Voltron – Playmates Combinable Legendary Defender Photo Review

Voltron is one of the core 80s properties alongside Transformers, G.I. Joe, Thundercats and He-Man for many kids of the 80s. It’s been relaunched several times since then but never truly stuck. Last year Dreamworks and Netflix finally nailed it with a proper modern series that was pretty damn good. Playmates is now producing mass market toys to go with the new series. Today we’re taking a look at their largest offering – the Combinable Legendary Defender Voltron. These are the 5 Lions, sold individually, which combine into Voltron. The set is big, with each lion being roughly the size of a Transformers voyager class figure and the Black Lion being a tad larger. In combined form Voltron stands 16 inches tall. While not specifically for collectors, it is aimed at the upper end of the kids crowd with definite possibilities for us older folk.

Activate Interlocks, Dynatherms Connected, Intracells Up, Mega-Thrusters are GO! GO – hit the jump to see 120+ images of the set and some additional thoughts!

Playmates Combinable Legendary Defender Voltron

Pros
BIG
Combinable
Lights & sound
Relatively inexpensive

Cons
Limited articulation in arms and head
Difficulty standing in non-straight poses

Overall
I am down with the new Voltron series. Was a fun ride and well done. Season 2 drops soon. Playmates has a bunch of mass market offerings for the casual fan and kids on shelves now to support it. This is good as it will introduce Voltron to a new generation. When I saw the combinable figures, they looked promising. And they were definitely worth a spin. The individual lions are cool, have a great stance. Each has some add on weapons, moveable legs and mouths. The lights and sounds are cool, coming from the Black Lion. It knows if he’s in Voltron mode or not, and will change the phases accordingly. Lights in the chest are sharp.

As Voltron, it is a tall bulky figure. He looks great in a standard straight-up-and-down stance. He does have articulation, but it’s a tad limited. No horizontal neck movement. Arms are limited at the elbows so non-standard sword poses are out. The legs fare better, with a swivel in the upper thigh and knee joints. He is a heavy figure, and a lot of it is put on the back of the feet, which are the individual lion’s paws folded up. These joints are not the tightest and can fail if you have him in non standard poses. The wings on the back are well done, as they fold and rotate to allow for different angles, flight mode, chill mode, regal mode, etc.

Construction points – the figures are made of primarily colored plastic. The only paint are accents and eyes, etc. It’s a hard plastic too, it feels very kid like. Not a bad thing, as this is a kids toy, but I figured it was worth a mention so collector expectations are on the level. Sculpt in general is sharp in all modes.

Bottom line – it’s a fun set, and definitely worth it’s cost. The Lion limbs are roughly 18 bucks each, and the Black Lion is about 35. So all in all, you can get a 16 inch combinable Voltron for about 100 bucks. Not bad. What I would really like is something between this and the Toynami offerings. Toynami’s vintage inspired figures are 300-500 depending on which one you grab, and about 2/3rds the size. Bandai’s recent offering is 300 bucks and even smaller. A smaller version of this guy, maybe 12 inch, more articulation and paint, maybe some chrome, skip the lights and sounds. Same price. That would be the sweet spot for me as a collector. Until then though, I’ll have this guy hanging out with the 80’s crew on display!

Check over 120 pics of the set below!

Disclaimer: Playmates provided 2 of the 5 figures for review purposes.