The Exvern Microman is currently the last last toy in Takara/Tomy's series as the line has been in hiatus since 2007. That being said this vehicle set is based upon the same mould as their Bio Machine Xeku and Machine Mirror distributed in 2004.The Gran Mirror is some sort of sci-fi airbike that serves to transport our hero around to whatever weekly threat faces the show at the time.
The Gran Mirror is a nicely re-painted vehicle and is constructed much more solidly than its 2004 counterpart. The figure is a re-tooled version of Xeku and was featured in the live action (tokukatsu) series Wecker Signa. Despite being a re-issued mould however the overall appeal of this vehicle set is quite enjoyable.
Gran Mirror and Bio Machine:
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Exvern & Xeku:
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One downside shared by both vehicles is the difficulty of attaching the pilots hand to the controls of their machines.
Gran Mirror:
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The Exvern figure is a standard Microman figure moulded in black featuring a dark helmet (insert Space Balls joke here) and alternate head sculpt with raised visor, he shares the same red chrome colour as his cousin Xeku. The difference is he has a modified chest plate.
Exvern:
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Like Xeku Exvern has hard points located on him to attach additional armour provided by parts of the Gran Mirror. Whether this was an option he actually used in the show is not known to me.
The box set also features a region 2 DVD. What's on it I haven't a clue, as I haven't the means to watch it and being in Japanese I would have no idea what's going on anyway.
Still it's a nice touch and a clever marketing gadget.
In conclusion I'd have to say is that the down side to this figure is its lack of originality. It's a shame that Takara never made an equivalent to the Bio Machine in it's Wecker Signa series. As it is now Exvern stands alone as an oddity to what might have been.
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