Bandaï • GX Series (Soul of chogokin)

Soul of Chogokin (SOC) (超合金魂 Chōgōkin Damashii) or “Soul of Super-alloy”, is a popular line of adult collector’s toys produced by the Japanese company Bandai. The line, which began in 1997, focuses almost exclusively on mecha (robots) taken from various 1970s and 1980s anime series, although the line has diverged from this on a number of occasions, most notably with the release of several mecha from the mid-1990s anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. More recently, the line has expanded further to include 1970s mecha from Super Sentai and other tokusatsu series, such as the Battle Fever Robo from Battle Fever J and Leopardon from the Japanese TV adaptation of Spider-Man. In 2017, Bandai released yet another Super Sentai mecha, Daizyujin from Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, the first Super Sentai series adapted for an American audience under the name Power Rangers as the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. This marked the first Power Rangers Megazord to be given the Soul of Chogokin treatment. In 2018, Gipsy Danger from Pacific Rim became the first non-Japanese mecha to receive the SOC treatment. In the same year, Bandai also started the “F.A. (Full Action)” sub-line, beginning with Voltes V; the F.A. sub-line sacrifices transformation and combination gimmicks in favor of anime-accurate proportions and dynamic articulation.