I never knew how much I wanted a Boss Borot mini machinder until I found out one existed.

When I was a kid growing up watching Traanzzzooooooor Zeeeee, I always hated that stupid little bungling robot sidekick "Bobobot". He practically ruined the entire show for me. Later, after I'd been involved in this hobby for a bit, learned a bit about the original Mazinger Z show and Bandai released their excellent Soul Of Chogokin Boss Borot, I finally started to come around and see the appeal of this goofy little guy. And when a friend of mine told me he'd discovered a Boss Borot Junior Machinder, I pleaded with him several times to send me a picture of it. Since my friend lives in Italy, I just assumed what he meant was something along the lines of other known Italian Junior Machinders. I imagined something similar to the Pegas Junior Machinder. When he finally sent me the picture, my first thought was that it was a toy from the Phillipines, since it was a similar style to others I have from there. It turns out, though, that the toy was in fact from Mexico.

This Boss Borot bootleg stands about 10" tall and is articulated at the hips, shoulders and neck. Made from cheap blow molded polyethylene, the toy manages to capture the silly appeal of the character quite well, in my opinion.

Much of that is the result of a good job being done on the face, where nearly all of this character's personality comes from.

You can see in the picture above that the paint is a little bit sloppy on the chest and there is even an unsightly gap between the leg and the hip. The colors are all wrong and the plastic low quality. But I don't care. I love this thing.

So, as you can see, I've managed to get one for myself. But the one my friend has is a different color, closer to anime accurate than mine. So now I need to get that one (not too mention that little Aphrodai A!!)

I've been wanting to review this one for a long time and after years of searching for an upgrade, I finally get to share it with you all.

The world of bootleg Jumbos is one of my favorite things to delve into. I've always taken great pleasure in finding, and hopefully even acquiring, some of the strange toys that few others would be interested in, those toys that would offend the sensibilities of the collecting purist. This Mexican offering might be one of the strangest out there, perhaps rivaled only by the Mazinger Z: Paladin de la Justicia and the Ring Toss Mazinga for just plain blow your mind craziness. Or perhaps ugliness, depending on your point of view.

I've known about this toy for a long time, nearly as long as I've been collecting in fact. It was featured in an article on the old Cool Japanese Toys website. Unfortunately, the toy is extremely rare and it's been a real challenge to get my hands on one. I did manage it several years back, but the specimen I got was nowhere near complete and I chose not to review it for that reason. But I've recently been able to upgrade so I'm glad to finally be able to do it now.

This version of Mazinger stands 21" tall and actually uses a modified version of the body from the Reideen Jumbo Machinder. Some of the changes made include using a mirror image of the right hand for the left, both fists minus the shield. Also, the missile launching mechanism in the stomach has been removed and simply filled in, although you can still see the outline of it. And of course, a new sculpt of the head of Mazinger now rests on it's shoulders. And it's a, shall we say, "interesting" take on the subject.

As you can see, the colors of the face are painted right on to the polyethylene. Since paint doesn't stick to polyethylene as well as to something like vinyl, it's not uncommon to see it in poor condition. The paint of my last specimen was no where near as nice as this one. It should also be noted that the white of the stomach is painted right on.

Now, the best part of the head is the cockpit. It's very crudely made and all the more charming for that. The red upper part is shaped much like the bottom of a cup, with a clear dome in the center. What appears to be an action figure that has been cut in half is screwed into the bottom.

Mazinger's chest plate is a simple flat piece of plastic that has been screwed directly into the chest, despite the fact that there are two small holes in the chest that appear to be there to allow two pegs to connect. This is the way the wings on the back connect. And, oh man, those wings! BAT WINGS!!!

The thing I love about those bat wings is how small they are in relation to the rest of the toy. You would think that by choosing bat wings you would want it to have a sinister appearance, but by being so small, it ends up being somewhat cute, like a fairy.

Even though this toy is very rare (I only know of 4 as of this writing), not all are the same. Some have white hands, while some have black. And even amongst the limbs that should be all the same color, there seems to come in varying shades. Some pitch black, some dark grey, etc.. At least one that I've seen has the head piece cast in white.

A comparison of both specimens I've owned. Note the white fist and lighter colored legs on the left.

