Over the years, there have been many excellent Dancouga toys made, but this is by far the most impressive and easily one of the largest
Dancouga was an 80s super robot show, where the main and titular mecha Dancouga was formed from four main vehicles: the Eagle Fighter, Land Cougar, Land Liger, and Big Moth.
Each vehicle had three modes: mecha, vehicle, and mechanical beast. Most of the early episodes had the Cyber Beast Force team use their respective vehicles to fight off an alien invasion of the Muge.
Around fifteen episodes in, the four vehicles eventually combine into Dancouga, and that’s when the real fun starts.
Unlike other super robot anime, Dancouga took a more real robot approach to the mecha. In that, they were more meant as highly advanced machines that still took damage, needed repairs, as well as refuelling and resupplies of ammunition.
The result was an anime that has built up a genuinely impressive following in the decades since, not least due to its numerous appearances in various Super Robot Wars games.
This particular toy also has some fascinating lineage, as Hiro Tanaka originally worked on the Soul of Chogokin GX-13 Dancouga back when he was at Bandai.
So in many ways, this toy is a love letter to the design and a big update using all of Tanaka’s know-how and Good Smile Company’s expertise to pull off.
Firstly, this is a mixed toy from The Gattai and Hagane Works toy lines. The former is all about transformation and combination, and the latter is all about high-quality diecast-related craftsmanship.
The pairing of the two results in not only a very thorough toy, or series of toys that can combine together, but also a lot of hefty diecast in the joints and across the toy’s frame.
Secondly, this is a big toy and is almost twice the size of the Soul of Chogokin Dancouga, and with a lot more functionality thrown in for good measure.
The detailing is the first thing that’s really next level, not just the sculpt and paintwork, but also things like the way the shoulders fold out and the main chest pieces fold away. You also have actual tank treads on the rear of the legs of Big Moth, and subsequently Dancouga, which is just a fantastic addition. The head also has a hinged mouth, so that it can do the famous Dancouga “shout”, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of gimmicks.
You also get the Flight Booster, the Dankuken sword, and the Daigun accessories. The Booster also has the ability to lower the twin cannons, which is great.
On top of this, you have my special place when it comes to diecast mecha toys; hands with individually articulated fingers. However, the size and heft had me opt to keep the standard hands, but the articulated ones can do the job of wielding the weapons just as easily.
You also get a set of stands, and while that’s a great addition, and you can store all the weapons alongside Dancouga, the sheer weight of this figure means it can hold poses entirely fine. You also have a bunch of sturdy ratcheted joints across the figure, which only aid further in getting the poses you want.
To give an idea of the size of this Dancouga toy, from head to foot, for the base Dancouga, you are looking at around 30 cm, and with the Flighter Booster attached, closer to 40cm. For reference, the Metamorforce Dancouga by Sentinel is about 20 cm from head to foot, so this is a big toy.
In addition to all this is the knowledge that Good Smile Company plans on not only doing a Black Wing to go with this, for Final Dancouga, but also Dairyuga, which will form Ultimate Dancouga. Not to mention that the toy is based on an updated design by Masami Obari, so this really is the ultimate incarnation of Dancouga in multiple ways.
Overall, this is probably the best toy of Dancouga to date. I really liked Sentinel’s version, as well as the old Soul of Chogokin toy, but this beats those out by quite a large margin, literally, as this thing is huge. In any case, this comes thoroughly recommended to fans of the anime and toy collectors alike.
The Gattai Hagane Works Dancouga is available from the Good Smile Company online store for 58,000 yen (or around $370 at the current exchange rate). This is also a re-release of the same toy from 2023, so seriously pick one up now, while you still can.
The Gattai Hagane Works Dancouga Gallery
Manufacturer: Good Smile Company
Release Date: December 2025
Price: $370
Disclosure: Good Smile Company sent me this toy for the purposes of this review.
Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.
