11/5/98: Enter the Dragon

There's a new player in town, and they've entered the scene with a splash. DRAGON, a Hong Kong-based company known up to now for military plastic model kits, has produced a large-size vinyl toy of none other than Robocon! It's a great piece: heavy and solid, colorful, semi-articulated, and with a fully-detailed mechanical engine under it's "hood."

At just over a foot-and-a-half, this guy approaches Machinder size. And the really interesting thing is that this is the most detailed figure ever made of Robocon -- in fact, the toy seems to be even more realistic- looking than the suit used in the actual show. (Hey, I love Robocon as much as the next guy, but it's a series whose SFX could charitably be described as -- how to put this gently? -- stumpy. Robocon makes "H.R. Puffinstuff" look like it was done by Industrial Light and Magic.)

11/11/98: Addendum:

Word on the street is that Dragon's Robocon vinyl is not only ghost-produced by none other than Kaiyodo, but comes in two distinct variations: a "normal" version (pictured above) and a "limited" version with an eye-switching gimmic.

Although I have yet to confirm this information with my own eyes, it makes sense: Dragon's is an all-new piece, and this toy is remarkably similar in size and proportion to an old 1970's Robocon toy that was produced by Popy. Popy's all-plastic piece not only talked, but featured a mechanism wherein Robocon's eyeballs could be rotated through a cycle of different "emotions."

It's unknown if Dragon's eye-gimmick is mechanical or simply makes use of removable stickers. More to come!

Thanks to Mike Parisi for the heads-up!

--M.A.

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