This toy is probably the rarest known Jumbo to originate in Mexico. It's very, very difficult to find, but due to it's crude sculpt and inaccurate portrayal of such a popular collector, it's not one that I think too many people desperately want. Like many of these bootleg toys, it's a curiosity and desirable more as a historical artifact than as a toy. I believe this toy is rumored to have been sold in a bag with a header card. If there are indeed two others in the series as the old CJT article suggests, they have yet to surface. But if and when they do, you know I gotta get'em!

At least it has legs.

Although ugly in it's own right, this representation of Mazinger Z may actually look nicer than the previously discovered toy from Argentina, the Paladin de la Justicia. At least it has legs. And I have pictures to prove it.

The toy is about 15" tall, though maybe just a bit more if you measure all the way to the tip of the horn on the head. That horn is interesting, too. I wonder why it was added?

The body of the toy was cast in blue polyethylene with painted red and silver highlights, but the fists and head were cast in silver, with just the eyes painted red. There is limited articulation as usual. You can rotate the head, arms, fists and I think even the legs. I'm not digging this guy out again to check. No one cares anyway. ;)

I've also seen this toy with a yellow head with black highlights.

Not long ago, I commented that I'll occasionally publish a review for no other reason than to show the world "this exists". This has been one of those times.

Though usually not considered a true Machinder, this Jumbo Aphrodai A toy makes a nice companion piece to your Mazinger Z jumbo.

So, now we enter into that strange and confusing world of the "not quite a Jumbo Machinder". The term Jumbo Machinder is often thrown around when describing any large sized robot toy but it's not always accurate. Being a Jumbo Machinder means more than just being large. The size is important, but so is the material used and perhaps most importantly the visual aesthetic. It's hard to explain but you just know a Jumbo when you see it. But even among hardcore collectors there can be some disagreement about what toys should and should not fall into this category. Especially since many toys that might not be considered Jumbos are often collected mostly by Jumbo collectors! One such toy is this vinyl bootleg of Aphrodai A, the famous feminine robot from the Mazinger Z show.

I think in general, most collectors do not consider jumbo-sized vinyls to be true Machinders, even though the villains were made out of vinyl. Stuff like this, the High Dream Grendizer, FLOSRs and jumbo sized kaiju are not included. Sometimes even toys that advertise themselves as Jumbo Machinders, such as these bootleg robots, are not real Machinders. But even though I don't think of this as a true Machinder, it's still a nice compliment to a JM collection.

There are 14 points of articulation on this one. The ankles, knees, wrists, elbows, waist and neck all turn, while the shoulders have two joints each. The paint is really nice on the head, but a little crude elsewhere.

With no marks anywhere on the toy and no packaging, it's pretty obvious that this toy is a bootleg. The initial thinking was that the toy originated in Hong Kong, but since that time a second version of the toy has been seen. This new one is much smaller (about 8.5" tall), comes in a box and is sold in Spain. I've never purchased that one so I have no idea if it says where it was made or by whom.

Lastly, you shouldn't confuse this toy with the Aphrodai A toy that was released by Emanium Enterprises right around the same time.

This take on the classic Go Nagai design is all about power and aggression. From the skull-like faceplate to the giant knuckled fists, this robot will chew up and spit out all the other toys in your collection.

This is a toy that I was lukewarm about at first, but has really grown on me.

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The Fewture EX Gokin Mazinger-Z 1969 (EX合金マジンガー1969) was designed by the late Taku "Professor Robo" Sato. His designs were a modern take on classic robot designs. I don’t understand why this toy gets the 1969 label, because there is nothing about this design reminiscent of the first Moon Landing, Richard Nixon, The Beatles or Monty Python.

This take on the classic Go Nagai design is all about power and aggression. From the skull-like faceplate to the giant knuckled fists, this robot will chew up and spit out all the other toys in your collection. This is a serious piece of Heavy Metal. In fact, if this toy was a Heavy Metal band, it would be Pantera. (R.I.P. Dimebag)

It is also worth noting that his was my first purchase from Angolz.com. The toy arrived from Hong Kong in a record breaking THREE DAYS.

