Super Warrior

Review by NekroDave

Well, it's true. The subject of today's cheapo knockoff review is not a junior machinder or some other monstrosity from some weird part of the globe that no one knew made toys. Instead, I've got a bootleg toy from Italy called "Super Warrior" that is part Battle Fever and part Leopardon. I'm certainly not an expert of vintage Popy die-casts, but this appears to be a mash up of the GB-03 ST Battle Fever and the GA-89 ST Leopardon.

The toy comes in a 7"x5"x2" cardboard box with a styrofoam try inside that holds the robot and all it's accessories. Although this toy features the face of Leopardon, most of the accessories appear to be from the Battle Fever toy. They include:

• 2 pairs of fists
• 6 missiles
• Lightning Light Sword
• Trident
• Shield
• Fever Axe
• Stick Lancer

Box Front

Interior Tray

They've drilled out a hole in the front of the legs and added a missile firing mechanism that was not present on the original toy. Pressing the little red button on the thighs fires a thin red missile. These same missiles can also be launched from the cannons attached to the lower legs. Unlike the Battle Fever toy, these launchers are always exposed and cannot be stored in the legs. Drag! Other differences from the original include new stickers on the legs.

There is a strange thing about this toy concerning the fists and I'm not entirely sure if it's unique to my specimen or just an odd choice in design. Of the two pairs of fists, only one pair can actually lock into place in the arm. The other pair does not have the knub at the end that the release mechanism grabs onto. They don't appear to be broken. If they are broken, they managed to break at actually the same length without leaving any discernible damage.

Another problem with this guy is that the is some serious flash that needs to be scraped off of the handle of the shield. As it stands now, you cannot even get the handle into the hole in the hand because there is so much excess plastic on it!

The body of Leopardon doesn't appear to have been changed much with the exception of the new waist sticker that says simply "Super". I have to admit, to my eyes, the body and head of Leopardon don't look too bad here. If I were not familiar with either of the original robots, I probably wouldn't bat an eyelash when seeing this for the first time. Certainly, there have been far worse looking combinations.

The plastic here is a bit cheap and the paint apps leave a bit to be desired, but on the whole, this toy isn't really that bad. It's certainly better than most of the bootleg machinders I've seen from Italy. Speaking of which, Luca, the company that made this toy also made a Jumbo Super Warrior(far left), but that one was slightly different. Although it retains the legs of Battle Fever and the body of Leopardon, it also had the arms of Leopardon and the head of Daimos!

For me, the worst part about this toy is that it's making me want more die-cast robots again! As you may know, I sold all that I had last year and I only have this since it was given to me. It's been standing on my desk for the last few weeks, a lonely gokin in a sea of vinyl.