Beyond Transformers: The Greatest Combiner Robot of All Time (ft. Brave Yuusha Great Goldran)

Voltes V? Combattler? GaoGaiGar? Predaking? Nope, the best combining robot toy of all time is Great Goldran, from Takara's Brave Yuusha series, and Jeff is more than happy to tell you why!

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

Japan has been enjoying many years of making fun toys to play with.

[@shifty0212]

He truly is the GOLD STANDARD of combiners! Always wanted one, but never had one. Great review!

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@shifty0212 great dad joke. Wish I'd thought of it first!

[@osenator]

This is why I collect lots of Japanese, Korean and Chinese robots. Way more fun than Hasbro most of the time.

[@classiccomicsforum]

So very very true!

[@ReverendPONT]

For me from the Brave series, its Brave Express Mightgaine. The Bomber Team is probably my favorite Combiner.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@ReverendPONT nice to see Mightgaine getting some love!

[@n1ghtmar3w0lf3]

i fully agree with you on this, i have seen little videos of this toy and its transformation and i like how nicely it combines and isn't a giant cluster of parts

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@n1ghtmar3w0lf3 absolutely. I agree that's so much of its charm.

[@MechaTheSpider]

Oddly a lot of TF fans absolutely hate JP properties a ton, most I've talked to about braves won't give any of them the time of day, because they're "too anime". Missing out! Great video!

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@MechaTheSpider their loss. I first began collecting TFs again in the late '90s (pretty much because of ebay) and the only Transformers on American toy shelves were Beast Machines, so I used ebay to discover what else was out there. Now we have so much officially licensed Transformers stuff to distract fans from looking at the truly great stuff. Thus the existence of this channel, really.

[@hannahleith52]

​@@classiccomicsforum I'm a G1 Transformers fan and I love Brave series and mecha anime ironically because it reminded me of Transformers

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@hannahleith52 sure does!

[@batangbatugan]

For me my favorite will always be Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh, it was the first Brave series shown in the Philippines. Design wise, Raijin-Oh is the most visually cohesive in my opinion.

[@ReverendPONT]

Raijin Oh is from the Eldran series made by Tomy along with Ganbarugar and Go Saurer. I do agree with you that the Robots from the show is awesome. Go Saurer designs are my favorite from the series as they're Dinobots that combine basically.

[@reichstein011]

That sure is one great glorious golden gestalt! Not something I'd personally rank as one of the best combiners. But maybe one of the most blinged out combiners :) Very cool. Thanks for sharing :)

[@classiccomicsforum]

You're very welcome. Yes, it might have been appropriate to rename the line Brave of Bling.

[@Alexisilver]

While a KO Fire Dagwon may have been my Brave toy, Goldran was my first proper Brave I recall so clearly getting getting him at BotCon 2013, and the crowd that gathered in the hotel lobby to see me sticker up this foreign golden dinosaur

[@classiccomicsforum]

That's an incredible memory!

[@Lupenux]

Brave Series has many great toys/robots/combiners. If you're lucky, you could find MPB-01 Exkaiser and MPB-02 Dragonkaiser. I wish they could make more MPBs.

[@classiccomicsforum]

I'd totally forgotten they'd done Masterpiece Braves! Generally not an MP fan (I like toys that go for fun transformations as opposed to complex and wieldy ones that prioritize a realistic look), but it's very cool that Takara felt there was a demand for Braves with that line.

[@Lupenux]

Yeah. I think now it would be something like Soul of Chogokin.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@Lupenux Bandai only obtained the rights in 2022. SOC versions could well be on the way!

[@bingbongtoysKY]

oh hell yeah!!! Great Goldran- hell yeah!!!! Brave!!!!! incredible

[@hotrodney964]

Omg that there is some glorious plastic!!! I so want this thing! Great video as always sir! 😁

[@classiccomicsforum]

Thank you much!

[@NemesisTomato]

This set is my holy grail.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@NemesisTomato may it make it's way to your collection soon!

