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Popy
Popy (ポピー) was a Japanese toy manufacturer of the 1970s and early 1980s. The company was owned by Bandai. It was founded in 1971 and merged back into the parent company in 1983. The company is best known for its groundbreaking Chogokin robot figures. History Popy was formed by Bandai in July 1971 to distribute products intended for candy shops and other retail outlets outside of the usual toy stores. Before long, the company began to license characters and vehicles from popular live-action (Tokusatsu), Anime and Manga series. Its first major success in this vein was a child-sized version of the "Henshin Belt" worn by the hero of the ''Kamen Rider'' television series. Although other companies were selling similar products, only Popy's incorporated a light-up mechanism, making it a smashing success despite its then-high retail price of 1500 yen. (It would eventually go on to sell some 3.8 million units.) In the wake of the success of the "Henshin Belt," Popy introduced a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jumbo Machinder
is the name of a series of large-scale plastic robots sold by Bandai's character toy subsidiary, Popy in the 1970s. Although a trademarked brand name, in common usage Jumbo Machinder is often applied to any large-size robot toy roto molded out of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a sturdy plastic also used for shampoo bottles. Jumbo Machinders are generally (but not always) 24" in height. After Popy's success with the Jumbo Machinder series, several other Japanese companies, including Takatoku, Nakajima, and Clover began producing large-size plastic robot toys as well. Several of the Jumbo Machinders were retooled for sale in the USA and Europe in the late 1970s as '' Shogun Warriors''. Initial Jumbo Machinder line The first Jumbo Machinder, released in 1973, was a portrayal of manga artist Go Nagai's character Mazinger Z, a fictional Super Robot. Originally planned to stand a meter (roughly three feet) tall, the toy was scaled down out of safety concerns. The Jumbo Machinder M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chogokin
is a fictitious material which first appeared in Go Nagai's '' Mazinger Z'' manga and anime and is later adopted by Popy in 1972 as the name of a new line of die-cast metal robot and character toys sold in Japan. The first of these is "GA-01" Mazinger Z, which, in spite of questionable engineering that led Popy to offer a free replacement campaign, ignited a craze that changed the face of the Japanese toy industry in the 1970s. Bandai, Popy's parent company, continues the Chogokin line to this day, branded under their own name. Vintage Chogokin Chogokin toys were generally produced in ST (short for "standard" and usually in the range of 5" in height) or DX ("deluxe" and usually much larger; additionally this class of Chogokin product usually came with more features such as separating parts and more complex weaponry, usually with launching projectiles (which are usually fists as a tribute to Mazinger Z as the first Chogokin) as weapons) sizes. Many of these toys were re-release ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dairugger XV
is a mecha anime series aired in Japan from 1982 to 1983 for 56 episodes (52 regular episodes and four recap episodes). In the United States, the series was heavily edited to become part of the ''Voltron'' series. The ''Dairugger'' footage was the primary source for the "Vehicle Voltron" episodes, though various footage was also inserted into the more commonly known "Lion Voltron" episodes (themselves adapted from another, unrelated Japanese series, ''Beast King GoLion''). Story The Rugger Team is an exploration, planetary survey, and defensive force. Planet Earth is in a time of prosperity. The Galaxy Garrison launches a mission to explore the galaxy, colonize, and build new maps of the stars. Soon after commencing the mission, the Rugger Team and their starship, the ''Rugger Guard'', are attacked by the xenophobic Galveston Empire. The Galveston homeworld is dying and their space fleet are also on a mission of exploration and colonization. Dairugger, the super robot, must de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godaikin
Godaikin or GoDaiKin (a combination of ''gokin'' (合金, "alloy") and ''dai'' (大, "big"/"great")) was a line of Super Robot toys released by Bandai America from 1982 to 1985, composed of figures from Popy-created series such as ''Chogokin'' and '' Popinika''. History Mattel had previously tried to market Popy's figures as '' Shogun Warriors'' in the late 1970s, before the line was cancelled, partially due to safety concerns. In 1982 Bandai decided to try themselves, and came up with the ''Godaikin'' range. The name is presented as "''GoDaiKin''" on the packaging (however, within collectors' sources, the title case version is more commonly used). Popy selected ten of their most popular Deluxe (short: DX) ''Chogokin'' figures for release in North America for 1982 - these typically varied between 10 and 12 inches in height in robot mode and came in large boxes with carrying handles on the sides. Bandai America had no American facilities for manufacturing the figures, instead ship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Die-cast Toy
A die-cast toy (also spelled diecast, or die cast) is a toy or a collectible model produced by using the die casting, die-casting method of putting molten lead, zinc alloy or plastic in a mold to produce a particular shape. Such toys are made of metal, with plastic, rubber, glass, or other machined metal parts. Wholly plastic toys are made by a similar process of injection moulding, injection molding, but the two methods are distinct because of the properties of the materials. Process The metal used in die-casting is either a lead alloy (used early on), or more commonly, zamak (called ''Mazak'' in the UK), an alloy of zinc with small quantities of aluminium and copper. Lead or iron are impurities that must be carefully avoided in zamak, as they give rise to a deterioration of the metal most commonly called zinc pest. The terms white metal or pot metal are also used when applied to alloys based more on lead or iron. The most common die-cast vehicles are scale models of automobi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raideen
