J Robot sightings (media)

Here's a fun game for us to play. Have you spotted Super Robots or Kaiju in movies, on TV or heard about them in songs?

I'll get us started:

On an old episode of Law & Order, a witness to a homicide had a Getta One tin on his shelf.

Busta Rhymes sang about "Forming Voltron" in a song I can't remember the name of.

Skavoovie & The Epitones have a song called "Japanese Robot".

Godzilla & friends have showed up on the Simpsons many times. (and the big G has his own anthem rock song)

Any more?

(Transformers references have their own online lists elsewhere, so I won't bring those up)

Thank you

Beastie Boys' "Intergalactic" video is a pretty funny Sentai spoof.

Some big booty rapper lady did a Rockman (Megaman) styled video, that without the volume turned on was pretty cool a few years ago.

Some commercial a couple years ago for insurance, OTC drugs, or such, has a guy building a 1/60 Char's Gelgoog kit, while his wife walks in the front door and starts bothering him. (Roger placed this one as a Tidy Cat commercial).

An old episode of "Tales from the Darkside" or "Tales from the Crypt" (can't remember which), has a demon tempting a kid with what was either a small army of diaclones or zoid type robots. It looked like they were all spraypainted red to make them look more evil.

An episode of Malcolm in the middle has the dad going into a comic shop to try and buy a present for Malcolm. In the background there is a machinder and couple near machinder size super robot vinyls. For the life of me, I couldn't make out what they were, but I think one of the vinyls was FLOSR Grandizer.

There's some early eighties movie or maybe it was TV that had a Mattel Jumbo Shogun Dragun on the shelf in the background of a kid's bedroom. Anyone have a clue what that was? Poltergeist? Goonies? Crap, I can't remeber anything, but seeing that. (JoshB nailed this one as Eight is Enough, and that's good enough for me!)

Of course, it probably doesn't count, but in Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster, the kid is sliding a big vinyl Godzilla down the slide. I crapped my pants at the chance to buy a reissue of this jumbo vinyl! Thanks B-CLUB!

An episode of Power Puff girls or was it Dexter's Lab, has a kid playing with what is copywright infringingly close to a Jumbo Great Mazinga.

VH-1's "I love the Eighties" series, had a segue silhouette graphic that looked like a composite of Getta Dragun, and Grandizer.

There's some damn movie where a kid has Mattel Rodan hanging from the ceiling. Again, I crappin' can't remember the movie.... :( (Kudos to Roger again, he remembered this was from Creepshow. Good memory!)

I also remember some low budget space opera or spoof of such, that used a Dyjupiter as the heroes ship.

Then there's some punk song, someone posted here on toybox years ago that had the rambling lyrics something like "Go no diggy die.......Gaiking......."

There has to more.



Post Edited (09-24-03 16:16)

Also in the powder puff girls in one ep. there was a story of magic chalk which would bring monsters to life, and one monster was actually a very Godzilla like dino, it could very well have been Godzilla hahah, but she drew it out and it came to life.

and dude that little kid is playing with Mazinger so blatantly hahahah. look in his hand! its the brain condor!

There was a Dragun Jumbo in an episode of 8 is enough.

Dont forget the DX gundams in Linkin park's somewhere I belong video.

I also remember an 80s commercial for popsicles or something where the kid is playing with a green and purple dx billbine knockoff.

If you have the stomach, Nick Zedd did a short with still frame animated dancing Arkons, Zanbot, etc. Also, in DIsney's Blank Check, a kid gets to spend a shitload of money in a Japanese toy store. I think it was Right Brain, Left Brain.

Do J-Pop videos count? Utada Hikaru's "Can You Keep A Secret" featured a scaled up version of the real-life experimental walking robot PINO.

In "One-Hour Photo" Robin Williams character owns a LMHG Eva-05.

In some Jackie Chan movie, don't know the name, but Sammo Hung plays his retarded brother.

One scene they're playing around in a store, and Sammo's flying a DX Godmars around the store.

Also, if i remember correctly, in Boogie Nights, Mark Walberg has a Chokinzoku T-28 on his shelf at his mom's place.

