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Voltron II Deluxe Gladiator Set

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4 comments posted
My First "Voltron"....

In December 1984, all I wanted for Christmas was Voltron. Finding one that Christmas for a decent price proved to be difficult. I called around various toy stores and they either did not have Voltron in stock(sold out) or it was $75.99 which my Mother absolutely refused to pay for one toy. I called Meijers of all places and not only did they have Voltron in stock but he was only $15.99!!! My Mother went to Meijers and bought it immediately fearing it would be gone. I was ecstatic!!!! On Christmas morning needless to say I was very confused when I opened that present. The box said Voltron all over it but the blue robot in the box I had never seen before in my entire life. It said Voltron II on it and there was a small screen grab from the Albegas cartoon(of course I didn't know that back then) on the side of the box and it said something like "Voltron II defends the middle universe". I was very, very disappointed to say the least. My friend had gotten hosed that Christmas too and ended up with the black gladiator so we combined them the best we could but there wasn't much else you could do with them. Mine broke early on as the grey hinge on his back cracked off.
I was much happier when I got my Vehicle Voltron needless to say. lol

The price point was $15.99 per robot BTW.

I have seen the Matchbox Gladiator Voltron in a deluxe gift set too(I have a pic somewhere of the box) but the rumor is that it was recalled by Matchbox for some strange reason. I have no idea what the Deluxe set sold for originally.

iron maniac's picture
Posted by iron maniac on 23 January, 2007 - 22:41
Interesting tale. I too

Interesting tale. I too became obsessed that same year and asked for the Vehicle Force Voltron from my folks. It was just about all I got (you're right $75 was no joke in 1984 dollars). My first tastes of Voltron II came on the back side of the massive box my VV came packed in.
There is still talk even to this day of potentially bringing the Gladitor Voltron to the US for a dubbed DVD release. I would personally find that very interesting!

VeritechPilot's picture
Posted by VeritechPilot on 1 December, 2008 - 23:18
Arbegas

The series actually aired in Italy, in the late eighties/first nineties, and is considered lame by most viewers, although personally I didn't find it so bad. It revolves about three high school students who built giant robots to use them in robot vs robot competitions (it seems to be the in thing at the time, sheesh). Trouble arises when the alien Derringer Army from planet Deran comes to earth with the intention of invading it. The robots of the protagonists get trashed, but the resident professor, who hapeens to be the father of the only girl on the team, has the solution: three newly built robots that can combine into different modes and crash the various 'mega fighters' unleashed by the enemy. From there on it's an alternating of high school life with alien trashing. Not much originality on the plot I suppose, but like they said, it's not the story itself, but how it is told that makes it good. And Albegas really didn't stand out as much as its predecessros. But it wasn't too bad either.
Anyway, I was lucky to find one of these almost unscathed in Japan a few years back, and it is since being displayed at may family's mountain house. I agree completely with the review, the value (and fun) of this toy is its interchangeability.
I purchased its modern version by Evolution Toys this month, and I must say that they did an excellent job with the character, improving and augmenting the features of the classic, and at the same time maintaining the exact look of the anime. I really love both.

DynamicDynamic's picture
Posted by DynamicDynamic on 10 February, 2014 - 12:29
Albegas is getting a DVD

Albegas is getting a DVD release in Japan, so it'll be interesting to see the show (still need to see Dairugger XV).

VZMK2's picture
Posted by VZMK2 on 25 February, 2015 - 12:21