Month: August 2013

Got the Votoms Red Shoulder Scopedog and Brutishdog off eBay. Guess Armored Trooper Votoms is not that popular so I didn’t pay much for these. At least not as much as I thought I would. My cousin has both of these too.  I enjoyed watching the anime for Armored Trooper Votoms, even though they recycled the action scenes a lot. I have to get around to watching the last season of this show to see how it ends.

Just added a couple of images. One was just blurry enough I had to make it a little artsy to save it. Initially I never cared for these robots. Seemed like a cheap design without much thought. They looked like the old deep sea diving suits they used to use or the Michelin Man. After watching the anime and robots in action, I developed an appreciation for them.  They have a rugged, thick, rounded tank like design. The green color makes so much sense. It makes it look just like military vehicles.

Gotta love Japanese packaging as it makes it so easy to keep all the pieces and keep your robots in like new condition. The box is a little bigger than the other two, I love the cover art and it has a Takatoku finish on the box like on the old Valkyries. When you pull out the styrofoam it reminds me of an High Complete Models or HCMs. These robots builds are so much better than the HCMs Bandai made(all plastic, kinda easy to break when removing accessories).  The die cast metal gives it that nice 80’s heft. For a robot made in 1983, the design is relatively sophisticated, but not as good as a Macross Valkyrie. Though my Scopedog needs a little dusting. I would display them if I didn’t hate dusting so much.

Here is the intro for Armored Trooper VOTOMS 1983-1984. I watched these as rentals on VHS tape and I enjoyed them. I saw them at the local library as DVDs as well, so you can purchase or borrow these. I have to see if they are on some of my Roku channels too.

Red Shoulder Scopedog ATM-09-RSC 1/24 scale Takara 1983

Red Shoulder Scopedog ATM-09-RSC 1/24 scale Takara 1983 from anime Armored Trooper Votoms(装甲騎兵ボトムズ)

Votoms Red Shoulder Scopedog ATM-09-RSC

Red Shoulder Scopedog ATM-09-RSC

I really enjoyed the anime for this robot, but I never finished it. The show was dark, mysterious, and much more serious than most of the anime. It felt like it was more aimed at adults than most robot anime I have watched. We got to the fourth season God Planet Quent and never got around to finishing it. It looks like they came up with a few follow series after that as well that never quite made it over.

Darn, moved my site to a brand new domain and broke all my images. Luckily, adding the images back is not as bad as I thought and I don’t have that many posts to fix. I didn’t really like these robots when they came out, but after watching the anime I came to appreciate them. I like the solid build and the detail is pretty good. Can’t say I love the pink. The cover art is a little redder, woulda been nice if the toy was too.

I just added some better images of the robot. I think I took the originals images in on my iPhone. That’s why they are so yellow. I’m thinking using a tripod will do wonders. I will probably come back and revisit these when I have more time. Looks like dusting may be needed. My cousin said Q-tips and water would do it.

The knees on these robots remind me of the  knees on the Clover’s Mobile Suit Gundam which is big and clunky as well. This is Fyana’s Brutishdog. If we ever did make combat suits, I really do think they would be more like these.

Here is the opening for the anime tv show Armored Trooper Votoms(装甲騎兵ボトムズ) from 1983-1984.

I watched these as rentals on VHS tapes and I enjoyed them. I saw them at the local library as DVDs as well, so you can purchase or borrow these. I have to see if they are on some of my Roku channels too. ***

Fyana’s Brutishdog ATM-09-GC booklet

Fyana’s Brutishdog ATM-09-GC

Fyana’s Brutishdog ATM-09-GC from anime tv show Armored Trooper Votoms(装甲騎兵ボトムズ) 1983-1984

Fyana’s Brutishdog ATM-09-GC

Fyana’s Brutishdog ATM-09-GC

Machine Dolphin was one of those borderline purchases for me. The robot was not very good if you can call it a robot, but light years better than my Abega purchase. Like Abega, I find I like it better as Dolphin Jet or as a car. The only reason I have this is because it is part of the Godaikin line.

