DX Robo

Hero Universe Super Robot is made by Color Baby at Colorbaby.es. It is another bootleg from the sunny shores of Spain. The closest match is a Gundam robot. It has an RX-78 body, similar color scheme and a samurai or Gundam like head. The illustration on the back of the box is definitely a Gundam in a Space War sequence and so is the illustration on the front.

Hero Universe Super Robot Gundam bootleg

The print on the box sounds like it was made by someone using Google Translate. Engrish at its best. Found this at a dollar store in Burgos, Spain. It is a decent robot. It lights up and makes some noise. Watch out for the Action Boldness. It’s kinda cool, but not 10 euros cool, lol.

Hero Universe Super Robot Gundam bootleg

Here’s another one I never had as a kid, Wreckgar – leader of the Junkbots of Junkion. He was first seen in Transformers The Movie and turns into a motorcycle. Seems like it was much more important for it to look like a motorcycle when it transformed than to look like the robot in the movie. The toy came out in 1986. By this time I wasn’t collecting Transformers. I did not really care for this character in the movie. But I picked it up a couple of years ago so I could complete the set of Generation 1 Transformers I actually wanted.

Wreckgar came out in 2010 Reveal the Shield which is far superior to the G1 release. And Target has a Exclusive version out right now Transformers Generations Platinum Edition Planet of Junk Clash that includes Hot Rod, Wreck-Gar, and Junkion Scrapheap figures which is pretty nice if you have $75 to shell out.

WreckGar 1986 Transformers Generation 1 Autobot Junkion

WreckGar from The Transformers: The Movie Leader of the robots from Junkion

So coolest thing this year, Netflix and DreamWorks revamped Voltron.  Can’t believe I missed this. So the same guys who made Kung Fu Panda and Shrek just put out Voltron Legendary Defender Netflix and just made my summer. To make it even better, the people working on the show Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos both worked on Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Avatar being my favorite cartoon tv show of all time! If you have Netflix, you can find Voltron: Legendary Defender HERE.

I was not a fan of the original show, just the robots(For me the original anime lacked in production value, I hated the voice acting, and I did not care for the characters. So pretty much everything). But I actually like this show. It just came out June 10th.

Check out this fresh take on the old 80’s show. It’s something you actually can watch with your kids and relive your own childhood a little too. I have been waiting for a good robot anime to pop up since watching Gurren Lagann last year. Netflix just dropped 10 episodes 2 weeks ago. I have watched 3 and I am hooked! On to episode 4, catcha later…

So I am thinking, when do the toys come out?
Spring 2017 from Playmates Toys

Can’t wait! Guess this was more about the show than the merchandising. More on this later…

Toys R’ Us is running a few exclusives. I have seen several Power Rangers black and gold versions which look pretty nice. While I am not a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fan, the Black Edition Legacy Megazord looks way better than the original. This TRU Exclusive I found at the local Toys R Us . The Power Rangers Limited Black Edition Legacy Dragonzord by Bandai. I do not really like this piece but it is kinda cool that you can combine the Megazord with the Dragonzord to make the Dino Megazord.  I saw the Megazord a few months ago, and it is a nice looking black and gold robot. So if you are a fan, I recommend picking up these pieces.

Power Rangers Limited Black Edition Legacy Dragonzord 2016 Toys R Us by Bandai

Power Rangers Limited Black Edition Legacy Dragonzord 2016 Toys R Us Exclusive by Bandai

The Generation 1 Jazz Action Masters figure by Hasbro in 1990 is another attempt to make a figure that is more true to the cartoon. It does a pretty good job. It’s not amazing, but it is a nice try. I think the size at 3.75 inches limits how accurate the figure is to the source material and  the manufacturers were forced to  limit the proportions/size based on packaging constraints. If the figure were made half an inch to an inch larger, they could probably have added much more detail and gotten the proportions right.  So all the figures from the Transformers Action Masters line are almost exactly the same size and proportions. Shockwave is my favorite robot from this line. The Jazz figure is just another solid addition. Like the previous post for Wheeljack, Jazz lacks the correct proportions if you really want to capture the cartoon, but this appears to be the style of line.

Jazz Action Masters 1990 Hasbro Transformers Autobot Generation 1

Transformers Jazz Action Masters 1990 Hasbro Autobot Generation 1

Here is the Wheeljack Action Masters in 1990 from Hasbro. The Action Masters line did for the first time, what no other line had done so far. Not only did they not transform, but they also reintroduced several of the core Generation 1 robots. It was nice to see these robots again in another form.

I am a big fan of Wheeljack, but not for this figure. I really wanted to like this one, but for reason it just does not look or feel right to me. The proportions seem really off when you compare him to the cartoon. He should have a wider chest and have more bulk all the way around. He looks too skinny for me. While the Action Masters line is meant to reflect how the robots look in the cartoon, they really missed on this one. The newer figures from the Classics line do a better job of depicting Wheeljack than this one. This is still a solid representation and seems to be the style of this particular line, but this is just ok for me when I really wanted it to be amazing.

Transformers WheelJack Action Masters 1989 Hasbro Autobot Generation 1

Transformers WheelJack Action Masters 1989 Hasbro Autobot Generation 1

I bought these old clunky robots 10 -15 years ago and they were pretty cheap. I really had no idea what they were. I do not think the seller did either. They were listed on Ebay with the most generic terms. Probably something like die cast metal Japanese robot. I was curious and they were listed around $15-25. So I figured what the heck. When I received them, I was so put off, I promptly stuck them in a box and did not look at them till I took these pictures in 2013.

Over the years, I finally found a little more about them. This is the 5″ Machine Blaster Robo Kress by Takemi which is an odd little robot 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.  The anime was popular in Europe, so you can find the robots there as well. If you like your diecast metal, this one has plenty. They feel like they are completely made of metal based on their weight. They remind me of the Shogun Warriors 5 inch robots of the 70’s, but so crudely made. The design and finish are pretty poor. They are like the ugly cousins of the Clover Dunbine robots I have.

I took these pictures way back when I first created the site. The quality was so bad and the pictures were so yellow that I decided not to use them. But, since I have been too lazy to post anything. Well, here it is. I used a photo editor but these are still really bad. These are pictures from when I used my iPhone 4 for pics. I promise to put up better pictures when I find these again.

Robo Kress 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