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.

The Nacoral version of Great Mazinger was based on the 3rd version of the Mattel Shogun Warrior.

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).

The Nacoral version of Great Mazinger was based on the 3rd version of the Mattel toy, having a "V" sticker on the chest rather than a separately molded piece of plastic. The main differences between the two toys are on the head and hands. While Mattel removed the left hand from the Popy Great Mazinger Jumbo Machinder and replaced it with a missile launcher, Nacoral went all the way and replaced both hands. Now with no hand in which to hold a sword, the openings in the hips are no longer present. The box shows the original Mattel toy, with the right hand replaced by a missile launcher.

The next most noticeable difference is in the head. Instead of "L"-shaped yellow horns, there is now straight, red ones. Furthermore, the whole head is of significantly lower quality. The elegant lines and perfect symmetry of the soft vinyl original has been replaced with a sloppily molded hard plastic. The Brain Condor on the Nacoral looks too big to fit in the head and the eyes and mouth grill are now made of stickers.

The Nacoral version is slightly smaller than the Mattel, measuring at approximately 22.5" tall. The sticker on my Nacoral is shinier than the one on my Mattel version, and the lettering for "Great" (????) is not colored yellow as well. Lastly, although the Nacoral is based on the third version Mattel Great Mazinger, it comes with a full compliment of 14 short-vaned Machinder missiles, where the Mattel had only 10.

Nacoral is known to have released two variations of this toy. The second has a different, all blue head. Another version of this toy was also made, but this time it was released in Venezuela by a company called "Famosa". This toy is nearly identical to the Nacoral one, but does have a few minor differences, such as a slightly smaller head.

When I first started collecting Jumbos, it seemed that the Great Mazinger was the hardest to get out of the 4. But the last couple of years has seen them coming out of the woodwork, so to speak. Loose specimens are frequently seen on eBay (though often in poor condition) and boxed ones show up from time to time too. Meanwhile, Nacoral Dragun, Gaiking and Daimos seem to be getting harder to come by. Great Mazinger, and really all the Nacorals, should sell for between $200-400 in mint in box condition.

This version of Getter Dragun is very slightly smaller than the Popy version and although it is nowhere near the same quality, it's a very interesting and different take on a popular character.

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).

Of the four, the one I always wanted the most was the Robot Nacoral Lanza Discos (which from here on I'll refer to simply as "Dragun", since that's what we all know him as.) While each toy is distinctly different from the original, I've always thought that the Dragun was so cool that it almost looked better. Several changes were made to the toy. First and most noticeably, the color of the lower arms and the cape was changed from red to black. This really gives the toy a darker look. The red plastic is lighter than the Popy version, having an almost orange hue to it.

Instead of having a painted soft vinyl head, this version's is molded in two pieces of hard plastic and glued together. Silver stickers are added to the eyes and mouth and the dot in the forehead is not colored. The neck is still painted silver.

This toy comes with axes that can be hurled from the left hand like the previous version and it also included the "star shooter" that came with the Mattel Shogun. The star shooter is the clip on kind, not the kind with the strap and attaches to the ridges in the right arm. For some reason, both lower arms are screwed into the upper arms and cannot be turned.

The Nacoral version of Dragun differs from all previous versions by having one thin straight sticker on the front of each leg, rather than the "V" or lightning stickers seen on the legitimate releases. The sticker on the stomach is most interesting. It appears to be a completely made up set of symbols designed specifically for this toy. It's certainly no language I am familiar with, at least.

One of the things I love about this release is the box. It's clearly designed to look like the Mattel Shogun Warrior boxes, but has some interesting things about it. Firstly, the toy shown on the box appears to be the actual Mattel version and not the toy that comes in the box, except that the eyes are all silver. Secondly, for some reason there are black circles inside the chest stickers. This rather sillly addition makes the whole chest look like a face. Thirdly, the sticker on the waist of the toy on the box is simply the sticker for the Great Mazinger jumbo turned upside down! Fourth, even though the "discos" part of the title is simply Spanish meaning "discs", I love how the glittery lights in the background give an actual "DISCO" feel to the presentation. It was the '70s after all. Fifth, and lastly, it just makes me laugh that they decided to take one picture of the toy and show it FIVE different times on the box. (Once on the front and two times on both sides.)

This version of Getter Dragun is very slightly smaller than the Popy version and although it is nowhere near the same quality, it's a very interesting and different take on a popular character. It's not easy to find and will likely cost in the $300-500 range. A nearly identical version was also released by the Venezuelan company, "Famosa".