Beyond Transformers: Super Sentai's Answer to Fortress Maximus? (ft. Magma Base)

Shortly before Super Sentai came to the United States as Power Rangers, it experimented with releasing enormous, Fortress Maximus-scale transforming playsets, and the most ambitious of these was Fiveman's Magma Base!

[@KingofPotatoPeople]

I’ve always taught my boys a good play set should have a jail cell and an elevator. They are few and far between in the modern age!

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

As I recall in the TV series, Super Fiverobo can combine with Magma Base to create Max Magma. Yeah, I doubt any monster-of-the-week would survive a bombardment of cannons from that gigantic mecha base. The 5 siblings who are the main heroes really grew up without their parents, I never saw the rest of the show after the Gaku's Secret episode.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Thanks for this! Did you stop watching because the quality fell off or for some other reason?

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

@@classiccomicsforum The Sony Trinitron lf my gramps got damaged so no TV for us for two months. My most boring teen times.

[@cdigames]

I love this for the same reasons I loved King Pyramider from the Sentai that became Rangers Zeo. But you're right, it was *not* a playset it was just a giant toy.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Pyramidar was certainly one of a kind. I just always wanted him to do more for the amount of space he took up.

[@Cent_Reviews]

Worth noting that in the past, Bandai had done playsets before, just not specifically in the form of mecha, in the way of super sentai, in 1977 JAKQ had the JAKQ command playset to go with its 4 inch figure line, and then for metal heroes, in 1987 Metalder had 2 playsets, the ghost bank and the silver caucus, and in 1988 Jiraiya had a playset in the form the secret ninja manor, however turbo builder was the first time a playset had been specifically compatible with a line mech system

[@classiccomicsforum]

Great point. I considered going into the history of bases with super robots in Japan, but ultimately left that out. Discussing Sentai bases, in particular, would have been a worthwhile approach!

[@leftygurl]

close enough, welcome back grandus

[@classiccomicsforum]

There are certainly similarities. I definitely prefer Magma Base.

[@ZedMazaus480]

I grew up with my G1 Fortress Maximus and has always been my favorite plaset base. While the Titans Return version came with lights, sounds, and modern egineering that allows greater posability. I find it a bit disapointing as it's predessor's successor. Not only was it seriously lacking all it's weaponry, including it's iconic waist cannons. (Unless you got the SDCC or Japanese versions that got the sword.) It was also missing the two extra rooms that were on the legs for it's base mode, and the helipad/turret on the left leg was the saddist after thought I've ever seen. Thank goodness for 3rd party companies for coming to the rescue to fix most of those issues. I want Hasbro/Takara to go back and redo this guy eventually to fix thos mistakes. I understand the issues they have with his guns, and can't fault them on that part. Especially since his hand guns would cause issues with modern toy laws at that size. I never had magma baser so it's hard for me to relate. Maybe I'll have to eventually get one to see for myself it's charm.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@ZedMazaus480 I'm with you on all the wasted opportunities that happened with the new Fortress Maximus. Really, I think all of the new Titans could have had stronger base modes, but that just wasn't the priority for the designers, unfortunately.

[@lanoche]

Damn Magma base. It's been 10+ years and I still don't own one ever since starting my collecting again. My Fiverobo and Star Carrier are feeling lonely. These used to be like $200~300 10 years ago and now they're like $700 especially with box. It still hurts me to this day as somebody who actually watched Fiveman and Turboranger as a kid. It's Magma Base and Turbo Builder that's kinda my base type Holy grails that I still don't have. I got a King Pyramider already from Japan so it's the proper one with the sparkly plastic for cheap years ago but the other 2 bases are still elusive to me and again, it's not really a priority to me to buy at this point cause of how just expensive they got. Also Fiveman is kinda considered as the worst Sentai series actually. I believe they said they almost cancelled the franchise just because of how bad it was. I loved it though, but now I'm an adult, yeah some of the stuff were kinda cringe like the puppet section and shit that was actually my favorite part growing up. I love the puppet segments they introduced like mid series. 9:21 that's the launch pad for the Star Carrier, aka the second Fiveman robot. 13:24 There's a lot of info about Sentai stuff at grnrng(dot)com and the Ranger Wiki. It has a whole section just for Sentai series.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Thanks for this info! The prices are coming down, so maybe Magma Base will finally be yours again. I only paid $200 for mine.

