REVIEW: Bandai's BIG HERO 6 Deluxe Flying Baymax

Action Gimmicks Galore With New Disney Robot...

Review and Photography by David Yeh

Disney’s upcoming animated feature Big Hero 6, based on a Marvel Comics property, will be the studio’s shining achievement this November, a year after their monstrous hit, Frozen. Whereas Frozen won big with little girls everywhere, Big Hero 6 is hoping to achieve powerful sales with both demographics even if it skews mostly for boys. We spoke to one of the folks working at Bandai previously (see our interview HERE), but today we’re going to look at one of the larger toys released, DELUXE FLYING BAYMAX. Priced at retail for $39.99, this 11” toy is now available (if your store remembers to put the stock on the shelves – something that I’ve witnessed with no fewer than three major retailers).

Baymax is the main robot character in Big Hero 6, a plump squishable robot character that dons some neat armor through the course of the film. His human counterpart, the hero of the film, is Hiro Hamada, the genius who creates the suit for Baymax. Both characters are included in this set.

While Baymax himself stands 11 inches tall, his wingspan is wider at 18 inches. The sculpt of Baymax seems to be pretty on model though I have nothing really to compare with other than the trailers. The hands are clenched into fists and the wings are removable as a backpack plug-in piece.

Hiro Hamada is a basic 4 inch figure that can stand on his own or plug onto the back of Baymax’s wings. Hiro is decked out in his purple armor and is limited in articulation. He is pre-posed to be riding on the back of his robot friend. With only five points of articulation, Hiro isn’t much to play with apart from Baymax so it’s best to just leave him on his back.

As far as scale goes, I can’t help but feel that either Baymax is too large or if Hiro is too small. In one trailer we see Hiro pushing the purple plate of armor into Baymax, where if this figure would do that, it would be extremely difficult. Baymax might seem more properly scaled with a 6” figure.

With articulation, Baymax has more than Hiro does but they’re all a bit limited. Baymax can turn his head left to right and can also look up, which is actually a great add. He has ball-joint shoulders, bicept joints, and elbow. Beneath the waist, he has cut leg joints, cut thigh joints, knees, and a full range in his feet. In all, about 18 points of articulation, 20 if you count each wing.

Now, the elbows and knees are very limited in Baymax so there won’t be too many dynamic poses possible. He can stick his arms up directly above but you won’t be able to adjust his fists. Baymax does have shoulder pads and upper leg pads that can be moved in and out to help with the articulation but it won’t affect your play too much.

There isn’t too much going on with the paint applications as Baymax is mostly produced in the plastic color they wanted it to be. You might notice that his face plate is clear and there isn’t a white, puffy robot behind there. While it’s not film accurate, the faceplate is see through to allow for the light up and sound gimmick, activated with a push right below his rib cage. There is a line missing between Baymax’s eyes that most kids may not notice. The paint on Hiro is more or less the usual paint from mass produced figures and about six-seven different colors and pretty cleanly applied I might add.

Deluxe Flying Baymax is all about the action features and there are about three of them here. First the wings pop up (much like Buzz Lightyear) with a push of a button. They should flip up simultaneously.

A button on his upper torso is the access for his light up face and for sounds. The sounds vary from robotic walking to scanning, weapons activation, to flying. The sound lasts for about two seconds, same for the light up face feature.

Plugging Hiro into the back of Baymax activates a flying sound effect. A sound will chime indicating that Hiro was plugged in properly. Then the flying sound takes hold and will adjust depending on the direction you tilt Baymax. Standing Baymax upright again stops the flying sound.

With Hiro still plugged in, pushing the button on the front activates some of the following dialogue:

• Baymax: “Flying makes me a better health care companion.”
• Hiro: “Baymax! Rocket Fist!”
• Hiro: “Fly!”
• Hiro: “YE-HEESSS!”

The last feature is his firing left fist. Point at your enemy, push the button and the fist shoots out. It has some pretty good firing power so that might prove to be the most fun with the kids.

The Deluxe Flying Baymax is ultimately a toy for the kids and should provide some good fun for them. There’s other Baymax toys and other characters available as well with various features that may appeal to different collectors. If you want a big Big Hero 6 robot and figure that makes sounds and has a firing fist, this one is for you.

Review and Photography by David Yeh

Deluxe Flying Baymax courtesy of Bandai

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