I've finally "completed" my jumbo Shogun Warriors collection.

I say "completed" in quotation marks because of course there are still variations out there that I should probably get someday, but for the time being, I just wanted one version of each character available in the Shogun Warriors line. And some may find it odd that Dragun would be the last one I would get since he is among the most common and popular ones out there, but I was waiting for just the right specimen, at just the right price.

So, why did I need a particular specimen? Well, it's been awhile since I was cranking out jumbo reviews on a regular basis, but you may remember that I do have the original Popy version. And by all accounts, the first version Shogun Dragun was the exact same toy simply in a different box. So I figured that if I'm going to have more than one toy of the same character, I would like them to be as different as possible. To that end, I decided that I would not buy a Shogun Dragun until I saw a complete, box "lightning legs" version at a decent price.

As you can see, this version replaces the traditional "V" stickers on the legs with some silver lightning bolts.

Why?

Who knows? But this is usually the version that is the least popular so every time I'd say I specifically wanted this version to a friend, they would often wonder what the heck was wrong with me. But variety is important to me. So here are all of my jumbo Getter Dragons.

(l-r) Popy, Mattel, Nacoral, Famosa

(Famosa review forthcoming..)

I'm really glad I held out for that version because when I got it, I noticed some things about it that I didn't know before. For instance, did you notice that the Popy version is shorter than the Mattel version? Why would that be if the only different is the leg stickers? Well, upon closer inspection, I noticed that the feet on the Mattel version are actually modified feet from a Great Mazinger!

I'd never seen this reported anywhere else and it makes me wonder what other barely noticeable differences there are among the various versions that can't be seen without having all of them in one place!

One other difference that WAS known is of course the fact that the spinning sawblades from the Popy version were removed from this version. Also, the star shooter accessory was added to the Mattel version. The first version Mattel one has a strap but this one has the more common clip on version.

My specimen came with 12 stars and three axes.

So, other than pointing out those differences and just adding this toy to our database, there really isn't much more I feel like I can add.

(And yes, I know I haven't reviewed the Shogun Warriors Goldorak. I have it and will do it....later. )

Another jumbo bootleg surfaces from Peru.

After I bought the strange King Of The Jungle knockoff Voltron, I'd hoped that a bootleg of the Tetsujin 28 jumbo would surface. Well, no such luck thus far, but I have managed to score a second Voltron knockoff that is quite different from the first.

As you can see, there are several differences between these toys, which are both from Peru, although not necessarily from the same maker. The company who made both are still unknown as neither has any markings. However, the seller I bought it from speculated it may have been from a company called "Basa". But I don't know that for a fact.

The first thing you noticed of course is that they are different colors. The new one on the left has a silver torso and forearms with black shoulders. And the colors of the legs have been switched back to the proper sides. For details, there are almost no stickers on the new one, just a little bit of residue on the arms. I'm not sure if there were ever more than those. The head is yellow and red and although the colors are very inaccurate to the show, I have to admit that I like them. It's a much brighter looking toy than any of the other Voltron/Golion jumbos and I think the color scheme looks nice.

Next, check out the comparison of the arms of the two toys.

I complained in the previous review about how you could not remove the launching mechanism from the arms and how that made the arms look too long and gangly for my tastes. But on this one, no launching mechanism is present so it looks much better. But both toys still use the arms from the T28 jumbo.

OK, now, speaking of arms... For some reason, although this toy does not have the proper arms on the shoulders, they are on the hips!

Yes, those are the upper arms from the Voltron jumbo attached to the hips. Why? Don't ask me. I'm not sure if they are supposed to have the lower arms connected here and they are just missing? I hope not, because not only would that mean the toy is incomplete, but well.. that would look just awful. Maybe they are supposed to look like some kind of cannons? You'd have to use you imagination a bit for that, but it's what I like to think. Either way, it's insane and thinking too much about it could make you insane too, so don't. I'm not gonna.

There's not much more I can say about this that you can't tell from the pictures. So I'll just leave you with a shot of all 3 Voltron Jumbos in my collection. Still missing 2 others, the Popy Golion and the Korean Super K. At least two others, I mean. Who knows what we haven't found yet.

More Peruvian Jumbo madness!

Getting a newly discovered toy from a place that you don't expect to find one is always exciting enough, but even greater than that is the potential that toy represents. After the first jumbo from Mexico was discovered, more followed. The first time a jumbo from Argentina turned up, it, too, was not the last. And now that jumbos from Peru have surfaced, perhaps the floodgates have opened.

Not long after I got the first Dangard Ace from Peru, another more interesting jumbo toy came to my attention. This time it was not just the same old Dangard Ace mold that we've now seen many times. Instead, a bootleg of the Popy Golion Jumbo Machinder came to light!