[@davewire87]

I grew up in the 90s but I fondly remember the Mighty Max toyline and its huge Skull Mountain playset. Huge for Mighty Max mind you, which was a tiny, Polly Pocket for boys line. Arguably the entirety of Mighty Max is all mini playsets. So Turbo Builder is basically Grandus? We need more robot bases. I have the new Diaclone Reboot Giant Robot Base and it might be the best toy I will ever own.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Yes, I adore the new GRB and have considered doing an episode on him. Still not sure how I feel about the Diaclone reboot as a whole since it just feels so thoroughly not like a transforming robot series (even though it has robots that alter their forms). And I'd say Turbo Builder is closer in inspiration to Daitetsujin 17 than Grandus.

[@ZZtheDark]

For bases in Sentai, they brought the King Caucasus Castle that forms a robot in King Ohger.

[@travishoel3755]

80s toys were the best.

[@willisjackson7029]

In some ways the head transformation reminds me of all of the Mazinger cockpit transformations and it becomes the head. Have you ever seen the Gai King Dragon base from Soul Of Chogokin? That’s a huge piece but very expensive, close to $800 or so.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@willisjackson7029 oh yes. Nice looking piece!

[@michaelreynolds7091]

It was and still is a great time to be a toy nerd!!!!!!!!!

[@titanic_monarch796]

I have to wonder how this parallels with the original Diaclone Robot Base

[@classiccomicsforum]

Pretty different. No command center, for one. No escalater either. Maybe the easiest way to break down the difference is GRB emphasized what happens inside the base whereas Magma Base focused on a believable exterior.

[@titanic_monarch796]

@@classiccomicsforum I was mostly commenting on how it plays into the "big playset toy that's also a robot" thing, but I haven't finished the video yet- intesterestjng to hear!

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@titanic_monarch796 thanks much!

[@LodanSD]

Speaking of Playsets, I wonder if you could possibly look into a grail of mine that's been occupying a place in the back of my mind for decades; Could you look into the Gobotron Fortress? The guy at Super Toy Archive really ticked me off when he said he had seen one, but didn't buy it! If it weren't for him, I'd have written it off as something that was never produced...

[@classiccomicsforum]

Oh, it's on my list. One of these days, it'll be mine, and when it is, there will be a video.

[@officerpanda911]

Bandai was doing pretty good as they just had introduced the super combo 2 robots formation with liveman a year before Turbo ranger. Turbo Ranger did well with Turbo builder but Fiveman had all sorts of issues, Economy went bust again. The man writer for SHOWA era from Bioman onwards was on his last leg writing Fiveman before he retired and it was just too Tropey and kiddish. Bandai started cheapening out of the plastic quality with Fiveman Mecha and Magma Base was notoriously shoddy construction compared to previous mother bases. Bandai sold Magma Base at a loss and included the VHS bundle to entice people. The back pad on the base is for the Second support Robo STAR FIVE for when its in its ship mode it acts as the launch bay.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Thanks for all of this!

[@spikesagitta]

Hmm, ok i'm sold to it. It does look better as a base than a robot.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Definitely. They could have given the arms and hands more joints at the very least, but that would have added to the price tag of an already expensive product, I suppose. But yes, I adore that base mode, and I'm so glad you do too!

[@seankelly9541]

04:01 reminds me of Grandus?

[@classiccomicsforum]

There's certainly a resemblance, though I much prefer Magma Base. I wouldn't be surprised if Grandus had been an inspiration to Bandai's designers as the previous Turbo Builder transformed just like Grandus.

[@ZZtheDark]

6:40, oh...I SEE!! Thanks, man. This looks GREAT! 7:28, Just can't get enuf! Don't you cry, baby~ - Bombrush Cyberfunk and that song is awesome!! There are the Donbrothers Mechas and yeah, they are 35 cm HUUUGE! They're freakin' amazing! 8:30, the Japanese really love Power Rangers. It's the purists that are insane. 10:48, the head plane reminds me a lot of Voltes V and Daimos tbh. 11:25, what's to stop anyone from using this as a docking bay for any Sentai or Ranger Zord bay? For Fiveman, check out Kaiju No Kami's review of Fiveman. He only reviews the series but it's a start. Jetman was where Toei wanted to end the Sentai series but due to how amazingly written the show was, they continued and well, Zyuranger came to be and I don't have to say much about it if anyone knows about MMPR's success in the 90's.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Thanks! This is really helpful info. As for your comments: 10:48: Absolutely. Dairugger XV too. 11:25. Some won't fit. Bioman, for example, is slightly too large.

