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.

Finally, the last Getter Jumbo.....or is it?!?!

A couple of years ago I was in the process of purchasing a Geta 1 Jumbo from a well respected Mexican dealer. This fellow knew mostly Mego action figures, but dealt in other toys as well and had a vague recollection of these Jumbo sized Jugarama figures from when he was a child. At this time, the only figures from this line that were known were the Geta 1 as well as the Aquaman. But in the course of our conversations, naturally I asked him if he knew of any others. He said that he remembered having one that was vaguely Egyptian so I assumed he must have just had a Shogun Warrior Raydeen. But then he mentioned one that could "fold down on caterpillar legs". Immediately, I knew he meant Poseidon!

I was really surprised to hear this at the time, but in retrospect I shouldn't have been. Obviously the two previously known Jugarama toys were based on Popy Jumbo Machinders so why shouldn't they have made Poseidon? In my excitement, I continually pestered the poor guy to find out more about these for me and hopefully find some specimens. Sure enough, he came through and a few months later, boxed examples of both Geta 1 and Goro Goro appeared for sale on ebaY, as the owner refused to make a private sale. Unfortunately for me, the timing of this was bad as I had just bought my Rokuron Q9 and didn't have any money left to spend and both toys were won by a well-known Italian uber-collector.

As with the other Jugarama Jumbos, this one's box is designed to mimick the Popy version.

Jugarama Goro Goro box

Popy Getter Poseidon box

I had been warned by my Mexican dealer friend that these toys were quite rare and he turned out to be right. It would be another 1.5-2 years before I was lucky enough to come across another example of this toy. It did not have the box and, as you can see, had severe sticker damage, but I felt I just had to get it anyway.

Goro Goro is nearly identical to the Popy Poseidon. The only differences are that Goro Goro is slightly shorter and was molded in slightly different colors. Whereas Poseidon has black fists and treads, Goro Goro has dark blue. The orange of the torso is duller on Goro Goro and his pelvis is darker blue as well. I believe that Goro Goro had the "Poseidon" sticker removed from his stomach, but all other sticker placements are the same and he has the same missile launching gimmick.

So far only three specimens of this toy have come to light. This one, which I paid about $225 for; an excellent condition, but loose one that sold for about $300; and the initial boxed one, which ended at about $1000.

Discovering these toys was one of the most exciting times I've had as a collector. And though discoveries from Mexico have since slowed, with only the Jugarama Raydeen being found, I'm hopeful that there may still be ore to be mined from that country. That dealer thought there might be a Jugarama version of Getter Dragon and the very first Geta 1 found had evidence to support that. He also said he knew a collector who owned a boxed "Mazinger", though whether that was Mazinger Z or Great Mazinger, I'm unsure since he was unable to get pictures. Hopefully someday these mysteries will be solved.

Oh yeah, one last thing. The dealer also told me that he remembered that these toys were sold in supermarkets! I think that's hilarious. "Let's see, today I need to buy bread, milk, Jumbos, cereal......etc"

Just like the other Jugarama jumbos, it is nearly impossible to acquire this in a box.

Geta 1 was the second Jumbo to surface from Mexican toy makers Jugarama. It is nearly identical to the Popy Getter 1 Jumbo Machinder, but does feature some distinct differences. First of all, the toys are obviously named slightly differently and have unique stickers on their waists. While the Popy toy says "Getter 1" in Japanese, the Jugarama says "Geta 1" in English. The yellow on the pelvis of the Popy version is a thin vinyl covering, while it is simply painted on the Jugarama toy. The top and bottom of Geta 1 are not intended to be separated and are actuallly connected with two screws. The paint on the head is sloppier and the vinyl softer. Also ,the legs of the Jugarama version are softer. I can actually squish them just by squeezing the sides. Lastly, the Jugarama toy is slightly smaller, measuring only about 22.5" tall. All the other proportions are shrunken as well, so that a fist from a Popy Getter 1 will not fit on a Jugarama Geta 1.

Much like the Aquaman Jumbo before it, when specimens of this toy first starting appearing, they were often seen with incorrect fists. For awhile it was actually unknown if it really had two matching fists like the original. Sometimes it had a missile launcher, sometimes two right or left fists, sometimes even an Aquaman fist. But most notably, it first appeared with an axe throwing fist like that of a Getter Dragun Jumbo. This is significant because the fist from a Popy or Shogun Warrior Dragun should not fit on this toy, which would suggest the existence of a Jugarama-made Getter Dragun, although to date no such toy has been discovered.

