I have always had a soft spot for Hayao Miyazaki's Future Boy Conan and due to the availability of once rare Japanese items now available through the Internet it was great to finally discover and own some great and original Conan items.

Conan Four Vehicle Model Kit Set

Hayao Miyazaki’s Conan, The Boy in Future AKA Future Boy Conan was not only one of the first cornerstones for Miyazaki’s animation style but has always been one of my favorite anime TV series. Many of the themes used in Future Boy Conan would later be used again in Nausicaa, Laputa: Island in The Sky, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Howl’s Moving Castle. These anime feature films can all trace their beginnings and details to Future Boy Conan.

Future Boy Conan first aired on the NHK TV network in Japan on TV in 1978. It made up of 26 episodes and was produced by Nippon Animation. The staff for FBC was a one-two-three animation power punch of Hayao Miyazaki (Director, characters designs and storyboards) Isao Takahata (assistant director and storyboards) and Yoshiyuki Tomino (storyboards).

The show featured a young boy of 11 named Conan who, along with his grandfather, are believed to be the last living humans after a nuclear holocaust instigated by giant bombers called Giganto. Huge fleets of Gigantos drop nuclear bombs across Earth which resulted with the oceans flooding out all of civilization. Young Conan has superhuman strength and appears that he could run, lift or throw anything but also has a kind and innocent heart and enjoys just being a kid. One afternoon after hunting shark with his wooden spear a young girl Lana washes ashore on their small deserted island. Grandpa and Conan learn that people have survived but they are enslaved on an Island called Industria.

Future Boy Conan is pure Miyzaki. The giant apocalyptic aircraft Giganto, to Lana’s ability to talk to animals, strong female leads and antagonist, and ecological message, FBC needs to be seen if you are a Miyazaki fan. FBC did air in Los Angles in the late 1980’s on local Spanish Television, which is where I used to watch it every Sunday afternoon. Conan and Lana resemble Pazu and Sheeta from Laputa so much that I had thought that Conan was the TV series version of Laputa. Conan and Lana were the prototypes for Sheeta and Pazu as Miyazaki is known for treating his characters like actors and “casting” them throughout his films over the years.

I have always had a soft spot of Future Boy Conan and due to the availability of once rare Japanese items now available through the Internet it was great to finally discover and own some original Conan items.

Bandai’s Conan four model set features the four iconic vehicles from the Conan TV series: Falco the seaplane, the last nuclear bomber Giganto, Dyce’s pirate ship Barracuda and robot work suit Robonoido. Each of these model kits were available separately when they were originally released but as this box is dated 1980 I assume that they were later put in one package to sell off excess stock.

These model kits are not the best representations of the vehicles and are very rudimentary in design and for ease of building, a feature most likely for young children. No glue is needed to assemble the kits. They also, except for Robonoido, come with wheels to roll the assembled model kit along a flat surface or floor. Since these model kits were originally released separately I plan to review each kit separately with the original single kit box art attached. I actually bought this set for Robonoido as I plan to scratch build a larger version out of sheet styrene and plastic tubing.

Conan 4 Model Kit set is worth picking up for the hardcore Miyazaki collector but if you are looking to build screen perfect representations of Falco, Giganto, Barracuda or Robonoido this set is unfortunately not what you are most likely looking for. There were a few rare and expensive resin kits produced in the 1980’s of Future Boy Conan items but they are extremely rare to locate today. Like many 60’s and 70’s anime items, many manufactures still choose to ignore some great properties and I can only hope somebody will purchase the Conan license and produce model kits of some of Miyazaki’s finest vehicle creations from Future Boy Conan.

© 2008 Article and pictures by Leonardo Flores “Mod Cineaste” & Collection DX,

Muteking? Saizance? Doesn’t ring any bells??? Well, me too… It’s a shame though, because the anime gave Popy license to produce one of the coolest and uniquely designed toys…

Muteking? Saizance? Doesn’t ring any bells??? Well, me too… It’s a shame though, because the anime gave Popy license to produce one of the coolest and uniquely designed toys…

I had this toy from 1984. From the moment I had this toy until 2008, I don’t know what this toy was all about… until with the magic of the internet, I found the origin of this toy.

