Maximillian! The time has come to liquidate our guests.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*SPOILER ALERT*

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

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

THAT IS A DISNEY MOVIE.

Imagine what did to my mind in 1979.

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

Mego Black Hole Commercial

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Much like the Shogun Warriors Godzilla, this probably appeals more to monster collectors than Jumbo fans, but it's a great toy nonetheless. It's probably the hardest of the Mattel jumbos to get, especially in the box. It's price is normally in the $250-300 range, but you can get it cheaper if you are patient. I wanted one for years, but kept holding out until I finally scored a boxed specimen for $135!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You can probably guess that I'm in the group who really digs this toy. It simply exudes FUNK. Auction appearances of this toy seem to come in spurts. You won't see one for a long time, then there'll be three in a week. It's strange. Either way, when it does show up, you shouldn't have to pay too much to get it. I got mine for about $100 earlier this year. I've heard of them selling for $200 but that was a long time ago. I saw one in Japan earlier this year for about $350, but that's too much and it will likely be there for a long time at that price.

The second Robot Factory jumbo, Daltanious, is one of the most beautiful Machinders I've seen.

Future Robo Daltanious (未来ロボ ダルタニアス) aired for 47 episodes beginning March 21, 1979 and ending March 5, 1980. I'm a huge fan of the jumbo, which was the second in Popy's Robot Factory line of toys. It's one of the few hero jumbos that I had a strong desire to get, even though I had no previous knowledge of the character before seeing it. This one has a really great design that somehow has alot of personality to it. There's probably several reasons for this. First off, anytime you have a giant lion head on your chest, you're going to be noticed, but when that lion head can shoot a missile out of it's mouth, well, you just can't beat that. The missile is operated by a red plastic peg that sticks out of the top of the lion's head. Put the missile in place, push the peg down and the missile will fire.

When not in use, you can store the missiles on the outside of the toy's legs in the traditional Machinder fashion. Each leg holds two missiles and the clips are much thicker and sturdier than your average missile clips. While many jumbos can be seen with broken missiles clips, I'm not sure you could break these ones if you tried.

Another great feature on this robot is the head. For some reason, I've always liked robots with a smiling face and Daltanious definitely has a distinct grin. His eyes are also surrounded by a stylish, black, almost mask-like visor that looks very cool. But best of all are the horns. Protruding up from where the ears would be and extending just above the top of the head, there horns are just the right size and are distinctly different from many of the horns you see on other robots.

Furthermore, you can actually remove these horns from the head by simply sliding them out of the back of the head to reveal it is a separate ship!

As with the Battle Fever jumbo, most of the color details on Daltanious are from a sticker sheet. I wish this wasn't the case, but they do make a huge difference. Daltanious without his stickers applied just doesn't look nearly as cool, as you can see from this picture I received before buying mine.

Another thing you might notice from that picture is that the box image is different from the toy. The box shows a Daltanious that comes with a white shoulders instead of black. I would assume that this was the prototype and I'm glad they made the change. The black shoulders look much better, in my opinion.

Daltanious stands 23.5 inches (60cm) tall. You can raise and lower his arms, as well as bend them at the elbows. The head also can be turned side to side, and both fists launch.

Daltanious is not impossible to get, but it also doesn't show up often. I honestly cannot remember the last time that I saw one for sale. I think it was about 2 years ago. Price-wise, you can expect to pay at least $1000 for one and perhaps even as much as $2000, for a really pristine example. Something in the middle is most likely though.

Among Robot Factory jumbos, the Battle Fever is definitely the easiest one to find.

TV Asahi aired the 3rd Super Sentai series, Battle Fever J (バトルフィーバーJ), for 52 episodes during 1979-1980. While a new element was being added to the series, namely a giant robot, Popy was also trying something new with their series of Jumbo Machinder toys. Gone were the large boxes containing one piece toys that had been the norm for 6 years. In their place was a new system of unbuilt robot toys that had to be assembled using a simple series of plastic nuts and bolts. This allowed for smaller boxes, which in turn likely decreased shipping and storage costs. Battle Fever was the first jumbo released like this, followed by Daltanious, Gordian, Daidenjin and God Sigma.

