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FANG OF THE SUN DOUGRAM

by Matt Alt

September 1998

updated: 01.15.02

Contributions by: Adam Contrino, Robert Duban, Tom the Greek, Roger Harkavy, Johnyaya, Kimono My House, Ray Miller, David Morton, John Wohlwend, Alen Yen

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The 1981 Nippon Sunrise television series Fang of the Sun Dougram was one of the first successors to the "realistic robot" legacy left by Mobile Suit Gundam. It featured a similar plot as well, with a ragtag band of guerilla fighters known as "The Fang of the Sun" fighting for the independence of their colony-world Deloyer from the oppression of the Earth Federation.

Dougram was a surprise success, especially considering the heavy emphasis on military tactics, which slowed the pace of the show. It enjoyed a lengthy two-year, seventy-five episode run and spawned a 1983 feature film, Dougram: Documentary of the Fang of the Sun.

Takara was Dougram's main licensee, and produced a very successful model series and a large number of diecast Dougram toys in a variety of sizes. Takara also released several strategy games based on the Dougram world. These games included a fistful of tiny, unpainted diecast robots for use as playing pieces and seperately-sold sets of foliage in scale with the playing field.

Neither the film nor the television series were released in America. But in a strange twist of events, a large portion of the merchandise was. Model company Revell released many of Takara's Dougram kits as characters in their "Robotech" series, and Takara sold much of their diecast toy line through American toy stores in the mid-Eighties. The detailed construction of the toys, the lack of any background info on the characters, and the odd little revolutionary slogans printed on the boxes ("Fight! Dougram to save independence of the Deloyer!" "We will never approve independence from our federation!") must have captivated and confused many a young American buyer.

Takara's diecast Dougram toys were produced in three sizes. There is a small 1:144 scale "Collection Series," most of which feature a hollow diecast body and leg structure with plastic detail parts. There is also a "Dual Model Series" in two scales, 1:72 and 1:48, which featured a zinc-diecast endoskeleton upon which plastic armor pieces could be fit. Although the imported toys were physically identical to those released in Japan, the packages were modified for American shelves. The 1:144 scale boxes were slid into sleeves that let them be hung from pegs, while the 1:72 and 1:48 toys featured large English-language stickers glued over the original Japanese box-tops. The 1:72 Soltic toy was reissued in 1999 in a new box.

In addition to the diecasts, Takara also produced a "magnemo" magnetically-jointed Dougram and several soft-vinyl Dougram toys as well. Although the vinyls weren't pegged to specific scales, the smaller ones appear to be 1:100 scale, while the larger Dougram seems to be roughly 1:60. And toy manufacturer Seven, a Takara spin-off devoted to low-end toys, produced several "cheapie" plastic and rubber Dougram toys as well.

A final quick note: the terms "Soltic," "Abitate," and "Dougram" actually represent the names of the (fictional) companies who built the respective giant robots, not the names of the robots themselves. This is reflected in the lists below, and the "common names," if any, are given in quotes.

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	Collection Series 1:144 (Company name first; common name in quotes)
01		Dougram Combat Armor Images: box, box back, styro tray
02		Soltic H8 "Round-facer" Images: box, box back
03		Abitate F44A "Crabgunner" Images: box, box back
04		Abitate F44B "Tequila-Gunner" Images: box, box back
05		Abitate T-10B "Blockhead" Images: box, box back, styro tray
06		Abitate F44D "Desert Gunner" Images: box, box back
07		Soltic H-102 "Bushman" Images: box, box back
08		Eyevan DT-2 "Bromry" Images: box, box back, styro tray
09		Abitate T-10C "Blockhead" Images: box, box back
10		Hasty F4X "Ironfoot" Images: box, box back
11		Soltic H8-RF Korchima Special 24th Batallion Custom Images: box, box back
12		Soltic H8 with Hang-Glider Images: box, box back
13		Soltic H404S "Mackerel" Images: box, box back
14		Soltic HT-128 "Bigfoot" Images: box, box back
15		Nicholiev AG-9 "Cabarov" Images: box, box back
A		Collection Set A Contains: Dougram Combat Armor, Soltic H-8 "Roundfacer," and Abitate F44A "Crabgunner" Images: box, box back, styro tray, sticker & paint guide
B		Collection Set B Contains: Dougram Combat Armor and Bromry LTR-62 Images: box, box back, styro tray
C		Collection Set C Contains: Soltic H-8 "Roundfacer" and "Mavellick" (Transport Helicopter) Images: box, box back, styro tray
	Dual Model 1:72 (Company name first; common name in quotes)
01		Dougram Combat Armor Images: box [Japan], outer box cover, box [US], inner tray, decal & paint guide
02		Soltic H8 "Roundfacer" Images: box, outer box cover, reissue box, decal & paint guide 1, decal & paint guide 2
03		Abitate T-10B "Blockhead" Images: box, inner tray, box back, decal & paint guide 1, decal & paint guide 2
	Dual Model 1:48
01		Dougram Combat Armor Additional Images: box, inner tray, decal & paint guide 1, 2, 3
	Magnetic & Vinyl
		Magnetype Dougram Images: box back
		Dougram vinyl - large scale
		Dougram vinyl - small scale
		Soltic H8 "Roundfacer" vinyl - small scale
	Dougram 3-D Simulation Game Series
01		Battle of Stanrey
02		Battle of Kalnock