The Yamato from Space Battleship Yamato otherwise known as the Argo from Starblazers. Sometimes I think I spent my entire youth in front of the television set. My fondest memories as a kid were spent engrossed in the adventures of Starblazers, Voltron, and Battle of the Planets. If I could live in 1978 forever... The ultimate irony was that for all of these shows that kids were insane for, there were hardly any toys on the market. No Child World store had the Phoenix from Battle of the Planets. Pretty much all of those shows have shaped what I collect today. Collectors now have their choice of the nice diecast Godphoenix from UniFive, the Masterpiece Voltron from Toynami and the toy I am talking about today, Bandai’s Big Scale Soul of Popynica Space Battleship Yamato. I’m spoiled now, for sure. But back in the day, I had no Yamato (Or Argo, as it was called in Starblazers). I was teased every day by the images of Starblazers toys on the commercial for Mr. Bigs Toyland. I actually found a piece of wood in the forest behind our apartment that somewhat looked like the Argo. Yeah, I painted that and flew it around the yard. I was Ghetto. When Bandai announced that they were making a SOP Yamato I went nuts. This was back in 2001, when I was really hesitant about spending top dollar on toys. The thought of a diecast Yamato, all tricked out, made me tremble with excitement. And then the facts came out. Mostly plastic, ¥20,790 pricetag. Damn, out of my reach. They sold out quickly despite the warm reviews, and prices on the secondary market climbed through the roof. I remember seeing them for as much as $400 at one time. On my trip to Tokyo in 2003, I didn’t find ONE for sale anywhere. Fortunately my good friend Dave offered to sell me his – it was missing a small part on the back, but it was cheaper than retail so I grabbed it. Of course, shortly after that Bandai re-released it and prices on the secondary market went down. Years later, is it worth it? The Big Scale SOP Yamato is an interesting piece. As a display model it is excellent. Full of detail and grandeur. But as a toy, not so much. The Yamato is loaded with gimmicks and action features. At about 17 inches long, it is a lot of ship. Unfortunately, most of the ship is plastic, with diecast being reserved for a section around the bridge and the rear cone of the engine. The toy requires 2xAAA batteries which will give you about 40 minutes of play time. Lights and Sound The SOP Yamato features numerous light and sound gimmicks. By pressing the buttons on the right side of the ship, you can activate the features. Effects include: * Artillery Firing Sound * Gun Firing Sound * Pulse Laser * Alarm * Engine Ignition * Engine Start * Sailing Alarm Of course, some of these sounds accompany a light up action: * Wave Motion Gun * Bridge Lights * Rear Engine Lights * Hangar Lights Bandai really outdid itself with some of the action features. There really is a lot going on with this piece. The turrets on the deck each have moveable barrels and by turning a dial on the side, all three cannons move together. The base parts of the cannons are metal. Read the full review at Collection DX Tags: yamato argo starblazers spacebattleship anime matsumoto chogokin popy popynica bigscale toy review bandai collectiondx