Now, as we know, this is not the first time the Popy Golion Jumbo was re-used in another country. Most famously, there is the LJN Giant Commander Voltron that was released in the United States and Mexico (and maybe other countries). Far less common is the bootleg that was released in Korea, called Super K.

But obviously, the thing that sets this one apart from those is the arms. They are clearly not from the original toy nor do they have anything to do with Golion or Voltron in any of his incarnations. No, these are clearly are from the Popy New Tetsujin 28 Jumbo Machinder!

This is pretty exciting to me because there is no other recorded New Tetsujin 28 Jumbo outside of the original. Yet, here are remnants of it on a toy in Peru. Could it be that there is a T28 bootleg Jumbo floating around somewhere in Peru? Or other parts of South America? The mind boggles.....

As you can see, this toy is not in the best condition ever and is missing one of the wings on the back. But I felt it was too important and unique a specimen to pass on. And at first, I was a bit skeptical of it. I asked the seller if he was absolutely sure it even had the right arms on it, since they look so out of place. He assured me that he'd seen the toy in the past and it always had these arms.

Ok, so let's talk a bit more about these out of place arms. As you can see, both fists launch with the help of an attached firing mechanism. This is just like on the Tetsujin 28 toy and my hope until I got it was the the mold was exactly the same. This is because on the original toy, the upper arm is hollow, which allows you to insert the fist, firing peg and all, into the upper arm. That way the arm is shortened to a more aesthetically pleasing length. Unfortunately, here that is just not possible. First, the upper arm does not have that opening.

Furthermore, even if you were to remove the launching mechanism and pull out the pin in the hand to try to attach the fist to the upper arm, they do not fit. The end of the fist is too wide for the end of the arm and it would just fall off. So no matter how unsightly those long, gangly arms may be, you have to display it that way. That is, unless of course you are into actually modifying the toy, which just isn't my way.

Now, enough about those arms. What else is unique about this toy? Well, for starters, it's slightly smaller than the LJN version. That means that everything is scaled down including the wings and their connection points. So it's not possible to just get another wing from a common LJN toy to replace my missing one.

Other differences include the fact that the colors of the legs have been swapped. The left leg is blue instead of yellow and vice versa. All of the stickers on the legs are the same as the LJN version (sorry, I don't own a Popy version to actually make that comparison), but the ones on the torso are obviously different. The words "King of the Jungle" are on the upper torso and the waist sticker is a design wholly new to the Jumbos. It does look familiar to me, though. Maybe it's been on other Golion toys? Please comment if you recognize it.

I think the only other interesting notes about this toy that I can mention are that the legs still show the remnants of the missile holders that are present on the Popy Golion Machinder. So, this is clearly molded after that and not the LJN Voltron. The polyethylene body feels pretty solid for a bootleg jumbo, but the head is very soft and squishy. It feels almost like rubber more than soft vinyl. This has caused the paint to crack in many places.

So, overall this toy could be better. Those arms just look so out of place, even if they were a proper lenght. But to me, the appeal of this thing is more what it represents than what it is.

My Jumbo Dangard Ace obsession reaches new heights!

Or should that be depths?

I've talked in the past about how much I love the Dangard Ace Jumbo Machinder and how that led me to lust after both it and the yellow bootleg from Italy. After finally getting both, I thought the story would end there. But no, eventually I would discover and acquire more Dangard bootleg jumbos from Argentina. Since those toys were produced in two different colors, I was prepared to for the possibility of more in other colors. I was not prepared for what turned up next.

Ironically, on the very same day that I was offered a third specimen of the toys from Argentina (one with green arms), this toy from Peru surfaced. I'd never heard of any jumbos from Peru before this and was very keen on getting it and was fortunately able to do so.

At first glance, this looks just like the other Dangards we'd seen previously, but it's actually quite different. Not only is the color different, but it had some different stickers on the arms.

And oh yeah, about those arms. Would you believe me if I told you that they had a toy gun inserted into them? When I first saw the toy, I could see a trigger on the underside of the arms and could tell that the fists came off. So my natural assumption was that the fists launched like many other jumbos, but just with a unique launching mechanism. But upon receiving the toy, I found out that was not the case at all.

What I saw instead was so insane and crudely primitive that I couldn't help but laugh. It seems that this toy simply had the fists cut off and the shooting mechanism from a toy gun inserted into each hollow cavity of the arms. A slot was cut into the bottom of the arm to allow access to the trigger and a hole was cut into the front of the fists!

I thought I'd see it all, but this takes the cake. And if it were not for the fact that the seller almost immediately found more specimens of the toy that were all the same, I would have thought that this must be a custom.

Did I say all the same? Well, not quite. While 2 more of the same color have surfaced, there's also been a second version that replaces the red torso with white.

