Author: Con

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.

Maybe some day I will put the decals on Jetman DX Jet Icarus here. Looks pretty good without them though. This is so close to being a Godaikin I had to pick it up. Since so many Godaikins came from the Super Sentai series, it’s not a surprise that they have another solid piece like this one. I am sure there are a few more robots I have seen before that would be great to add to the collection.

This is the European release of the Tenkugattai Jet Icarus that came out in 1991. I can’t really see any differences from the Japanese release based on images I see on eBay. I really enjoyed the design on this one and the solid build. The legs and body are not too flat and blocky like Sun Vulcan or one of the Fiveman robos. The color scheme works pretty good too.

I am not a Super Sentai fan, but some of the robots from the series are pretty cool. I was not collecting robots when this came out, but it still tugs on the same heart strings I feel from DX Popy robots from the 80’s. Here is the commercial for the Jet Icarus toy.

Jetman DX Jet Icarus Bandai Europe

Jetman DX Jet Icarus Bandai Europe instructions

Jetman DX Jet Icarus Bandai Europe from tokusatsu Chōjin Sentai Jetman 1991-1992

Jetman DX Jet Icarus Bandai Europe decals/stickers from tokusatsu Chōjin Sentai Jetman 1991-1992

Jetman DX Jet Icarus Bandai Europe from tokusatsu Chojin Sentai Jetman 1991-1992

Jetman DX Jet Icarus Bandai from tokusatsu Choujin Sentai Jetman 1991-1992

This is one of the coolest Super Sentai robots, it also happens to be the first. At least the first time Super Sentai was coined. It was the third Sentai series to come around and it was inspired by Marvel’s Captain America. After the success of the Spider Man live action(tokusatsu) series(with Leopardon or is it Leopoldon?), Toei thought more robots were needed in our Sentai series. Which I am personally happy about as I have a few of these amazing robots.

So Leopardon is a heavy(so heavy for its size) ST robot that looks like a samurai. It is bigger than most ST robots and has a great design. The Popy brand which is pretty much the standard bearer for any Chogokin(Super Alloy) robot. It is from 1979, but the design is timeless and does not feel dated at all. I wasn’t nearly as appreciative of this robot when I got it, but after learning and researching about them I definitely have a better understanding and appreciation of all things Popy.

All of the Godaikins were originally Popy robots before Bandai absorbed them into the main company. So this post is in honor of the grand daddy of the Megazord. Battle Fever J.   My cousin has the Soul of Chogokin version GX-30 which is just a great piece as well. Here is a first episode of the tokusatsu show Battle Fever J(バトルフィーバーJ ) from 1979-1980.

Popy Battle Fever Robo ST GB-03 1979

Popy Battle Fever Robo ST GB-03 1979 from Battle Fever J 1979-1980

Popy Battle Fever Robo ST GB-03 1979

Popy Battle Fever Robo ST GB-03 1979 バトルフィーバーJ

I don’t have any of the Takatoku Valkyries, but I cherish this Bandai VF-1A as it is my only Valkyrie from the 80’s. This is the Hikaru Ichijo Bandai VF-1A from the movie “Macross: Do You Remember Love?” in 1984. Bandai made this Valkyrie just after they bought the molds from the remains of Takatoku Toys. I love the big 80’s Chogokins with die cast metal. While it is not the 1/55 scale I covet, I like having both the ST and DX versions of a robot. Hopefully I will add the larger one soon. I consider the 1/100 scale ST’s and 1/55 scale as DX versions. It seems that the 1/100 scale Valkyries are harder to find than the 1/55 scale robots on the auction sites though, so I am glad to have any of them.

Bandai made some really solid Valkyries during that time in the 1980’s, like the Elintseeker or VT Trainer. The Valkyries themselves hold a special place in my heart. I only have two Toynami Masterpiece 1/55 Valkyries and one Bandai Valkyrie from 2002, but I really hope to add the original Takatoku and Bandai robots from the 80’s. They were the first robots that were amazing as jets and just as amazing as robots. Even 30 years later the quality, design and beauty of these pieces still shine. These are the must have robots of the 80’s.

Bandai Variable Fighter VF-1A Valkyrie 1984 from movie Macross: Do You Remember Love? 1984

Bandai Variable Fighter VF-1A Valkyrie 1984 from the movie Macross: Do You Remember Love? 1984

Bandai Variable Fighter VF-1A Valkyrie instructions and stickers from the movie 超時空要塞マクロス 愛・おぼえていますか 1984

Bandai Variable Fighter VF-1A Valkyrie 1984 from the movie Macross: Do You Remember Love? 1984

Computer Number 0302526

The SDF-1 DX 1/3000 scale is my holy grail for robots. I have bid on this guy several times, but I still don’t have one. Having the smaller ST 1/6300 scale robot provides me some solace. But displaying this one really doesn’t have as umph as the DX.

I really hate how the white plastic parts yellow with age. I have to dig around and find out why so many robots yellow after a while(L Gaim, Macross Valkyries, and the SDF-1 for starters). Grey would have been a lot better choice for this robot. I guess they use cheap plastic in Japan. I remember my Super Nintendo Entertainment System SNES was grey and it yellowed too.

This is a nice little piece. You can tell the how white it was suppose to be when you see the metal part in the middle. Like most 80’s robots, it is not very poseable.  There is not much detail on the ST version. The Takatoku Storm Attacker Construction looks identical except it has black plastic cannons instead of red, the shoulder cannons are not included(even though the box images and instructions indicate otherwise), there is a yellow painted outline for the chest pieces and grey plastic instead of white which looks a lot nicer. I am tempted to get that as well.

Anyway, Macross/Robotech was one of the main reasons I am still into the whole robot genre as the cartoons kept going for a few years. As Shogun Warriors faded for me, I got into Macross, Godaikins, and Transformers. I really did not have any Robotech robots until I got the G1 Transformers Jetfire for $30 down at Talbot’s Toys in San Mateo. Takatoku and Bandai Valkyries were like $80+ in the 80’s in Japantown, so Jetfire was a bargain. Most of the time, I just went to my cousin’s house to enjoy his Valkyrie collection. It is quite impressive. He has them all, but 3 are reissues. I hope he puts out his Macross robots soon.

Here is intro to remember Robotech.

Robotech Miniature SDF-1 Battle Fortress by Harmony Gold from Robotech: The Macross Saga 1985

Robotech Miniature SDF-1 Battle Fortress by Harmony Gold from Robotech: The Macross Saga 1985

Robotech Miniature SDF-1 Battle Fortress by Harmony Gold from Robotech: The Macross Saga 1985

Robotech Miniature SDF-1 Battle Fortress by Harmony Gold Stickers/Decals and Instructions from Robotech: The Macross Saga 1985 超時空要塞マクロス

Its funny how the instructions are still in Japanese in the US release of this toy.

Robotech Miniature SDF-1 instructions and decals/stickers from Robotech: The Macross Saga 1985

I would be tempted to get one of the newer SDF-1 below, but they are a bit beyond my price range.

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

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