Shout ‘Sekisha!’ and see an action figures light-years ahead of its contemporaries.

Taken from Wikipedia: "Uchuu Keiji Sharivan (宇宙刑事シャリバン ,Uchu Keiji Shariban), translated in English as Space Sheriff Sharivan, is the second installment in Toei's Metal Heroes franchise which aired on the TV Asahi network from 4 March 1983 through 24 February 1984."

The Metal Heroes have always held a special place in my heart, as someone who grew up in the age of live-action Japanese shows first being imported to the US.  Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was awesome, with their fantastic giant robots, but when Big Bad Beetleborgs and Virtual Reality Troopers introduced much more armored heroes, I was hooked.  Since finally remembering how awesome VR Troopers was, I’ve been on an information bender learning about all the Metal Heroes.  Space Sheriff Sharivan never made it to the States like his brother in-arms Shaider did in VR Troopers (along with Metal Heroes Spielban and Metalder), and it’s a shame because Sharivan clearly has some of the best toys.

GC-06 Chogokin Sharivan comes in a gorgeous box measuring 5 1/4" by 3” by 11/4".  The box is adorned with some stylish 80’s graphics, and what I assume to be a photo of the actor in-costume of Sharivan, with a lovely soft-focus effect that makes all the chrome on the costume POP!  My sample also has a Toei licensing sticker on the front, in shiny silver with orange text.  The back graphic looks painted to me, and on the back we also see an early COMPUTER NUMBER, very neat, along with the most important words "Made in Japan".

Opening the box we are greeted with a wondrous Styrofoam coffin for our hero, and a paper instruction (more like features) sheet showing off the amazing articulation of the figure (more to come on this later).  Sharivan comes out of the foam easy enough, and there is a push hole on the back if for some reason you cannot get him out.  The accessories sit to the left of the figure and basically just sit in grooves in the foam.  The total contents of the box are the foam, figure, instruction sheet, pistol, and sword.  Sharivan himself is just about 5” tall on the nose.

When we remove Sharivan from his foam packaging, it is immediately noticeable how heavy he is.  By my eye, the entire body is metal, along with the armor segments of the arms and legs.  The actual joints are all tough black plastic, and the head, hands, weapons, and holster are shiny chromed plastic.  What makes Sharivan really unique is that in order to replicate the pleated material joint covers of the Solar Armor suit, Bandai used wound metal springs to cover the shoulder, elbow, wrist, knee, and ankle joints.  This admittedly does block a little articulation in the elbows and knees, but it looks fantastic doing it.

Along with the die-cast goodness, the other thing that really sticks out for me with this toy is the amazing articulation.  In the early 80s, most toys were still lucky to have any more than shoulder joints… most robot toys like Transformers had just that, barring any joints needed for transformation.  In America, kids were stuck with Masters of the Universe and G.I. Joe figures.  G.I. Joe 3 3/4" figures are still vaunted for their great poseability for the time, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret: Sharivan's is better.  Sharivan features a neck swivel and good head elevation, shoulder swivels and lateral motion, elbow swivels and rotation, wrist swivels, hip swivels and lateral motion, knee swivels and rotation, and ankle swivels and rotation.  That’s right, ankle joints!  I know many collectors really like the addition of a waist joint to spice up their figures, but I have always felt that ankle joints are far more important, and help figures to stand up and pose well.  Sharivan also features a hip-holster for his Crimebuster Handgun, which is also made of chrome plastic and features a bit of motion to prevent it from blocking the side-to-side hip motion.

Sharivan's only accessories are his standard-issue Crimebuster Handgun, and his standard-issue Laser Blade. Both fit nicely into the hands; the sword slips in and fits well without being too tight or loose, and the pistol can actually be pushed in so the trigger finger sits in the grip properly.  Sharivan looks great using either or both accessories, and can even be posed with a two-handed sword grip (for, you know, keeping the peace).  I know that Sharivan is a Space Sheriff, and spends most of his time fighting monsters, but I still think it's awesome that a Sheriff comes with a laser sword; Solar Armored police-brutality at its finest.

Sharivan is amazingly dynamic and incredibly fun because of his very well executed articulation.  Most figures at the time were lucky to stand up straight, but Sharivan is ready for action, able to take most poses one could think of.  Getting Sharivan to stand while doing these great poses is surprisingly manageable: my specimen is nice and tight after all these years, and holds up great.  I have handled my figure a lot since I got it, and all the joints feel solid and rugged, and I don’t have any qualms about handling this figure.  The ankles do not have any side to side motion to plant Sharivan's feet flat on the ground in any pose, but it’s fairly easy to come up with something good looking with one foot flat on the ground and the other angled for balance.  Sharivan lives on my lofted bunk-bed/desk at college, and even with my climbing up the side to get into bed every night he hasn’t fallen over once.

From my observations, GC-06 Sharivan can be had for pretty cheap, especially when buying direct from Japan.  I’m sure most fans of the show have or want this piece, and I’d highly recommend it to those that don’t.  Sharivan's also a great piece to pick up as a wonderful late-run Chogokin piece, as well as an engineering marvel way better than most of its action-figure contemporaries.  Pick one up to reenact Sharivan's finest moments of Metal Hero galactic police brutality (and heroism)!