, also known as "Brave Reideen" or "Heroic Raydeen", is a super robot anime series created by Tohokushinsha and Produced by Soeisha (later renamed as Sunrise). It aired on Nihon Educational Television (now TV Asahi) from 4 April 1975 to 26 March 1976, with a total of 50 episodes. The series is marked as the first mecha anime series to introduce and popularize the concept of Transforming Mecha, which is also tied to its marketing gimmick in the 1970s. Two spiritual remakes based on the series were made later after the original aired: the first one titled was broadcast from 1996 to 1997 on TV Tokyo, and another called '' Reideen'' was broadcast in 2007 on WOWOW. Story After a slumber of twelve millennia, the Demon Empire awakens to seize control of the Earth. Reideen, the giant robot-like protector of the lost continent of Mu, senses the evil presence and awakens within its golden pyramid. A young Japanese boy, Akira Hibiki, is alerted about the Demon Empire by a mysterio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machine Robo
is a Japanese transforming robot toyline first released in 1982 by Popy, a division of Bandai, then later by Bandai proper. The franchise was marketed as Robo Machine in Europe and Machine Men (toy), Machine Men in Australia. A large portion of these toys were exported to North America as part of Tonka, Tonka's Gobots series, which began in 1983. About Machine Robo The initial assortment of Machine Robos consisted of small toy robots which transformed into vehicles, aircraft, etc., comparable in size to Matchbox cars. These early MR toys have become known as the "600 series" (being priced at ¥600 each), and were developed through ideas submitted by children, similar to the children's submissions in the ''Kinnikuman'' anime series. Larger-scale deluxe ("DX") toys were soon released, along with other non-transforming vehicles and figures. Incarnations by era Showa Era 1 The first era of Machine Robo began in 1982 with the release of the 600 series by Popy. According to Bandai, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bandai
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California, and Richmond, London. Since 2005, Bandai is the toy production division of Bandai Namco Holdings, currently the world's second largest toy company measured by total revenue. Between 1981 and 2001, Bandai was a manufacturer of :Bandai consoles, video game consoles. Bandai was founded by World War II veteran Naoharu Yamashina as Bandai-Ya on July 5, 1950, as the corporate spin-off of a textile wholesaler. The company began as a distributor of metallic toys and rubber swimming rings, before moving to metal cars and aircraft models. It was renamed Bandai Co., Ltd. in 1961 and achieved considerable success with its action figures based on the anime ''Astro Boy (1963 TV series), Astro Boy''. History Origins and success wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Warrior Gold Lightan
is a mecha anime television series that aired from 1981 to 1982 in Japan. The show was also popular in Hong Kong and was aired there around the same time. There are 52 episodes that were aired at 30 minutes each. Original story The story is about a young boy named Hiro Taikai who finds a gold lighter which turns out to be the giant Golden Warrior Gold Lightan, who has the mission to save the Earth from an invasion by King Ibalda. Gold Lightan joined forces with his robot teammates to ruin the plots of King Ibalda and destroy invading alien robots by using his surpassing hand and leg strikes. Hiro also founded a group called the "Bratty Rangers" with his friends. Concept The robot is usually disguised as a tiny gold Zippo-style lighter in Hiro's pocket. When called upon, Gold Lightan transforms into a giant robot towering at and weighing 200 tons. All robots in the show are sentient and do not require pilots. Usually the robot ends a battle with a trademark golden hand st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shogun Warriors (toys)
''Shogun Warriors'' was a line of toys released by Mattel Inc. in North America from 1977 to 1980. The line consisted of several imported toys based on Japanese anime mecha. Overview The line was drawn from toys originally produced by Japanese company Popy, based on several anime and tokusatsu shows featuring giant robots. They were originally manufactured in three sizes: plastic versions, die-cast metal versions, and slightly taller but much more detailed 5-inch (127 mm) die-cast versions. Many of the robot’s original names were altered, such as Getter Dragon (Dragun) and Great Mazinger (Great Mazinga). Several vehicles were also offered, as well as a set that could be put together to form the super robot Combattler V (here renamed Combattra). Later on in the line, Mattel introduced toys of Godzilla and Rodan. The toys featured spring-loaded launcher weapons such as missiles, shuriken and battle axes. Some were able to launch their fists, while the later die-cast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thunderbirds (TV Series)
''Thunderbirds'' is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, filmed by their production company AP Films (APF) and distributed by ITC Entertainment. It was filmed between 1964 and 1966 using a form of electronic marionette puppetry called "Supermarionation" combined with scale model special effects sequences. Two series, totalling 32 fifty-minute episodes, were made; production ended with the sixth episode of the second series after Lew Grade, APF's financial backer, failed in his efforts to sell the programme to US network television. Set in the 2060s, ''Thunderbirds'' was a follow-up to the earlier Supermarionation productions '' Four Feather Falls'', ''Supercar'', '' Fireball XL5'' and ''Stingray''. It concerns the exploits of International Rescue, a life-saving organisation with a secret base on an island in the Pacific Ocean. International Rescue operates a fleet of technologically-advanced rescue vehicles, headed by five craft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Cruiser Yamato
is a Japanese science fiction anime series written by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, directed by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, and produced by Academy Productions. The series aired in Yomiuri TV from October 6, 1974 to March 30, 1975, totaling up to 26 episodes. It revolves around the character Susumu Kodai (Derek Wildstar in the English version) and an international crew from Earth, tasked during an interstellar war to go into space aboard the space warship ''Yamato,'' derived from the World War II battleship of the same name, in response to a message of aid from the planet Iscandar in order to retrieve a device which is able to reverse the radiation infecting Earth after being bombed by the Gamilas (Gamilons). ''Space Battleship Yamato'' is one of the most influential anime series in Japan. Its turn toward serious themes and complex storylines influenced later works in the medium, including ''Gundam'', ''Macross'', and '' Evangelion'', in addition to influencing the style of vid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
