Getter Dragon

Review by NekroDave

Following up on the success of the Getter Robo anime, Getter Robo G (ゲッターロボG) aired for 39 episodes on Fuji TV from May 15, 1975 to March 25, 1976 and spawned a great many toys in Japan. Furthermore, the show was adapted for American audiences and retitled as "Starvengers" when it was included in Jim Terry's famously popular "Force Five" cartoons. Just like its predecessor, Getter Robo G featured three vehicles that could combine to form three different robots. This time around, the robots had slightly more interesting names, being called "Getter Dragon"(ゲッタードラゴン), Getter Liger, and Getter Poseidon.

Popy released all three robots in Jumbo Machinder form in 1975, but two years later Mattel would create their line of imported "Shogun Warrior" toys and one of the most popular of the jumbos they released would be Getter Dragon (renamed simply as "Dragun"). It was also one of the most highly produced of the bunch and it is arguably the easiest to get today. In fact, though the original Popy version is not that hard to get in Japan, here in the US, the Shogun Warrior version is EVERYWHERE! It's probably the most common jumbo out there and one of the first most collectors get when they are just starting out. Though Mattel released four different versions of the toy (for more on that, please see John Eaton's Shogun Warriors Dragun Page), the first version released was identical to the original Popy toy, repackaged in a new box.

There isn't too much to say about this toy that isn't either commonly known, or detailed in the link above. It's 23" tall with wheels on the feet. The saws on the arms spin and he can hurl axes from his left hand. Although the Shogun Warriors version comes with a "star shooter" accessory, the Popy version did not include it. In typical Jumbo Machinder fashion, the toy's colors are inaccurate in comparison to the animation.

One interesting thing about it that you might not know is that even though Getter Dragon would likely be considered the "leader" of the Getter Robo G team, in Jumbo Machinder form, he is actually slightly shorter than his two partners. Also, in addition to the Popy and Mattel releases, at least two other companies released Jumbos of Getter Dragon. The first was released in Spain by a company called "Nacoral" and was called Robot Nacoral Lanza Discos. The second was released in Venezuela by a company called "Famosa" and was called "Robot Lanza Discos". Both toys are rare, but it's much harder to get the Famosa version.

As I said before, getting the Getter Dragon Jumbo is pretty easy, but the Popy version is more of a challenge than the Mattel. Most collectors aren't too picky about which they get, but for me, I really wanted to have a Popy version since it would display better with the Getter Liger and Getter Poseidon Jumbos. All three toys feature similar artwork on their boxes, which looks good together. (You might notice that the box features an image of the prototype, which appears to include a vinyl cape, much like the one on the Getter 1 Machinder!)

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