Tag: Super Robot

Here are some new additions to Dave’s Collection. The Soul of Chogokin UFO Robo Grendizer GX-04 came out way back in 2000. The first one we both had was the Combatler V. Dave found this and a few others in his last trip to Japan in Akihabara. While not as large as we usually like our robots, the Soul of Chogokin makes up for it is superior poseability, actual die cast metal and awesome robot goodness from the 70’s. Grendizer hales  from the anime  UFO Robo Grandizer from 1975 to 1976 which we never got to see here in the US.

UFO Robo Grendizer GX-04 Bandai Grandizer Soul of Chogokin 2000 from anime UFO Robo Grandizer from 1975 to 1976

Grendizer is one of the few must have robots for us as he was one of the classic super robots that came over as Shogun Warriors. The Shogun Warriors hold a special place in our hearts. While it is not a monolithic chunk of die cast goodness as the original, the articulation makes it more fun and it is more true representation of the robot from the actual cartoon.

UFO Robo Grandizer GX-04 Bandai Soul of Chogokin 2000 from anime Yûfô robo Gurendaizâ from 1975 to 1976

We will likely never have the original as neither of us wants to fork out the $300-$600 it would take to get the original, but this is an great alternative. After watching an episode on Youtube I realized this was an anime series by Go Nagai. It is part of the same universe that includes Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger.  I always see the original 70’s toys from France and Italy in European packaging on eBay. I appears Grendizer was popular there as well as Goldorak in France and Goldrake in Italy.

UFO Robo Grendizer GX-04 Bandai Soul of Chogokin 2000 from anime UFO Robo Grandizer ＵＦＯロボグレンダイザー from 1975 to 1976

So I bought the Yamato Shin Getter Robo Repaint in San Francisco in the early 2000’s. I am thinking 2004 since the anime for Getter Robo: Armageddon/Shin Getter Robo came out then. I don’t see much info on it out there, so I don’t know when it came out. I may need to run a search in Japanese to find out more.

You can’t tell by looking at it, but it is a big piece. I like to think of it as a Mini Machinder as it is a big vinyl Japanese robot. If you check out the back image of the box you can see it comes with a humongous axe!  The pole on the axe is like 15 inches long and with the Tomahawk blade  it is 20 which is awesome. The robot runs about 12 inches tall. Shin Getter 1 Robo is a pretty nice looking robot and the wings are really a nice touch. I almost think they are there to help Shin Getter stand. The wings remind me of an dragon, the wings on Great Mazinga or Mazinkaiser.

It’s a good looking revamp of the old anime robots from Getter Robo. I like the deep blue color, more than the red one you usually see on this robot.  I will have to check the anime on it as I was a fan of the old anime. I am afraid I only bought this because it was cheap($29.99!), but the anime sounds interesting as it supposedly goes in a more serious, darker path than the original anime.

This robot was made by Yamato/Toycom. I don’t have many robots by Yamato. I think I only have two. It’s hard to tell when the writing is all in Japanese. Oddly enough, I never opened this one.

Yamato Shin Getter Robo Days of Apocalypse – Repaint Version 2004

Shin Getter Robo Days of Apocalypse Yamato – Repaint Version 2004

Yamato Shin Getter Robo Days of Apocalypse – Repaint Version 2004

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

Voltron is one of the robots that started it all for me. Where we fell in love with our big metal robots. The Golion DX as a Godaikin is the one my cousin Dave had. It came with a huge amount of accessories, like most DX Popy robots. Damn Matchbox for not providing Voltron with his sword. Voltron was all about his sword in the cartoon. Man, that is one terrible cartoon, ain’t it? And the dubs are terrible too. I wish I could unwatch those. Maybe if I watch them in Japanese they will be better. Hmmmm…

Matchbox Voltron III Defender of the Universe The Deluxe Lion Set

Anyway I have a lotta love for this robot. This robot has 5 lions that tranform into one of the best robots out there. Even the lions forms are excellent. I will have to pop him into robot form later for this post. This robot has been very popular over the years, so there have been a lot of releases. Lets see, Popy, Bandai America, Matchbox, Trendmasters, and now Toynami. I figure they will release it again within the next few years, so maybe I can try picking up a new one with all the accessories or even the Lionbot set made from the original molds(but vastly inferior paint applications!).