At about 9.5 inches tall, the EX Gokin Mazinger-Z 1969 packs a serious punch. The toy is about 70% diecast, and is pretty heavy. The construction is solid and the figure manages to be reasonably articulated. All the joints are satisfyingly clicky, even in places where you don’t expect it, like in the toes.

Starting from the top, the head is made of ABS and PVC, with your choice of removable Pilders. You get both a Jet Pilder and Hover Pilder, both made out of soft vinyl. The wings on each are removable, but the tooling on the wings is a bit off. I had to trim a bit of vinyl off the side of one of my Jet Pilder’s wings to make it go up so that it can fit on the head.

The jaw features two soft moveable sections that open to reveal a mouth weapon. A word of warning to you – DO NOT try to pull open the jaws by pulling the top one upwards. Sanjeev accidentally broke the top of the head off by trying this. Its easily fixable with superglue, but still, don’t do it. Instead, push the head forward and then pull down on the front jaw.

The neck is articulated in two places and attaches to the body via a ball joint. The chest is solid metal, with removable chest plates. Mazinger-Z 1969 comes with two sets of chest plates. The solid red chest plates are painted metal, and the translucent plates are plastic. Both are fixed to the chest by a hexagonal peg that fits securely. The torso is jointed with a detented joint and there is also a waist joint.

The arms are also attached to the body by hexagonal pegs which are removable. The shoulder pads are metal and the shoulder actually has motion in the chest with a fantastic piston mechanism that allows you to bring the shoulders forward for more aggressive poses. Each arm features a strong magnetic connection joint midway through the forearm that allows you to swap out regular arms for rocket punch arms. These sections are diecast as well. There seems to be a common QC issue with the right arm – the magnet becomes unglued from the upper arm and gets stuck to the lower part. Just remove the magnet and add a dab of superglue and stick it back it – it’s fine. Included with the toy are a variety of fists that can easily plug into the forearms. You can attach the included spiked knuckles in various configurations on certain hands, depending on just how menacing you want the figure to be. You get spiked knuckles that go forward (like wolverine from the X-Men), spiked knuckles that go out, and nubby spiked knuckles.

The legs are also all metal, and can be put in almost any position. The hips can go forward and back, side to side, all with clicking action. The knees are double jointed and here is another small QC area – the blue paint on the leg tends to rub against the silver paint of the upper leg. To avoid this, try to bend the knee at the top part of the double joint. It’s a tougher joint, but worth it to avoid the scraping. The legs terminate at the end with large heavy feet. The feet can be posed in any fashion at the ankle, but they go further by adding a toe joint.

Mazinger’s classic Jet Scrander is also represented here in updated form. The scrander is all plastic and features a beautiful paintjob. The scrander attaches to the back by attaching a tab to a tab on the back of the figure. If you pull down and get a click you know you have made a secure connection. The wings can be positioned in either up or down mode, and the clicks the wing parts make when they move borders on orgasmic. Seriously.

Finally, Mazinger comes with a big sword. You would think that with the amount of metal used in this figure that the sword would be metal, but no, it is plastic. It has an articulated handle, and can combine with the sword of the upcoming EX-Gokin Great Mazinger 1969 to form a super sword.

A stand is included, but it is pretty useless. Its basically a large round disc with a metal pole sticking up through it. The stand has a metal knob that looks like a medical instrument with a clip at the end that attaches to the crotch of the figure. The figure stands fine on its own without the stand, and the stand has no places to store the other accessories. I put mine back in the box.

To say that I am impressed with this figure is an understatement. I was a little dismayed at the quality control of this figure when I first took it out of the package, especially with its $250 price tag. However, once the few nagging issues were taken care of, the figure is BEAUTIFUL. It really is a well done toy. It makes me wish I didn’t skip out on the other EX gokin offerings, and now I have the misfortune of having to pay secondary market prices for them.

You can get your own slice of heavy metal heaven at Angolz.com.

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This might well be my least favorite toy rendition of this character that was produced by a major Japanese toy company.

Make no mistake, from a worldwide standpoint there are some pretty unbelievably horrendous portrayals of Mazinger Z. But within Japan, even the cartoonish looking toys have a charm to them that makes them appeal to the eye. But when I look at this one, I almost feel like someone was making fun of Mazinger Z.