The original design for the robot is quite appealing and most toys of it are as well. The jumbo is no exception with a beautifully rendered head sculpt and nice proportions on the body. The red shoulder shields can be raised and lowered to allow the arms to be posed.

Both fists can launch and there is a single missile launcher located in the stomach as well. Three short-vaned Machinder missiles can be stored on either side of the legs. The "BF" insignia on the chest is molded plastic but all the other ornamentation is from stickers. I think this is the one complaint I have with the Robot Factory jumbos. Although the finished products look great, I'm not a huge fan of applying stickers. I get really picky about having them placed just perfectly. On Battle Fever, every single yellow stripe on the stomach and chest is a separate sticker that you have to apply, as is the red on the legs and arms. The waist sticker with his name is pretty easy to apply but I had a really hard time with a red sticker that is supposed to go on the mid-chest area. No matter how I tried, it just didn't want to stick on there nicely and I eventually decided it wasn't worth it and placed it back on the sticker sheet. I think it looks just fine without it anyway.

Assembly of the toy is pretty self explanatory, but there is an instruction sheet included as well. One thing I would recommend is to pay attention to which bolt goes where. The bolts that are for the arms are longer than those for the legs and it's easy to not notice if you are in hurrying to assemble the toy. Also, don't tighten the back nut too much or you might bend the insignia on the front.

The artwork on the boxes are ok, but honestly they pale in comparison to the traditional jumbo boxes. While each Robot Factory jumbo is nice in it's own right and the unique assembly system allowed for some different looking toys, as a big fan of boxes, I would have preferred the old style boxes to go with my other jumbos.

Among Robot Factory jumbos, the Battle Fever is definitely the easiest one to find. It is most often priced at roughly $1000, but if you are patient and keep your eyes peeled, you may be able to get one cheaper. There is also a bootleg version of this jumbo that was released in Italy. It is called "UFO Robot" and says "UFO" on the chest, in place of "BF". It is pretty rare, though.

Here is the very very odd opening sequence to the show. No time to show the robot, you gotta see the stock footage of animals instead for some reason...

Battle Fever is really one of the best standard chogokins to ever be made by Popy. No other ST Popy toy packs in so many gimmicks, so many accessories, and so much presence.

Battle Fever is really one of the best standard chogokins to ever be made by Popy. No other ST Popy toy packs in so many gimmicks, so many accessories, and so much presence.

Good old Battle Fever actually holds a place in Super Robot history. After the success of the Japanese Spiderman show, featuring the giant robot Leopardon, Marvel and Toei started to team up on another live action show, this time based on the Marvel superhero Captain America. For one reason or another, Marvel and Toei split ways, and the show became centered on Battle Japan and his robot, Battle Fever. The show is known for being the first Super Sentai show, and the first Sentai Show that featured a giant robot.

The toy itself is really everything you could want in a die cast metal toy. Battle Fever is heavy, and a bit taller than most others in the chogokin line. It features more gimmicks than you can shake a stick at, and he comes with an insane arsenal, including:

• Lightning Light Sword
• 2 Sword Fever Throwing Knives
• Stick Lancer
• Trident
• Shield
• 2 Chrome knuckles
• Fever Axe
• 2 pilots
• 2 Launching head blades
• 6 missiles
• 4 fists

Battle Fever can launch both fists. He can also fire missiles out of launchers hidden in his legs. The silver head piece can be launched out, and the drawer on his chest pops open to launch 2 small pilots. Be aware, that if you launch these, you may never find them again. Both Sword Fever throwing knives can be stored on removable holders on the legs.

By far, the coolest feature on Battle Fever is the long chains attached to each arm. These chains themselves are weapons. Nothing attaches to them, but they just look so great on the toy.

There have been a few releases of the Battle Fever toy, including:

• Original Popy Release 1979
• Eternal Masterpiece version 1984
• Etarnal (sic) Heroes version 1986
• Battle Fever Battle Combination 2 (the Battle Fever packaged with the Battle Shark) 1979

All appear to be the exact same toy. There is also a version in a European box with the English Popy logo on it, as well as a bootleg version.