This toy came from an anime called Tondemosenshi Muteking (High Roller Muteking). It is an old anime that aired from September 1980 through September 1981 for 56 Episodes. The anime has the same spirit as the Time Gokan series - it’s a gag anime. The story itself is about Rin, who can transform into a roller skate wearing super hero, fighting the Crodacow Blazers to protect Earth. Muteking is aided by various animal-based robots. One of the robots is Saizance, a rhino that can transform into a plane. The person who is responsible for the mecha design is none other than Kunio Ohkawara of Gundam fame.

The Toy is made of plastic, diecast and rubber. The body is diecast mayhem, with plastic for the head, feet, wings (in plane mode) and some parts to cover the body. The landing gear is made of plastic with plastic wheels and rubber tires. (Note: I removed the landing gears because it’s in bad condition and the rubber is completely worn off). I say it’s about 45% diecast, 50% plastic and 5% rubber. The toy is well made and can take serious beatings.

The length is about 15 cm in rhino mode and 18 cm in plane mode. The sculpt of this toy is dead on with the anime counterpart; crisp with detail and lining with sculpted cockpit. The paint is very good. There is little use of decals, most details being painted. And there’s the must have of 80’s toys, it’s name on the toy. Saizance is painted on the left side while Muteking is painted on the right side.

The transformation process is fairly simple. Just flip the legs inward and press the tail. With the magic of mechanical springs, the shell will flip and become the wings while the head moves inside to reveal its cockpit, just like in the anime. Simple and very shape changing at the same time. And fun thing to do, watching it flip open.

Besides the transformation, Saizance is also able to shoot missiles from the missile compartment that is located in the wings section. Unfortunately, my missiles are long gone.

Articulation only exists in the jaw and cockpit. The jaw can open and close, while the cockpit hatch can be opened. Originally, there’s a pilot (Muteking himself) in the cockpit. But the 7 year old me removed Muteking and now it’s long gone.

The bottom line, it’s a great toy with good play value. Doesn’t shame the Chogokin name and had a great and unique design. Now, if I can find the other robot in the series, the squid one… I would happy as a chimp.

General Monster was the main bad guy in New Kamen Rider (aka Skyrider). I really am not a big Kamen Rider fan, but I picked up this guy because his name is GENERAL MONSTER.

General Monster was the main bad guy in New Kamen Rider (aka Skyrider). I really am not a big Kamen Rider fan, but I picked up this guy because his name is GENERAL MONSTER.

GENERAL MONSTER

Do you hear me, GENERAL MONSTER!

The figure is the same size and style as the old Kenner Star Wars action figures (whis is what Popy was trying to do with this line. See the World Heroes page for more details). It features 5 points of articulation, and has holes on the feet. The stand shown in the images is NOT included. I just couldn’t get him to stand up due to some slight warping in the feet.

Also typically included with these figures are cards, stickers and a catalog, but this figure is missing them.

Say it again with me – GENERAL MONSTER!

I have always loved the vintage style Kenner Star Wars action figures. The simple sculpts, the neutral poses – they are embedded in my brain. I had always wondered how cool it would have been to have other characters from other series done up in the same fashion.

I have always loved the vintage style Kenner Star Wars action figures. The simple sculpts, the neutral poses – they are embedded in my brain. I had always wondered how cool it would have been to have other characters from other series done up in the same fashion.

Popy must have had the same thought. In 1980, Popy brought over some figures from Kenner’s Star Wars line and released them under the World Hero banner. These were identical to the US releases, just different packaging. Popy only released 15 Star Wars figures this way but they went on to make original figures with the same materials, scale and articulation. (see the full list here)

Skyrider (スカイライダ) comes from the 1979 Tokuatsu series Kamen Rider, also known as Skyrider or New Kamen Rider. The show was broadcast weekly and ran for 54 episodes.

The figure is the same size and material as the old Kenner Star Wars action figures, right down to the holes in the feet. Skyrider features 5 points of articulation and includes a cloth scarf.

Included in the package is a fold out catalog, cards and stickers. It is rare to find these figures with all the cards and stickers included.

These figures tend to be hard to find. While the Star Wars figures can run in the hundreds of dollars each, the Japanese characters seem to run about $30-$40.