[@ZZtheDark]

@@classiccomicsforum Just one thing, will there be a comparison between the Don Onitaijin, Don ToraDragonjin and the Magma Base in size comparison? Oh yeah, Dairugger too. Hehe. Ahh, interesting. Also, no prob sir!

[@ZZtheDark]

Ok, I just found out something. On Namu Wiki's max magma page. They have a bit of history on the toy itself. 'The list price at the time of release was a whopping 16,800 yen, which was excessively expensive. As a result, the price was too burdensome for most families to spend even as a gift for their children all at once, and of course it was bound to become bad inventory. In the end, even though it sold nearly 500 yen at the end of the year , it was not enough to boost sales at the last minute. Since the product development of Max Magma ended in a disastrous failure, base-type large toys in the Super Sentai series disappeared for the time being, ending with Max Magma. When the DX Giant Base Max Magma toy was released, a video tape explaining the combination with a running time of 15 minutes was included, and at this time, Ryohei Kobayashi, who plays Fumiya Hoshikawa of Five Black, and Keiko Hayase, who plays Remi Hoshikawa of Five Yellow, used the toy. Introducing. This is the second video produced since Chosu Sentai Liveman's live combination set in 1988.' As for Max Magma's legacy, it was used in crossovers but recently, it was featured as a monster in Donbrothers in ep 7 called 'Crowd of Teachers' which was a Fiveman tribute. There was also a robot from Super Robot Wars that has the same head as Max Magma. I dunno what it was but it was an SRW Original mech. There's quite a hefty bunch of base Robos/playsets such as the single mechs that form Muteki Daishogun (since they were castles), King Pyramider/Pyramidas, Victrailer/Artilletron, Galaxy Mega, Dekabase, Orion Battler which replaced the Orion from Kyuranger, Gigant Brachio from Kyoryuger, Brachiozord from Dinothunder/Abaranger and King Caucasus Base from King Ohger so yeah, there's no shortage of base mechas. They're just done differently.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@ZZtheDark give me time to get them all first! 😂

[@bingbongtoysKY]

fantastic! Great review 🎉🎉🎉

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@bingbongtoysKY thank you!

[@MrAsterian75]

Your video will be perfect if you introduce first the TRANSFORMERS who inspire the TURBO BUILDER playset... GRANDUS from RETURN OF THE CONVOY.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Talk about bricks! I definitely should include Grandus if only to make Magma Base look like the height of articulation 😂 In all seriousness, I really wanted a Grandus for a while, but I've always felt the price was out of line for how available the toy is.

[@Starsaber97]

I"m sorry, but I don't see how this guy is better then fort max in base mode. Especially when fort max gives you more to with as a base with more ramps and play features that can give way more fodder for imagination play then what this toy offers. And looks more like an actual base to me instead of just being a single building that would be part of a base.

[@classiccomicsforum]

No reason to be sorry, Starsaber. You like what you like. I like something that looks like an actual building and doesn't clearly look like a robot in a different mode.

[@mrjasonsinco]

The whole video I was distracted by the massive tower of Construx, what's the story on that? I had several sets of those as a kid, made all sorts of crazy stuff with them.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@mrjasonsinco great eye! I used to run this little corner of the world wide web: construxion.tripod.com/

[@joshuachristian5443]

I have a variety of Japanese transforming robot toys and I use a translator app to read what the packages and booklets say.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@joshuachristian5443 which app?

[@willisjackson7029]

@@classiccomicsforum I use google translate to translate with the use of a picture.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@willisjackson7029 I didn't realize google translate could work with pictures. Thanks for the tip!

[@superiorfafnir2391]

You should buy godkingohger or gigantkyoryuzin

[@classiccomicsforum]

Great taste!

[@primusvsunicron1]

what about DekaBase?

[@classiccomicsforum]

Good call. That was quite a while later, but it certainly is a base. I always tend to think of it as more of a carrier, but it's right there in the name.