Tag: Die Cast Metal

Die-Cast Metal Shogun Warriors 5″ figure

Invincible Guardians of World Freedom!

Dragun Launches fist & battle axes! Rotate Arms, Launch Axe Launch Fist

Made in Japan   Manufactured by Bandai Co. Ltd Distributed by Mattel

Copyright Toei Doga

I remember accidentally breaking off the little plastic spikes on his head. I was so pissed. No chance of Dr. Saotome fixing my robot. Now that I am looking at the copy on the box I realize how little these guys can do. You can’t pose them, they can’t bend, just rotate arms and shoot. I have heard the Japanese versions can bend their legs, whoopee! Though I can’t say my Star Wars figures did much more.  Still this is my favorite Shogun Warrior they have a lot of nostalgia for me.  The red one. Like a shiny red sports car, it really is the best color.

These Dragun, Poseidon, and Raider hail from Getter Robo G/Starvenger fame. Not sure why those franchises did not setup merchandising right for the robots in the US. Instead Marvel purchased the rights and used them for their comic book Shogun Warriors and the robot line we got to see in the US. It’s too bad they did not produce a matching cartoon. I am a little surprised that these did not end up in the GoDaiKin line instead as many of the Popy robots made their way there.

Just got done editing my cousin’s posts, so now I can start working on putting my collection up again. Happy Holidays everyone!  ***

Dragun Shogun Warriors Mattel 1979

Dragun Shogun Warriors Mattel 1979

Shogun Warriors TWO-in-ONE 5 1/2 inches tall

Raydeen He’s a bowman! He’s a Bird!

Turn him into a bird! Launch his bow & shield! Rotate his arms! Make him roll on wheels! Push buttons! Launch fists! Bend his legs! Literally that is all this guy does summarized by the copy on the box.

Made in Japan  Manufactured by Bandai Distributed by Mattel

Copyright Tohoku Shinsa Film Co LTD.

Too bad all the Shogun Warriors are all from different studios. It would have been nice to see them all in one cartoon. These were my favorite robots growing up. I was totally into these before my cousin came back from Japan with his Macross Takatoku Valkyrie. I loved shooting off the fists and smacking them into each other. These robots are probably why I love those heavy old die cast metal robots. I watched some of the Getta Robo(or is it Getter Robo?) as Starvengers cartoons on the old Betamax or VHS with my cousin before Transformers came out and I have loved robots ever since. I don’t have any of my original Shogun Warriors, but here is one of the new ones I got off eBay.

Looks like Raideen had his own show as Brave Raideen. It was the first robot anime to reach the US via Hawaii per Wikipedia. Looks like the only was to see it is on Youtube. I see some download versions as well, but I prefer not to download stuff from people I don’t know.

 

Click on the images to see larger versions

Below is a loose Daitetsujin DX that I traded from one of my cousin’s friends. He was terrible at keeping all the parts and since he played with them, the joints are all loose. I am not a stickler for condition or having the box like my cousin is. Still, I’m glad to have him since he’s an 80’s Bandai Godaikin. My cousin has a better version (also posted on this site here) in box. The image on the right is how he appeared in his show.

Daitetsujin 17 DX Godaikin 1984 Popy GA-81

Daitetsujin 17 live action Tokusatsu series from 1977

Dynaman ST Godaikin 1984 – Popy Dyna Robo GB-97 1983

This is the 2nd robot I bought and as usual, from Japantown.  I vividly remember going to that store almost 3x a month just to scope out what he had and I’d inevitably come out with a wish list.  I think I got into Godaikins because of this guy.  I also have the big DX version.

Kagaku Sentai Dynaman still Dyna Robo in Action 1983-1984

Here’s the original Raideen ST from Shogun Warriors back in the 70’s and a plastic/vinyl re-issue from my cousin that probably came out in the 2000’s.

I got this as a present from my parents in 1983. This is the model that Hikaro Ichinose (Rick Hunter in the U.S. release) started out with.  He then went onto the J model which was white and red and finally the S model with the skull emblem when Rick Fokker died.  I vividly remember seeing this in Japantown and was shocked when they got it for me because it was almost a hundred dollars.  I have a picture from Christmas of me opening the box actually…This is the one that started it for me with Macross.

I now have all the original Takotoku and Bandai versions.  I finally managed to get the blue/red Valkyries in the early 2000’s when Bandai did a re-issue.  They’ve since done numerous re-issues of the various Macross generations but the first Macross is the one I grew up with.  The featured image is the box that this toy came in but I’ve long since gotten rid of the box.  I wish I had kept them because Takatoku was known for their great art work and the unique texture on their boxes.

Macross VF-1A Standard Type Battroid Valkyrie DX 1/55 scale Takatoku Toys 1983 Cannon Fodder Japan from anime Super Dimension Fortress Macross 1983-1984

My cousin has this same toy, however, I can’t seem to recall how I got my Mugen Calibur 1983. I do know I got his on a trip to Japan. Anyway, he’s already made a post for this robot, complete with box. Still, I thought I’d make my own post so that I could catalog my entire collection.

Mugen Calibur 1983 Takatoku from anime Special Powered Armor Troop Dorvack from 1983-1984