Vinyl Vehicle Voltron

Originally solicited for April, Toynami delayed the third volume of of their vinyl figure line-up for months... during which they released several repaints of other figures including the limited version of the actual third figure as an exclusive metallic paint job for SDCC2010. But now it is October and I finally have a vinyl Vehicle Voltron in my hands.
Vehicle Voltron is frequently referred to as “the other Voltron” but in my mind – he stands equal to Lion Voltron because even when I was little, I appreciated that the saga “ended.” The evil king Zarkon was defeated in a final epic battle on Planet Doom and I was happy that all would be okay. And it was time to see what else was going on in the universe populated by Galaxy Garrison and the rest of the Drule Empire. It wasn't a matter of who was more powerful than who, I was more interested in seeing the universe expand.

Vehicle Voltron stands about 9 inches tall and is roughly the same height as the volume 1 figure. However, because of his cone-headed profile thanks to his head being formed of a rocket-jet, he generally tapers to a point and thus looks somewhat smaller. Lion Voltron's wings also widen his profile a lot by comparison. On the other hand, being made up of no less than 15 component vehicles, Vehicle Voltron enjoys a sharper sculpting job than Lion Voltron does.
Vehicle Voltron appears to be composed for more forms including a separate (but not removeable) fighter-jet-chest-plate. And he has joints at the hips where his legs meet his torso. A small complaint is that the joints aren't as tight as Lion Voltron. Also the same paint over-spray appears occasionally as expected for a mass-produced figure.
While at first I was disappointed the figure did not include the “spinning laser blades” weapons on his shoulders, it later occurred to me that this is indeed anime-accurate as Vehicle Voltron was rarely drawn with the helicopter props on his shoulders unless he was charging up an attack. That said the sculpt also takes a cue from the older toys and so shows a bunch of tank-treads on the back side. In the actual animation, Voltron sported a pair of engine pods on his upper back. It irritates me to know that the sculptor clearly chose whatever elements were easiest to implement rather than to stick with a particular design choice.

Vinyl Lion Voltron

Toynami is the outfit behind the Robotech Masterpieces series. That infamous line-up ranged from the mildly disappointing VF-1 quality control issues, down to the outright factory recalled Shadow Chronicles Alpha Fighter due to fan-outrage and, strangely, also up to the dizzying heights of rave reviews for the Beta Fighter.
So that is why when I found myself staring at the clear-plastic packaged 9-inch tall vinyl rendition of the Lion Voltron, I was prepared to let things slide a bit. Even my novice eyes picked out the over-spray on the hip. But you know, it's a relatively minor thing and it's not like this figure is terribly expensive. The key is to accept that Voltron is a license in that niche just a bit too mainstream for the likes of Kid Robot to make a Munny out of, but nowhere near big enough for Hasbro to turn into a Mighty Mugg.
Other than the paint defect, the rest of the figure is great. No mold deformaties to speak of. And the rest of the figure's paint is great. He's brightly coloured to all the correct shades. Joints twist where one would expect (and in some places one wouldn't). Heck, there's actually a waist joint. And each Lion head twists as well.
There's not really much else to say except I got the urge to finally pick one up because of the following news: Toynami has shown a prototype for a second in this series. That's right, CollectionDX reports that Vehicle Voltron will also be coming to vinyl form! And yes, he will similarly be adorable.