Toy Review: Machine Robo Series 02 - Rod Drill / Gobots Masterpiece Screw Head

The second in Action Toys' Machine Robo Series is a logical choice given that its' licence is based on the Revenge of Cronos anime. Drill Robo was released originally in the series as a standard figure but was chosen by Ashi Productions and Bandai as one of the leads, being renamed Rod Drill. Along with Rom and Leina Stol, Blue Jet and Triple Jim he featured in every episode; a Chara DX non-transforming figure was made to complement a reissue of the original. Rom, Leina and Blue Jet have since received updates for Soul of Chogokin and EM Gokin so Rod was an obvious one to be on the list, especially as everyone hated and still hates Triple Jim. 

It's a good choice because Rod, with his happy-go-lucky personality and perennial hunger was the Patrick Star of the anime and a much needed bit of fun in a po-faced series. In the West the figure was sold as the Renegade Screw Head among the small figures and was retired fairly early on, with the character in the Challenge of the Gobots cartoon being a surly but otherwise generic heavy who appeared in a handful of episodes. The character served as the inspiration for a key figure in Machine Robo Rescue as well.
 
The robot mode is a very good likeness of the anime character model, a nicely-featured robot with a strong colour scheme and largely sensible proportions sculpted by Lu K. of Awaken Studio. One interesting quirk is the use of a very dark blue for most of it rather than actual black, likely a nod to cartoon colour palettes. It's actually done nicely enough that it doesn't look weird. All the details are spot on, with the drill head done at just the right height and the distinctive system of caterpillar tracks retained on the legs. Rod is one of the shorter figures in the line to date at around 4" tall, which is an oddity as the character was of standard height.

There is a lot of diecast on the toy, making up the bulk of the legs and the torso - which might go some way to explaining the diminutive stature. It makes for a dense and solid toy and gives Rod superb balance. Articulation is superb; while the lower legs restrict the ankles slightly but the feet being made up of two parts and the thoughtful use of a moving waist panel. And unlike Bike Robo the head moves freely - the soft rubber unit is ball mounted and unrestricted; the collar doesn't move with it but doesn't get in the way either. Accessories come in the form of a pair of bladed gauntlet/gunpod-type things that clip to his hands; these are really more to hide the arms in vehicle mode but they don't look bad in place. Naturally they can be removed for a cleaner anime-accurate look.

Transforming him is a largely neat process; there's one bit of "3P" silliness where you have to get the feet angled out of the way to get the legs in place but aside from that it's fun and very much in the spirit of the original. The arms especially are all but lifted, just with additional joints. The other accessory included is a longer hard plastic drill which can be switched in place of the head, making for a longer drillbit and also meaning he doesn't have the face visible underneath. I actually prefer to leave the head one in place for convenience and because it doesn't look bad but it's an additional feature that does no harm and at least makes more sense than Bike Robo's axe or Mixer Robo's twin knives.

The drill tank mode itself is all present and correct, a neat compact thing that strongly resembles the original. The clear point of reference here is the Mole from Thunderbirds; Gerry Anderson's sixties puppet shows made quite an impression on the Japanese and the influence on sci-fi design is still felt there today, though the original Drill Robo was oddly placed in the middle of the original run of Machine Robo, coming out at a time when most of the toys were based on real-world vehicles. The 15+ age banding means Action Toys can also give Rod an actual pointed drill bit rather than the original's understandable but silly rounded one. Sadly at this size moving caterpillar tracks are an impossibility; a pair of small rolling wheels do that instead but let's be honest you're not going to be whizzing him around a table-top anyway.

Of the six figures so far released Rod Drill is probably the strongest overall considering the three main areas of robot mode look, vehicle mode look and transformation, with the very slight qualifier that I adore the character and the original figure because you can't go wrong with a cheerful drill tank. At ~£45 a throw you'll probably need some sort of attraction to him to get real satisfaction but overall he's a success, a faithful update that still functions as a strong 21st century premium toy in its' own right.