DX Robo

Hasbro finally released another Transformers Masterpiece. This time the G1 Bumblebee.  The Transformers Masterpiece Bumblebee Figure does an amazing job or capturing the robot from the cartoon. This line always does a nice job and that’s why I have been waiting for a Mirage figure for so long(I bet that figure is hung up in licensing issues) I found this bad boy at Toys R Us. Its nice they let them use the VW Bug for Bumblebee. I will probably pick up this one pretty soon. I have seen the Takara version on eBay for a bit, but I am always worried about picking up a shoddy Chinese bootleg. So the best way to make sure I get the real thing is to get it from Toys R Us.

Comparing this to the original release is just sad. The original G1 Bumblebee came in red and yellow, I actually really disliked that set of original mini vehicles. They looked cheap and poorly made. The design was crap. That’s why I never purchased any of them in the 80’s. As a character, I just hated Bumblebee too. He was so irritating. But now I guess he is just part of my nostalgia. If I get any Bumblebee figure its this one. I took the pictures a month or two ago, but have been too lazy or busy to post it. But here it is!

Transformers Masterpiece Bumblebee 2016 Hasbro MP 08 with Spike Witwicky

Bumblebee Masterpiece 2016 Hasbro MP-08 with Spike Witwicky Generation 1

On the same visit also saw the Fortress Maximus from the Generations series which is just a huge 22″ figure, but it should be for $150. Since I am not planning to put up a post on it or buy it, here is a quick pic. Its actually a pretty cool robot. I would be pick it up if I had the space.

Transformers Fortress Maximus Generations Hasbro 2016 with Emissary and Cerebros Titan Class Autobot

Marushin Toy Machine Blaster Bull Caesar Takemi 1976 from anime Blocker Gundan IV Machine Blaster

This is the Machine Blaster Bull Caesar by Takemi in 1976. I paid $38 for each of these(Bull Caesar and the Robo Kress) whenever I bought these.  I could not figure out what these two robots I picked were. The box and catalog were all in Japanese. The internet was not nearly as fast as it is now, so it took hours(forever) to do the research I can do in a few minutes now.  So I never really bothered until I setup this site. The seller I picked these up from had no idea either.  These were likely listed as die cast metal Japanese robots.

Marushin Machine Blaster Bull Caesar Takemi 1976 Accessories

When I got them, I thought they were ugly, cheap, poorly made pieces of metal. Maybe even bootleg versions of some cool anime. I was spoiled by the quality of other Japanese toy companies like Bandai, Takara, and Takatoku robots. I was so disappointed with these, that I promptly stuck them in a box and did not look at them till I took this picture three years ago. When I finally found a little more about them, I was a little intrigued. This is the 5″ Machine Blaster Bull Caesar by Takemi from their Bigger Gokin series. Its from the  anime Blocker Gundan IV Machine Blaster(ブロッカー軍団Ⅳマシーンブラスター ) in 1976-1977. It is an early super robot, so I could forgive how crudely these were made and give them a little leeway.

The anime was popular in Europe and especially in Italy, so you can find the robots there too. These robots have a beefy Gokin heft. There is plenty of diecast metal in each robot. The Machine Blaster robots came out around the same time as the Shogun Warriors 5 inch robots, so I am little sad they did not put more thought into the design and quality of these. When I look at them, they remind me more or cheap Taiwan knock offs of the time. That being said, these are nice little time capsules of early super robots before Popy put out the Chogokin we reminisce about today.

So I finally updated the images on this post. This is the old image below. The yellowness really seems to come out on my old iPhone 4 pictures.

Bull Caesar 1976 diecast metal robot from Takemi from anime Blocker Gundan IV Machine Blaster 1976-1977 (ブロッカー軍団Ⅳマシーンブラスター ) aka Astrorobot Contatto Ypsilon in Italy (Army Corps IV)

So I guess there was a decent amount of stuff if I have to make another post for Bic Camera. If I had to guess I think Bandai wanted to get into the  building block business. So they came up with the Doubutsu Gattai ZyuohKing show to cash in on the cult that is Lego or maybe to give the robots a Minecraft look. They are kind of cool. Big, heavy, blocky, robots. It is an interesting idea at the very least. I would not buy any, but they did catch my eye every time I popped into a toy section of any department store in Japan. The DX Cube 123 King Zyuoh & 456 Dodekaioh were in a display where you could play with them hands on at another department store name Lab.

Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger DX Cube 123 King Zyuoh & 456 Dodekaioh by Bandai Japan

Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger DX Cube 123 King Zyuoh Bandai Ultraman figure Japan Gattai 2016

Is Ultraman still a thing? Just checked now, I guess that show is still going. I did not know it was an ongoing show. Just like the Super Sentai (Power Rangers in the US).

Getter Dragon, Getter 1, & Z Mazinger Dynamite Action, Destroid Monster Macross at Bic Camera

The Dynamite Action Getter Dragon figure looked pretty good. It looks like it popped right out of the cartoon. Based on what I see, I prefer it to the Soul of Chogokin version. They also have a Tetsujin 28 figure that looks pretty good. Their line of robots are totally up my alley but they seem a little pricy. I guess I will have to see how big they are.

Kaiju, Mecha Godzilla, Ultraman and more figures!

Did I ever mention I was a Godzilla fan?

Tomica Cars

The cars by Tomy are cool just because of the packaging for me. Japanese packaging has always been something I have loved about the toys. You can take them out, put them away and practically keep them brand new. In US packaging you have to destroy the packaging to take the toy out, think Matchbox cars for example.

Tomica Cars

The Robot Spirits Tamashii Nations Bandai Unicorn Gundam, Zaku & Sniper

More robots under the girls anime display, which I assume is more for guys than for girls. The Robot Spirits line by Tamashii Nations has a good selection of Gundam mobile suits and 80’s robots in the line. It seems to me to be the line that replaced the MS in Action!! line.

More Robot Spirits Gundam, Iron Man, Star Wars, Dragonballz figures

Bic Camera Ikebukuro Tokyo

The first stop on our robot hunt started at Bic Camera a consumer electronics retailer chain in Japan. We went to the Tokyo Ikebukuro location. They have a solid toy section. It’s like Best Buy if they had a toy department and the store was 7 stories high(If you look at the picture you can see what is on each floor if you can read Japanese. It seems like each building/floor has a directory before you even go in). It has a nice selection of the newer robots like Shinkalion, Sentai Doubutsu Zyuohger Cube robots(look like they are made of Legos), a few Soul of Chogokin, Transformers, Gundam figures and Gunpla, Kaiju and Sentai figures. Half of the stuff I have never seen before. They also had new versions of robots from older anime like Votoms, Macross, Kotetsu Jeeg, Getta Robo, and Z Mazinger which is more my style. They also had a line from the Tomica Hyper Rescue which is a part of the Tomica Town line. The robots transform into cars and combine into larger robots. So Super Cool stuff you can only find in Japan.

They also have a variety of other toys you would see in Japan(kids toys, video games, gashapon, Legos, girls toys, etc). Now how did we end up there? Dave wandered in on a previous trip since it was close to the hotel.

Here are the pictures of what we found out there.

Mecha from the Tomy Plarail Shinkalion line E3 Tsubasa 05 and Tsubasa 06 Takara Tomy 2016

Mecha from Shinkalion the 700 Nozomi 07 and Hikari Railstar 08 by Takara Tomy in 2016 at Bic Camera

Here are the mecha from the Tomy Plarail line – Shinkalion the 700 and E3 series. They are bullet trains that transform into robots and are slotted for a Japan only release(My cousin Dave found this particularly appealing. I think he picked up all 4 of these). Looks like they started coming out in 2015.  Tsubasa 05 & 06, Nozomi 07, and Hikari Railstar 08 by Takara Tomy in 2016. You can see a few videos on Shinkalion.com or more info in English on Animenewsnetwork here. If you want any of these, please pick them up from my Ebay links on the site! They help me keep my site running.

Shinkalion E3 Tsubasa 05 & 06, 700 Nozomi 07, Hikari Railstar 08, Takara Tomy Plarail line

Bic Camera Display of Votoms, Gundam, Jeeg, Mazinger, Destroid Monster, Valkyrie robots

We also found these Tomica Hyper Series Next Stage robots White Hope & Sonic Interceptor Walker Vehicle. If I was going to start collecting a new line it would be this one(I like these a lot more than the Shinkalion robots, I am not really a fan of train robots). I am afraid these are also Japan only releases but I am sure you can pick them up on my Ebay links. Takara Tomy has the complete line here.

Tomica Hyper Series Next Stage by Takara – Tomy White Hope & Sonic Interceptor Walker Vehicle figures 2016

Tomica Hyper Series Next Stage by Takara Tomy White Hope & Sonic Interceptor Walker Vehicle figures 2016

Tomica Hyper Series Next Stage Special Riot Police Takara Tomy 2016

Bic Camera Gunpla

Here are a couple Gaza C AMX-003 MSIA 4.5″ figures from Bandai that came out in 2006. I picked up a magenta one for $8 and gray one for $5 at Mandarake. I had been seeing these at $15. I have a lot of these figures and I love the enemy armors as the variety and design are more appealing. At $15 I really could not justify the purchase and hauling these home, but at $8 each I picked up 3 I did not already have.

