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God Ginrai- Transformers, Generation 1 Re-Issue, Takara Meat and Potatoes; 4.5 Perks; 5.0 Homer Factor; 5.0
						Description; Ah, another chance to make the Big Bot BIGGER.  Take Powermaster Optimus Prime, give him an extra trailer that turns into armor and makes O.P. even bigger and badder.  Woohoo. The piece comes in three major parts; the Ginrai/Optimus truck, the trailer, which also changes into a battle-station, and God Bomber, which is an additional trailer.
	The Ginrai and trailer portions combine to form Super Ginrai, which looks like a giant version of Ginrai/Optimus but with more guns.  Cool.  The God Bomber turns into a robot, and more importantly comes apart and becomes additional armor that attaches to Super Ginrai, to become God Ginrai.
		Want to know the worst part about being a Transformers fan?  Ok, besides trying to keep track how EVERYTHING changes.  It's JAPANESE IMPORTS.  There is a ton o' very cool stuff that never made it state-side during the '80s and '90s, such as Star Saber.  Unless you pay primo secondary market price, forget it.  Case in point; God Ginrai.  Good news is the Super Ginrai portion of this was released in the US as Powermaster Optimus Prime.  Bad news; what made this piece so cool in Japan was you could get this supplemental piece called God Bomber.  It was a little trailer that transformed into a robot, but also became armor that attached to Super Ginrai, making an ever BIGGER robot, God Ginrai!!!!  Very cool.  Unfortunately, the supplemental piece DIDN'T make it to this side of the US.  All the pity, since the secondary market price for the combo-pack of God Ginari  goes for about $500 on e-Bay.  Sad state of affairs... until Takara got hit by the re-issue bug and decided to make God Ginrai one of the pieces to put back out.  Woohoo!!!!  Warning, this thing goes for $100, so if you're happy with your Powermaster Prime, you might as well stop here.  HOWEVER, if you're a die-hard Trans-Fan and LOVE the funky stuff from Japan, please read on.  You won't be disappointed. Yes,  the meat and potatoes kinda low.  Unfortunately, I've gotten spoiled from the articulation of the Beast Wars/Machines, so seeing this so clunky is hard to deal with.  However, the sculpt ought to be better.  The first Generation 1 pieces from Takara were amazing; lots of detail in the sculpt on the cars such as panel lines and head-lights, rather then just relying on labeling to make-up for deficiencies in the sculpt.  However, over-all the added details from the Japanese version versus the American version are nice to see; more detail on the arms of Super Ginrai, for instance.    Also nice to see die-cast metal being used at least on the front portion of the cab to Ginrai/Optimus.  Ok, I wish there was MORE die-cast metal, but then that would probably be another $50 to the price.  I'll live.  The meat and potatoes on God Bomber are same as Ginrai/Optimus; eh.  Perks are another story.  I LOVE the battle-station mode for the trailer, and the Super Ginrai/Super Robot form is awesome; fold-up Ginrai's/Optimus' legs, do some additional folding on the trailer/battle-station, and suddenly you have a VERY large version of the Big Bot.  Cooooooooooooooool.  Ah, but there's more.  Ok, the God Bomber transformation into robot is VERY 'eh.'  Pull stuff apart, put it back together, and don't knock it over.  Whatever.  The cool thing is the entire piece is armor for Super Ginrai; attach pieces to the feet, chest, arms, and back, and suddenly S.G. is GOD GINRAI.  Ok, gripe time; for all the coolness of the extra armor, the only extra weapon the God Bomber adds is one rather wimpy cannon you stick on God Ginrai's shoulder.  Homer Factor?  Well, like I said in the introduction, if you aren't really into Japanese imports, you can probably live without it.  However, I am a HUGE import fan, so this piece ROCKS.  Yes, it's nice to have a better looking version of Powermaster Optimus, but having the additional armor to change it into a very cool, bulkier, butt-kicking robot is the best part.  Over all?  Yes, this thing is pricey, but you pay for what you get.  In this case, you get a veeeeeeeeeeeery cool piece of Transformer that you rarely see for much, much, much less then the usual price.