It's almost Halloween, and while I don't have as many monster toys to review as you might think, I've still got plenty of ephemera. Come on in for a pic heavy look back at a lunchbox from our youth.

I'm sure this probably seems like the weirdest thing to "review", but I think most of us probably had these as kids so consider this more of a trip down memory lane than a review. I had a bunch of different Aladdin lunchboxes when I was little but I can't recall if I ever had this one or not. It's very familiar to me, but I don't remember bringing it to school. Perhaps one of my older brothers had one. But as an adult collector, it's one of the staple pieces of ephemera for the monster fan.

What makes it so great is the amazing artwork that depicts so many different monsters. A friend of mine owns two just to display both sides, something I should probably do eventually myself. It just looks great in a monster display.

Pic swiped from Mad Man Murphy's Mixed Up Monster Museum.

Even all the sides have great artwork and it's awesome to see lesser characters like the Metaluna Mutant and the Mole Man on it. It's been years since I've seen Tarantula (although I used to watch it all the time on 8mm film when I was little) and I don't remember the character shown in the last pic below.

Of course, the main monsters are also represented on the thermos, too.

Frankenstein

The Mummy

The Phantom and Dracula

The Wolf Man

The Gill Man

"The best type of thermos that you can buy."

You may see this lunchbox called rare, but it's really not. The trick is getting one in good condition. I got mine for $85 at the New York Comic Con this past February. Probably could have done better on Ebay but I wanted to be sure I was happy with the condition. Mine's not perfect, but is in really good shape. When I bought it, we had all got a kick out of the fact that you could still catch a faint whiff of old milk in the thermos. Strangely, we all agreed that this was a plus and not a minus. Weird crowd, huh?

Bryan Witt, if you're out there, I've got your lunchbox!

You can't have it back.

One can argue that this toy was the one that sparked the imagination of kids in the late 70s, fueling our now current frenzy for all things giant and robot.

The Shogun Warriors. Invincible guardians of world freedom. These toys are the ones that sparked our imagination back in the late 70s, and shaped our idea of cool. Not everyone had a Shogun Warrior – at the time most kids were busy with more affordable toy lines such as Star Wars, Micronauts and Mego Super heroes. But those of us who got them knew that we were onto something special.

Great Mazinga was one of the original Shogun Warrior characters, and probably the most recognizable. You ask people of that generation if they had one, and they may not recall the name (“Great something?”) but you describe the bright red V on the chest and they go “That’s the one! It shot fists!”

Like the rest of the Shogun Warriors line, Great Mazinga was actually a repackaged Popy toy. The first release of Great Mazinga was simply titled “Mazinga” and was identical to its Japanese Counterpart.

The version shown here is the second version, a greatly dumbed-down version for the american market. Gone are the knee and waist decals. Gone is the multi color scrander with chrome engine nozzles. Nope, this one was clearly designed to be cheap and easy.

It's still a good toy, and its likely the one most kids got back in the day. The whole body is diecast metal with plastic being reserved for the head, chest V and arms.

The arms shoot off with a satisfying "Plink!" when the buttons on the arms are pushed.

Great Mazinga comes with two cheap red plastic swords. These can be held in either hand, but cannot be stored in the legs like with the Jumbo Machinder version.

The scrander is detachable.

The box is a classic example of 70s package design, with the clear plastic tray, die-cut window and side flap. This particular specimen is from the Josh C10 Fraser collection, and I have tried my best to keep it C10. I believe this came out of a sealed case. Yeah, I opened it.

To me, this guy (or any version thereof) is one of the cornerstone pieces of any vintage Japanese toy collection. It is relevant in so many ways, it set the stage for so much that was going to come. One can argue that this toy was the one that sparked the imagination of kids in the late 70s, fueling our now current frenzy for all things giant and robot.

What came out of the Clover factory in 1979 was a long faced, ill proportioned Chogokin style Gundam that bore no resemblance to the sleek Mobile Suit armor that made up the Gundam of what we know today.

Mobile Suit Gundam

When Mobile Suit Gundam was released back in 1979, who would of thought it would be the worldwide phenomenon that it is today. But Gundam had a couple of missteps at the beginning that if it was not rectified it could have easily been another little known anime from the late 1970’s. For example, the first airing of Mobile Suit Gundam was not popular with the public and it wasn’t popular until the second airing of the show that coincided with the release Bandai’s iconic model kit line.