[@thenuclearsandwich]

While this Goldran that I've never heard of before looks impressive, I have to say that no combiner beats the elegance and uniformity of Lion Force/Golion Voltron in my opinion. On another note, Dran reminds of Cybertron Hot Shot in appearance. I think that he would be an easy retool to give us a modern looking Dran. And Leon definitely reminds me of Saber. The way he combines with Kaiser is like a what if Saber combined with Victory Leo instead of the V-Star. Overall, a pretty cool toy with lots of playability to inspire the imagination. The only negative for me is the monotony of the flat gold with the shiny gold. Makes it's a little hard to distinguish all his intricate features. Thanks for introducing me to something I was unaware had existed.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@thenuclearsandwich my pleasure, and I agree with your assessments of design similarities with Victory Saber and Hot Shot. Really, though, Dran is pretty generic in design. There were other Brave toys that did a similar transformation first.

[@Archy24]

VERY INFORMATIVE YOU ARE SIR ... ALSO VERY EXCLUSIVE COLLECTION YOU HAVE INDEED .. THANK YOU FOR SHARING 💌‼️❤️‍🔥🇨🇱

[@classiccomicsforum]

Thank you for the kind words, my friend!

[@brenoferreiraferreira4409]

I hope you meant "The Greatest Combiner Robot for His Time" because I can't believe you're comparing him to the combiners being released atm. Having said that, I want to agree that for his time it was a very good Combining TF Action figure for sure. Thanks for showing us your combiner.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@brenoferreiraferreira4409 you're very welcome. I did mean of all time as I find the combiners of today are either too cost-conscious or so overly sophisticated as to not be enjoyable to transform. That said, who would be your top picks of today?

[@mrdude88]

I hope Bandai release a SMP version. There’s already a lot of Brave SMP line and this one needs to be made.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@mrdude88 totally agreed!

[@HouseholdWheel]

If it wasn't entirely gold I think I'd want to go for it

[@kidchuckle]

totally agree. The design is fun. But if they had a little more colour to breakup the forms. I think it would be easier to identify the individual modes. but it is kind of neat.

[@classiccomicsforum]

If he were made in the 2010s as opposed to the 1990s, there would have been color variants. Would have loved to have seen a dark version of him with Gold chrome highlights.

[@kidchuckle]

@@classiccomicsforum black and gold would be sweet

[@thebeast1434]

Great gold goldran is one of my favourite combiners toys From the brave series the other three combiners I liked From tomy was god Raijin oh ,Ganbarugar and go saurer they were so much fun

[@classiccomicsforum]

All great choices! I'm thrilled there are other Goldran fans out there. No one ever talks about this guy.

[@09hereweare]

While I agree that this is a really good combiner, I still have to give my best combiner title to either Magna Jet Optimus Prime from Armada or Engine-O G12 (RPM Ultrazord) from Engine Sentai Go-Onger (Power Rangers RPM).

[@osenator]

Hasbro should have brought Braves to north America. Missed opportunities.

[@classiccomicsforum]

I sure wish, but I think they made the right call from a business sense. In the '90s, American cartoons were trying harder to be cool and tough while Brave centered on adorable children.

[@DonSchomer]

Im in full agreement with you that Goldran is the greatest of all.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Glad to know he has other fans!!

[@YoutubeWatcher264]

Cool. Random animal, vehicle robot combining into a bigger robot.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Haha, that's Japanese combiners since Daltanius, for you.

[@YoutubeWatcher264]

@@classiccomicsforum Yeah I know. They just love combining stuff into bigger robots.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@KZbinWatcher264 it shook things up, I suppose!

[@Razalonjrt1]

A lot of shiny Gold on him and most of the ideas are cool thou the "Bow" could of been better but hey you have only so much to work with, In some ways I would love lot of the Brave Sets to be with the Transformers so many new Autobot Combiners and some cool Decepticons too. Always liked the Goldran and other Brave shows with so many new Transformer types. Great review on a old classic Non Transformers Combiner.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Thank you! Yes, I do think Kaiser is the one weak link in an otherwise outstanding chain of combiners. He's definitely not bad, but (as you said) he could have been better.

