One of the more memorable characters in the group, Goryu is the leader of the Dinoforce team...and not a very good at his job. He demands respect from his troops and the Decepticon Breastforce, but the latter is something he'll never achieve. In the Victory anime, Goryu is often seen riding on the back of his Pretender shell versus commanding it from within.
It goes without saying how excited I was to finally find and buy Goryu. Once he arrived in the mail I was even more excited to see that his stickers were unapplied. When you buy from an overseas auction site it's not always easy to know 100% what you're getting as asking questions is just about impossible. While the stickers was a nice bonus, I was disappointed to see the gold paint on the t-rex's chest was just about all gone. More on that later. Goryu's U.S. equivalent is Icepick. Goryu comes packaged with his Tyranno Gun and Dinoking's foot. Outside of the Constructicon Scrapper, Goryu is the only combiner leader that forms a leg of their combined form. He can form either the right or left leg, but is primarily used as the left leg.
It goes without saying how excited I was to finally find and buy Goryu. Once he arrived in the mail I was even more excited to see that his stickers were unapplied. When you buy from an overseas auction site it's not always easy to know 100% what you're getting as asking questions is just about impossible. While the stickers was a nice bonus, I was disappointed to see the gold paint on the t-rex's chest was just about all gone. More on that later. Goryu's U.S. equivalent is Icepick. Goryu comes packaged with his Tyranno Gun and Dinoking's foot. Outside of the Constructicon Scrapper, Goryu is the only combiner leader that forms a leg of their combined form. He can form either the right or left leg, but is primarily used as the left leg.
Evan though the dinosaur shells vary in size, all 6 individual boxes are the same size. Each shares the same design, iconic purple grid, awesome character artwork and the abbreviated transformation sequence found on the top of the box.
The back of the box is one of the more busiest that I've seen on a Japanese G1 release. I'm not sure why Takara had to leave such a large section in the bottom right corner. With the Victory battle scene, artwork of the t-rex shell and Dinoforce line-up, everything just feels to tight and compacted for my tastes.
Right and Left sides
Goryu's art on the bottom of the box is large and in charge. How come cool art like this is always slapped on the bottom of the box where it can easily go unnoticed?
The "front" of the tech spec card, as pictured above, can be found on the box's right side interior flap. Being one sided, the purple chromatic "back" of the card can be found on the left side. I didn't want to cut the tape on the other side of the box and besides, I have no intention of butchering the box to remove these cards.
Goryu's Pretender shell is impressive. His entire back is covered in silver and gold armor and the spikes on his helmet give him that extra sense of toughness. However the gold paint on his chest has just about rubbed off. From what I've been told this is fairly common, just like the oiliness of the shell. Are the two problems related? I would tend to think so, but I don't know if it's ever been proven. I wish the paint apps in the mouth were done a little better too. I'm fine w/ the white teeth, but the inside of the mouth should have been painted black, or even left green.
Like the rest of the Dinoforce team, the removable plastic piece on the shell has pegs to hold both his weapon and Dinoking's foot piece.
Like the rest of the Dinoforce team, the removable plastic piece on the shell has pegs to hold both his weapon and Dinoking's foot piece.
Goryu has one of the more impressive robot modes of the group, an tallest. However without the stickers applied mine looks a little bland. I particularly like his head sculpt with the wide stretching visor.
Transformation to his robotic monster alternate mode is rather simple. Flip down the robot head to reveal the beast head. Flip and fold the white feet back and you're done.
Transformation to his robotic monster alternate mode is rather simple. Flip down the robot head to reveal the beast head. Flip and fold the white feet back and you're done.
I'm beginning to see the reason the animators never worked in these robotic alternate "monster" modes into the Victory series. The Terrorcons were one thing, but just what is this supposed to be? If you look at the hands, it appears he has some sort of claw hanging off the front of the fist. Perhaps this is where the idea of the U.S. Monster Pretender Icepick's shell came from?
Goryu is a fantastic and interesting toy. I was lucky to find this toy that was complete, to find one with the packaging in such nice condition and to find one with unapplied stickers. If only the gold paint on the shell's front were still intact, I'd say I hit the jackpot.
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