It appears that the Japanese toy scene still has some surprises left in it after all

It appears that the Japanese toy scene still has some surprises left in it after all.

This little diecast Ideon (イデオン) was manufactured around 1980 by an obscure toy company called BEAT (ビート). I couldn’t find out much about them, other than they made a variety of cheap train station toys. TOMY had the master Ideon license, so perhaps BEAT was a subsidary of TOMY? In addition to this diecast, they also made a larger plastic Ideon called “Hurricane Ideon” and also a smaller soft vinyl Ideon. This toy is labeled Daiya Gokin (ダイヤ合金) (Diamond Gokin) but I don't know if there were more entries into the line. Yonezawa had a few toys labled as Diaya gokin, but it is unknown if the toy companies were related.

The body of the ideon is solid diecast metal with no articulation. The arms are plastic and jointed at the shoulders and elbows. The head is plastic and can swivel.

Ideon comes with a cool spinning rotor feature. Place one of the included rotors on the chest and wind it up. The mechanism will click and lock into place when it has been wound enough. You can also use the knob on the back to wind it up. You then press a button on the side and the disc will go off flying. The toy originally came with three discs, but mine only had two.

There are two versions of the box for this toy, I am not aware as to which came first.

If anyone has any information about the toy company BEAT, can you leave a comment?

The Tryder G7 Ride-On Combination Set is one of only three jumbos to have been produced by Clover......

Clover's Tryder G7 jumbo was a landmark purchase for me for a variety of reasons. It was the first Japanese jumbo that I'd ever actually purchased from Japan, via renowned toy dealer Masato Shono (our first of many transactions). It was also the first time I'd actually spent $1000 on a toy. This is memorable because it's a surefire sign that you're in deep and there's no turning back. I'll also always remember it since it arrived at my house on the morning of 9/11/01, at almost the exact moment the planes hit.

Though the toy is most often grouped with the Jumbo Machinder line of toys, it is technically called the "Tryder G7 Ride-On Combination Set", because it is designed to transform into 3 of the 7 combinations that the robot can form in the animated series. It was also intended to be able to be ridden by a small child. I'll try to touch on all three forms of the toy in this review.

First up, the robot Tryder G7.....

Assembly of the robot is pretty simple. It's basically held together by 3 plastic rods with a bolt on either side. You put the feet at the bottom of the legs and slide them onto either side of the little rod with the raised part in the middle. (This doesn't allow the feet to be pushed together.) Then tighten with the bolts on the outside. Then connect the legs to the pelvis and and slide the next rod all the way through and add the bolts to either side here. The pelvis is a thin piece that runs up the middle of the torso to the stump of the head. You need to place both parts of the torso against this and slide the long rod through all three parts to hold them in place. There will be extra length on either side and you slide the arms on here, finally tightening the whole thing with two more bolts. Then slide the vinyl head over the stump on the top and place the chest emblem into the holes. Lastly, you'll need to attach the wings. There are two vertical columns on the back of the robot, each with a hole on the top and bottom. To get the wings on there, you simply line up the bottom tab on the wing with the bottom hole, insert and then line up the top part to allow it to rest in place.

When completed the robot stands approximately 25.5" tall and 12" wide. It is 22.5" from wingtip to wingtip. Though Tryder's size is impressive, it can be very difficult to display him with more traditional sized jumbos. It does have shooting fists like most jumbos, but it is also one of the few to actually have metal in it. The connecting pieces at the ankles are metal. In robot form, the jumbo has very clunky proportions. Everything is a little too squared off for my tastes. However, I think that the impressive wingspan and excellent design of the head and chest piece make up for that.

Next, Tryder Beagle....

Tryder Beagle is basically Tryder G7 sitting down and as such is very easy to transform into. Simply remove the legs from the pelvis, reposition them 90 degrees and reattach. You must also place a set of wheels in between the legs before tightening. This wheel goes in the same place in both Tryder Beagle mode and Tryder Cosmic mode.

Another set of wheels on a metal bar is placed into slots on the bottom of the feet, which need to be turned down. This will also allow you to place the included "handle bars" into a hole on the top of each foot. (This hole is hidden in robot mode.) Finally, slide the third set of wheels onto the ridge on the back and tighten using the small rod and bolt.

