(and please forgive my inferior photo quality)

The Kabuto is the first new Origami given to the Shinkengers. A giant beetle is an odd choice for a totem animal; seems like something more likely to appear in Kamen Rider than Super Sentai. Regardless, the orange Kabuto is a pretty solid bug. Its antenna rotates in a clockwise circle.

Kabuto Shinken-Oh, gives a laser-hat to the primary combination. Nice design, holds together & poses without any major problems.

Then came the Kajiki, or “marlin.” A gigantic swordfish which joined the Shinkengers after Blue spent a day patiently waiting for it with a fishing line.

If Hemmingway was alive he’d sue.

Kajiki Shinken-Oh, and aquatic fighter. This one’s not quite as impressive as the Kabuto form. But I still like it.

The Tora Origami, a white tiger with a wheel in its chest and four drills in place of regular paws.

Tora Shinken-Oh, one more combo. Looks nice but not quite as stable as the others; the back-kibble is a little out of control.

Tora’s arrival also gives birth to one other sort of combination:

DaiTenku, a bird-like fusion of the three Auxiliary Origami. Not exactly elegant but most certainly an innovative creation.

[spoilers below]

Later on when Shinken Gold joins the team he brings some new Origami.

The Ika, a robotic squid creature kept in a sushi cart.

Ika Shinken-Oh isnt a BAD combo but it doesn’t really measure up to the others. Shinken-Oh’s arms just aren’t strong enough to continually hold up the squid-weapons.

Ika also gives one more new power to the Origami-

it helps create the IkaTenku Buster, an awesome cannon used by the Samurai Giants. The Buster’s only good for one shot, but that’s more than enough.

Last but most certainly not least is Ebi, a gigantic golden lobster.

Ebi transforms into a powerful Mecha called [b]DaiKai Oh.[/b] Daikai Oh has four unique faces & configurations which alter its fighting style.

The default form is known as Higashi, which is used most often. Like most Sentai Mechs it looks fantastic but the articulation is somewhat lacking (only minor movement in arms & legs).

Minami, the specialized-combat form. Wields a pair of matching swords as weapons.

Nishi, the defensive form. Uses a fan to blow away attacks.

Kita, the united form also called “Ika DaiKai Oh.” Impressive fusion of the Sushi members.

And finally, there’s DaiKai Shinken Oh!

The Ebi transforms into golden Samurai armor for ShinkenOh. I like the look & feel of this combo but I wish the five primary Origami were a little more prominent. Ebi dominates the combo a little too much for my taste.

Overall the Shinkenger mechs are amazingly well designed and would automatically shoot to the top of my “Favorite” list except for one small detail-

The add-on feature known as “Hiden Discs.”

I F**KING HATE THESE THINGS.

They’re like oversized Force Chips; they don’t do anything on their own but the figures aren’t really complete without them.

And naturally every piece of merchandise in the Shinkenger line comes with at least one.

Its just like the Engine Souls from last year. Actually its WORSE than the Engine Souls because the designers have made Hiden Discs an essential part of the support Origami this year. So I can’t even sell them off to make up for the cost of these Mecha.

Anyway, if you can manage to over look the idiotic gimmick the Shinkenger mechas are very well designed AND fun to play with. In the end I guess that’s more important than anything else.

These 5 Origami are carried by the Shinkenger. The kanji on the front of each denotes its owners power/element of choice. From left to right- Sky, Wood, Fire, Water & Earth. All pretty typical elements for our beloved colorful heroes.

After drawing on the Origami emblems with their enchanted calligraphy flip-phones, the Shinkenger can summon totem spirits to aid them in battle.

Turtle, Bear, Monkey, Lion & Dragon. Again, pretty typical Sentai fare. On their own the Origami Beasts are pretty boring actually. They all have some degree of play value but for the most part they just kinda sit on the shelf & look good.

Of course, the true power in these guys stems from their ability to unite! The four lesser Shinkenger attempt to combine on their own at first, but it does not go well….

This magnificent “Origami Oden” isn’t exactly an intimidating force; all it can do is stand up straight & gradually get knocked down like one of those cactus enemies from “Super Mario.”

Their Lord Shinken Red steps in to correct the others on their mistakes & they are able to combine successfully.

Shinken-Oh is born!

