Shogun Warriors were some of my favorite toys as a kid. Well before Transformers hit the scene, these were the giant robots that sparked my young imagination. I liked that they had spring loaded projectiles and you could have them battle one another. Voltron was a little after my time, but from what I read, it looks like a property that appeals to kids much in the same way.
I remember this line-up. They were originally introduced as a robotic task force against Action-Figure Godzilla (complete with flickering tongue of "fire")! Sadly, just like ROM and THE MICRONAUTS, the Marvel comic book based on them lasted longer than the actual popularity of these now-classic toys.
ReplyDeleteactually, the Godzilla figure was in the second wave of Shogun Warriors released in the States. The first wave was Dragun (from Getta Robo G), Great Mazinga and Raydeen (really, Raideen). The comic book only lasted 20 issues, not even two years, whereas the toys lasted clean into the early 80s, perhaps three or more years, again here in the States.
ReplyDeleteIn Japan, they were known as Jumbo Machinder and were really popular, with many figures not released over here in the States.
Voltron- the lion robot series was known as "Golion" in Japan (a play on the word "go" which means five in Japanese) and was not a very popular series over there.
Well,, Dave, they weren't on the toy store shelves, in my neck of the woods, the following year. Whereas my local comic store carried ROM, The MICRONAUTS, and SHOGUN WARRIORS for comparatively longer.
ReplyDeleteVoltron was a lot like Battle of the Planets - which I guess was originally called Gatchaman. It was a similar concept...kinda like what Power Rangers has been, too.
ReplyDeleteSee, I'm very the opposite of you on this one Mr. Ross, as I grew up watching Voltron(and the awesome wave of cartoons that was the 80's) whereas I learned of the Shogun Warriors after the fact since I wasn't even born when they first came out. I'm curious why they couldn't reappear again though in a reboot, like pretty much every popular and vaguely popular property has in recent times. I guess because the all the right people aren't clamoring for it unlike the 80's and 90's properties.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever considered using other Anime/Manga Characters?
ReplyDeleteI have used Princess Mononoke, Battle of the Planets, Astro Boy and Kaneda from Akira as well... but I don't a whole lot about Manga characters.
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