Categories

Monday, January 20, 2014

Beast Saga: Kingdom of Land Gloria BS-01

I've already talked about a few single packaged Beast Saga figures, but now I'm going back to the beginning. Over the next week or so I'll be starting w/ BS-01 and going in numerical order, taking a look at the different Beast Saga releases.

Beast Saga is basically the spiritual successor to Beastformers, or Battle Beasts as most people remember them.  Gone are the fire, water & wood rub symbols and paper/rock/scissors "game play".   In their place are three different kingdoms, land, sea & sky.  The sub symbols are now dice that can be launched from the chest of the figure.  There is a whole game associated with the figures, but with Beast Saga being a Japanese toy line I'm unable to read the game play directions.

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria photo 100_5423_zpsea04c4ad.jpg

The BS-01 set is called Kingdom of Land Gloria.  It features 3 characters from the land subgroup, one of which is the leader of the Kingdom, Raioga.  Initially there were three different 3 packs, one for each Kingdom.  These retailed for around $20-25 at various online retailers.  While they still can be found, the prices I've noticed have creeped up a little.

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria photo 100_5425_zpsdbde5d2b.jpg

The packaging of these 3 packs is beautiful.  The Kingdom of Land Gloria's primary color is red and you'll notice that red is integrated into the packaging.  Here on the back of the box you can see a play mat and what appears to be stats for the different characters.

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria photo 100_5424_zpsb2071b71.jpg

From left to right:  Raioga, Big Serow and Jidamu

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria photo 100_5426_zps79d4a6cb.jpg   BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria photo 100_5427_zps8690cb44.jpg

One end of the box shows the box's contents, while the other end of the box showcases the abilities along with the strength and weaknesses of each character.

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria photo 100_5438_zps71193c1d.jpg

Inside the box you'll find two items.  The colored one on the left folds out to be a play mat if you want to play the game that is associated with the figures.  The black and white paper is a set of instructions.

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria Raioga photo 100_5429_zps7e4fadb0.jpg

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria Raioga photo 100_5430_zpsb153e886.jpg

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria Raioga photo 100_5431_zps77bb7b6b.jpg

If Raioga looks familiar to you, he should.  1) I've already reviewed the single packaged version of this figure and 2) he is loosely based off of White Leo / Pirate Line from the original Beastformers / Battle Beasts line.  I should also mention that Raioga is the only character in any of the multi-packs that also received a single release.  While the figure is the same, his accessories in the 3 pack are different.  The single packaged version comes with a generic sword and shield, while the 3 pack version comes with a set of unique weapons.

Raioga early on was one of my favorite sculpts, but as the line progressed and the selection of characters was more diversified he sorta just blended in with the masses.  That's not to say though that this isn't a nice figure.  From the sculpted brown fur to the red bits of armor and the great head/face sculpt...he's pretty fierce looking.  His arch nemesis would end up being Killer Shark from the BS-02 Kingdom of Death Sea set.

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria Big Serow photo 100_5432_zpsd3645395.jpg

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria Big Serow photo 100_5433_zps793b6e8c.jpg

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria Big Serow photo 100_5434_zps631a209d.jpg

Big Serow I believe is a fairly high ranking officer in the Land Gloria's army.  He is based off the character of the same name in the original line.  I love his look - regal, yet someone I wouldn't want to tangle with.  The dark green armor meshes well with the brown skin and the gold accents on the armor are the icing on the cake.  I'm not sure I ever noticed this feature initially, but on his back he has a set of what appears to be exhaust pipes.  I'll have to tune into the anime and see if he uses these in combat.  His weapon is a nice spear that again homages his original weapon.  If I have anything negative to say about this figure is his antlers are cast in a very soft plastic.  This causes them to easily be warped...as you can see on my figure.  Outside of that small bit, this is a great figure and one of the larger Kingdom of Land figures released (at the time).

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria Jidamu photo 100_5436_zps0662d8fe.jpg

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria Jidamu photo 100_5437_zps9b0877bd.jpg

Jidamu is one of the smallest Beast Saga figures in the whole line.  If you didn't guess correctly, Jidamu is a hamster all armored up and ready for battle.  The dice gimmick in the chest is fairly large and most of the figure's mass hides this well, but on a small figure like this one it's painfully obvious as Jidamu looks like a box with a hamster head stuck on top.  His arms and legs are relatively tiny.  I don't know if this issue is confined to my figure or if it's a widespread issue, but his right leg is slightly bent out making it harder to stand him up without added support.  Jidamu's weapons include a gun and small shield.  Most of the Beast Saga characters feature swords or other melee type weapons.  This makes him stand out a bit since he gets to wield a gun.

BS-01 Kingdom of Land Gloria photo 100_5428_zps74710e8a.jpg


This is a great starter set for the Kingdom of Land Gloria as you get the leader, a high ranking officer and a adorable hamster wearing a suit of armor.  I really wish I had bought this set earlier, but I knew I wanted all the figures in the series so it was just a matter of time before this set would be mine.

2 comments:

  1. I can't believe I'm admitting this publicly, but that hamster is so adorable. It's worth getting the set just for him.

    ReplyDelete