Welcome! This a parody of Gameranx’s web series, “Before You Buy.” Today I’ll be giving some first impressions about the Guardians of Harmony set: Spikezilla. Guardians of Harmony is the first MLP toyline that doesn’t just focus on little girls for its target demographic, but instead makes it okay for people with different genders to play with the sets. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a child or a grown-up, you can purchase the product without making excuses or having people stare at you weirdly.
 
The Spikezilla set comes with a giant dragon that can roar, stomp, and shoot fireballs out of his mouth. He also has poseable arms and eyes that light up .The set also comes with removable armor, along with three fireball projectiles, a small Spike figure, and a badge that the consumer can wear and collect. There’s also a pamphlet that talks about the other sets in Guardians of Harmony. Spikezilla also comes with 3 AAA batteries which are required for the sounds and the eyes. The armor allows small Spike and another pony from the GOH toyline to ride on Spikezilla. The projectiles are fired by the use of a spring, so the consumer can fire them regardless of whether or not the toy has batteries in it. Of course, the user has to be careful not to shoot the projectiles at other people or animals.
 
I was able to preorder the toy on Amazon, and got it about a week after they started to sell them. It was about $40, excluding the shipping and tax, making it the most expensive toy in the toyline. Opening the toy was a bit difficult at first. I was able to cut the strings and tear out the products that were incased with plastic, but the real problem was that Spikezilla was attached to a plastic base that was hard to remove, even though I followed the instructions on the box. Another downside I found was that the battery case and speaker were in a…inappropriate place. The set didn’t come with a pony, especially Shining Armor, which is kind of a cheap way to get consumers to buy more of the toys from the toyline. One thing I couldn’t help but wonder was why smaller Spike was included with Spikezilla instead of another pony. Not only that, but there was a spot on the armor that Spike could stand on, which got me thinking if there’s going to be an episode/comic where Spike splits into two and there’s a normal Spike and Spikezilla.
 
On the plus side, however, I found it convenient that the helmet and armor was made of something flexible, instead of stiff plastic, to make removing the armor easier. I also liked how the product came with batteries already. For the projectiles, I was able to shoot them at a maximum range of 4 feet (1.2 meters) at ground level. I found it cool how Spikezilla’s eyes light up and his arms can be poseable. I liked how they brought Spikezilla back into the MLP franchise. He hasn’t made an official appearance since Season 2 of MLP: Friendship is Magic. While some people may find Spikezilla’s design ridiculous, it didn’t matter to me because Hasbro did a decent job on making the toy show accurate.
 
Overall, I would give it a score of 8/10. Not a great score, just a good score. Spikezilla may have a few flaws in him, but he’s still a good toy to play with. I would recommend this toy to anyone who appreciates Spike in the show, likes MLP toys, or just likes dragons in general. With the gender issues removed, this looks like a good start for the Guardians of Harmony toyline overall. It was about time Spike deserved some appreciation and had a toy made of him that wasn’t a plushie or toy baby.