The other Gundam misstep from the early days was the toy series that was released by Clover. First off I do not blame Clover for their failure of the Mobile Suit Gundam toy series. Honestly they have made some great toys over the years and an example of Clover toy is a must to have in the collection. Unfortunately Clover based all their Gundam toys off of rough prototype drawings that only closely resembled the final designs that were eventually released and produced for the Mobile Suit Gundam show.

Also MS Gundam was most popular with young adults in their late teens and twenties, due to the complex political nature of the show and the Clover Gundam toys were clearly aimed at small children. I am sure the term “ Real Robot” really did not connect with the designers of the toys, with Go Nagai Chogokin style art design the “It” look of 70’s robots. What came out of the Clover factory in 1978 was a long faced, ill proportioned Chogokin style Gundam that bore no resemblance to the sleek Mobile Suit armor that made up the Gundam of what we know today.

The boxed Mobile Suit Gundam includes: 1x Gundam, 1x Shield, 2x chrome fists, 2x beam sabers, 1x rocket launcher, 4x rockets.

Gundam is a nice chunk of weighty metal and is solid throughout but plastic is used for the head, arms and upper legs. The knees slightly bend at the joints and the head and arms rotate. Gundam comes with some nice accessories and looks great with all the parts attached to the figure. I always question the shoulder-mounted cannon on many of these early Gundam toys because as far as I remember Gundam never had a shoulder-mounted cannon in the anime, only a hand held cannon. Regardless it is a cool little item. Only one place is provided for the beam saber on the backpack.

One of the more fun aspects of this set is how you can rearrange all the shooting parts on the figure. The chrome fists, beam saber and missiles can shoot from the arms and cannon. The beam saber cannot be held in the fist but is designed to shoot from the arm or cannon. A set of wheels are also attached to the back so one can roll around the Gundam for extra play value, perhaps to mimic the first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam.

Changing tastes as they are, what is most charming about these early Gundam toys is that fact that they do have many Chogokin overtones and gimmicks. I love the color scheme, sticker and chrome details throughout. A Japanese robot is not a Japanese robot unless it has its name printed across its front in huge letters and this Gundam is a prime example.
The silver, chrome and white plastic details are very reminiscent of the 1970’s era for toys. I like the stickers that represent the waist and upper legs and the star sicker across the toes. Although the art design is quite dated, especially for a real robot era figure, it is one of my favorite pieces in my collection. Overall you can help but smile at all the oddness but somehow it all comes together in its own funky way.

I bought this Gundam back in the 1980’s at one of the Buena Park Model kit conventions for $10.00 but today these regularly sell on Ebay for $100.00. It is a definite pickup for the Japanese toy collector for what is represents: The not so subtle transition from the Chogokin era to the Real Robot era.

©2008 Article and pictures by Leonardo Flores and CollectionDX

Maximillian! The time has come to liquidate our guests.

"Maximillian! The time has come to liquidate our guests."

With that line, a chill went up my spine. I was 6 years old, and I met my first evil robot.

Maximillian comes from the 1979 Disney movie "The Black Hole". This movie was like nothing made before it, and in my opinion, nothing made after it. It was one of the first movies to use computer animation (in the opening sequences), and an odd choice for a Disney movie.

See, Star Wars had just exploded on the American psyche, and every studio began looking for their "Star Wars" movie. It began a golden era for Sci-Fi, and studio executives greenlighted a ton of projects without looking too-closely at the scripts. Although The Black Hole was in production as early as 1975, the influence of Star Wars on it can clearly be seen.

The Black Hole was a movie that on the surface was made for kids, but below the veneer was a dark and twisted movie. There was no comedy. There were tortured souls, lost in space, images of heaven and hell, and graphic murder.

In the movie, the crew of the Palomino are on an exploratory mission when they encounter the lost ship, the Cygnus, sitting at the edge of a black hole. They find the ship abandoned, aside from its captain, Doctor Hans Reinhart, and his crew of robot helpers.

Doctor Reinhart plans to go through the Black Hole. He claims his crew revolted and left the ship, leaving the Doctor alone to build his robotic companions. Doctor Reinhard, along with his companion, the robot Maximillian, make preparations to send the Cygnus into the black hole...

*SPOILER ALERT*

Of course, all those robots were the crew, and Doctor Reinhart was insane. He killed the whole crew and turned them into cyborg zombies. Once the crew of the Palomino figure out what he is up to, the Doctor orders Maximillian to kill the visiting crew.

Maximillian is "de-activated" with a duel with the robot V.I.N.CENT, and falls into the black hole. There, in a sequence that defies description, Doctor Reinhart's "soul" is trapped inside of Maximillian's shell, in HELL, while the remainders of the Palomino crew speed through the black hole, through HEAVEN, and end up on the other side of the universe.