Finally, Tryder Cosmic.....

Tryder Cosmic is easily the better of the two ship modes that this toy can form. Naturally, it's also the more difficult of the two. First, remove the head, chest piece and wings. Then take the entire torso apart as well. You will need to place the front and middle wheels exactly the same as in the Tryder Beagle mode, but the third set is different this time. Slide the two sides of the wheel piece around the thin part of the pelvis (the part that normally runs through the two torso pieces) and tighten as before. Then there are two more plastic rods that need to be pushed UP through two more holes in the side of the wheel piece allowing for the attachment of the two torso pieces on top. The torso pieces need to be turned so that the arms can go on top of them (on the same rods), as opposed to on the side. Place the arms on top pointing backwards and tighten with the bolts. Add the wings on the side and the handle bars in front and you're all done and ready for a ride.

Personally, I'm no fan of either of these modes. Though I had a wee bit of fun assembling them for this review (the first time I'd actually done it since purchasing this), I can't see myself ever doing it again. I bought this for the robot, nothing else.

The box for this toy is 15" tall, 11" wide and 9" deep. All the instructions for the toy are shown on the side and back of the box. Surprisingly, in doing research for this review, I discovered that there are at least two different box variations out there. The difference lies in the back side of the box.

My specimen

Other Box (thanks to Matt Alt for the image!)

Having just discovered this variation, I'm unsure which is the more common of the two.

With the exception of the chest piece, all the detailing on the toy are from the enclosed sticker sheet, a copy of which is shown below.

The Tryder G7 Ride-On Combination Set is one of only three jumbos to have been produced by Clover, along with Daiojya and Aura Battler Dunbine. It is not as common as Dunbine, but far easier to get than Daiojya, which almost never shows up. A MIB specimen typically will sell for betwenn $1000-1500, depending on the condition of the box.

Here's the show's opening:

A glorious metal god amongst common robots. He was the Clover Tryder G7 Bird attack.

I first set eyes on him at Alen's house. He stood out amongst the other toys, with his translucent firebird wings. They sparkled with metallic flecks in the sunlight. A glorious metal god amongst common robots. He was the Clover Tryder G7 Bird attack. I had to have him.

Eventually, via ebay, I secured a specimen through a Hong Kong dealer. I couldn't wait to open him. Inspecting the package - the box was a bit worn, but the toy looks as if it had never been removed from the box. Interesting note about this box - there's no back, it's just a styrofoam tray and a window-box cover. There are actually 2 versions of the box for this toy - solid and window boxed. As you take off the flimsy cover, you notice a very cool detail - the character's name is embossed in the styrofoam in katakana. Awesome.

Tryder G7 comes with quite a few accessories:

• 2 fists
• 4 missiles (2 in the tray, 2 on the toy)
• Disc weapon
• Missile launchers
• Trident
• Wings
• Wheel

Each accessory has its own resting place in the tray.

Right away, I notice something is wrong - the firebird wings. They don't have the metallic flecks in the translucent orange plastic! Bummer! But have I stumbled upon an unknown variant? This needs further investigation. The wings plug into Tryder G7's back via 2 pegs. The wings have moveable sections, with little tabs to make sure they stop in the appropriate place.

The Tryder figure itself stands about 6" tall and is heavy. Most of this toy is diecast metal. There are several cool gimmicks packed in to this beauty. First, there is a lenticular sticker on the chest. Depending on which way you tilt the toy, the image changes. Next, the fists fire, and you can also insert missiles or the disc weapon in his arm and fire those as well. The Fists can hold the giant Trident weapon. The legs open up to reveal hidden missiles, and the head is removable and becomes a small ship. The yellow wings on the back can swivel.

Tryder G7 can transform into 2 vehicle modes, both kind of lame, but you have to give Clover credit for getting the most out of a toy. The first mode is simply the toy lying on its back, with toes pointed down and a missile launcher placed on the feet. The second mode places the toy on its stomach, and adds a third wheel that plugs in the chest for support.

Not only is this a fun to to muck around with, but it is a work of art. It has that 70s funk, mixed with 80s mecha. Truly a beautiful toy, and one of my favorite pieces.