The Gattai Hagane Works Dancouga Toy Review: Huge And Impressive

Over the years, many great Dancouga toys have been made, but this is by far the most impressive and easily one of the greatest

Dancouga was an 80s super robot show where the main and titular Dancouga mech was formed from four main vehicles: the Eagle Fighter, the Land Cougar, the Land Liger, and the Big Moth.

Each vehicle had three modes: mecha, vehicle, and mechanical beast. Most of the early episodes had the Cyber ​​Beast Force team using their respective vehicles to deal with an alien invasion of Muge.

Around fifteen episodes in, the four vehicles finally come together in the Dancouga, and that’s when the real fun begins.

Unlike other anime super robots, Dancouga took a more true robot approach to engineering. As such, they were meant more as highly advanced machines that still took damage, needed repairs, as well as refueling and resupplying ammunition.

The result was an anime that has built up a truly impressive following in the decades since, largely due to its numerous appearances in various Super Robot Wars games.

This particular game also has some fascinating origins, as Hiro Tanaka originally worked on it Soul of Chogokin GX-13 Dancouga when he was at Bandai.

So in many ways this game is a love letter to the design and a big update using all of Tanaka’s expertise and Good Smile Company’s expertise to pull it off.

First, this is a mixed game from The Gattai and Hagane Works game lines. The first is about transformation and combination, and the second is about the high-quality craftsmanship associated with diecasting.

The combination of the two results in not only a very detailed game, or a series of games that can be combined together, but also a very sharp edge to the joints and the whole context of the game.

Second, this is a big game and is almost twice the size of Chogokin Dancouga’s Soul, and with a lot more functionality.

The detail is the first thing that’s really next, not just the sculpt and the paint, but also things like how the shoulders fold and the main chest pieces fold. You also have actual tank treads on the back of Big Moth’s legs, and then Dancouga, which is just a fantastic addition. The head also has a hinged spout so it can do the famous Dancouga ‘voice’ and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gimmicks.

You also get the Flight Booster, Dankuken Sword, and Daigun Accessories. Booster also has the ability to take down the twin cannons, which is cool.

Other than that, you have my special place when it comes to mecha diecast toys. hands with separately articulated fingers. However, the size and weight made me opt to keep the standard hands, but the articulated ones can do the job of handling 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 next to the Dancouga, the sheer weight of this figure means it can hold stands quite well. You also have a bunch of sturdy ratchet joints along the figure, which just help more in getting the poses you want.

To give you an idea of ​​the size of this Dancouga toy, from head to toe, for the Dancouga base you’re looking at around 30cm and with the Flighter Booster attached, closer to 40cm. For reference, Sentinel’s Metamorforce Dancouga is about 20cm from head to toe, so this is a big toy.

Adding to all of this is the knowledge that Good Smile Company plans to not only make a Black Wing to go with it, for the Final Dancouga, but also the Dairyuga, which will form the Ultimate Dancouga. Not to mention that the game is based on an updated design by Masami Obari, so this really is the ultimate incarnation of Dancouga in many ways.

Overall, this is probably Dancouga’s best game to date. I really liked the Sentinel version, as well as the old Soul of Chogokin game, but this beats it by quite a margin, literally, as this thing is huge. In any case, this is highly recommended for fans of anime and game collectors.

The Gattai Hagane Works Dancouga is available from Good Smile Company Online Store for ¥58,000 (or about $370 at the current exchange rate). This is also a re-release of the same game from 2023, so get one seriously 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 purpose of this review.

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