THAT IS A DISNEY MOVIE.

Imagine what did to my mind in 1979.

So yeah, there were toys of the characters from the movie. They were made by MEGO in the now standard 3 3/4 size, and for the most part, they were terrible. The human figures were atrocious, and the robot figures only marginally better. The best of the line were Maximillian, V.I.N.CENT and Old B.O.B..

Mego Black Hole Commercial

Unfortunately though, the best wasn't very good. Maximillian is made out of hard plastic and has only 3 points of articulation. The head turns, and so do each chrome arm. Oh and the leg flaps move, if you want to call it articulation. The color of the figure is all wrong from the character, and it requires a clear stand (not shown) for the toy to be displayed properly. The card for this figure was the same as all the other cards, with a sticker to differentiate the toy.

Its not that great, but it is all Black Hole fans had for a while, not counting the model kit or the italian Gig magnetic toys. In 2004, Medicom released a Maximillian Kubrick that is more accurate to the design shown in the movie.

Oh, and I would have given anything for this RC V.I.N.CENT (only a prototype was ever made)

First, I want to apologize for the condition of the toy that I’m going to review. I received this one from my mother (thank you mom) around 1984. It’s over 20 years old, so the condition may not be to good. But at least it’s still intact, eh.

First, I want to apologize for the condition of the toy that I’m going to review. I received this one from my mother (thank you mom) around 1984. It’s over 20 years old, so the condition may not be to good. But at least it’s still intact, eh.

Let’s start, shall we? This is a Clover made Gundam toy. Basically, it’s a windup toy with Gundam character. The Gundam itself is the RX 78-2 Gundam. The main character from the first Gundam.

It made mostly from ABS Plastics with tin covering for the body and kind of Iron plate for the shoulder and knee. The plastics is strong enough to withstand hard beatings. It had a shield that you put in the left arm and it’s made of tin and iron. Unfortunately, I lost it, so I can’t show it to you. I think it is about 75% plastic, 15% tin and 10% iron.

They toy itself had a blocky look. Although very uncommon these days, it is the standard for 80’s toys. But the blocky look is what attracts me (maybe some of you) to collect vintage toys. The sculpt and the paint although not Anime accurate, succeed in bringing the Soul of Gundam. It also had what vintage toys should have, It’s name written in the chest. The details are a far cry from today’s Gundam kit or figure, but, again, it is a vintage toy, so it’s forgivable. It has wheels in it’s feet for the walking mechanism. The wheels made of plastic.

The only articulation is in it’s arms. The legs and the feet only had articulation for the walking feature.

Considering the material, it’s not a Chogokin. But the love magnet of this toy is not the diecast part. As I mentioned before, it’s a wind up toy. So, after you turn the knob, watch as the mighty Gundam walks with glory across the battlefield (or your room). Beside the walking feature, it also has a shooting feature from the Bazooka that it carries on it’s right shoulder. It is supposed to imitate the Bazooka that Gundam uses in the Anime.

The bottom line… this is a simplistic toy that is what a toy should be about. Endless hours of play value. Imagine having it walk across the room, and stop just in time (there’s a lever to stop the toy) to shoot your enemies. Also it doesn’t disappoint us collectors. A truly must-have for toy enthusiasts or just Gundam fans.

This is a great toy, but tough to find in excellent condition.

I didn’t have a lot of the Shogun Action Vehicles when I was growing up. I had plenty of the smaller robots, and a few jumbos, but for some reason I never got the small action vehicles. I did however drool over the images on the back of the packages I did have.

One of the cool designs that caught my eye was the Sky Jet. I noticed how similar it looked to the Grand Car, and I was enamored with these weird smiley faces on the front of the vehicles.

I know now that these Shogun Action vehicles were repackaged toys from Popy’s Popynica series of chogokin vehicles. Mattel got the licenses and sold them in the United States in the late 70s.

This particular vehicle, the Sky Jet, was one of two vehicles that came from the Tokuatsu TV show Kyodain. Each vehicle featured Skyzel and Granzel in one of their alternate forms.

Sky Jet features a diecast top ship and a plastic launching missile. The Top ship is almost entirely metal. The nose is made out of rubber so as to meet safety standards. The back features 2 missile launchers and another button that launches the missile below.

The missile actually has wheels of its own. When launched, the missile will roll away across the floor. The black sections of the missile are made out of rubber, but do not turn.

This is a great toy, but tough to find in excellent condition. The eyes and mouths of each vehicle are just stickers, and often fall off over time you will notice that on my specimen, the eyes are painted on the missile. This was done by the previous owner, not the factory.