I have an album out with Scopedog on the cover. It's only seen limited release so I don't think it really counts.

Creepshow was the movie with the Mattel Rodan in it. That was Stephen King's son, BTW.

There's a Tidy Cat commercial with a guy building a Gelgoog model.

the jackie chan movie is Heart of the Dragon.

Mark, give me a link to some of your music!

Josh

I've also seen an insurance commerical that takes place in a toy store and on one shelf is a line up of arklons.....i've also seen some eps of varius sentai shows where the young kids have machinders and other japanese toys in thier rooms (popy DX Yamato in an episode of uchu Keiji Gavan)

The movie One Hour Photo has two instances of Japanese robots. In one scene, Jakob (the son) wants to buy an EVA Production Type (the white one) action figure, and in another scene, he comes running up to Robin Williams asking him to help put together a Master Grade Zaku II model kit.

SZ wrote:If you have the stomach, Nick Zedd did a short with still frame animated dancing Arkons, Zanbot, etc.

Unbelievable, a mention of Nick Zedd at tbdx. I used to live near that dude............L.E.S.

A LOOOOW budget 80s horror anthology flick called 'chillers', at the end of all the stories, the kid wakes up in his room. Behind him are Alpha Fighters (the big transforming ones) and possibly a valk or the sdf or a monster. I know he had all these because I grew up with him, and played with them - so I really remember them from hanging out at the house, but for this shot they used his actual bedroom, so the alpha for sure is in it, the others might have been in the basement (was kinda his toy storage area, and I haven't seen the movie for like 5 years)

It *is* actually in a lot of video stores if you want to check it out, really surprised me to see it when I moved to L.A., not many indie movies are made in West Virginia, and I seriously never expected to see it again after seeing it at the tiny premiere at age 8.

Oh and the last issue of XBN (xbox nation) has a review of Dancouga SOC, and strangely give toyboxdx.com as the site to look for it at. (The other items in that section had websites listed too, but they were manufacturer's or stores that carried the item)

There was an episode of Wonder Woman in which Linda Carter visits this old man in a toy shop. She's looking for toy soldiers. He guides her to a shelf that holds a Jumbo Raydeen, Dragun and Mazinga...

Also there was the episode of PPg where you see Getter (Dragon I think) (on Mazinger Z's body), a Mazinger Z head on a Getter body (again could have been Dragon) a Ultraman (drawn a bit vauge). Anyway you see tears in there eyes because they weren't needed to protect Japan anymore (the Professor's old collage roomate make clones/copies/knockoffs of the PGG's to sell all around the world). When I first saw this I was ROTFL.

Also there's an episode on Dexter's Lab that had to do him being in Japan. This had LOTS of robot referances including the transforming bike from Mospeada and on of the limbs of Dexster's combining robot looked like Rodimus Prime in truck mode.

:)



Post Edited (09-25-03 12:16)

In Robert Townsends 'Hollywood Shuffle' his bro has a Valk (maybe Jetfire?) on his dresser.



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Yup, I eat rice.

Not a sighting but I thought this was interesting. Considering I like him as the best goaltender right now....

"Garth Snow keeps adding pieces to his pads," said Brodeur. "And his shoulder pads are so big he looks like Goldorak, the robot I watched killing the bad guys on TV when I was a kid."


I found this while reading the hockey section on TSN.

...



Post Edited (09-24-03 23:09)

There's that Frank Sinatra movie where he beats that guy to death in some Vegas hotel room with a Mattle Mazinga jumbo.



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Yup, I eat rice.

in thje amityville horror, there is a dragun jumbo on the shelf in the kids room

BTW the episode of Dexter's Lab that I mentioned in my last post was on today. It's called "Last but not Beast". There are alot of Superrobot referances (like how Daimos's pilot controls the robot with his arms attached to wires, even Maz Z's rocket punch was done in this).

Hey, thanks for all the posts. I never imagined there'd be so many. Here are 2 more:

The oft overlooked cinematic masterpiece "Spaced Invaders" has a guy building a Zoid (Gojulas I think) who later constructs his own giant version out of farm equipment.