The over-sized cavity in the head looks just too far out of proportion to my tastes, almost like in inverted dunce-cap. And the legs are too skinny where they connect to the pelvis. It looks like he's got a diaper on. Also, the depiction of Koji Kabuto in the cockpit of the Hover Pilder is done by way of a silly looking sticker. The only other toys that I know of that do that are the bootleg Jumbos from Italy and Argentina. Now I admit, I do love those toys for what they are, but it just seems like bad company for a major Japanese toy maker to keep.

With that said, like most toys it looks ok when you add it to a lineup of others from it's series. And I got a good deal on it, so I can't complain too much.

The toy stands about 14.5 inches tall with 5 points of articulation (neck, shoulders, and hips). You pull a string to make it talk, but I have no idea what it says.

I kept putting it off and putting it off. But when I finally bought this Jumbo accessory, I felt like an idiot for not getting it sooner.

I've never been shy about admitting that I'm not a big fan of the Jumbo accessories. Most of them have nothing to do with the toys they go on and only serve to make a very cool robot look worse than it does in it's original form. And in such a difficult, expensive hobby, why should I spend my cash on them while there are still Jumbos out there that I don't have? Especially when you consider how easy it is to get the accessories! It's not like they won't be available later. They are always on Yahoo!Japan and litter toy shops all over Tokyo. Sure, I've had a couple in my collection here and there, but mostly as the result of trades, bulk purchases or people just flat out giving them to me.

However, one accessory did always intrigue me and that is the Jet Scrander (ジェットスクランダー) that goes with Mazinger Z. But with a price-tag in the vicinity of $150, I just could never bring myself to take the plunge. But earlier this year, I managed to get one at about $85 shipped so I figured if I was ever gonna get one, it was now or never. And boy, am I glad I did!! Much like the Scramble Dash accessory that comes with the Unifive Great Mazinger, this makes your Unifive Mazinger Z seem like a whole new toy. It's so much cooler with the wings on. This set is a necessity, not an accessory.

When I received the package, I was surprised at how small the box was. It measures only 9"x6"x4". The toy itself comes in several parts and needs to be put together. Directions are printed on the back of the box, but it's really simple to figure out just by looking at it. Although it connects at the waist differently than I would have imagined. The yellow crest is actually a loose piece with two tabs on the back. You place the larger tab into the corresponding hole on one side of the "belt" and then slide the smaller one upwards along a curved opening on the other side. It has the effect of tightening his "belt", in a way. Nothing actually snaps into place or anything like that, yet it remains securely in place.

Like the rest of the Unifive Jumbo Machine line, this is also based on an vintage Popy toy. I've never held that one, but I assume it is basically identical to the new version. Strangely, both the new and vintage versions tend to sell for about the same price.

The Jet Scrander has a wingspan of slightly more than 18.5" across when assembled and will add roughly 4" to the depth of your Mazinger Z Jumbo. This makes it harder to display on a shelf, but it's a small price to pay for the added cool factor.

The least popular Mazinger Z Jumbo villain and probably the easiest to find, Spartan K5 is still a personal favorite of mine.

Spartan K5 (スパルタンK5) appeared in episode 14 of Mazinger Z and appeared in Jumbo Machinder form in 1973 as part of Popy's second wave of Machinder villains. Other second series Machinder villains included Rokuron Q9, Green Ghost C3, and Garada K7 from Mazinger Z and Taihou Buffalo and Lenzari from Kamen Rider V3. All 6 characters were on the front of the box, which they all shared.

Collectors stand divided in their opinions of Spartan K5. It stands out from other jumbos, even other villains, due to the fact that the right arm is permanently bent at the elbow to be ready to throw his spear. Also, he has no left hand behind that shield. And since it is really the only jumbo you'll find with a beard, it's understandable to hear that some think it's a silly toy.

Personally, I've always longed for this piece. Something about the eyes, the way they look so cartoonish, has always struck a chord with me. Furthermore, when I started collecting, getting Jumbo villains seemed like a unreachable goal. At the time, they were just too rare. But Spartan was considered one of the easiest to get. So not only did I like the character, but I felt he'd be my best chance to get a villain. I missed out on a couple of specimens early and in hindsight, I'm really glad I did. It would not be long before I realized that I just had to have one complete with the spear. To me it makes a huge difference in the appearance of the toy. I think it looks a bit odd with his hand raised in position, but with nothing to throw. The problem is that getting Spartan with his spear is infinitely more difficult than finding one without it. It would take nearly 6 years before I would finally acquire the piece complete (albeit without a box).