[@lanoche]

Ooh what a hot take lol. If he's your GOAT then good for you. Everybody has their own GOATS. I just like combining mechs in general so I don't really have a GOAT but I do have my tops in my own tier list.

[@classiccomicsforum]

So what's at the top of your list?

[@bahrahfahofficial1158]

This isn’t a hot take. Not in the slightest lol.

[@jesse412]

That thing is amazing 🤩

[@davewire87]

I love GOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLDDDDD… Ah Goldran, so pretentious. I think that’s part of the reason this series isn’t as well remembered among Brave. While the gold allows it to be very shiny, it does leave him a bit monochromatic. I do like Dran. You can see how the engineering would eventually evolve to make Volfogg and Cybertron Hot Shot. Nigh identical car modes with very similar arm transformations.

[@danskinner8533]

All i can say is everyone has their own opinion on the greatest. As for myself and inmy collection and for me personally Piranacon. Reason why 1 how many combiner teams have 6 members 2 howmany are aquatic animal themed 3 how many have a stable coherent color scheme

[@GrimlocksToyBox]

sold me he is awsome

[@BRIdpc]

Awesome!

[@davewire87]

You’re basically right with Sora-Kage’s pronunciation. It means Sky Shadow.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Thanks so much for letting me know!

[@Harry75]

He is so like Divebomb!

[@gunslin33able]

Awesome

[@seankelly9541]

They lost the license? What did i miss? The Transformers brand was Hasbro"s idea but a lot of the actual design and engineering came from Takara. I"d say its a shared (Or co-owned) property and Takara went in a different direction. After G1 ended in the US, Hssbro Europe obtained Overlord for release in ...91 or 92 (?) as well as the Breast Masters (stop laughing} and Brain Masters. Albeit with combiner parts missing. So i would say Hasbro and Takara very much had a licensing agreement in the early 90s. If i am wrong tell me :-)

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@seankelly9541 they didn't lose the Hasbro license; they lost the Toei license in Japan. Toie did not want to continue producing the anime, but they held the license, so Takara was out of luck. At least as I understand it.

[@HouseholdWheel]

You should check out God King-Ohger The final combination from the Kingohger Sentai Series (Its 20 bugs combined together)

[@classiccomicsforum]

Oh yes, he's crazy fun! Definitely an underrated masterpiece.

[@leowatley]

@15:45 what's with the abrupt aspect ratio switch? also, never seen bots that were, basically, 100% gold. i like it. the colors really remind me of predaking.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Glad you like it. Yes, there's a definite Predaking vibe, whether intentional or otherwise. Aspect ratio switch was to allow greater height when filming the combiner. Still figuring out all the tricks with filming toy transformations, and this is one I hope to handle more smoothly in ensuing videos. Thanks for the feedback!

[@chogokinchogokin5153]

I have the original Takara gift set. It is impressive. The Tomy brave series are nice as well. Do you have a Great Ganbaruger in your collection ?

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@chogokinchogokin5153 not yet.

[@Desciple860]

Great vid buuuuut i think bruticus has something to say about that 😂

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@Desciple860 now that choice surprises me. To each their own of course, but all the '85/'86 combiners other than Devastater were so similar to one another.

[@budgetbenner]

ill take 2

[@Cliffsrepaircorner]

Interesting video yeah I definitely wasn't familiar with this line in particular but he is a pretty cool but. If you'd like some help with pronunciation I can help you with a couple of those. For example "sora" your day it like "soo ra" think of the main character from Kingdom hearts.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@Cliffsrepaircorner that's helpful. Thank you!

