Tag: Robot

I always thought this was an ST version of Daidenjin, but I stand corrected. It is the Daidenjin DX version. That’s why it comes with all the cool stuff and it actually transforms into a space ship. I don’t think any of the ST’s tranform. So it’s not the GB-15. This is a good heavy piece chock full of die cast metal and it has a nice build, but I can’t say I like the big D on his chest. Most of the parts are very square or rectangular, so the designers hardly used any imagination when making this guy as a robot. But the design is light years better than say Sun Vulcan. The transformation is not great but at least it does more than my old Shogun Warriors did.

I noticed these robots remind me of the my old Shogun Warriors from the 70’s. Now I know why. They were made by the same company. Originally the Shogun Warriors were issued as Popy Super Robots in the GA series. So the reason the design, die cast metal heft, and shooting fists(don’t Daidenjin’s fists look like Daltanias DX large fists?) were all so familiar is that they came from the same company. This one was issued in the Popy GB series.

Daidenjin GoDaiKin Bandai 1984 from tokusatsu show Denshi Sentai Denziman 1980-1981

When transformed it becomes Denjin the space port. The robot hails from the Denshi Sentai Denziman TV series 13 years before the Power Rangers ever made it out here. Nope, never watched it, but I like the robot. I don’t really have the space to display my robots, but this site works out well as a virtual display case.

Daidenjin GoDaiKin Bandai 1984 from live action show Electronic Squadron Denziman 1980-1981

Daidenjin GoDaiKin Bandai 1984 from tokusatsu show Denshi Sentai Denziman 1980-1981

Daidenjin GoDaiKin Bandai 1984 from live action show Electronic Squadron Denziman 1980-1981

Daidenjin GoDaiKin Bandai 1984 from tokusatsu show Denshi Sentai Denziman 1980-1981

Daidenjin GoDaiKin Bandai 1984 from live action show Electronic Squadron Denziman 1980-1981

Daidenjin GoDaiKin Bandai 1984

This is a 5″ Chogokin Jr Kurojishi figure from the anime Ninja Senshi Tobikage. That appears to be this yellow lion robot. After a little search I found this ninja robot anime. I have watched a little of the first episode Ninja Robots in English dubs by Cartoon Network in 1995 and Japanese version from 1985 – 1986 on Youtube, but it looks like they stream it on Anime Sols. It might be worth watching, though I usually like the Japanese version as they will not edit out the violence.

I liked the bigger DX robots Tobikage & Houraioh, but not this little all plastic ST version. It does not earn the Chogokin Jr name as there is no diecast metal in this robot. I was trying to get the other figures in the series but only ended up getting this little one. This one looks cheap and clunky. There was not a lot of thought put into the build for this. It is pretty much just a brick except for a little arm rotation. Probably one of those cheap train station toys to shut up the kids. The Kurojishi toy and box reminds me a lot of the Victora Albegas  I have here. Sadly, I am afraid the thing I like most about this robot is the box.

Chogokin Jr Ninja Senshi Tobikage Kurojishi by Bandai 1985

Chogokin Jr Ninja Senshi Tobikage Kurojishi by Bandai 1985

Chogokin Jr Ninja Senshi Tobikage Kurojishi by Bandai 1985

Here is the opening for the anime tv show Ninja Senshi Tobikage from 1985-1986

This Daltanious ST is one of my only Popy pieces. I prefer this smaller Daltanious to the Popy Daltanias DX(GB-01, GB-02, PB-81) as the proportions are more appealing to look at. This is a nice hunk of die cast metal. I have the larger one, but I am missing pieces and the fists which would be nice to have. I would probably just display this one, because I am just not that hot on the design on the DX. The parts on the body look too skinny on a big robot. The foot missiles zing out a nice zing 5 feet and have a surprisingly strong spring. I am a big fan of this robot as it a great looking piece and such an improvement over the DX version. The ST version never made it to the US, but we did get the Godaikin DX Daltanias version.

I originally started out with the die cast metal Shogun Warriors and moved on to these pieces as an adult. We went to Japan Town in San Francisco to see the newest Gundam and Macross robots from Japan. My cousin just went to Japan and these pieces are a bit more than I want to pay for. But it’s nice to know I can pick them up if I have the dough.

Daltanious GA-99 by Popy ST aka Daltanias 1979 Japan

Made in Japan.

Daltanious GA-99 by Popy ST 1979 Japan

Daltanious GA-99 by Popy ST aka Daltanias 1979 Japan

Daltanious GA-99 by Popy ST

Daltanious GA-99 by Popy ST from the anime Mirai Robo Daltanias 1979-1980

Daltanious GA-99 by Popy ST from the anime Mirai Robo Daltanias 1979-1980

Daltanious GA-99 by Popy ST aka Daltanias 1979 accessories

The anime Future Robot Daltanious came out in 1979-1980 where earth has been conquered by aliens. They were going to use Daltanious for the lion robot, version of Voltron, but Toei sent out GoLion instead. They loved GoLion and it became the most popular Voltron robot. Here is the original Daltanious opener for the cartoon.

First thing I noticed about Daitetsujin 17 is that it is so heavy. A majority of this robot is metal  which is awesome. You can see it in the pictures. Daitetsujin 17 ‘s a pretty cool robot, not so good as a flying fortress. After watching the movie, I actually prefer the toy robot to the one in the show. I tried shooting the fists and the stomach missile and they got some pow going 5 feet. I have all the parts and it looks mint. I would have transformed it if I wanted too. But it didn’t look like it was worth the time. I like the blue and red color scheme and overall it is a nice looking robot. My only beef with this robot is that they could have made the arms a little more proportional to the body.

