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.

The official whipping boy of Jumbo Machinder collectors, this toy is probably better than you've heard. Video inside!

Although there were previous Jumbos that were from Sentai shows, the Jumbo Astro Megazord is the first one to be released in the United States and bear the name of the Power Rangers. It was released in 1998 in support of the "Power Rangers In Space" series. It's an interesting piece because unlike the subsequent Jumbos released in the US, this toy actually has a transformation gimmick like the DX version. The method is different here though and requires a small amount of parts swapping, but the end result actually looks pretty cool. It's certainly better than many of the vintage "transforming" Jumbos, which often just lay down to transform. My only real gripe with the vehicle mode is that the feet don't connect in anyway. As a result, the nose of the ship doesn't line up quite right.

This toy was not very popular among Jumbo collectors. There are probably a few reasons for that. First, it isn't a full sized Jumbo. It measures only 18" tall. Secondly, many people didn't like the design of the robot itself, particularly in comparison to the old school super robot aesthetic that most Jumbo collectors know and love, although I think they'd prefer this to the later designs with all the animal parts.

Another problem with this toy is the feet. To allow for the transformation to vehicle mode, the feet need to rotate down. Where the toy fails is that there is nothing really holding the feet on the toy. They just slide sideways onto a peg, and more often than not, slide right back off again. This also causes the toy to lean just a tiny bit forward, too. Lastly, I can't help but think there is just a little bit of Power Ranger hating going on, too. As popular as the show was with kids when this came out, I seem to remember just as much hate for it from adults. I know I couldn't even stand to hear the name back then. I just can't help but think that if toys like this were on the shelves at about $20 a pop now, they would get more respect than this did at the time of it's release. Many collectors disrespect it by spelling "Astro" with an extra "s" and I think they are giving it a bum rap.

In addition to transforming, the Jumbo Astro Megazord comes with a sword and shield that can be placed in the hands. The head turns and the arms move up and down. Simple like all Jumbos.

Although this toy was released initially in the United States, the overstock was later shipped back to Japan and sold there. Everything was exactly the same, except that the box had a gold foil sticker slapped onto the lower right corner with Japanese writing on it.

US box

Japanese box

Additionally, it seems that this toy was released in Korea, too. I've only seen the box for that release, but judging by that, it looks like the exact same toy. However this time a whole new box design was created and the show was called "Mega Rangers".

While I can't say I love this toy, I do think it's better than it's generally given credit for. And it really makes me wish that Bandai had gone ahead and followed through on their plans to release a second toy in the line. The Jumbo Mega Voyager sadly never made it past the prototype stage. It's a shame too since it looks like it might have been an even better toy.

Although the transformation is simple, I've recently been given a video camera so I figured I'd join the fray and do a quick video to show you how it's done. In the process, I actually managed to break the knob on one of the arms. And here I was thinking that polyethylene was practically indestructible.

Made in Hong Kong, released in Italy, this Junior Machinder is based on Combattler V and Robo Kress, with just a dash of Great Mazinger. No, not that "dash".

Space Hero is another "Junior Machinder" based off the body of Robo Kress, but featuring the head of Combattler V. In my opinion, the two do not combine well and the toy ends up being a rather ugly mishmash.

It stands about 14.5 inches tall and comes with a variety of weapons, including a sword, a sheild, a missile launcher in the waist and disc launcher just above that. These last two pieces of artillery are obscured by behind a removable belt and the opening chest compartment.

I'm not really even sure what the point of the chest piece is. It doesn't close all the way and seems prone to breakage, though mine is luckily still intact. Each door has a red piece that when closed is seems to be suggestive of Great Mazinger's chest V. In my opinion, this toy would look better if they did away with it entirely and just had one shooting mechanism in the waist. Less is more sometimes. Although to be honest, there are so many different variations of these toys it wouldn't surprise me if there is one out there like that.

You can store two missiles on either side of his belt and two more, along with 4 discs, on the hooks on the side of the legs. Both fists launch as well. This one came packaged in a box that really doesn't even show the toy inside. Instead, it has artwork showing the more common toy that features the head of Atoranger and the body of Jeeg.

Perhaps the only thing that makes this toy notable is that head. Until recently, it was believed to only be on Junior Machinders. But awhile back, a full sized Robot Factory style bootleg Jumbo turned up with this head on it. Maybe there are other Jumbos out there featuring parts previously only seen on Juniors. There's still so much to be discovered...