[@citizen_grub4171]

So... Enjoyed the video. Very cool looking toy. Don't agree with you (I'm not keen on firing missiles and action gimmicks (even when I was a kid in the 80s, articulation was important to me and gimmicks usually hindered it), or the big blocks atrached to his feet), but as someone else mentioned, what's important is that he's the greatest to _you_. Back around 87 or so, I had a complete Dairugger/Vehicle Voltron set, though it was the smaller vehicles rather than the big ones. I loved those things and would love to get another. I think my combining robot holy grails would be the Soul of Chogokin Dairugger and GoLion. I just think their designs look sick.

[@classiccomicsforum]

Nothing beats the originals of those for me, but (as you said) it comes down to what's the greatest to you.

[@citizen_grub4171]

@@classiccomicsforum Absolutely. And if I'd had a complete GoLion set, I might agree with you about those being the best of that IP. Unfortunately, I never actually got to play with the kick-awesome die-cast set, and even my plastic set was incomplete. Wish I *had* been able to get it, though. I loved that it actually had cockpits for pilot figures to sit in.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@citizen_grub4171 yes, the plastic set looked pretty bad, but I considered getting it many times just because of those cockpits.

[@Destro517]

I love it but fire dagwon and the other bots he combined with best this guy out for me

[@classiccomicsforum]

did you ever see the oversized Fire Dagwon Happywell toys sold back in the '90s? Absolutely gorgeous. Never cared for Dugwon's vehicle modes, but I'll absolutely agree that robot mode was first rate.

[@Destro517]

@classiccomicsforum i had the smaller Grey versions still love that set want to try and find some of the Kos again like this small star saber I had too

[@benslooking4coolstuff]

awesome vid! which Optimus is on the middle shelf next to purple macross?

[@classiccomicsforum]

Thanks much! That's the T-01 OP Commander. Beautiful, highly posable, and cheap (about $20 on Ali Baba). I may do a future episode on him. You can also get him in white, black, and Shattered Glass purple.

[@benslooking4coolstuff]

@@classiccomicsforum oh wow!

[@DonSchomer]

What about the train that carries Goldran and Silverion...

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@DonSchomer Advenger? Don't own one, myself. He never looked that interesting to me. Do you own one? Am I missing much?

[@jeffcornelius9915]

King Gosaurer i believe tops Great Goldran. First, 5 dinosaurs with robot modes. First 3, Pteranadon, Brachiosaurus, and Stegosaurus, combine to form Gosaurer. They also combine into a Spaceship. Add a t-rex and Triceratops. These 2 have spaceship modes as well. All 5 combine to form King Gosaurer.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@jeffcornelius9915 he's a fascinating one that's been on my radar. He looks a little frail compared to the heft of Goldran, but his design and engineering is definitely impressive.

[@jeffcornelius9915]

If not able to get the original, the Moderoid models are a great representation with a lot more posability.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@jeffcornelius9915 great advice!

[@Shadow200001]

I proclaim Voltron Lionforce robot lions as the greatest combiner robot ever! You are wrong rant rant, How dare you Rage Rage, etc. etc. etc.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@Shadow200001 I was starting to worry that no one on the internet wanted to fight anymore 😂

[@Shadow200001]

@@classiccomicsforum Well you what a Fight? I'll give you a WAR! I'll finish watching this video when I can find time to let RL to let me go and give an honest opinion of the toy. I never had money for these toys growing up, and these videos are the closest I will ever get to them.

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@Shadow200001 happy to bring you one step closer to them. I can't afford them, myself, but I was fortunate enough to pick up many of them inexpensively in the early days of ebay, and the few I've picked up now were definitely irresponsible purchases. Bring on the war :)

[@raysandrarexxia941]

Ehhhhh no. Sure it's cool but not the best of a 40 year history

[@classiccomicsforum]

@@raysandrarexxia941 only fair to tell me what you'd choose instead.

[@raysandrarexxia941]

@@classiccomicsforum either: • Power rangers mystic force titan mrgazord • Fanshobby armada Optimus + Jetfire + Overload