Since the mid-1980’s, few toy lines have grown to the sheer size and popularity as the ‘Transformers’ brand. The franchise has gone on to produce numerous television series, comic books, live action films, and of course a massive variety of collectibles! Currently, the franchise is getting back to its roots with the ‘Transformers Combiners Wars’ line, which is giving us a lot of brand new figures based both new characters and some of your favorite classic figures from the original 80’s toyline! The latest figure to join the line is the Entertainment Earth Exclusive Liokaiser Combiner! In the original toyline, The Liokaiser was only made available in Japan, and the original release has grown increasingly rare over the years! This means that for many collectors, this is the first time they’ll ever have a chance to bring home a Liokaiser of their own! Today we’re going to take a look at the new Entertainment Earth exclusive Lionkaiser Platinum Edition Combiner Set to tell you what’s great about it, what doesn’t work so well with it, and overall just how excited you should be about picking one up for yourself!
For those of you who aren’t entirely familiar with The Liokaiser, he’s a massive Transformer Combiner that is comprised of six smaller Transformers! Liokaiser is comprised of a team of Decepticons known as The Destrons that includes two Tanks named Drillhorn and Ironbison, Jets named Guyhawk and Fellbat, a large Space Shuttle named Dezarus, and Dino-Bird Ion Scythe! This Transformers Combiner Wars: Liokaiser Platinum Edition set includes all six Destron figures necessary to creature the mighty Liokaiser Combiner, and as per usual with the Platinum Edition Transformers Generations sets, this Entertainment Earth exclusive set also includes a special edition poster and trading card featuring artwork of The Liokaiser!
As we mentioned before, Liokaiser is made up of six smaller Transformers characters; the Deluxe class Drillhorn, Ironbison, Guyhawk and Fellbat; the Legends Class Ion Scythe; and the Voyager Class Dezarus. As Transformers Combiner Wars figures, each of these figures is made to be compatible with every other ‘Combiner Wars’ Combiner figure, which means that you could use any of these guys as pieces to custom create your own Combiner combinations! As a Voyage Class, Dezarus is the largest and works as a Combiner torso, while Guyhawk and Fellbat are Combiner arms, and Drillhorn and Ironbison are Combiner legs. Ion Scythe is hardly a part of the Combiner itself, as he ‘combines’ into being a weapon that Liokaiser uses. Still, a Combiner is only ever going to be as good as the parts it is made of, and Liokaiser has a lot going for him in that Category.
The main body of Liokaiser is made up of the Voyager Class Space Shuttle Dezarus, who transforms into a… dinosaur? Yes, Dezarus’s alt-mode is that of a weird dinosaur creature, and there is nothing wrong with that! Dezarus is pretty sizeable and has a lot of fine details worked into him, making him a really great piece. If we had to have a criticism with Dezarus, it’s that his back feet are kind of weak and don’t support him standing very well without folding in on themselves. Beyond that one weak spot, though, he is a solid figure that makes a great base for any Combiner super-robot!
The Legends Class Ion Scythe is a Dino-Bird that transformers into a gun for Liokaiser to hold. I’d say he doesn’t really qualify as part of the actual Liokaiser Combiner, but he’s still a really nice touch and his transformation is simple and easy. You can never really have too many weapons for any Transformer, so the fact that Liokaiser has a larger weapon that’s properly scaled for him is really nice.
Moving onto our Deluxe Class pieces, the two Tanks Drilljorn and Ironbison, and the two Jets Guyhawk and Fellbat, comprise all of the Combiner Liokaiser’s limbs! Both Tanks are fairly similar to each in build, as are both Jets, but each does manage to pull off their own slight differences to make themselves stand out. For Drillhorn and Ironbison, it’s their unique head sculpts and weapons. Beyond those two minor things, they are identical figures in varying color schemes. That said, being as those two make up the legs, I actually really enjoy how similar they are because it gives a sense of symmetry while keeping the legs balanced at the same lengths so that he never has trouble getting proper footing or standing! With Guyhawk and Fellbat, things are slightly similar but much more different than with the last two. They share the same pair of legs with one another but have completely different bodies from the waist on up. They actually transform into two completely different looking Jets! Guyhawk looks a bit more square, while Fellbat is a bit more rounded. Each sport their own unique head sculpt and color schemes as well. There isn’t much to dislike about any of the deluxe class figures included in this set! Each of them is well articulated with a simple and fun transformation, and each piece works perfectly as their own figure while also being a great piece of the larger Liokaiser.
Looking at The Liokaiser itself as a whole, holy crap this thing is stunning! The colors of each smaller piece really make it pop, and I really love that each part of the Combiner works so well as parts of this larger piece. For example, even though he’s made up of smaller figures, Liokaiser still has full articulation for his knees and elbows, which lend to plenty of poseability for action poses! The only parts of Liokaiser that aren’t really part of another Transformer are his hands and feet, which are added on to this larger figure to complete his transformation. One thing I really enjoy about the hands and feet is that either pair, the black or gray ones, works as either thing. They both are interchangeable as hands or feet, so you have even more room for variance to play with here. As far as weapons, as we mentioned earlier Ion Scythe becomes a gun weapon for The Liokaiser, and two smaller pieces detach from Dezarus to become a small sword that The Liokaiser can wield! The figure has heaps of detail worked into the sculpt of each part, and thankfully manages to not be too top heavy at all!
Overall, this new Entertainment Earth exclusive Transformers Combiner Wars Liokaiser Platinum Edition set is fantastic! With all of the details and articulation on this figure, you can tell that bringing this classic 80’s Transformer into the modern times was clearly a labor of love that was executed flawlessly. Each piece of The Liokaiser works great on their own, but it’s really when they come together as a whole to create The Liokaiser Combiner super-robot that they shine the brightest. The Liokaiser stands massively tall over most other Transformers figures (see the large Masterpiece Grimlock figure for scale, Grimlock sold separately!), so he’s automatically a great addition to any Transformers fan’s collection! We highly recommend picking one up for yourself!
To make bringing one home for your collection even easier, our friends at Entertainment Earth have provided us with a special Coupon Code that will net you $20 off, Free Shipping, and a special Batman Diorama with the purchase of The Liokaiser! Just be sure to enter the coupon code ‘SINGLES’ when you check out!
Rating 5 Out Of 5 Atoms
Jordan is a Toy Columnist & Staff Writer here at ScienceFiction! Journalist, Musician, Toy Collector, and Overall Awesome Guy! For more on Jordan’s thoughts, toys, and wacky adventures, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