A cheap toy, but a worthy placeholder for the real thing.

Popy released a Daitetsujin 17 Jumbo Machinder in 1977, but your average collector is much more likely to own this Taiwanese bootleg than the much more expensive original and you can count me among them. I'd love to have the real deal, but for the time being, this guy will have to do. This toy has affectionately become known as the "Disco Daitetsujin 17" (or just D17, for short) due to the hilariously loud stickers on it. And since the same company made a bootleg Giant Gorg Jumbo, that toy has assumed the same nickname, deserved or not.

Now, as I said, I have no original D17 to compare this to, but just by looking at this and knowing the high quality one expects from Popy, I think I can confidently say that this one is lacking refinement. The plastic feels cheaper and has all sorts of bumps all over it it. The paint on the head is not very good either.

One problem that is very common on these is that the springs used in the firing fists are too strong and crack the tab on the fists, which then fire off on their own. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to just unscrew the arms and remove the springs entirely. The fists will stay on ok and it'll still display well, without it attacking you unexpectedly. I kid you not, I literally got hit in the head with a random flying fist just walking by this thing one time.

Even though the quality is not up to par, the toy itself did come with the same features as the original, including the aforementioned launching fists. Additionally, the toy can transform into a ride-on fortress. It's a bit of a silly gimmick (like most "transforming" Jumbos) in that you just bend the ankles back and the legs forward and add the tower to his back and an extra set of wheels between it's legs.

I guess it's neat that they maintained this feature, but on my specimen at least the toy has a tendency to lean backwards a bit because of the joint at the ankles. And the seam at the hips where the legs bend doesn't match up quite right, which makes it look a bit awkward from the side. Personally, I'd rather have a more stable toy than a gimmick I'll never really use. But maybe the kids in Taiwan liked it. The artwork on the header card sure seems to suggest that they would have.

And yes, this is one of the very few Jumbos to have been packaged in a huge bag with a header card. At 23" tall, I can't imagine there are bigger toys out there sold bagged.

This toy was released twice. Although neither version has a manufacturer name or date on it, the general consensus was the the first release was in the 1980s, with the second in the 90s. In fact, I think this version was being cranked out even into the new millennium, causing it to be the far more common of the two. Later releases came with just the robot/wheels and not the wings and tower. If I remember right, the factory had a bunch of the robots made, but stopped production without ever finishing all the accessories and the overstock was sold off anyway. I got mine during this time so that's why mine is incomplete. (JoshB has pics of his old complete one that he contributed to this review.) Most that you see on Ebay these days are like that.

This release featured red wings, while the other had green. Furthermore, and this may be hard to believe, but the green wings version actually came with stickers that looked even uglier than those shown here. Unfortunately, it's been years since I've seen one of those for sale, I don't have a picture saved and I can't even remember what it looked like. But I remember thinking it was hideous. Just awful. (And of course now I really want it!)

Fortunately, for you collectors who are more discriminating than I am, you'll sometimes see sticker sheets for sale on Ebay that reproduce the stickers from the original Popy version, so that you can make it look much nicer. Tempting, but for me, I like to keep all my toys in their original condition, regardless of how much of an eyesore they may be.

Another cheap, ugly knockoff that me and like 3 other people care about...

Unfortunately, no official full sized Jumbo Machinders were made of the Machine Blaster robots (Robo Kress, Blue Caesar, Sandaio and Boss Palder). Mattel Italy released their "Astro Robot" Jumbos that were based on the characters, but those toys used primarily parts from existing Jumbos with new heads and weapons. Takemi did make a line of 16" toys called "Big Robo", though. These were repeatedly copied and released in Italy and both the originals and the subsequent knockoffs have become commonly known as "Junior Machinders". All sorts of robots combinations were made, many of which used the body of the Takemi Robo Kress. The arms in particular are often used on various Junior Machinders, such as Dangard Ace and Pegas, to name just two. There is at least one toy that is nearly identical to the Takemi version and then there is this.

This toy uses the same mold as the Takemi toy, but is greatly simplified. As you can see, it's cast entirely in cheap, squishy blue polyethylene with just some stickers slapped onto it for "detail", if you can call it that. All firing fists and missiles have been removed.

