Jollibee Kiddie Meal Voltron

Voltron: Defender of the Universe

The Lion Bots

There were only two Super Robot Anime series that I followed as a kid (no, I'm not counting Mazinger Z and Grandizer though I managed to watch an episode or two of those shows). One was Voltes V, the other  one was Voltron. Among the two, I've always preferred Voltron over Voltes V. I was more fascinated with Voltron's Mecha Felines than Voltes V's vehicles. Personally, the Mecha felines are way much cooler than the common vehicles transforming into robots thing. Voltron is composed of four brave young Men and a Woman who pilots five mechanized lion bots, and when the going gets tough, these five lion bots merges together to form one huge humanoid Super Robot called Voltron. This peacekeeping force patrols the galaxy against the evil forces of King Zarkon and his son Prince Lotor and their evil minions.  This Blog entry will feature a Toy Review of one of the most amazing fast food toy that I have ever come to know and own. Here in the Philippines, McDonald's doesn't own a monopoly on fast food toys. Rival Chicken and Burger joint named Jollibee has been giving McDonald's a run for their money. And this Voltron fast food toy is one of the prime examples why Jollibee is capable of beating McDonald's. I'll be doing a lion bot by lion bot review below as well as give a brief backgrounder on the lion bot's respective pilot.  

Black Lion

The Pilot: Commander Keith pilots the Black Lion. He is considered as the team leader and the love interest of Princess Allura (Blue Lion Pilot). Being the leader, he directs and strategizes the team in their battles. His Lion bot forms the bulk and head of Voltron. It is numbered as Black Lion 1

The Toy: The material of this fast food toy is made of soft but sturdy plastic. It utilizes specific plastic colors for the body parts to save paint. It only uses paint on the eyes, nose, and Voltron's and lion's face. The chest and belt emblem is made of sticker. The bot has a whooping 15 points of articulation. It features a ball jointed head, swivel arms, hinged knees, swivel wings, hinged tail and ears, as well as a hinged jaw that reveals the hidden head of Voltron. My only qualm is that it lacks articulation on the ankles (which would later on affect the appearance of Voltron as you could not hide the ankles by folding it, but not as much as we would like to think). But for a fast food toy, that's a pretty amazing amount of articulation already. Among all the Lion bots, this is easily the best.

Red Lion

The Pilot: Lance pilots the Red Lion. He is designated as second in command in the team. He is a wily and reckless pilot that often times earns the ire of his co-pilots because of his excessive jokes and teasing.  The Red Lion forms the right arm of Voltron. It is numbered as Red Lion 2

The Toy: Like the Black Lion, the Red Lion bot is composed of soft plastics with respective plastic colors used for the body and legs. It utilizes white paint to paint the lion bot's face and ears, using black paint for the nose. It also utilizes sticker decals for the bot's number on the back. it sports a lesser amount (12 POA) of articulation compared with the black lion bot. It features a swivel head, swivel arms, hinged knees, swivel waist, retractable tail, as well as a hinged jaw. And just the same, my only qualm is that it lacks articulation on the ankles.

Green Lion

The Pilot: Pidge pilots the Green Lion. he is the shortest and youngest but the smartest among his co-pilots. Like all the other pilots, he is also skilled in Martial Arts. He is an outspoken pilot who wears his heart in his words. The Green Lion forms the left arm of Voltron. It is numbered as Green Lion 3

The Toy: It shares the same plastic material and articulation with the Red Lion bot and differs only on the Lion bot's body color (wherein this is colored Green). The body sculpt also differs because while the Red Lion's body is boxed in nature, the Green Lion is round shaped. Very faithful to the T.V. show.

Yellow Lion

The Pilot: Hunk pilots the Yellow Lion. He is the resident strongman of the group. He has a soft spot for children and puppies despite exhibiting a tough and mean appearance. He also has a large appetite, which is the object of his co-pilots' teasing on him. The Yellow Lion forms as the left leg of Voltron. It is numbered as Yellow Lion 5. 

The Toy: Just the same, it utilizes the same plastic material with the others. But the head articulation of this lion differs from the previous three wherein this lion has hinged head in order for it to transform as Voltron's feet. In total it sports 11 points of articulation. Apart from the aforementioned head articulation, it shares the same articulation on the jaws, arms, knees and tail as the other lion bots. Minor paints and sticker decals are also used just like the others.

Blue Lion

The Pilot: Princess Allura pilots the Blue Lion. She ruled the Planet Arus after her father died. She is the object of Prince Lotor's obsessive affection, thus conflict is established because Lotor wants to rule Arus by marrying Princess Allura much to her objection. Princess Allura is also Commander Keith's love interest. But although she rules planet Arus, she defers to Commander Keith (an Arusian) when it comes to matters concerning Voltron. The Blue Lion forms as the right leg of Voltron. It is numbered as Blue Lion 4. 

The Toy: It shares the same plastic material and articulation with the Yellow Lion bot and differs only on the Lion bot's body color (wherein this is colored Blue). The body sculpt also differs a bit because the Yellow Lion sports a mini-cannon on it's back. And before I forget, each head sculpt of these lion bots differ from one another. Making this Fast food toy an impressive premium item for casual Fast food toy enthusiasts. 

Voltron

Voltron: When the going gets tough, these five lion bots combine to become Voltron: Defender of the Universe. Piloted by Keith, Lance, Pidge, Princess Allura, and Hunk, this humanoid looking robot is an unstoppable fighting force that does battle against the evil forces of King Zarkon. Zarkon's minion, Haggar the Witch, is responsible for creating gigantic robo beasts to terrorize the citizens of Planet Arus. Armed with his blazing sword, it is up to Voltron to end the reign of terror by battling these robo beasts and destroy it's existence.  

The Toy: Standing at an impressive 8 inch, this Fast Food Toy is simply eye candy. Voltron's colors are very faithful  to the T.V. show despite opting to use pre colored plastics and sticker decals in lieu of paint. As Voltron, this toy sports a ball jointed neck, swivel hips, hinged knees, hinged ankles, swivel wrists, swivel elbows, swivel arms (courtesy of the connector but you can't actually swivel it, but you have to disconnect the arms and connect it with the lion bot facing forward), the arms can also be raised sideways courtesy of the connector. The only thing lacking in this figure is the elbow joints, lion's ankle joints, and it's blazing sword, otherwise this toy is perfect. I can still remember that this toy flew fast off the toy counter as it did not take more than one week for this to be sold out. I managed to get lucky and acquire 3 sets of these babies. So imagine all the burgers that I had to consume. (More Photos Below)

Blazing Sword

That's a Gundam sword in lieu of the blazing sword.

Overall this is an impressive toy. And up until now there is quite a spike in demand for this toy because a lot of toy collectors in the Philippines weren't able to grab this when it was offered as a Fast Food Toy. Although this is not designed as a toy for rough play (parts tends to fall off when in Voltron form when used for heavy play), but it looks really good when displayed. This is a pretty much cheaper alternative to vintage Voltron robots if you managed to acquire this at it's Fast Food meal price (less than $10 for the set). But if you are getting it on the secondary market, it will cost you much (as high as $100). But still, this is definitely a must for Voltron collectors. The rarity of this figure alone will make you an envy to other Voltron collectors who miss out on this. So if you see one, don't let it get off the hook.