The AMX-003 Gaza C figures are from the Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζゼータガンダム Kidō Senshi Zēta Gandamu) 1985 anime tv series.

Gaza C AMX-003 Mobile Suit in Action!! 4.5″ Bandai 2006

The Mobile Suit in Action!! series is one of my favorite toy lines and one of the most extensive parts of my collection. The paint application, range of motion and articulation, attention to detail and all the accessories are why I love these.  The Gaza C really is very faithful to the anime version and is a really nice looking robot.

Gaza C AMX-003 Mobile Suit in Action!! 4.5″ Bandai 2006 MSIA

Gaza C AMX-003 Mobile Suit in Action!! 4.5″ Bandai 2006 MSIA ガザC改

Gaza C AMX-003 Mobile Suit in Action!! 4.5″ Bandai 2006 MSIA

Gaza C AMX-003 Mobile Suit in Action!! 4.5″ Bandai 2006 MSIA ガザC改

My cousin Dave and I finally went on a trip to Japan together to go robot hunting. The first place we made it to after going to Midori Sushi in Tokyo was Toy Planet. The East Urawa store was an hour out of Ikebukuro Tokyo by subway. It was the closest location to us. I have no idea how my cousin found it as we had to transfer trains to get there and he cannot read kanji. Toy Planet carries a wide assortment of toys like a Toys R’ Us for used toys or Goodwill(except well organized and clean).  So old video games from the Super Famicom to the current generation of systems, Tomy cars, a lot of trains including Thomas, Super Sentai robots from the last 5-7 years, a wall of Gunpla, dolls & dollhouses, baby toys, anime figures, a few Soul of Chogokin, etc.

A couple of years ago my cousin found me a Hikaru Bandai 1/55 scale Origin of Valkyrie with armor, some loose DX Sentai robots, and my Aura Battler Billbine. Toy Planet is a big box store for Japan, but it is outside of Tokyo.

Toy Planet East Urawa Store used toys, hobbie and video games. This is a huge store for Japan.

The selection of robots is mostly current toys or from the last few years. There were only a few older pieces from the 1980’s. They had a few Chogokin pieces that were way out of my price range like the Popy Godsigma and Daltanious. Behind the counter they had a 1991 Bandai Hi Metal Super Valkyrie on layaway. I was tempted to pick up a Takatoku Macross Block System SDF-1 from 1983 for $40. But it looked and felt really cheaply made. I picked up a Destron Laserwave(Shockwave) Masterpiece Transformer, some Japanese PlayStation 1 games and Machine Robo Baikanfu which I found by accident as we were about to leave. The Baikanfu was a real find. I honestly did not think they would have and robots from the 1980’s I could afford. Dave picked up a Mushagundamcloth which came out in 1989. He found this store on a YouTube video. Go figure.

Here is a link to their site if you plan to make it out to one of their 7 branches. Google Translate helped read about them a little bit. They may have more branches but it does not look like they have updated the site since 2007 based on the copyright date on the bottom of the site. If you are in Japan for a little toy hunting, its not a bad little 4 hour day trip.

http://www.toyplanet.jp/index.html

I think they need a bigger sign.

Here is what I picked up. I will add Dave’s later when I have the picture.

Machine Robo DX Baikanfu Series C Bandai 1987

Transformers Masterpiece Destron Laserwave MP-29 Takara Tomy 2016

Realtype Mushagundamcloth DX Bandai 1989 Japan

So my Samsung Note 3 broke and I haven’t put a post out for 2 or 3 months. I was using the Note to take my pictures. None of my phones or the cameras on them have been very good. I used an old backup phone my iPhone 4. Reception seems really off and the pictures come off really yellow. The camera is horrible compared to what is out now or just a couple years ago. Anyway, bought a old phone off a buddy.  A Verizon Samsung S4 which is better but is not the same carrier(T-Mobile) which is causing weird issues. I can’t get rid of the Verizon bloatware, the battery which was swelling has since been replaced.

But that is pretty much why you haven’t seen any new stuff up here in a while. the plan was to get the rest of my stuff up, but no go.  Now that I have the new battery it seems to be working better, so I am trying out the S4 camera to run a new post tonight! My last 2 posts were just new edits of old posts. I may do a few more of those if I run into issue. So here is crossing my fingers hoping this work.