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Space Sheriff Sharivan

Comments

11 comments posted
Excellent first-review, Ben!

Excellent first-review, Ben! And a great piece, too.

Incidentally, my first CDX review was another Popy GC piece from the 80's: the GC-22 Bismarck DX. Gotta love that high-tech 80's aesthetic sometimes!

--
Sanjeev

Sanjeev's picture
Posted by Sanjeev on 6 April, 2009 - 15:25
Hey, thanks! I love that DX

Hey, thanks! I love that DX Bismarck review... I'd like to get the ST version alot.

Prometheum5's picture
Posted by Prometheum5 on 6 April, 2009 - 15:47
Andy Warhol vs. Popy

Did you know... that Andy Warhol did an awesome piece featuring Sharivan?

It directly features this toy, GC-06!

It's from 1983 and called "Flash Sharivan Robot."

He also did one of RoboChoi GA-43 around the same time but I'm not sure of the title of the work.

if you google image search "warhol sharivan" you will find both pieces easily.

The Big R's picture
Posted by The Big R on 6 April, 2009 - 16:44
Don't Diss the Joe!

This is a great figure, but to say American kids were "stuck" with GI Joe figures really dismisses the fantastic engineering that went into those great 3 3/4 figures. Really the only difference I see in articulation from a GI Joe figure is that the wrists and ankle rotate which is cool but where is the waist rotation? Also high articulation existed with the 60's GI Joe toys and through the 70's with MEGO dolls. This is less an argument of what is more articulated but both lines are great in their own way.

3 3/4 will always be my favorite scale for action figures. I've owned many of these types of figures such as Metal Hero and Super Sentai over the years and still haver a huge collection of Joes. Also many of these toys were available to Americans Kids at places like Pony Toy and local swap meets (USA was getting clearances of Japanese Toys in the 1980s), I owned an equal amount of both American and Japanese toys.

Otherwise it's a great review of a fairly obscure piece! Thanks for sharing and looking forward to next review!

Cheers
LF

Leonardo Flores
CollectionDX Staff Writer-West Coast Bureau

Showapop's picture
Posted by Showapop on 6 April, 2009 - 16:57
GI JOE is responsible for a lot of these toys!

Nice Leonardo, I love 3 3/4-inch scale for many years and at one time had a ridiculous vintage joe and star wars collection, both complete or near complete, with doubles or triples of most of both lines.

I think a lot of japanese collectors don't realize the back and forth japan and the US have done with toys, without which there would be none of these great toys we see here on CDX.

The 1960's GI JOE begat Combat Joe which begat Henshin Cyborg, which begat Microman, which begat Diaclone, which begat Transformers, which begat all the goodness you see before you in the world.

The Big R's picture
Posted by The Big R on 6 April, 2009 - 17:36
First off, great review and

First off, great review and thanks for contributing!

But it's ironic that it should spark this conversation. Someone on the CDX MySpace sent a bulletin out a couple weeks back asking what your top 10 favorite toy lines were and it really got me thinking. We tend to focus mostly on Japanese toys, and rightly so since they are amazing, but there's a lot, and I mean A LOT, of great American toys that I would collect if money and space were not an issue. In fact, after much deliberation, I actually wrote up a list of my top 10 which I'll probably blog about sometime soon. For the record, both GI Joe and MOTU are in my top 10!

"This must be settled the way nature intended....with a vicious, bloody fight!"
Onyx Blackman
Principal, Flatpoint High

NekroDave's picture
Posted by NekroDave on 6 April, 2009 - 17:47
It's true that GIJoe is

It's true that GIJoe is important as both a pivotal US toy line and an influential line abroad, but I could just never get that into it... the closest I came to collecting GIJoes was the Exosquad battlesuit figures. Even then though, the mech figures were way cooler than the pilot figures. I understand and appreciate the 3 3/4" Joes, but I was always more of a 5 and 6" superhero figure fan. I've owned some GIJoe type figures, and while they are fun, they almost never stand up without stands, which bugs me. I still think Sharivan looks more dynamic posed well without a waist joint that GIJoes can with one.

Maybe I'm just bitter because every Microman figure I've ever owned broke...

As for the stuck comment, I'll admit that as a kid I did not have too much firsthand exposure to GIJoe figures or MOTU... I had a few hand-me-down MOTU figures from a family friend, and they are admittedly really cool. No kid should be disappointed at getting Battle Armor He-Man or Skeletor for sure. Any 3 3/4" O-ring type figure I had as a kid broke. Then the MMPR and Big Bad Beetleborg figures came out... those original sets were amazing, with great accessories and fantastic articulation... I was never as satisfied as a kid with an action figure again until the Marvel Legends line started, and I became obsessed with Iron Man. Guys in metal suits will always beat Army Men for me.

I have also seen the Warhol print... it's available on ebay for pretty cheap, and is a pretty slick piece.

Prometheum5's picture
Posted by Prometheum5 on 6 April, 2009 - 18:07
brings back another memory..

I remember vaguely playing with this toy
Either the one with the light and sound or the same with the one that you reviewed
See the thing on Ebay auction link i remember it have a cool light when i played this one
Lost it somewhere around though :(

Most of Super Sentai and Metal Heroes are very popular in asia culture back in 1980's
Space sheriff Gavan, Sharivan and Jiban
Gavan have powers from the moon, Sharivan from the sun

Coincidentally Kamen Rider RX and Black ( tokusatsu series ) also have power from the Sun, most likely Asian Cultures beliefs in power taken out from the universe

see the thing is all those 70-80's cartoon put more emphasize Good versus Evil,
development of the character who struggles like crazy against the forces of evil

Do you guys think so? or im just getting older these days
Ok back to work

Thank you for the article prometheum5!!!

许玉豪

adihui's picture
Posted by adihui on 6 April, 2009 - 18:57
This makes me remember of

This makes me remember of Jiban :D

chronocross_xp's picture
Posted by chronocross_xp on 6 April, 2009 - 19:37
Great Review

This is well done. I had no idea how cool this guy was. I just assumed he was a typical, bricky, anonymous sentai character-type gokin. Was I wrong. Those springs are lust inducing.

thanks

The Enthusiast's picture
Posted by The Enthusiast on 6 April, 2009 - 19:45
JOE II

I just had a feeling you didn't like Joe figures and you freely admit that now. That's fine we all have our own taste in what we collect but you just threw around some statements that were historically incorrect about US was so behind in articulation when we very much pioneered it with GI Joe in 1966 and MEGO through the 70's (They both had feet and wrist movement as well as waist movement.). Not only that a Japanese vinyl have very much no articulation and I think they are the coolest ever! There are a lot of toys lines I don't care for, even hate (Rock Lords), but I will give them their proper due and there a lot of figures that I love that I tell people not to buy (read my Saint Seiya Spiral Zone reviews).

Being a huge Joe fan, by the 90's GI Joe reached its peak and I'll agree that they were not that great. But that's another conversation for another review!

Thanks for the Warhol link!

This is a fantastic figure and looking forward to seeing more! Thanks again for the review!

Leonardo Flores
CollectionDX Staff Writer-West Coast Bureau

Showapop's picture
Posted by Showapop on 7 April, 2009 - 12:50