I was a little hesitant about this at first but I have grown quite fond of this design. It reminds me of Muteki Shogun, one of my all-time favorite Mechs.

Shinken-Oh is a very solidly built; everything comes together nicely and STAYS together without any major issues. Furthermore the plastic quality is excellent (as always) & the paint details are nothing short of awesome.

Articulation isn’t bad, typical arm & minor leg stuff we’ve come to expect. Also has full movement in the right wrist. Its a bit of a letdown that they didn’t try to push the envelope a little more when it came to movement. On the other hand, its good that they stuck with a simple working plan.

Shinken-Oh is armed with the Great Divine Sword, a samurai-inspired blade which fits snugly into an armored panel on his hip. And there’s a shield.

The shield represents this years’ gimmick- the Hidden Discs.

Hidden Discs are circular attachments which, in the series, give the Shinkenger new abilities. But so far, in the toyline, all it can do is rest on the front of the shield & spin.

The Discs are-in my opinion- ridiculous. They’re like the Engine Souls from last year, only wasting even more space. And like last year we can be sure that Bandai will put at least one Disc in every single major Shinkenger toy release, meaning that people will have no choice but to purchase everything in order to have a complete Hiden set. So, BanDai has snared the wallets of the fanbase once again (not that that’s hard.)

Aside from this stupid gimmick, I am overall impressed with Shinken-Oh. It looks great, feels solid & has a lot of play value-  nice to have a return to normal Mecha designs after the clusterf**k that was last years’ G12. If you enjoy the  traditional, stable, animal-inspired Mecha from Sentai fare then Shinken-Oh is definitely the toy for you.

A group of American producers led by one Haim Saban decided that this sort of thing just might fly with American audiences-assuming they could splice in some of their own homemade footage around the battle sequences. It was a shot in the dark but it got incredible results- the show was an overnight runaway success. And the rest is history!

These are the first five Guardian Beasts- Mammoth, Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, SaberTiger and Pteranodon. By themselves they’re somewhat boring but the real fun is just ahead!

These 5 are also the source of the series’ primary anachronism: The literal translation of this title is “Dinosaur Squadron” but only 2 of these creatures can honestly be called “dinosaurs.”
The Guardian Beasts first combine into this form, BeastTank DinoTanker. It has a few powerful attacks but is mainly used only as an intermediate stage.

THIS is the Beasts’ main combination, DaiZyuJin! An elegant fusion of all five powers. Its blocky and virtually inarticulate but damned if it doesn’t send everyone who reads this on a happy trip down memory lane.

Now, ZyuRanger was actually the first series to firmly establish another tradition: that of adding new members to the core team of Rangers. And this was accomplished with-

Burai, and his powerful companion the Dragon Caesar! Summoned & controlled by the tune of a flute, Caesar came to life and rose out of Tokyo Bay with explosive force in a clear homage to his proud kaiju ancestors.

Though they started off as enemies, Green Ranger & Caesar eventually joined the others. This (to no one’s surprise) allows for new, more powerful combinations!

Goruryuujin, a combination of Dragon Caesar & some of the other Guardian Beasts. Occasionally the Tyrannosaurus would fight alongside this configuration but Pteranodon was still left out in the cold. The “Dragon Antler” drill-spear is his primary weapon; the toy form can’t really wield it to resemble its televised counterpart.

This alternative configuration was also used a few times- Zyutei DaiZyuJin! It uses energy attacks to dispose of enemies (something else that doesn’t translate well in toylines).

God-King Brachion, the most powerful of the Guardian Beasts. So strong that he doesn’t need a pilot like the others. He first appeared as a way to test the Zyuranger’s worthiness. Once they met his approval, Brachion helped them in several battles.

As a side note- the US toy producers were apparently VERY fond of this mold (which they called Titanus). So much, in fact, that it was reincarnated for another Ranger toyline two years later. And then corpse-raped into a god-awful remold three years after that.

Brachion’s alternative form, affectionately known as “King Tanker.” Merely a stepping stone for his true purpose-

he’s the foundation of [b]ULTIMATE DAIZYUJIN!!![/b] The perfect formation of Beast-God, crushing its enemies in a hail of energy.

While the overall design of these toys is considered “inferior” to modern standards, I cannot help but look back on these three with unbridled fondness. Nostalgia’s a great thing sometimes.