Note also that the specimen above does not have the waist sticker, but does have all the other appropriate sticker details, which are missing from mine. Though neither pictured here has the cape, I have seen at least one specimen that did. It often seemed like no two specimens of this toy were the same!

One very cool thing that Jugarama did was to include the missile launching accessory with this toy. You didn't have to buy it separately like with (most of) the Popy Jumbos, nor did it replace the correct hand like with the Mattel Shogun Warrior Jumbos.

Just like the other Jugarama jumbos, it is nearly impossible to acquire this in a box. So far, just one example of the box has surfaced. It features artwork that mimmicks the Popy Getter 1 box. While this toy generally costs between $100-200 loose, the auction for this single boxed specimen ended at around $1000. The following image is from that auction.

Jugarama Geta 1 box

Popy Getter 1 box

The side of the box shows the other toys in the Jugarama Jumbo lineup. There is no Dragun listed as you can see, but I have also been told of a Mazinger Jumbo from Jugarama so it's possible there was a second wave of releases. It has always been my hope that since there definitely is a Getter Poseiden and that there may be a Getter Dragun, there might even be a Getter Liger out there somewhere! Hopefully more of these toys will some day come to light.

Aquaman is often missing the belt and other accessories, and it is not uncommon to see it with the wrong fists.

Aquaman may not have been the first Jumbo to show up from Mexico, but when it first appeared about 5 years ago, it signalled the start of a new wave of discoveries from south of the border that continues on even now. This toy is based on the Popy Kamen Rider X Jumbo Machinder. It was initially sold mostly under that name and it would be quite some time until it was discovered what the toys name actually was, or the name of the company that released it.

The toy was made in Mexico and released by a company called Jugarama. Although it was initially thought to be just a true bootleg, it was actually licensed by Bandai/Popy. They used the same mold, but changed the character's name to "Aquaman". I thought this was quite silly at the time, but later found out that the Kamen Rider X character was designed to be an underwater specialist so it actually makes sense.

Although Aquaman uses the same mold as Kamen Rider X, there are differences between the two toys. Aquaman is about 1.5 inches shorter. The blue polyethylene is darker and the paint on the soft vinyl head has been changed. The orange on the head of Kamen Rider X has been changed to red on Aquaman and the blue in between the eyes has been dropped entirely. The fists have been changed from black to red. Although most specimens of Aquaman no longer have it, the belt was included. It was also advertised as having the whips, but I've never seen them.

Jugarama released at least four known Jumbos. Besides Aquaman, there was Geta 1 (Getter 1), Goro Goro (Getter Poseiden) and Ultraman (Raydeen). The boxes for each of these toys are notoriously hard to find. Only one specimen of each of Aquaman, Geta 1 and Goro Goro are known to exist and the Aquaman one is nearly destroyed. In fact, the dealer who found it for me seemed to think it wasn't even worth buying, but I wanted to at least see it so much that I kept asking him to get it for me. I paid $40 for it and though that may seem like alot for something in that condition, I felt it was worth it at least in the interest of "jumbo scholarship". What makes these boxes so interesting is that they all have artwork designed to mimic the photos that were on the original Popy boxes!

Popy Kamen Rider X box

Jugarama Aquaman box

The side of the Aquaman box features images that suggest that Jugarama also released items based on several Popy Jumbo Machinder accessories. In particular, the XX-1 Rocket Punch fists, the XX-11 transport and the XX-12 stop watch. (Please excuse the poor images, as I said, this box is nearly ruined!)

Rocket Punch fists

Transport

Stop Watch

I've never actually seen any of these items for sale. (The only Jugarama accessory I've ever seen is based on the XX-3 Missiles launcher. I believe this was included with the Geta 1 toy.)

Aquaman isn't exactly easy to find but he does show up from time to time, moreso than any of the other Jugarama Jumbos. It is often missing the belt and other accessories, and it is not uncommon to see it with the wrong fists. Depending on what condition you find it in, it generally costs between $75-$200, much more if a boxed specimen showed up.