And in case you're wondering, yes, Spartan CAN actually launch that spear through the air. It features a simple metal rod and spring mechanism very much like the one in the chest of Green Ghost C3. Pull the rod back, twist it to hold in place and load the spear before twisting the rod again to release the spring.

Spartan K5 is approximately 19" tall and the body is made out of green soft vinyl with painted details. Some areas are noticeably hand painted, like the eyes and waist. The spear and shield are made of polyethylene. You can position both arms and legs and in fact, many collectors do not realize that the right arm can be lowered. It is almost always seen in a raised position and that shoulder joint his hidden by the armor.

Like the other Jumbo villains, Spartan K5 has his name as well as copyright information etched into the bottom of his feet. The left foot says "Popy" and "Spartan K5" while the right says "Dynamic Pro" and "Toei Animation".

Right Foot

Left Foot

There's not much else to say about this toy. Like most jumbos, vinyls or vinyl jumbos, it's a simple toy that doesn't do much and whether or not you like it depends mostly on your own personal aesthetic tastes. I will say this though, if you want one and see one with a spear, I suggest you act because it might be a long wait before you see another. Spartan K5 typically sells for about $1000 loose with no spear and about $1500-2000 loose with a spear. I've never seen it for sale complete and in the box so I can't speak from experience, but something around $3000 seems likely for that.

Spartan K5, along with the legendary and impossibly rare Garada K7, appears in this Mazinger Z Jumbo Machinder commercial!

It's nearly impossible to review the Unifive Garada K7 Jumbo Machines without also discussing it's relationship to the legendary Popy toy.

Rather than review each of Unifive's Garada K7 (ガラダK7) Jumbos separately, I think it would be best to talk about all three at once, for the benefit of newer collectors who might be confused about how many versions there are, and why. As we know, the Unifive Jumbos were basically an homage to the original Popy Jumbo Machinders. Unifive released Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger first, banking on the popularity of these characters for sales. But they decided to try something different for their third release, producing a new version of Mazinger Z's number 1 enemy kikaiju, Garada K7. This was also to be based on the original Popy toy, but there was a problem. The original toy was so rare, no one had an original specimen, or even a picture, of the toy to use as a template.

In order to get around this problem, the toy would be manufactured based upon the only images known to exist at the time. These were pictures of the original prototype seen in a catalog, as well as on the box for the second series Machinder villains. The project was announced and a mysterious teaser image was included with the Great Mazinger jumbo. An image of an unpainted prototype would even turn up.

The original Popy Jumbo Machinder villain box, featuring the Garada K7 prototype.

Unifive promotional teaser included with Great Mazinger Jumbo Machine.

Unifive Unpainted prototype.*

So eventually the toy would be released. It stood slightly smaller than regular Jumbos at 20.5" tall and was made entirely out of soft vinyl, with the exception of the styrene sickles in the head. The sickles could be removed but there was no place for the toy to hold them. Each one is about 9" across and placed into small slits in the back of the head. With the sickles in place, the width of the toy is about 19" across, which might be a bit of a problem when displayed with other Jumbos. There is slight articulation at the neck and waist, as well as at the shoulders and hips. Garada has a tendency to lean slightly forward when it's feet are flat down and pointed forward. Turning the legs inwards straightens it out, but makes it look a bit awkward. Copyright markings are molded directly into the back. Painted just like the original images showed, now everyone could have a Garada just like the original....right? Well, not exactly.

Unifive Garada K7

Immediately, hardcore Jumbo fans could tell that Unifive had dropped the ball. At 20.5" tall, their version of Garada stood about 2" taller than what the original likely would have been, when you consider that all the other villains in the second series were about 18". And the sculpt was not the same as the original and the sickles protruded at a more horizontal angle than they should have. Furthermore, even though Garada appeared on the second series box, the Unifive version came in a box that was more like the first series villain boxes, plain brown cardboard with a single color image on front. If I had to make a guess at the reason for this, I'd say they probably figured since they were not making 6 different villains, why copy a box that has 6 different villains on it? Better to mimic the first series boxes, which only had the included character.

