Tag: Chogokin

Voltes V DX Godaikin 1982 aka Popy Volt in Box 1977

My first experience with Godaikin robots was in the Philippines in 1983.  A friend of mine had the Voltes V DX  toy and I was in awe of it. It was a big hefty die cast metal robot.  I went to look for it, but these toys were not readily available in the Philippines. It was because of him that I got into collecting robot toys.

Fast forward a few years later and I managed to trade a bunch of Transformers for the loose version I have here.  He’s very top-heavy and doesn’t stand well without leaning against the wall.  I never had the sword – I managed to get a sword from another Godaikin.  In the cartoon, the red emblem on his chest forms the base of the sword.

Voltes V from anime Chōdenji Machine Voltes V 1977-1978

Here a taste of the first episode in the Philippines. Gotta love those Filipino accents.

Voltes V DX Volt Machine Volt In Box 1977 Popy

Voltes V DX Volt Machine Volt In Box 1977 Popy

Voltes V DX Godaikin 1982 aka Popy Volt in Box 1977 Bandai America

Voltes V DX Godaikin 1982 aka Popy Volt in Box 1977 Bandai America

Voltes V could be purchased in separate pieces as Popy PB-04, PB-05, PB-06, PB-07, PB-08, Volt-In-Box as one release, or as Voltes V the Bandai Godaikin US version of the Chogokin.

Here’s a Dynaman DX that I bought from the Japanese toy store in Japantown, San Francisco in 1984. I bought so many toys from that shop, I hated to see him retire.  I remember he would also have a Nintendo out in the front for the kids to play.  He had a display case for all the Godaikins and it inspired me to get the collection. I wish I had kept my boxes. I have lost a lot of the accessories and it would have been a great place to store them.

Dynaman DX – Bandai Godaikin 1983 Popy GB-96 Dyna Robo from Kagaku Sentai Dynaman

Kagaku Sentai Dynaman Still of Dyna Robo in action 1983-1984

Gardian DX Godaikin 1982 aka Popy GB-09,GB-10, and GB-11 in 1979

I bought the Gardian DX toy in 1984 from Japantown, San Francisco.  I remember they had a Godaikin display case and it was cool to see all of them displayed.  This was the first Godaikin I purchased.  There’s supposed to 3 guys – the main Gardian (blue), #2 a red one that goes inside the blue guy, and #3 a white robot (which I no longer have).  I think I paid about 80-90 dollars in 1984.  The left fist has broken off but I was able to glue back in.  I’m torn between leaving the fists (and risking breakage) or leaving them off (but risk losing).

Gordian Warrior still from the intro. The anime ran from 1979 -1981.

Gardian DX Godaikin 1982 This image shows the nesting feature

Here’s a Leopaldon Soul of Chogokin. The original I believe was sometime in the early 80’s and he was Sentai live action robot. The original is taller and presumably more heftier than the re-issue. Still, I never had this one and I liked having the opportunity to get this one as a re-issue. I will say the Soul of Chogokins are quite well done and I got this one for like 60 dollars used at Mandarake in Akihabara. I have finally taken him out of the box and put him on my shelf. I’m so paranoid with losing pieces that I’ve only displayed with his sword and shield.

Leopaldon – 2006 Soul of Chogokin Re-issue GX-33 by Bandai from tv show Supaidāman from 1978-1979

Leopaldon in action

Spiderman & Leopaldon 2006 Soul of Chogokin GX-33 from tokusatsu tv show (スパイダーマン, Supaidāman) 1978-1979

Admin note from CCC:

This robot is from a Japanese live action(“tokusatsu”) show Supaidāman from 1978-1979 based on Marvel’s Spider-Man by Toei Company. Leopardon just made it into the Marvel universe in 2014!

Another robot from the Votoms series that I purchased during my Japan trip in 1985.  This one is the Brutish Dog from Takara. Guess they made more than just Transformers.  According to my recently found list, I purchased this for 8 dollars. Brutishdog Votoms

Fyana’s Brutishdog from Votoms 1984 Takara 1/24 scale

Here is the episode credits for the original anime tv show Armored Trooper Votoms(装甲騎兵ボトムズ) 1983-1984

The Takara Red Shoulder Scopedog is another robot that I bought during my Japan trip in July, 1985. According to my recently found list, I purchased this for 16 dollars.   There was this version (to denote the elite red shoulders unit), the basic Scopedog and the red Brutish Dog.

Chirico Cuvie’s Red Shoulder Scopedog ATM-09-RSC – 1984 Takara 1/24 scale from anime Soukou Kihei VOTOMS 1983-1984

As you can see, he’s quite well armed with a rifle, rocket launcher and gatling gun.  To me, this series was much more realistic than Gundam because I could really see people controlling these robots On a side note, I searched the net and it appears that they are issuing other Votoms toys as well, which is cool because I wanted to see the other mecha as toys but I only saw them as model kits.   Here is the episode credits for the original series Armored Trooper VOTOMS(装甲騎兵ボトムズ) from 1983-1984.

Tetsujin 28 is one of my favorite robots.  I bought the Tetsujin 28 ST on Ebay 2003 for 200 dollars which I thought was steep for and ST sized robot. But fast forward 10 years later and Tetsujin 28 rarely comes up for sale at any price and if they do, they’re easily 1000+ for the DX version.

Actually, I had never seen this ST version.  Although I had wanted the Popy or Godaikin DX version, I’m quite happy with having some sort of representation of this robot.  The current re-issues unfortunately are either plastic OR look like the original cartoon back in the 50’s instead of the robot from the new anime The New Adventures of Gigantor or New Tetsujin-28 that came out in 1980-1981.

New Tetsujin 28 ST 1980 Popy GB-23 from anime New Tetsujin-28 1980-1981

New Tetsujin 28 ST 1980 Popy GB-23 from anime Taiyo no Shisha Tetsujin 28-go 鉄人２８号（新) 1980-1981

Tetsujin 28 ST GB-23 by Popy 1980 from anime New Tetsujin-28 1980-1981