Robo Kress stands 14" tall and is articulated at only the shoulders. It came packaged in a clear plastic bag, but with no header card. It was just tied off with a twisty tie. There are no manufacturer markings on it, but it does share some stickers (the "UFO" and black dots) with a very cheap and VERY ugly Combattler toy that I have. That toy did come with a header card and appears to have been made by a company called "Galba", so I think it's a good bet that this one was, too.

Ok. You may be thinking that this toy, and by extension this review, is not worthy of attention. But just be glad I didn't show you the Combattler! UGH....

Space Valour is a composite Jumbo Machinder bootleg, utilizing parts from Daimos, Leopardon, Daikengo and others...

I admit, I have a bit of a soft spot for Space Valour because it's one of the very first Jumbos I ever got when I started collecting, right after all the Unifive Jumbo Machines and some Shogun Warriors. I suspect I'm not the only one that this was the scenario for since this one is often on Ebay at a relatively cheap $100. It's far and away the most common full size Jumbo bootleg so it's often a quick way for the new collector to add something to their lineup.

But is it a good toy? Well, not really. Most bootleg Jumbos are pretty poor quality and these Robot Factory style ones that were released in Italy are often among the worst. Because there are so many pieces, many of which were taken from molds that were never intended to be combined with other pieces, they often don't line up very well. When an original Popy Robot Factory Jumbo is put together, it feels like one solid piece. Not so with Space Valour. Everything stays together, but nothing seems to "fit", if you know what I mean. If any of you have a dad who isn't a carpenter, but likes to imagine he is, then you know what I'm talking about. That homemade bookcase he made looks like a bookcase and it does hold books, but owning it only makes you want to get a real bookcase. That's Space Valour.

The arms and legs both feel floppy. The plastic is not high quality and tends to crack, especially the clips that hold the missiles on the legs and sometimes the clip that holds the firing fists in place. This can cause the fists to shoot off themselves and they can be a pain in the neck to load, too.

With that said, the makers of this toy were at least ambitious. They loaded it up with tons of firepower. Almost too much. Both fists can shoot, it shoots two spinning discs from launchers in the midsection and the legs also have missiles launchers. All the missiles and discs can be stored on the sides of the legs, which makes the toy look even more heavily armed. A sword rounds out the weaponry.

On top of that, they actually sculpted an original head for this toy. Most of the other Italy Jumbos, and most of this toy, are cast right off of existing molds, but Space Valour has his own unique look. Not only is the mold original, it's even an original design. No other robot has the same head as Space Valour.

Ok, so now you may be wondering where the rest of Space Valour originates. Well, you probably recognize the main torso from Daimos, even though it's been modified to hold those disc launchers and the shoulder shields. Speaking of which, both them and the legs come from Battle Fever Robo, but four small wheels have been added on the bottom. The arms are from Leopardon and the fists...well, I just noticed the fists seem to be unique, too. Although they are very similar to the fists from Battle Fever, Daltanious and GodSigma, they are in fact different. The circular "layer" nearest to the elbows is actually raised up, whereas it's lower on the others. Interesting.

Anyway, back to the rundown, the sword is from the Takatoku "Daikengo" Jumbo and although I'm not sure if it's the exact same mechanism, the "Super Jumbo Jeeg" from Takara utilizes the disc launching gimmick. It wouldn't surprise me if it's from there considering the popularity of Jeeg in Italy. The missiles look very much like the missiles from the Nakajima line of Jumbos, but are a different size and usually not interchangeable. Of course, there's always slight variations on these things so your experience may be different, but I wouldn't count on it. Lastly, you can see nods to both Dangard Ace and Daltanious among the sticker designs. Oh, speaking of the stickers, you'll notice that mine is missing the stripes that go around the forearms.

Back to variations for a second here. Although this toy is most often called "Space Valour", you might find it from time to time in other boxes. The second most common one is called "Zork", but there is a third. I can't remember the name of it right now since I've only seen it once and apparently forgot to save the picture. But I think it's something like "Warrior Of Space" in Italian or something like that. I'll try to find out. All three boxes feature similar artwork on the front.

So, basically, if you're looking for a quality toy, you can give Space Valour a pass. If you're just looking for a cheap jumbo to tide you over until something more appealing comes along, it might be a good option for you. Just know what you're getting into ahead of time and don't expect too much.

Made in Hong Kong for the Italian market, this is a popular junior machinder and a another neat, old school Gundam toy.