I really don’t have that many Godaikins to go to complete my collection. Too bad the last ones I need are so expensive. This robot hails from a live action “tokusatsu” show like Godzilla and Ultraman in 1977 all its cheesy goodness. Watching the intro seems amusing enough. I listened to the movie below and occasionally watched while I was writing this post.

The movie Daitetsujin 17(大鉄人17)below appears to be a dubbed movie. The dub is so funny! OMG. The narration seems like something from Rocky and Bullwinkle. You should definitely watch this! Enjoy.

The open chest compartment and shooting chest missile.

The foot compartments and robot legs.

Daitetsujin 17 GoDaiKin by Bandai 1984 aka DX GA-81 1977 by Popy

Back view of robot and wings

Daitetsujin 17 GoDaiKin by Bandai 1984 aka Daitetsujin 17 DX GA-81 1977 by Popy

Daitetsujin 17 GoDaiKin by Bandai 1984 aka Daitetsujin 17 DX GA-81 1977 by Popy

Here is Dynaman the American incarnation of Dyna Robo from Kagaku Sentai Dynaman. This one had a Robo Machine repackaging sticker on it. I guess Bandai couldn’t sell them as Godaikins so they repackaged them as Robo Machine without creating new product, but that is what the Godaikin series was. The box is in sucky condition but the robot is mint. I would actually display these if I didn’t have to dust them. The head shoots off, and you can shoot off a missile from hole in the head. I am a big fan of the ST sized robots, this is one of them. Hopefully I can pick up a few more. Though this is one of the Godaikins where I really do like the DX version as well. The design is typical  of Popy ST robots that come with a sword, shield and shooting fists. This is one of the robots that got me into this hobby in the first place. I love this guy!

Dynaman ST GoDaikin by Bandai 1984

An Innovative Series of Super Robots

Dynaman ST GoDaikin by Bandai 1984

Dynaman ST GoDaikin by Bandai 1984

Dynaman ST GoDaikin by Bandai 1984

Dynaman ST GoDaikin by Bandai 1984

I had the brown version of Sasuraiger and for some reason, I just decided to get this green and red version. It looks like someone who was color blind put this together. It is relatively hideous. Oddly enough this is the color scheme for the robot in the anime Galactic Whirlwind Sasuraiger, but the colors are much more subdued and look much better on the cartoon. This one was like $30 shipped from Japan. Guess no one else wanted it there either. I really like the robot other than the color scheme. It is built like a brick and only the arms move a little bit. It transforms pretty easily and looks just like a train which was the big appeal for me. Except for the colors, it looks good in both forms. It stands pretty well for display. Too bad I don’t have the box for the brown Batrain I have.

Yamato released a new pvc version which is much smaller at maybe 5″  in 2008 which does Sasuraiger justice. The old ST and DX robots do not even come close like this one does. The new one looks pretty good in the original colors and actually has some flexibility for poses.

Sasuraiger Batrain C-3 SL Type Takatoku 1984 from anime tv show Galactic Whirlwind Sasuraiger 1983-1984

On another note, I was surprised to see this was Made in Taiwan R. O. C.. The trasformabili on the front makes me think this it the Italian release.

Batrain Takatoku aka Sasuraiger 1984 from anime tv show Ginga Shippuu Sasuraiger 1983-1984

Sasuraiger Batrain Takatoku 1984 from anime tv show Galactic Whirlwind Sasuraiger 1983-1984

Batrain C-3 SL Type Takatoku aka Sasuraiger 1984 from anime tv show Galactic Whirlwind Sasuraiger 1983-1984

Batrain C-3 SL Type Takatoku Sasuraiger 1984 from anime tv show Galactic Whirlwind Sasuraiger 1983-1984

The Machine Robo line came out in 1982 in Japan as Popy robots and later from Bandai itself when they were absorbed back into the parent company in 1983 as robot sales fell. These robots came out as Gobots from Tonka in the US a couple of years later.

These are easily some of my favorite robots. I love the packaging they come in. You can take them out, transform them, then put them back in and they take up so little space. They are so easy to transform and they are the same size of Matchbox or Hot Wheels cars so they can be run on their playsets and tracks. They are by far superior to the Mini Vehicles that came out for Generation 1 Transformers in 1984 and even the Transformers Generation 2 Go-Bots line that came out 1995.

These are great little robots. It is a shame that Bandai has not seen fit to re-issue these amazing little robots. I have been looking to pickup a few more of these, but my cousin could not find them in Japan and some of them are so expensive on eBay. With a little luck, I will get one or two more.

I bought at least 6 of these in the 80’s when I went to Japan in 1984 or 1985, because they were pretty much the only ones I could afford. I remember paying 600 yen for them. I think that was around $6 at that time. That’s why I picked up Albegas in Singapore. For $40 it was the biggest, cheapest big robot I could afford at the time. Though it was definitely not my first choice. There were a bunch of awesome Popy DX robots just out of my price range at $80 a pop(which was pretty much my whole budget).  The first line of Machine Robo came out in 1982 running out to 1985.

I have been meaning to watch the Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos anime that came out in response to the Transformers cartoon coming out. I have watched the first episode below which interesting and so much better than the GoBots cartoon here in the states. A newer cartoon in 2003 aired called Machine Robo Rescue came out with in intriguing line of combiner robots that I am considering adding to my collection. The robots combine into robots that look like they came from the first series. I would love to add more of these to my collection. I will try to get some pictures of the individual robots later.

Here is the first episode for Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos anime that ran from 1986-1987.

Machine Robo Popy Bandai 1982-1985

Machine Robo Popy Bandai 1982-1985

Machine Robo Popy Bandai 1982-1985 vehicle side

Machine Robo Popy Bandai 1982-1985

Machine Robo Popy Bandai 1982-1985

Machine Robo Popy Bandai 1982-1985

Machine Robo Popy Bandai 1982-1985 robot side