Grandbirth is fearlessly and uncompromisingly ugly, and I like that.

The Metal Hero genre is not unlike other Tokusatsu series, featuring endless variations on a space-cop hero battling monsters. The space-cop typically operates from a spaceship base, and this spaceship base typically transforms into a humanoid robot. Grandbirth is the base for Space Sheriff Sharivan, the second of Toei’s Metal Heroes.

The Metal Hero designs are among the purest of the eighties aesthetic. Think Space Shuttle Lander, Lamborghini Countach, and Delorean. Hard lines; a white, black, and gray color palette; chrome; and the discreet use of saturated color all characterize the look of this era. Grandbirth is right at home with Laserion, Vavilos, and Juspion. Collectors, in general, aren't particularly fond of these toys. The designs are more eccentric than mainstream mecha before or after, eschewing the classic sentai or super robot proportions. Vavilos has a flat heat, giant legs, and tiny little arms. Laserion is built from hollow cages. Grandbirth has an abstracted head, weirdly faceted arms, and a big protuberant belly. That belly, more than anything else, makes Grandbirth an acquired taste.

Grandbirth comes in a largish box (measuring 12"x13"x3.5") with a nice photograph of both modes on the front, a rainbow border and an inset photo of Sharivan himself. The back and sides are similar. The toy comes in spaceship mode, rests in a Styrofoam coffin, and comes with very little in the way of accessories - just a few missiles and three tiny yellow ships. A manual and decal sheet are provided. The decals are not pre-cut.

The spaceship mode (measuring 12" long with an 11" wingspan) didn’t break any new ground, but it looks good. It's boxy yet sleek, and the blue-gray finish has a "real robot" feel to it. It is heavy. The entire Middle section is diecast, which is the only metal in the toy except for screws and wheels. The body is detailed with panel lines all over the place. The trapezoidal wings with chrome cannons at the tips are reminiscent of an X-Wing. Cannons on either side of the middle section are spring activated, popping out from a recess in the body. These fire the included missiles. A detachable, smaller ship attaches at the rear, forming a conning tower. The ship rolls on tank treads with metal wheels.

The tiny yellow ships included with the set can fit into three small hatches which open from the front section of the ship.

Transformation is straightforward. You fold down the legs, push in the cockpit and cannons (both spring activated), fold up the wings, fold up the conning tower, and pull out the arms from the bottoms of the wings. The robot stands at 10 inches tall.

The arms are beautiful. They fold and collapse like a puzzle into a cavity in the wing. The joints and articulations (shoulder, elbow, and wrist) are a work of art, like something Syd Mead would design. The hands are just abstract paws, without any finger articulation.

The legs are chunky, but surprisingly well-proportioned. The legs twist at the hip so you can splay them. The knees bend, but the detents are so stiff that I haven't felt brave enough to force them. The head can swivel on a peg. The chest is attractive. The composition of the colors and details is really sophisticated, and creates just the right emphasis for the figure in robot mode.

Grandbirth is really meant to be viewed from the front. The back isn’t really detailed, and you mainly see the cavity left by unfolding the legs. Still, it doesn’t look too bad from behind.

And how about that belly!? Grandbirth is criticized for looking a little half-assed, like a ship with a torso and legs growing out of it. I partially agree, but I also think that the concept makes sense. I think a giant base should look clunky and ungainly when it becomes a robot, it’s more realistic that way, and realism was a hallmark of this variety of eighties mecha design. I love that Grandbirth is fearlessly and uncompromisingly ugly.

I’m not sure how rare this piece is in Japan, but I almost never see it on ebay in the states. I can’t really speculate at what a good price would be, but something in the range of 100-200 bucks seems reasonable.

Bandai also made a huge "Big Base" version, as well as two variants of the ST size.

Space Sheriff Sharivan is one of the legendary "Metal Heroes" of Japanese Television

Space Sheriff Sharivan hails from the Tokuatsu show Uchuu Keiji Sharivan (宇宙刑事シャリバン) which ran from 1983 1984. Specifically, Sharivan is a Metal Hero show, a sub-genre of tokusatsu that features characters in shiny armor as opposed to bodysuits.

As a rule, most of the Space Sheriff shows are relatively unknown in the US, but you might be more familiar with them than you think. Several toys in the Godaikin line, such as Vavilos and Daileon made its way to the us, and there was also a few larger, sound and flash figures that Bandai put out outside of the line.

I picked up this figure on a clearance sale, having largely ignored the line in the past. But with the quality of this figure I was driven to collect all three Space Sheriff figures.

These things do, in fact, rock. The basic idea is you have a plastic action figure that you apply bits or armor to. The shrunken head is a signature aspect of the Souchaku Henshin line. As lame as it looks - you really almost never display it without the armor on.

Each armor part is metal. The helmet is two parts that snap together, while the vest opens in the back to allow the figure to sit inside. All of the other armor points essentially "plug in" to the body. Be careful, some of the parts don't stay on too well. I lost one part of my shoulder armor minutes after assembling it, only to finally find it months later.

Articulation is not too bad and you can get some great poses out of it. Poseability is limited around the head area due to the helmet. it can still turn, but that's about it.

Accessories include a pistol and two different swords. One sword is clear blue, the other is solid.

This figure is a real satisfying purchase. Recommended.