Exactly how many "Junior Machinders" were made and of what characters is still very much a mystery. We've seen a great many of them over the years, but it seems new things will never stop being discovered. But among the ones that we know to be out there, perhaps this Gundam figure might be the most highly regarded and sought after.

Besides being a toy of one of the most popular robots out there, this is special because it's features many parts unique to this toy, whereas so many other junior machinders share lots of parts. Really, the only parts on this toy that we've seen elsewhere are the fists (which are used on almost all junior machinders) and the missile on the shoulder cannon, which was taken from the Daimos Jumbo Machinder. Gundam probably has a bigger arsenal than any other junior machinder, too. Besides the shoulder mounted missile launcher, he also has a hand held gun, a sword/axe kind of weapon and a shield. The shield can be held in either of it's hands, or stored on the left shoulder.

Gundam is a mixture of polyethylene for the legs, soft vinyl for the head and torso and hard plastic for the arms. Both stickers and paint applications provide more detail to the colored plastics. Besides the missile, both fists can fire. Gundam is approximately 15 inches tall and comes in a colorful box with some neat artwork on the front.*

There is a logo of "SMC" on the back of the toy, but the box seems to indicate it was made by Ceppi Ratti. This toy pales in comparison to the other Ceppi Ratti Gundam Machinder, the elusive Jumbo. To date, I only know of three collectors to own one of those. But I certainly like this one much more than the more recent Easter Basket Gundams sold in the US.

* Thanks to Jerilock for the image of the box. Even though that should have been my box!**

** I found the auction for the toy he won but didn't bid because no box was shown. He bid and won and then the seller said he had the box! It should have been mine, dangit! ;)

Only quality issues prevent this toy from being better than the Mattel Shogun Warrior that it knocks off.

Sometime in the late 1970s, Spanish toy makers "Nacoral" produced at least four bootleg versions of the Mattel Shogun Warriors Jumbos. Although the original toys were produced by Popy in Japan, it was clearly the US Mattel versions that were being mimmicked. The four toys that were released were Dragun (Robot Lanza Discos), Daimos (Robot lanza cohetes), Great Mazinger (Robot lanzamisiles) and Gaiking (Robot lanza punos).

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Daimos was probably second on my personal want list in terms of Nacoral Jumbos, right after Dragun. It looks significantly different than the Mattel version, while still maintaining a high visual appeal. In fact, some might suggest that the Nacoral version is even better than the Mattel one. The addition of a second joint on the left arm solves the symmetry problem that the Shogun Warrior possesses. Additionally, now both fists have launching capabilities.

Among the most prominent of the other differences between the two toys is the change in color scheme. The chest and fists have been changed from black to blue, while the red of the arms and legs is a lighter shade. Strangely, some parts of the feet and fists have a sort of blending of colors, as you can see both blue AND black clearly.

A similar thing is true of the missiles that came with this specimen of the toy. It's quite difficult to see in photos, but these missiles have an orange hue to them, even a blending of red and yellow. This is significant to me because many years ago I was involved in a transaction between two friends for a Nacoral Daimos and that toy had red missiles, much like the Popy Daimos. I remember it vividly because it was missing one missile and I gave my friend a red missile that I had from an Italian bootleg "Super Warrior" jumbo. I just assumed that all Nacoral Daimos jumbos came with red missiles and that the specimens that I had seen in pictures with yellow missiles likely were missing theirs and the owners simply substituted yellow Mattel missiles. But recently several people told me that they had bought boxed Nacorals that came with yellow missiles. The sort of hybrid missiles I have here lead me to think we were all correct and that the Nacoral Daimos was released with both red and yellow missiles.

There are still more differences between the Nacoral and Mattel versions of this toy. The back wheels on the feet are different. Where the Mattel toy has one large wheel on the back, the Nacoral has to thin ones. The heads are also quite different as well. While the Mattel is soft vinyl with painted detail, the Nacoral is polyethylene with stickers. The blue and silver stripes as well as the eyes are all stickers. The colors have been changed and furthermore, there is even a slight difference in the mold. If you look from the side, you will notice that Nacoral is missing the four circles just behind the "ear" of the head. And above that, the area that is blue on the Mattel version extends further up than it does on the Nacoral. Here you can see how it slants down toward the back.