The Japanese 'noise' band Space Streakings has a song called "Getta Robo G". (maybe that doesn't count as it *is* a Japanese band)

By the way, that Brodeur reference was really cool. I will tell my goalie diggin' girlfriend about it.

Thank you

what's the title of the frank sinatra movie where he beats the guy upside the head with a mazinga?

I don't know, but I think it can be found on the same shelf as the William Shatner movie where he kills a bad guy with a Getta Dragon jumbo. (Or was that a Ron Jeremy movie? I always get those guys mixed up.)

-M

I just saw Runaway Jury last night, and in it John Cusack plays a guy who works at a computer game stor. On top of his computer monitor at home is some sort of dark blue robot toy. It looked like it was the size and color of a Master Grade Gouf, but I really can't be sure. It could have been a Mechwarrior toy, going with the game motif.

We'll know for sure when the DVD comes out. Which is the way I recommend seeing this film, if you want to at all. Don't waste a whole nine bucks on it.

In Robert Crumb's book Odds & Ends , he has a drawing of a robot thats half Diapolon half Quonto. It's pretty damn cool :)
Mike

The cover of the compilation book of Charles Burns' Big Baby comics depicts the title character holding a vintage Baragon vinyl and also there is what looks like a King Kong vinyl in the foreground (there is another toy shown that might be a Ultraman kaiju vinyl but I don't recognize the character). The head of the non-Japanese Great Garloo toy is also pictured.



Post Edited (10-20-03 17:48)

I was watching the extras on the TRON dvd, and think it has the best sighting of robot toys that I've seen in media.
On disc 2, in the digital imagery section. The 2nd interview, in plain sight behind the guy is a shelf chock full o' good stuff. It's a little blurry on my PC, but I can make out Grendizer and Reideen jumbos (Popy versions no less!), a Clover diecast Gundam, a Takatoku Valkyrie, and a Godzilla vinyl. There's a ton more but I can't make them out.

I know this is an old thread, but damn it was cool to see that. If anyone else has the DVD and can make out any of the other stuff, let me know.

In the Book of the Subgenius, turn to page 130.

And if you don't have the book:

[www.amazon.com]

Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure-- of course, Godzilla and King Ghidorah had a cameo, but in his bedroom when he wakes up, there's a jumbo Godzilla by his window.

You expect me to read all this, my brain is smoking. LOL, be nice.



{Merciful Minerva}

Direct link to page 130 in the Book of the Subgenius (using Amazon's nifty new 'search inside' feature):

Page 130



Post Edited (03-11-04 13:05)

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I am seeking a plastic Popy Tora Sobu Raideen.

Cool! You need to sign in, but there it is:

[www.amazon.com]

The lead singer of the California Surf/Ska band The Aquabats, The Bat Commander is a big Jumbo fan, so much so that the band did the song "Giant Robot-Bird Head", a tribute to Reideen(sp). At one point they also used Jumbo-style missiles as part of the graphic layout of thier website (and, I believe, one of thier CD covers).

Me and a friend used to hang out after thier shows back when they toured often enough to make it to Arizona about twice a year. Talking to the lead singer I found out about his Jumbo Machinder habit and fondness of old robot cartoons and Ultraman heroes. He also mentioned that he visited ToyboxDX once in a while, but that was a few years ago and I honestly don't know what moniker he used here.



The poster formerly known as Tabby.

Can someone post these two pictures for everyone to see.







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I asked if I have "Time For L-Gaim" but I got "No Reply From The Wind".

I'm watching The Venture Brothers, and one of The Monarch's henchmen has a Grendizer jumbo in his closet.

I love the Venture Bros.



Here's the clip:

[www.youtube.com]

Voltron (Golion)and the Transformers have been used on Robot Chicken a number of times.

At the Smithsonian, in the Air & Space Museum (I think..) there's an exhibit on computers and drafting or somesuch, but the Godaikin Daltanias is used as an example for some computer-related imaging thing.

There was a thinly disguised cameo of Gamera in the 7th season of Justice League Unlimited in the Skartaris episode. The opening starts off with Supergirl, Stargirl, Green Lantern, etc. battling monsters in Japan.