Also, the latch that holds the missile in is fragile, and can break. This results in the missile not locking in. My Sky Jet has a broken clip, so the missile does not go in all the way.

Sky Jet is a very cool, very funky old toy.

Goodrock in particular is an odd toy. It's head is based of off the Pegasus and Lantaurion toys from the Micronauts line.

Goodrock (full name "Goodrock: The Defender Of The Planet") is the companion piece to the Viking Robot toy. Both toys were made in Hong Kong for the Italian market in 1979. Both toys come in the same box and are shown battling one another on the front. The top and bottom sides of the box show the heads of both toys with the names of each next to it and a check mark in the appropriate box so that you know which toy you are buying.

These 10" tall toys are the smallest known Junior Machinders and share the same molds on the arms. They also have the same fists as the larger Junior Machinders which tends to look a little bit silly. Goodrock in particular is an odd toy. It's head is based of off the Pegasus and Lantaurion toys from the Micronauts line. With bug eyes, sharp pointy teeth and horns on his head, you'd probably never guess that he is supposed to be the hero of the two! On top of that, he has no feet! This makes it basically impossible to raise the arms up or else the toy will fall forward.

With that said, I think it is easily the better toy of the pair. With the torso molded in orange polyethylene and the legs and fists in yellow, you get a more diverse color scheme than on Viking (if a whopping two colors can be called diverse.) More garish stickers come pre-applied on the toy, including some that resemble the insignia from Dangard Ace (the red and blue crossed arrows.) The head is of course made of soft vinyl. Goodrock also comes with a better weapon than Viking, a big silver sword that he holds in his left hand. It features the same missile launcher in his stomach as Viking. The alternately colored missiles are again stored on the shoulders.

This is a pretty silly looking toy and only of interest to the most hardcore Machinder or Micronaut collectors. It is among the easiest and cheapest Junior Machinders to get though. It shows up frequently and only costs about $40 or so.

Among the easiest and cheapest Junior Machinders to get, Viking is a companion piece to the Goodrock toy and if you are going to get one, you might as well get both.

Viking (full name: "Viking Robot: The Predator Of Space") is a toy that was made in Hong Kong for the Italian market in 1979. It is part of a set of toys called "Guerra Nella Galassia" ("War In The Galaxy") along with another called "Goodrock". Both toys come in the same box and are shown battling one another on the front. The top and bottom sides of the box show the heads of both toys with the name of each next to it and a check mark in the appropriate box so that you know which toy you are buying.

At only 10" tall, these are the smallest of the "Junior Machinders" made in Italy. Even though the bodies are smaller, they share the same firing fists as the larger sized toys. Viking's body is cast entirely in blue polyethylene with a myriad of stickers for detail. The stickers are just random colors and patterns, though there is a Great Mazinger like "V" on the chest.

The head is molded out of soft vinyl and has a very feline appearance. The fists are thin yellow polyethylene and the left one has a hole in it for holding Viking's hatchet accessory. It's only other weapon is a missile launcher in the belly. Two missiles are included, one with a white shaft and red tip, the other with those colors swapped. These are stored on the shoulders, but be careful of the tabs that hold them. They are not that strong and one of mine has cracked. In addition to sharing the same box, both Viking and Goodrock have the same arms and fists, though the arms are molded in different colors.

This is a pretty silly looking toy and only of interest to the most hardcore Machinder collectors. It is among the easiest and cheapest Junior Machinders to get though. It shows up frequently and only costs about $40 or so.

Much like the Shogun Warriors Godzilla, this probably appeals more to monster collectors than Jumbo fans, but it's a great toy nonetheless.

Though generally considered a part of Mattel's famous "Shogun Warriors" line of toys, Rodan is really a stand-alone entry in the "World's Greatest Monsters" line. If any other monsters were ever planned to be in this line, they were unfortunately never released. But Rodan is a great toy and a great companion piece to the Shogun Godzilla. Until recent years, it was also the only Jumbo Machinder-style toy to be released exclusively in the United States.

