to the God Ginrai giftset being reissued in 2001, and also in 2003 and 2012 as Powermaster Optimus Prime with Apex Armor) However, he can be somewhat expensive, checking eBay, most God Ginrai or Powermaster Prime Apex Armor figures are selling for at least $150. Luckily, I paid only $90 for mine, but I feel that it is worth it, with the only real flaws I can think of being the Super Ginrai head being a separate piece and the fact that he can't aim with his weapons as the smaller robot.
As I have stated previously in this review, I own the God Ginrai reissue and will be reviewing Godbomber and God Ginrai at a later date. When that review is posted, I'll update this one to link to it.
UPDATE 12 August 2015: Godbomber/God Ginrai review has been posted and can be found here.
Viola rates Super Ginrai:
8.5/10
Despite this, I do feel that Super Ginrai is a great toy that is a huge improvement on the Powermaster Optimus Prime mold. What he lacks in articulation, he makes up for in looks and having four modes.
Is he worth getting, however? I would honestly say yes. Ginrai's toy is one of the more common Masterforce molds (primarily due to the God Ginrai giftset being reissued in 2001, and also in 2003 and 2012 as Powermaster Optimus Prime with Apex Armor) However, he can be somewhat expensive, checking eBay, most God Ginrai or Powermaster Prime Apex Armor figures are selling for at least $150. Luckily, I paid only $90 for mine, but I feel that it is worth it, with the only real flaws I can think of being the Super Ginrai head being a separate piece and the fact that he can't aim with his weapons as the smaller robot.
As I have stated previously in this review, I own the God Ginrai reissue and will be reviewing Godbomber and God Ginrai at a later date. When that review is posted, I'll update this one to link to it.
UPDATE 12 August 2015: Godbomber/God Ginrai review has been posted and can be found here.
Viola rates Super Ginrai:
8.5/10