Toy Robots

Anime (aka Japanese Cartoons) has always been an interest of mine, ever since I first saw Astroboy and Kimba on TV, here in Florida. One of the major themes in anime is giant robots, many that transform or combine. Needless to say, I wanted them all...

Over the years, I collected a pile of robots, mainly the "Transformers" series marketed by Hasbro, but also some direct Japanese imports, as I had money. Below is the current contents of the "Robot Shelves" in my living room; since I have a few other interests, those items are intersperced with the toy robots....

Go Lion! *chuckle* The original Voltron "Lion Force" set. In good shape, but the dern thing doesn't want to stand upright, so I have to put a shim under the front of the "feet". This is one of two sets I got at a close-out sale at K-Mart for $10 each!

This is the full set of vehicles for the "Voltron: Defender of the Near Universe" tv series in the U.S., aka "Kikou Dantai Dairugger-XV". The plastic's a little brittle, but it's still in good shape. The other of my K-Mart acquisitions!

The full set of toys (including transporter) for the first "Power Rangers" show in the U.S. The show's lame, but the toys are cool! Bandai makes durable robots!

This is the "Thunder Megazord" that Bandai released in the US in connection with the "Power Rangers" show.

This is the "Powermaster Optimus Prime"... I did have the original, but during the "divestiture of toys" my wife requested, I elected to keep this one instead.

This is the "Tank Version Megatron"... again, I did have the original Walther PPk, but during the "divestiture of toys" my wife requested, I elected to keep this one instead.

I liked Galvatron too much to part with him... The transformation is cool, and so are the light / sound effects!

I had almost all of the Dino Autobots, but kept only Grimlock.

Part of my Robotech / Macross collection; the original "Skull Leader" version Valkyrie with snap-on armor and boosters. aka Veritech VF-1S

Part of my Robotech / Macross collection; the was released as the Transformer "Jetfire" in the U.S., but those who know, know that this is the "Rick" version Valkyrie from the first Macross episode... aka Veritech VF-1J

Part of my Robotech / Macross collection; Veritech / Cyclone ride armor, aka Veritech Cyclone VR-041

A Popy Goggle V I picked up at Pinellas Square Mall, decades ago...

Robot TV Shows:

As I said before, Astroboy was the first show I ever saw. There have been plenty since then. I'll mention a few, mostly the ones I've seen, but this will by no means a complete list, since both animated and live-action (sentai) shows are a dime-a-dozen on Japanese TV.

What anime fan can forget the 'Transformers' series on US TV? I watched (and taped) most of the original series, now known as 'Generation One'... I've seen bits and pieces of 'Beast Wars' and 'Beast Machines'.

Mainframe entertainment 's done a bang-up job of animation on the 'Beast' shows.....(yes, I enjoy computer animation for it's own sake). Mainframe's most well known for 'Reboot' (another favorite show of mine).

One show that many US anime fans remember well was "Robotech" , a series created by Carl Macek , who edited together three Japanese shows, Macross, Southern Cross , and Mospeda , into one long series. Many 'purists' have endlessly beaten up on him for it, but I feel he did a great job of both translation and editing for the US. Far better than Sandy Frank did with Gatchaman (aka ' G-Force')...

Later came the 'Power Rangers' shows; another case of repackaging Japanese TV for US consumption. Only this time, the producer, Haim Saban went for sentai shows, with their rubber-suited robots and monsters, rather than animated shows. Needless to say, it's been a huge success.

Currently, the most popular is Mobile Suit Gundam, now airing in the US on Cartoon Network during the 'Toonami' block. I've got a copy of the "War in Pocket" mini-series on VHS. Gundam's lived up to it's hype, and HAS been well worth watching.

"Mighty Orbots" page is one of my all time favorites. Luckily, when the show was on, I managed to tape a lot of the episodes, since there were only two ever released to videotape commercially.

Toy Robots

Robot TV Shows:

Robot Toy Links of Interest: