toyboxdx toy blog brog: is graceful art of daily expressing japanese toy  

The MFVs are, unfortunately, the vinyl robots for me. The Bandai MFVs are the right size to match up against (and really, dominate) the plethora of vinyl kaiju that’s out there, and the chunky sculpts just speak to me. Getter 2 is usually a slender and spindly robot, but this rendition has a little more heft and speaks to a machine that can move, but still take and give a beating, courtesy of that fearsome drill!

This guy is also my first experience with good, proper vintage ‘smell’. The couple of Popy minis I have just don’t have much scent to them, but this guy has more than enough material to really keep a stink in him, and it’s great. Now all he needs are some missiles. Until then, he’s going to have to beat up monsters the old-fashioned way:

Upon request, scans of the entirety of Bandai’s 1985 Robo Machine catalogue. I’m making this a Rumble because this catalogue features much more interesting stuff besides mock-up Godaikins. Links to each page below, together with my comments (might include excessively detailed geekery).
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Some images of the most sought-after Double Machine Robo.
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This last week I was home on break from school and graced with some wonderful news… it was the classic tale of an older friend having some toys in his basement he wanted to unload for cheap, but this time just what toys he wanted to unload was just so perfect. As most of the TBDX community seems to know by now, I am not as old as the majority, so when I have fond toy memories, they are not of Mazinger Z, or even Tranzor Z, or any of the Force Five/Shogun Warriors characters, but something from a later era… the show that really cemented my love of all things robots, and even secretly implanted a love for giant monsters, which has only recently surfaced! Transformers G2 aired around 1993, and sparked my fascination with all things mechanical, but I have so many more fond memories of the wonder that was Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, which aired in 1995. From the theme song to the wonderfully outlandish characters, and even those darned commercials (Too hot to handle!), MMPR took the love of robots that Transformers had sparked, and combined it with crazy special effects, an amazing cast of characters, and most important of all, guys in suits. I have yet to actually see an episode of Ultraman, or any of the other shows from the heyday of men in rubber suits stepping on miniature model cities, but MMPR did it with as much pizazz as the next live action series, and that has always been something that left me hungry for more. But, we were talking about toys, right? I’ve dragged you through this introspective history lesson because I have been brought back together with an old friend… he’s not complete right now, but I’ll get the extra parts eventually, and they’re not important. He’s big and bulky, and has minimal articulation, but he has a huge chrome sword that scared my mom. The Megazord will always be the number one monster-slayer in my mind, and now in my collection as well. I realize I’m gushing, but this toy will always be one of my favorites, and I’m glad to have him back.

Something to note, in true Christmas ’95 fashion, I don’t have a Dragonzord yet… suffice to say I’ll be on the look out for one when I have the cash, and there will be more gushing.

German version of the Bandai Blue Fighter Mekarobo.
Andy Galaxo – The space tramp

Since this guy was mentioned in the Cafe, I figured I would post a short review. Please ignore the worn condition of my Flash King – I’ll mention it when chrome is supposed to be present somewhere ;)
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I’m not much into SOCs, much less another Mazinger (ok, technically it’s Energer-Z), but this one jumped out at me. I primarily bought it for the colors…they really make this toy “pop”. It doesn’t hurt that it’s got alot of diecast in it, and a ton of articulation (it appears to be on par with the GX-45). It’s got the standard magnetic arms and rocket punch, and comes with tiny Koji on bike. A very worthwhile addition.

You like Super Deformed toys? You like diecast? You like so called “Cloth”? You like midgets? Me too. These are awesome. Three inches of pure Japanese toy goodness..

Kamen Rider

Kamen Rider V3

Patlabor Ingram

Ultraman

Ultra Seven

I’ve always loved the various large carrier vehicles, airplanes, and space ships in many TV series, both animated and live-action. As a kid I always thought there were too few toys made of such carriers. Who wouldn’t have loved to have an Autobot space shuttle play set, a Battlestar Galactica, or one of those cool motherships from various animated series? Sadly, those that we did get in the Netherlands tended to be horribly underdetailed and inaccurate, often having weird proportions and being only vaguely recognisable as the original. The good ones were very expensive and from somewhat before my time.

Fast forward a few years, bring on the internet, and bring on me starting collecting toy robots. I discover a lot of those motherships and carriers actually had pretty nice toys in Japan. (more…)