Brave Express Might Gaine: Hiryu

While there wasn't much going on in the world of Transformers in 1994, Takara was pushing ahead making toys based on the varied Brave anime series. The enemy of the Brave Express Might Gaine series was a character called Hiryu and he just happened to a recolored Sonic Bomber from Transformers Zone!  Ever since I learned of this 15 years ago I had been in search of this toy.  I eventually found a seller on the Allspark.com message boards and I went back and forth trying to strike a deal for the toy.  Some time has passed since I acquired this piece, but I'm finally glad to be able to share it here on the blog.

Like a lot of other Japanese Takara toys, this is the Koren release by Sonokong.  I would have preferred the original Japanese packaging, but hey, beggers can't be too picky.

On the back of the box you get a good look at all three of Hiryu's forms - robot, jet & Micromaster base.  You can also see that he can still merge with Dai Atlas, known as Goryu in the series.

Hiryu exchanges his black/white/orange color scheme from Transformers Zone for a more evil looking red/black/yellow look.  I apologize for not giving you a comparison shot w/ Sonic Bomber as the different colors really make a difference with an otherwise unaltered mold.  I'm not sure which version I prefer better.

Hiryu does have the same Micromaster that was included with Sonic Bomber, but to my knowledge he is unnamed.  Transformation for both Hiryu and his Micromaster are the exact same as their TF counterparts.

While the darker colors may make him look more like a villain, the head sculpt doesn't help solidify this.  The face just looks too honorable to be a villain.

While the robot mode suffers from G1 brick syndrome, the jet alt mode is where this toy really shines in my opinion.  While the jet is a tad on the simplistic side, I love it.  Sleek design with very little to no undercarriage kibble that a lot of transforming jets and planes usually have.  Plus I love the color red.  The seller I bought the toy from had already applied the Decepticon symbol...and I really like it.  I wouldn't mind seeing this guy go toe to toe with Starscream!

Hiryu's base alt mode is OK.  It's the exact same as Sonic Bombers, however there aren't any other Micromaster bases to hook up to Hiryu.  At least he has the little Porsche you can still launch down the ramps.

Comparison time!  While I forgot to take pics of Hiryu and Sonic Bomber in robot mode, here are a few I did snap.

I tend to stay away from buying straight repaints these days, but this is one that I don't mind essentially owning twice.  It's a fun mold and by adding the Decepticon symbols I feel as if it's different enough.  One day I wouldn't mind grabbing his evil partner, Goryu as well, but he seems even harder to find...well at least at a decent price.