OJR/NAR: Battle Cougar - OJR and Hasbro "McCougar"
Review merge in pregress!Battle Cougar hails from the Gradeup era: Zoids' time of curvy designs, mystical creatures, and spinny ports. For reasons unknown, it's hit American shores several times. Perhaps people here have a thing for gryphons? Either way, I've got a pair of the buggers. One's old, recovered from a parts lot and missing pieces. The other's new, from Hasbro's recent and somewhat oddly timed release. I'm combining their reviews, because be it white and chrome or tacky yellow, a Battle Cougar is a Battle Cougar (unless it's a Storm Tiger). And for fun (and because Hasbro was feeling weird), there's an action figure thrown in too! Cougar-tastic.
...What do cougars have to do with gryphons?
Mostly OJR Restored Version
From the same parts lot as my Raynos came a surprisingly large amount of a Battle Cougar: the undercarriage/body (but not the accompanying gears and metal contact strip for the motor), one wing clip and both wings, all chrome bits but the horn, and all limbs and other critical bits.
Notice I didn't mention the tail? Nope, it was gone—despite the fact that OJR Battle Cougar's tail attaches from the inside, a welcome change from McCougar's escapist tail. Thankfully, the modded tail fits the old attachment method, and other than the rather clashy combination of coral and true red, Battle Cougar could borrow. McCougar also donated its wingclips (both medium grey to better match) and its innards, and the old Cougar wobbled forward once more....
...wobbled is indeed the word, poor thing. The cockpit also pops open if you look at it funny, but whether this is age, lack of horn, or just annoying I don't know.
Observations, besides the mold changes? Despite being pictured as black, the legs and tail on old Battle Cougars are definitely charcoal grey. The red makes Sturm Tyrann and Leoblaze look pale—it's very very red. The chrome blingy goodness, hallmark of that era's Republic Zoids, is paler than most pilots in a way that matches well with white (sunburnt or not). All up, it bears a definite resemblance in color to a non-metal-flake Kingliger, but with the red made brighter and the silvery grey darker. I highly suspect this was intentional.
Like Raynos, mine came pre-stickered. Unlike Raynos, I think part of its stickers came from elsewhere. Some things made sense and were a really nice touch (like the extremely tiny "pull handle to release canopy" thing actually being by the little seat—that's more patience than I'd have!), but it also has crossed out Zenebas logos on its wings as filched from a Battle Rover. Zenebas had fallen a few years before Battle Cougar existed - thus, the only logical conclusion is that my Cougar has been doing a bit of time travel. There's also two circles that say "SPAW" along with some unintelligible squiggles...
Conclusion? The chrome and the lack of horribly clashing colors (I like yellow, but not like that) and screwed-together parts puts this guy ahead of McCougar by a mile. I can't compare it to Storm Tiger, though you can't go wrong with a free Gradeup unit these days, and this guy ain't got one. Is it any wonder it never was on my wish list, much less my to-get-someday list? But that's parts lots for you: sometimes junk, sometimes a nice surprise.
I'd go for Storm Tiger first, but if you want a chrometastic Battle Cougar variant, this guy's better than I expected. I wouldn't pay too much for it, though...it IS still a Battle Cougar and a gradeup, which means one-piece wobbly legs and semi-absent hindpaws.
Haaaasbro
Battle Cougar, for reasons unknown, has been rereleased several times on American shores. The first was Storm Tiger of the Technozoids crew: a nice release, to be sure, as it kept the shiny thing the Japanese version had going on and threw in a nice matching gradeup weapon to boot. This Battle Cougar...well, it's a bit different. It seems as if they used whatever plastic was on hand when molding it-blinding Tigers yellow, peach, coral, and medium grey.Still, it's a Battle Cougar, something not available elsewhere. Considering how pricey old ones are and that in the heyday of the Hasbro/TRU closeouts you could pick up one of these guys for as low as fifty cents, griping about color seems a bit silly. The model is fully intact, and while the Grade Up bits are pre-assembled, they're also easily taken apart with a screwdriver if you want the chance to play around with little gears and motor bits. Tomy did the same thing with the Genesis Houndsoldier, no doubt because kids these days have little patience and the Grade Up do-it-yourself motors like to be dodgy.
The only difficult bit of assembly gone, Battle Cougar here is thus very very easy to put together, though not uninteresting-it's a typical Gradeup, in other words. The plastic quality's good, too. Put side bits together around the motor, assemble legs, add a few caps, and you'll have a Battle Cougar in no time at all. Pop in a battery (unfortunately requiring unscrewing screws now like all the new models) and your new blinding friend will gurgle to life, padding along in the usual wobble granted by one-piece legs. It's not spectacular, but the battery motor as opposed to windup means it'll keep going (and going)-combine with a few others of its kind and it can be amusingly hypnotizing.
While I'm not a fan of gryphons and thus not a huge Battle Cougar follower, the mold itself is nice and the wings full of nice feathery details. They fold a bit, and along with a movable beak are about the limit to Battle Cougar's articulation. Seeming not to care about how garish it is, it will happily stand guard over a shelf of your choice, gazing out at intruders with a determined look and menacing them with its peachy-colored horn.
Conclusion? Buy one before the supply of unloved ones dries up, because while it's not worth paying much (if you're going to do that for a Battle Cougar, get an older one), it's still a chance to pick up a harder to find mold on the cheap. Use it as a painting project if you can't stand the colors, display it with cheesy plastic giveaway toys, whatever, because it actually isn't that bad of a Zoid.
Now, since my action figure reviews tend to be so short they're pointless to give their own page, I thought I'd mention the Hasbro Battle Cougar action figure too. Thanks Zinou :D.
Unfortunately very hard to find (though like the red Shield Liger, cheap when it does show), the Battle Cougar action figure didn't seem to get a proper release. It's a shame, as it's actually one of Hasbro's better offerings. Granted, it's still in the same eyebending colors as the proper model, but it wears them better. Somehow. The included weapon is an exercise in silly, but it doesn't hurt Battle Cougar any to leave it off, unlike some of the others.
Articulation isn't much: Beak, each of the four shoulders, and midpoints of wings, with the main part of the wings and the tail being involved in the action feature. It's more than the real thing, though, and on the scaled down babyCougar is enough. The action feature, as you might guess, is flapping wings, something which my easily amused side finds way more amusing than it should.
Plus it's cute. Really. It's all little and squishy and blinding, and adds to the McCougar effect in that it's a cheesy action figure with cheesy firing missiles (which, of course, do not work).
If you can find one, like Battle Cougars, and don't hate the line, grab it and give it a happy home. If you're expecting fancy hyper-articulated things from the Hasbro figures after all this time...you're silly. Go away!