Matchbox Voltron III The Deluxe Lion Set from the anime Voltron: Defender of the Universe tv show from 1984-1985

Matchbox Voltron III The Deluxe Lion Set from the anime Voltron: Defender of the Universe tv show from 1984-1985.

See that styrofoam? Not a single accessory! The Popy and Godaikin versions had the full arsenal of missile launchers, daggers and a huge sword! I picked up Voltron III as an adult and I was really disappointed in the castrated Matchbox Voltron.

Matchbox Voltron III The Deluxe Lion Set from the anime Voltron: Defender of the Universe tv show from 1984-1985

I gotta admit there is a bit more violence in the Beast King GoLion, than in Voltron. The story works a little better and I am actually enjoying the first episode. Checkout the anime tv show from 1981-1982.

The DX Dancougar is a solid piece, but I can’t say I love this one. I got it without the box. I should have held out for a boxed copy(though maybe I never would have picked one up). I will have to change this into the large robot one day and redo some of these pictures as my old iPhone really does provide the detail I would like to see in these photos. I keep forgetting. This one is like Abegas, but the robots are a little better. The largest robot is a decent piece and they didn’t forget to make sure there was some diecast metal. Sorry, I hate cheap plastic robots. Probably should get around to the better pictures for each robot and as one large robot. ***

I plan to add the ST Dancougar to my collection, but I haven’t seen it for a while. I will have to keep an eye out for it.

Dancougar DX GoDaikin by Bandai 1985 aka Popy GC-30 from anime Dancougar Super Bestial Machine God

Here is the intro from the anime Chōjū Kishin Dancougar in 1985

Gardian GoDaiKin by Bandai 1982 from anime Toshi Gordian 1979-1980

Gardian GoDaiKin by Bandai 1982 from anime Toshi Gordian 1979-1980

Gardian GoDaiKin by Bandai 1982 from anime Toshi Gordian 1979-1980

Gardian is one of my favorite Godaikins. It was one of the first I saw in the 80’s in Singapore and my cousin had the Bandai Godaikin. This was my intro to big ass diecast robots. For me this is one of the classic 80’s robots. I loved the nesting feature for Garbin, Delinger and Protesser which makes it pretty unique, but it made the robot a little fragile. When I tried to put a robot inside Garbin some plastic inside the knee snapped off. That is why I haven’t pulled it out for a picture outside the box. That and some laziness on my part.

I love that you got 3 robots for the price of one, even though the smallest one Protesser  seems like a bit of an afterthought.  Protesser  is my favorite robot of the 3, but I wish it  was bigger. Actually the little yellow guy that goes inside Daigo Otaki, now that is an afterthought. Its nice to display the 3 of them side by side. Not much flexibility if any in posing these robots, except for bending the arms. I wouldn’t mind picking up a remake of these robots that had some articulation.

I always thought the Godaikins were a bit on the expensive side. It was hard to shell out the $40-80 for a one of these toys when you are a kid. But I found out they basically shipped these from Japan, pulled them from the Japanese Popy boxes and put them in their US Godaikin boxes which was an added expense. I have heard these were on clearance in the late 80’s and early 90’s at Toy’s R Us and KayBee Toys, but I never saw them on sale.

As always, the DX Godaikins have great accessories. Two swords, the laser screw, an axe, clint and a shield. I love the big swords on all of these Popy robots. It was always a party of the appeal of these robots to me.

Saw another cool robot that is very similar to this one named Baikanfu. It is from the Machine Robo line and it is a red robot that is a bit stockier. So it does not look as fragile. I have been looking for a nice one, but it has been a while since I have seen it. I usually only see the Taiwan knock off version.

Here is a intro for the anime Gordian Warrior. It ran for 73 episodes which is pretty long for most anime series.

The Protector Self Separation is from Hong Kong. The quality and paint finish on these are not nearly as good as the original Japanese versions. Especially around Garbin’s mouth grill, the paint application seems kinda burnt in. Guess Bandai or Popy sold the molds to another company when they no longer needed them. I bought this piece because I was worried I would break my Godaikin Gardian as it was a really brittle. When I tried moving the Garbin on the Godaikin Gardian for pictures, the white plastic in the knees cracked a little and I was worried about the arms being fragile. I wanted a version I would feel comfortable displaying and combining so I would not have to worry about it breaking it. Protector Self Separation was the robot for the job. ***

Protector Self Separation – Gardian GoDaiKin clone from Hong Kong

Protector Self Separation – Gardian GoDaiKin clone from Hong Kong