Popy 1st series villain Kame Bazooka box

Unifive Garada K7 box

Next, a limited edition, hand-painted recolor of the toy would be offered through the magazine "Gangu Jinsei" (aka "Toy Life") in their second issue. The toy would get the traditional black repaint with silver limbs and gold detail on the chest plate, as well as a new sticker on the back. The box would be the same, except that it featured a sticker on the front to distinguish it from the regular version. While releasing black versions is pretty common in the field of Japanese toys, this would be the first and only time it would be done with a Jumbo. It is the hardest of the three to get now and, in my opinion, the nicest looking.

Gangu Jinsei #2

Unifive Limited Edition black Garada K7

But this would not be the biggest draw for this issue of the magazine. They would have an article about Popy Jumbo Machinders, including the first ever officially published photos of the original Garada K7! (An image had appeared on the internet not long before this, but was removed, and the magazine photos were higher quality.) Regardless of which came first, people everywhere could now see what the Popy Garada K7 looked like.

The Popy Garada K7 that appeared in Gangu Jinsei #2*

Clearly, we have ourselves another problem. Not only was Unifive's release of Garada the wrong size and sculpt with an inappropriate box, it wasn't even remotely colored correctly! Furthermore, there was no ball launching gimmick in the chest. Due to these differences, many fans and collectors were very disappointed in Unifive's release, especially since the silhouette in the flyer looks more like the Popy original than the actual toy would. In an interview with Matt Alt of ToyboxDX, toy scholar Koji Igarashi went as far as to call the toy a "total sham". Others simply believed it to be a nice toy, but a poor attempt at a replica of the original. And others didn't care either way, but were just happy to have a Jumbo villain that was easy to get and afford, even if it wasn't just like the vintage ones.

After the release of the fourth Jumbo in the line, Gaiking, it was becoming apparent that sales could no longer justify the continued production of these toys. Plans to release a Jumbo Combattler V were scrapped, but Unifive would still go ahead with one more Garada. A limited "original color" version would be release exclusively in the United States via Diamond Comics Distributors. It would be painted like the original Popy Garada, but would not include a ball launching mechanism or any change to the sculpt. You'd get the same box again, but this time with a sticker designating it as a Diamond Comics "Previews Exclusive".

Unifive Diamond Previews Exclusive Garada K7

You may also hear talk of a "test color" version of Garada K7. This would be a couple of specimens that are the same as the Diamond version, except that they had no packaging, no holes in the head to hold the sickles and the sickles themselves are just hand cut pieces of plastic. These were essentially prototypes and were not available to the public.

So where does that leave us? Well, probably with the most convoluted review I've ever had to write. But hopefully it all makes sense. Essentially, there are five Garada K7 jumbos that you would need to know about. They are:

• white Popy Prototype (seen on box)
• green Popy toy
• white Unifive toy (basesd on Popy prototype)
• black Unifive limited editioin toy
• green Unifive toy (based on Popy toy)

If you want the Unifive Garada K7 toys, the green is the easiest to get and cheapest, typically about $50-100. The white would be second at about $100-200 and the black hardest at about $150-300. None can compare to the original but are cool jumbos to have.

*Many thanks to Matt Alt for letting me use the picture he took of the Unifive prototype Garada, and also to Sean Bonner, for letting me borrow it from Jumboland, where it was originally featured. While I'm at it, thanks also to Tom Franck and his old CoolJapaneseToys website, where much of the original Garada mystery unfolded as it happened.

** While this is the specimen featured in Gangu Jinsei, this particular image was saved from the Mandarake website.

Unifive's Mazinger Z Jumbo Machine is a great piece to get for the new collector.

It must have been a most exciting time for Jumbo fans in 2000 when Unifive began releasing their line of "Jumbo Machines". Unfortunately for me, at the time I wasn't collecting yet and would only come on board at the tail end of the line. I never really thought about it until now, but I suppose there's a decent chance that if Unifive (or U5) hadn't produced these, I might never have ended up involved in the hobby.

