And so to conclude my look at all the components of the Liokaiser giftset, I examine Ion Scythe (his weapon) and the combined form of Liokaiser himself! Ion Scythe transforms from an eagle to a plasma cannon, and is a redeco of Arms Micron Gul, which originally came with Arms Micron Starscream. Liokaiser is the combined form of everything in the giftset itself!
In this series, ie Transformers: Combiner Wars, Liokaiser is formed from a team of Destrons. It is a homage to Liokaiser from the Transformers: Victory, where the team that formed Liokaiser was called Breastforce.
Liokaiser retails for $199.90 and is available at all good departmental stores. Thanks Hasbro for sending him over!
Packaging
So Liokaiser is depicted as whirling his Electromagnetic Nunchaku with one hand, while ferociously blasting you with his giant cannon. It’s a combination of both his toy weapon (the ranged cannons) and his signature weapon in Transformers: Victory (the Electromagnetic Nunchaku). Both are a little tricky to pull off in toy form, so I haven’t, but it’s an impressive, evocative piece of art. And there’s even a tiny Star Saber firing at him from below!
The box set clearly shows you all the members of the Destrons, so you can keep count and figure out who’s a homage to who. Most of them are easily decipherable.
This is one giftset where I’m really going to frame the art up somewhere. Official Liokaiser art is hard to find, especially given his Japanese origins, and to see Hasbro acknowledging him (in a Platinum Series, no less) as a character worthy of our collection is heartening. Next would be Dinoking of course, but let’s wait as they figure out how to integrate Pretender and Combiner technology together. I’m happy with my Liokaiser as is!
Ion Scythe – Robot Mode
I’m not very sure of the significance of Ion Scythe in the Lio Kaiser giftset, though I’m fairly certain it has to do with him a)being Japanese only and b)sort of doubling up as a homage for Leozack. Anyways, an Ion Scythe means that he’s sharp enough split apart your very ions, which would be what happens if this Liokaiser used his predecessor’s finishing move, the “Battle Explosion”.
That one-eyed look calls to mind Shockwave, although I can’t remember any one-eyed Decepticon in Transformers: Victory. Maybe he’s a callback to Blue Bacchus?
Ion Scythe – Alternate Mode
The thing is that although Ion Scythe evokes the idea of a melee weapon, his alternate mode is actually a ranged weapon. So maybe I should re-evaluate my opinion of him being a really sharp scythe, to the “Ion” part referring to his alternate mode shooting ion blasts and his “Scythe” part referring to the sharp talons of his eagle mode.
Thank goodness there are no stickers! I think I stuck my Gul stickers wrongly when I first assembled him. Plus, those faction symbol crystals are a pain to to assemble. So props for having him pre-assembled for us!
Liokaiser
OK I spelt him as “Lio Kaiser” here because I really remember him as two words, even though the box set gives it as one word. Semantics aside, Liokaiser is the tallest combiner of them all thanks to how his feet are assembled. You see, the Brawl mould can be extended as a longer limb if it is used as an arm, but it has to be shortened as a leg to match the length of the other combiner limbs, which can’t be extended as much as a leg.
But since the legs are BOTH Brawl moulds, you can extend the limbs and give him longer legs, and greater height. Woo hoo!
Thanks to his height and his broad shoulders, Liokaiser looks even more menacing than Bruticus and truly regains his title as the most powerful Combiner ever. OK Victory Saber is sort of a Combiner and is more powerful, but if you’re talking about gestalt teams than Liokaiser wins hands down, even beating the powered up gestalts from Transformers: Zone.
In short, Liokaiser is just incredible awesome. His colour scheme is well put together too, and they match without clashing, which is rare when you have so many colours at play in a single form. It worked well for the original, and it works well here too.
As the last Combiner (for the foreseeable future) to be released under the Transformers: Combiner Wars line, he’s a stunning way to close the line. It’s been two years of Combiner Wars, ever since we started with Superion (which everyone loves and of which I’m also looking for some components to be modded).
Should you get Liokaiser? Most definitely.
Check out the other Liokaiser giftset reviews here!
Liokaiser giftset reviews
[Transformers] ‘Liokaiser’ and ‘Ion Scythe’ from the Liokaiser gift set look incredibly awesome
https://marcusgohmarcusgoh.com/transformers/transformers-liokaiser-ion-scythe-liokaiser-gift-set-look-incredibly-awesome
[Transformers] ‘Dezarus’ from the Liokaiser giftset looks totally adorable
https://marcusgohmarcusgoh.com/transformers/transformers-dezarus-liokaiser-giftset-looks-totally-adorable
[Transformers] ‘Ironbison’ from the Liokaiser giftset evokes a desert sort of feel
https://marcusgohmarcusgoh.com/transformers/transformers-ironbison-liokaiser-giftset-evokes-desert-sort-feel
[Transformers] ‘Guyhawk’ from the Liokaiser giftset is a punk rock gangster
https://marcusgohmarcusgoh.com/transformers/transformers-guyhawk-liokaiser-giftset-punk-rock-gangster
[Transformers] ‘Drillhorn’ from the Liokaiser giftset looks like a thug
https://marcusgohmarcusgoh.com/transformers/transformers-drillhorn-liokaiser-giftset-looks-like-thug
[Transformers] ‘Fellbat’ from the Liokaiser giftset is a faithful homage
https://marcusgohmarcusgoh.com/toys/transformers-fellbat-liokaiser-giftset-faithful-homage
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