To me, Machine Dolphin is a really large Gobot. It was designed as a car, looks good as a car, but not so good as a robot. It is a cruddy Gobot. That being said, I am a big fan of the Gobot/Machine Robo line up. Just not too fond of Machine Dolphin. To me, this is next to the worst Godaikins out there.

This robot is from the Super Sentai series Machine Man in the 80’s.

I have to figure out how to get his arm stickers to stay on. Might have to whip out the Gorilla Glue to see if I can fix that.

Machine Dolphin GoDaiKin 1984

Machine Dolphin GoDaiKin 1984 by Bandai

Machine Dolphin GoDaiKin 1984

I can pop in a picture of the robot out of the box into this post later. I am still putting up the rest of my collection. Pop in a comment below and I will get to it a little quicker. ***

Seiun Kamen Machineman from tokusatsu 1984

What can I say about Goggle V? It’s almost everything I want in a robot. Near robot perfection. This is one of the better Godaikins. Lots of great accessories, all metal for the most part, well designed and in pretty good condition. The design is solid and does not look out of proportion like other DX Super Robots say Daltanias DX(skinny arms big chest), Sun Vulcan(a block with thick chucky legs and a head),  or Combattra(narrow waist, overly top heavy) It does not have some of the silliness of many Sentai robots like Senpuh-jin, OhBlocker, or MaxRyuuOh. Clunky, clumsy looking, robots that represents most of the Sentai robots from the 90’s on. Let me sum up those robots in one word. MEGAZORD. You know what I mean.

Darn the fact that it is Super Sentai. That kinda ruins it as I was never an Ultraman or Power Rangers fan. Ultraman was my first exposure to tokusatsu shows, but I never really got into it. Anyway, doesn’t matter. I still love this robot. I just won’t watch the show (doh, maybe just one just to reinforce why I should not watch these shows)Dai Sentai Goggle V, but I would have loved to see anime on this guy here.

Gotta admin they did make some pretty good robots in the 80’s and early 90’s(but like all 80’s robot, there is almost no poseability or articulation). Can’t say the recent Super Sentai shows have really produced any robots I want to purchase. But some the the 80’s stuff I still wouldn’t mind adding to the collection like Live Robo, Turbo Robo, Great Five, and Change Robo.

Goggle V GoDaiKin 1984

Goggle V GoDaiKin 1984

Goggle V GoDaiKin 1984 aka Goggle Five Cross In Box DX GB-70 Popy 1982 Japan from Dai Sentai Goggle V 1982-1983

Since I have the DX and ST version, I can pop in a picture of both of them together into this post later. Pop in a comment below and I will get to it a little quicker. ***

Dai Sentai Goggle-V from 1982-1983

I picked up Abega because it was a Godaikin and it was cheap. Can’t say I care for any of the robots, They don’t combine or look good as robots. Definitely some of the worst robots I have ever seen. The jets themselves look much better. The Gamma Jet is not too bad and I actually like the Alpha Jet and the Abega as the combining super spacecraft are its saving grace. That being said, this is the worst or least favorite Godaikin I own because of those horrible robot forms.

I guess they had a hard time selling these. They were released as initially as Godaikins and re-released as Robo Machine by Bandai in the early 90’s based on the sticker on the box.

Abega GoDaiKin by Bandai 1984 aka Super Abega DX PC-39 Popynica 1983

After a little more research, it looks like this was part of the Albegas cartoon which was supposed to be released as Voltron II in the US. Now I can see why Albegas was released as part of the Voltron pantheon of toys. Got this info thanks to CollectionDX. Those guys know their stuff. I may just have to dig up the cartoon for some late night viewing. I watched a bit of Golion and the story was much more watchable then the old Voltron anime. I am sure Albegas will be an interesting watch.

Abega GoDaiKin by Bandai 1984 aka Super Abega DX PC-39 Popynica 1983

Abega GoDaiKin by Bandai 1984 aka Super Abega DX PC-39 Popynica 1983

I may need to revisit these with pictures of the robots, the jet combined and some pix of Super Abega with his buds Gamma Robo and Albegas. ***

Sadly, we never got to see Voltron II in the US. Here is the opening for what could have been.

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