Though this line is an obvious homage to the vintage Popy Jumboo Machinders, many things were slightly changed to differentiate the two brands. Most notably the name, but also the toys themselves are new, unique sculpts slightly modified from the originals. Unifive released 4 characters in the line, beginning with the most popular of all Japanese super robots, Mazinger Z and ending with his most famous enemy kikaiju, Garada K7. Great Mazinger and Gaiking rounded out the series and a fifth entry, Combattler V, was planned and a prototype made before the line was cancelled due to poor sales.

Probably the most comprehensive review of this toy would include a comparison with the original Popy Mazinger Z Jumbo Machinder. But I'm one of those collectors who prefers to buy the remake and wait on the original until I have all the other characters that were not remade. So I've never owned an original Mazinger Z. Therefore, I'll try to just focus on this specific toy, making note of things I've been told about the original where applicable.

The most notable difference that anyone can see between this and the original is the paint on the eyes and horns. Here it is gold, whereas the original was yellow. This makes it very easy to distinguish between the two, so you won't have any question which one you were buying. Most everything else seems basically the same (though if you have both and want to correct that, leave a comment!). 23.5" tall with wheels on the feet, though the wheels on mine don't roll particularly well. Mazinger Z comes with a full compliment of 14 missiles, but nothing with which to shoot them. Unifive did release a separately sold missile launching set of fists, as well as rocket punch fists (diagrams of which are on the side of the box) that could be swapped out for the regular hands. I've never bought any of these, but I believe that they are not compatible with vintage jumbos (nor vintage accessories compatible with the U5 Jumbos).

One of the things that I like most about this toy is how much easier it is to remove the fists than it is on the vintage Jumbos. These slide on and off pretty smoothly. In additon to the fists, the Hover Pilder in the head can be removed too. This is a simply vinyl piece with a hole in the bottom that is placed over a tab in the head cavity. Stickers adorn the front and sides for added detail. Besides the Hover Pilder, the head and red chest pieces are also made of vinyl, with the rest of the toy being polyethylene. A sticker saying "Mazinger Z" in Japanese (マジンガーZ) is on the waist and copyright markings are on the back, including the word "Unifive" to further distinguish this from the original.

One of my biggest regrets from my time as a jumbo collector concerns this toy. Several years back an auction appeared on Yahoo!Japan containing the wooden prototype for this toy. The auction also had second specimen with the head removed. Though I didn't realise it at the time, apparently this was the specimen that Unifive had used for the photo on the box! In addition to this already desirable bounty, the auction include a Shogun Warrior Great Mazinger as well as the Unifive release of the Jet Scrander accessory. The auction ended at about 100,000 yen (or roughly $900 at the time) and for some reason I decided to buy a Getter Liger instead! D'oh!! What in the world was I thinking!? Most frustrating was that this was before I realised that massive credit card debt is totally acceptable in the pursuit of cool toys, so I easily could have bought both.....but didn't. A once in a lifetime opportunity gone by the wayside....

Maybe it was because of this that when I later saw a listing for a "Unifive Mazinger Z prototype" on a Japanese website, I didn't hesitate. I emailed Japanese toy dealer Masato Shono and asked him to find out about it for me. What I was told was that a former employee of Unifive had sold this to the shop and that it was planned to be a recolored release of the toy, but never went into production. I was told it was displayed at a toy convention and it came with a card saying something to the effect of "For future release", though this card appears to be entirely in Chinese. I've never heard anything else to corroborate this story and I honestly have no idea if it is in fact true, or if it is a custom that someone sold to the shop under false pretenses (I sincerely doubt the shop would make the story up.) I'd be inclined to dismiss it entirely if not for the fact that Unifive had already released repaints of their Garada K7. Perhaps they tried it here and decided that it wasn't worth doing since paint wouldn't stick as well to polyethylene as vinyl (note the chip on the right arm). Or it's just as likely a total fake. Either way, I think it looks pretty good and it's an interesting conversation piece, if nothing else.

Unifive's Mazinger Z Jumbo Machine is a great piece to get for the new collector, or even if you're already into the vintage jumbos. It's a nice toy and still pretty easily attainable. It will typicallly sell for about $100-200 and is well worth the money.