Retro Toy Week: Bandai's Big O!

Retro Toy Week hit at a weird time for me this year: at work, I'm moving desks, from the happy little cube I've had for upwards of six years. Which means boxing up the myriad little figures on my desk: happy meal toys, Minimates, Transformer and giant robot PVC's, Lego mini-figures, gashapon and capsule toys, and more. It's going to take me a minute...

But, it's the perfect opportunity to take some pictures of an old favorite that's been on my desk for some time: from 2001, Bandai's Big O! Showtime!

If you aren't familiar with The Big O anime series; well, it's awesome, but I'm hesitant to recommend it. It takes elements of Batman: the Animated Series, film noir, the movies Blade Runner and Dark City, and throws in a giant robot. Granted, everything is better with a giant robot. I'd read Fifty Shades of Grey if it had giant robots in it.

The downside of The Big O is that it's not for everyone, some may find it derivative (I don't) and the last episode doesn't give a lot of closure. But, again, it's awesome. And so is this figure of the titular giant robot!

Big O has an unusual, art deco-ish design: a lot of rivets, odd proportions, curves, and points. He's not an agile or quick robot; more of a bruiser. The Popeye-like forearms contain piledrivers, which in-show deliver quite a punch. The figure is articulated at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles; for a total of 13 points. Some of the articulation is limited, not by the sculpt as much as by the design, but it suits him. There are also interchangeable hands, which I might have to look for...he can choose rock or paper, but not scissors.

In addition, the figure came with two smaller PVC's of Roger the Negotiator and Dorothy the Android: neat, but I don't keep them on display with Big O. This was a great, reasonably priced set...back when it came out. Now, oof, good luck finding one. (For reference, here's a link to Bandai's second series bad robot Big Duo, which I think I have somewhere...hey, there it is!) It's All True has a great review of the slightly more recent Soul of Chogokin Big O, which is a little bigger and more elaborate figure but also more expensive.

After the break, the Queen-inspired Big O opening!