One last thing that I just noticed is that the stickers on the legs have been inverted and for some strange reason, it appears that the circles on the right leg of the Nacoral Daimos are off-center. On the front of the lower legs, you'll notice that there is no molded lines around the stickers like the original. You can also see that like most bootlegs, it is slightly shorter..

Just like the other Nacoral jumbos, Daimos actually shows the Shogun Warrior version on the box lid and the box is a much harder, and therefore more durable, cardboard than we are used to seeing on Jumbos. Outside of that though, the toy does suffer some quality issues like many bootleg toys do. The plastic knob of the fists is prone to cracking and the fist tends to shoot off by itself as a result. The mold lines on the legs aren't as clean as they could be and overall it just feels less durable than the official toy.

The Nacoral Daimos is a fine addition to your jumbo or bootleg collection. It doesn't show up too often though. However, when it does, sometimes it seems to show up in bunches. I have no idea why that seems to happen with some toys, but it does. You'll go two years without seeing one, then all of a sudden 3 are available. Go figure. This toy probably costs a bit more than the regular Shogun version. I got mine recently, perfectly labeled on Ebay for about $300. Even as much as $400 may be acceptable, but don't spend any more than that. Searching Ebay in Europe will likely land you a better deal.

Yeah, that's right. I said "ULTRAMAN".

Everyone who knows anything about Jumbo Machinders knows that the Raideen Jumbo from Popy was re-released by Mattel as a Shogun Warrior. But did you know that there is also a version released in Mexico? This toy was produced by Jugarama and was released under the name of......Ultraman?!?! Yep, Ultraman. All of the Jumbos produced by Jugarama had different names than their Popy counterparts. Why Raideen was changed to Ultraman, though, I have no idea.

The great thing about the Jugarama Ultraman, as opposed to the Mattel Raydeen, is that they didn't mess with the original design. The toy is exactly like the Popy version, bow-fist and all. The only difference is that it does not have the sticker with "Raideen" written on it and it is slightly scaled down. It's about an inch shorter, maybe even less.

I've never seen the box for this toy, but since all the other Jumbos released by Jugarama have artwork mimicking the Popy boxes, I think it's safe to assume the same would be true here. The only reason I know the name of this toy is because it is shown on the side of the Goro Goro box.

"Ultraman" is a pretty rare toy. I think I've seen about five of them for sale, and they are usually in pretty bad condition. I think mine is the best I've seen and I paid about $150 for it. Others have sold for as little as $50.

Another classic, beloved Shogun Warriors toy. Raydeen evoked fond memories in me when I first saw him again as an adult, but once I discovered the original, it lost it's appeal for me.

Two years after Popy released their Raideen Jumbo Machinder, the toy would be imported into North America and Europe as part of Mattel's Shogun Warriors line-up. Mattel labeled the toy as "Raydeen" on the packaging. Depending on who's doing the writing, you'll see it listed sometimes as "Raideen" or "Reideen". There are three versions of this Mattel release. I won't focus on those differences since that's already been done here. What I will touch on is the difference between the Mattel and Popy versions. The Mattel version I have is version 2.

The first thing that jumps out at you is that the left fist has been changed. Instead of having the original bow-fist, Mattel attached a launching "Iron Cutter" fist that was originally a part of Popy's line of Jumbo accessory fists, designated XX-13. It's nice that they wanted you to have another launching fist, but it really throws off the symmetry of the toy, with one hand now hanging lower than the other.

If you stand the Popy and Mattel versions side by sie, you'd notice that the Mattel one is actually taller. On the 2nd version, this can partly be attributed to the different wheel housing on the feet, but more significant is the fact that the legs have been elongated at the knees. In the picture below, notice that the Mattel version (on the left) has a lot more blue plastic above the screw before you get to the white upper leg. You'll also see that the Popy version comes with stickers on the side of the leg, while the Mattel (2nd version at least) did not.

I have no idea why this extra material was added, but personally, I prefer the stockier look of the original toy better. One thing is sure though, while replacing the Iron Cutter with a bow-fist will make your Shogun Warrior Raydeen look better, it's still noticeably different from the Popy version.

Other than those things, it's basically the same as the Popy toy (with the other differences detailed in the link above notwithstanding.) As with most of the Shogun Warrior Jumbos, it's very, very common on ebay. Boxed examples generally run between $100-200 dollars, on average.