Tag: Chogokin

Combat Armor Dougram Takara 1984 1/72 scale from anime tv show Fang of the Sun 1981-1983

Dougram Dual Model is another cool little 80’s robot. With all the plastic add on armor, the Dougram reminds me of the HCM line from Bandai. It still packs enough die cast metal to make it a Chogokin robot. I really wish this one came with the shoulder armor. I thought it would not be a big deal, but you can see it looks off without the shoulder pad. It is pretty much the only missing piece. Oh well. You have to watch what you are for bidding on in eBay. That being said, Takara came out with another quality line of robots in the 80’s besides Transformers and Votoms.

I gotta watch the anime for Fang of the Sun Dougram some time. The robots are pretty cool. It’s not a wannabe Gundam. I love the packaging. It looks like a book, its compact and easy to store, but I wish it had a styrofoam insert.
Here is a taste of the anime Fang of the Sun Dougram 1981-1983.

You can see the quality in the robot as you pop in each plastic piece onto the base robot in the diagram below. It is like a detailed model without having to use paint and glue.

Combat Armor Dougram Takara 1984 1/72 scale from anime tv show Fang of the Sun Dougram 1981-1983

Combat Armor Dougram 1/72 scale Dual Model Decal Takara

Combat Armor Dougram Series-01 Mechanic Manual Takara from anime tv show Taiyou no Kiba Dougram 1981-1983

Fang of the Sun Combat Armor Dougram Instructions

Combat Armor Dougram(太陽の牙ダグラム ) Japanese Instructions

Combat Armor Dougram Takara 1984 from anime tv show Fang of the Sun Dougram 1981-1983

Fang of the Sun Combat Armor Dougram Takara 1/72 scale robot toy Made in Japan for Takara Toys 1984

Combat Armor Dougram Takara 1984 from anime tv show Fang of the Sun Dougram 1981-1983

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.

So my Vavilos has never been taken out of the styrofoam. I can tell as I never took the twisty tie thing off. This is a robot from the Space Sheriff Shaider series which is very much like the Power Rangers(Is that show still running in Japan?). Godaikins were a bunch of robots from various anime series with no cartoon tie in to back it up here in the United States. This is likely the reason they were not that popular. I think if they had released some of these anime here, we would be remembering them as nostalgically as Voltron.

Design wise, Vavilos would look much better with a larger more defined head and arms that are proportionate with the rest of its body. It is the main reason this was not a must have robot for me. But it is nice to have. The rest of the robot looks ok. The legs are similar in design to Goggle V and Dyna Robo. The chest is a bit blocky like Sun Vulcan, like a cube with a triangle on top. Its decent in ship form, in fact I prefer it. That is likely why I have never pulled it out to transform Vavilos. Overall it is a decent robot, but it is on the lower end of what Bandai released in their Godaikin line. More yellowing white plastic from these old 80’s robots. Guess these toys discolor after a while.

Check out the first episode of Uchu Keiji Shaider tokusatsu show from 1984-1985. The cheesy 80’s tv music on this video was just killing me along with all the cheap special effects!

Vavilos GoDaiKin DX Bandai from Uchu Keiji Shaider tokusatsu tv show from 1984-1985

I have a post on the Vavilos ST as well. I should post a picture of them both the Vavilos Godaikin DX and Vavilos ST together later.

Vavilos GoDaiKin DX Bandai from Uchu Keiji Shaider tokusatsu tv show from 1984-1985

Vavilos GoDaiKin DX Bandai from Uchu Keiji Shaider tokusatsu tv show from 1984-1985

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

This is the Robotech Mac II Monster Destroid Cannon international release as the text on the box is in both English and French. Originally it came out  as the Destroid Monster. It is a really clunky robot, but I was really excited to add this to my collection. I can’t imagine this robot ever being used in combat. It looks like a sitting duck. Low mobility, can’t fly, I guess it is a moving anti-aircraft gun. I hardly even remember seeing it in the cartoon. I am still a huge fan of the Macross series and I was able to add this to my Macross robots at a nice discount to the Takatoku Toys version. I really don’t see much of difference between the robots except for the color.

The Matchbox version is a dark green whereas the Takatoku one is an olive green. This one barely moves at all, but it is a die cast monster. You can bend the arms and legs a little, emphasis on little. Kinda reminds me of my Srungle robot in functionality, but the design and color is so much better.

Matchbox Robotech Mac II Monster Destroid Cannon from Robotech: The Macross Saga 1985

Matchbox Robotech Mac II Monster Destroid Cannon from Robotech: The Macross Saga 1985

Matchbox Robotech Mac II Monster Destroid Cannon from Robotech: The Macross Saga 1985 超時空要塞マクロス

Matchbox Robotech Mac II Monster Destroid Cannon from Robotech: The Macross Saga 1985

Matchbox Robotech Mac II Monster Destroid Cannon from Robotech: The Macross Saga 1985

Unfortunately, I could not find a video of this robot in action.  Matchbox/Irwin

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