Rodan is not very poseable with the only real articulation being at the neck, which is on a nice swivel, allowing for a wide range of motion. The mouth also opens and closes. But there are several other nice features that more than make up for this. The wings flap and the it can hold something in it's claws via the use of some included rubber bands. These rubber bands are missing on almost all remaining specimens today, but can be easily replaced. The toy needs to be assembled out of the box, but it's an easy process. However, if you don't have the instruction sheet, here's what you need to do:

First, attach the elastics to the claws. (You'll need just the right size elastics to get the proper tension. The instructions refer to them as number 27 size elastics but I couldn't find those. I simply bought a bag of mixed sizes and experimented. Also, you may find remnants of the original elastics that would need to be removed before proceeding.) It's easier to do this without the wings on so you don't have to deal with them flapping around. The idea here is simple but can be a little tricky to do simply because you are working with limited space. The claws are made of two plastic pieces on a hinge, each with a hook inside for you to wrap the elastic around. Attach one end of the elastic to one hook, like on the claw on the right:

Then, pull the elastic down and wrap it around the second hook.

The tricky part is next, when you have to then bring it back up to the first hook and attach it again here. You are basically folding the elastic in half and attaching both ends to the same peg. Do the same on both claws.

The claws will remain open so that you can stand the toy, but each side has a protruding piece of plastic in the middle that is pushed in when you place something in them. This starts the process of closing the claws, and the tension from the elastic finishes it, allowing it to get a firm grip. As you can see from the box, a Shogun Warrior Dangard Ace fits nicely in there!

Next, remove the back plate by pushing the tabs OUTWARDS and lifting. Then, you need to take the right wing, insert it into the body by sliding the edge under the tabs inside the torso and then push an elastic through the hole on the inside edge of the wing. The instructions say to insert the wing first, but I find it's just as easy to do the elastic and then the wing.

Once the elastic and wing is in place, you need to stretch each end of the elastic over to the hook on the left side of the body and attach them. When this is completed, repeat the step on the other side, stretching the second elastic from the left wing to the right hook.

Now, you can re-attach the back plate. This has some holes in it that allow for easy handling of the toy, as well as the ability to suspend it from the ceiling so that you can display it in flight! Simply shaking the toy will cause the wings to flap, much like a rubber bat.

One thing that often confused me until I got this toy was how it "squawks", as the box proclaims. It turns out it is simply the ratcheting sound that the lever that opens the beak makes. Speaking of the box, not all are the same. Some proclaim the toy to have a 41" wingspan, while others have a corrective sticker over that saying 38" inches. Amusingly, the side of the box still says 41" on these.

Much like the Shogun Warriors Godzilla, this probably appeals more to monster collectors than Jumbo fans, but it's a great toy nonetheless. It's probably the hardest of the Mattel jumbos to get, especially in the box.

You can probably guess that I'm in the group who really digs this toy. It simply exudes FUNK.

People are really divided on the Ring Toss Mazinga. Some collectors hate it, condemning it as nothing more than a horrid, blasphemous joke of a beloved character. Others can't help but smile when looking at it. This thing looks like it was designed by pre-schoolers! And since we're talking about a toy, isn't there a certain charm in that?

One the things I love most about it is the sticker on the head, showing Koji Kabuto piloting the robot. This thing literally looks like it was colored in with crayon. It's totally asymmetrical and wrong. Hell, Koji looks like a girl! (To my knowledge, this is one of three toys to feature a sticker of Koji in the cockpit. The others are the Argentinian Mazinger Z Jumbo and the Masudaya talker.)

A silly as it looks, at least that part of the toy is accurate to the show. The stickers on the arms, legs and waist are completely made up, just random shapes and colors stuck on there for no particular reason. Adding even more childlike quality to the toy is that the white stickers on the arms and legs are just plain old paper on the outside, not glossy at all. Very simple. The yellow of the eyes are stickers. Also, instead of going through the trouble of casting the chest emblem in two separate pieces of plastic, they just made on big piece and slapped a black sticker down the middle!

Another inaccurate part of the toy is that it comes with a sword that can be placed in the right hand. Mazinger Z had no such sword. The hand actually features a small hollow protrusion on the bottom so that you can fit the end of the sword into, holding the sword steady.

The reason it needs to hold steady is also the reason we call this toy the "Ring Toss Mazinga". It comes with 4 rings that are meant to be tossed onto the sword as it rests in his hand! Additionally, the top of the head is
hollow and you can toss 4 included balls in for further play value! Strangely, although there are 4 rings and 4 balls, the colors do not match up. The rings are red, green, yellow and white, while the balls are red, green, yellow and blue.

This toy was released in 1979 by an Italian company called "Morel" (it may be "Murel", it's a bit hard to read the
logo). It stands approximately 22" tall and is made entirely of polyethylene. The head is not vinyl like most jumbos. It is fully licensed by TOei Animation/Dynamic Productions.

You can probably guess that I'm in the group who really digs this toy. It simply exudes FUNK. Auction appearances of this toy seem to come in spurts. You won't see one for a long time, then there'll be three in a week. It's strange.