Other than the color difference, both toys are exactly the same, right down to the ludicrous gimmick. I'd love to know what was originally shot out of those fists. Missiles unique to this toy? One of those plastic bullets that stick to things? One thing is for sure, whatever it shot, it shot hard. I managed to get a pencil to fly 16 feet out of this.

So, although these two toys are basically the same, how do they stack up against the other existing Dangard Ace Jumbos? Well, naturally they can't touch the original Popy toy, but they are higher quality than the ones from Argentina and maybe even the one from Italy, too. The polyethylene is pretty thick and solid. Also, these are bigger than the ones from Argentina and about equal in height (21.5") to the Italian one. They also stand more upright than the others. Unfortunately, it seems like it might be impossible to find one mint as the stickers are always in really rough shape. This has been pretty common on most of the toys I've gotten from South America. Maybe it's due to the climate?

One thing is for sure, when I first got into this hobby, never in a million years did I think I'd end up with seven different Dangard Ace Jumbos!

And who knows? Maybe some day I'll have more. I know of another from Hong Kong with a yellow body and red head and it will be no surprise at all if more surface from South America.

Gundam is certainly the rarest hero jumbo known to exist.

But there's much more to it than just rarity. There's prestige and intrigue and all kinds of AWESOME!

December 1st 2006 and I'm on a flight to Tokyo. Normally this would be the sort of thing that would consume all your thoughts. How's the weather there? Did I bring enough money? I wonder what the convention will be like? What am I gonna find in the shops? Where can I find Pepsi? Will eating McDonald's for a week straight kill you? Will this flight ever end??

But not this time. This time my mind is somewhere else entirely. There's this auction, y'see. And it ends while I'm in the air. And if I win it, I'm not gonna have a dime to spend on this whole dang trip. Which means traveling to the other side of the world to sit in an apartment for 10 days and then go home again. But I hope like heck that I do because that means I will have won only the 3rd specimen of the Gundam Jumbo Machinder known to exist. Before leaving home, I placed a bid with a sniping company and I would just have to let the chips fall where they may, not being able to watch the auction close like I normally would. Granted, that is probably for the best at this stage in my life. I was at the point where too many times I found myself sitting at my computer, sweat dripping, heart racing, feeling like I'm about to drop over from stress. You know, the stress of a toy auction. Ridiculous, isn't it? I could just hear the coroner saying "Cause of death....machinders."

Anyway. I arrive at my destination, greet my hosts and as quick as proper etiquette will allow, I'm on the computer to check the results.

And I suddenly really, really hope I find a nice toy in a shop in the coming week because Gundam was not to be. Although I bid over $2500 more than the guy behind me, the guy in front bid just a little more and I had to settle for second place. Second place sucks. Especially since I had no idea who had outbid me. I'd never seen the name before. You know how it is. If you stick around long enough, you usually get to know the competition and there's a certain solace in knowing that the prize at least went to someone in the community. And although I didn't know it then, it turns out it did. In fact, the winner turned out to be a friend of mine bidding with another ID and I'd just cost him a pretty penny with my last second snipe! Oooops!

Unfortunately, the rest of the trip would yield no Jumbos for me either and in fact ended up being the most disappointing trip there I've had. But all's well that end's well, as they say, and just about a month ago, Gundam specimen number 4 surfaced and this time I was able to close the deal (with a little help from selling all of my die-cast robots, mind you). The condition wasn't as good as the previous one, which was absolutely dead-stock, but beggars can't be choosers. I'll take it. Interestingly, both the 3rd and 4th known examples of this toy were found in the UK, not Italy where it originated.

Gundam is a pretty amazing toy, both in terms of it's appearance, play value and place in history. There is a mystique to this toy that few others can claim. Despite the enormous popularity of the character in Japan today, apparently it sort of tanked when it came out and only got really popular years after the initial series. By the time that happened though, most Japanese toy companies had come to realize that these large sized Jumbo Machinder toys were not profitable enough to continue producing them. For many years, it was believed that a Jumbo sized Gundam was never made.

The first clue that perhaps something was out there came in the form of a knockoff Jumbo called Titan. The Titan toy used legs that were clearly based on the Gundam toys made by Clover before they sold the license to Bandai (and before they made toys that actually looked like how Gundam looked in the show). It also used the head of Groizer X, which was never made as a Jumbo either. Were these original sculpts by the Ceppi Ratti, the Italian company that released the toy? Or did they get their hands on some unproduced prototypes from Japan? More importantly, were there complete Jumbos of Gundam and Groizer X out there, waiting to be found?

While there is still no more evidence of a full Groizer X Jumbo, not too long after Titan appeared, images of a full sized Gundam Jumbo turned up, but they were clearly of a knockoff toy. The hands were from the Popy Gordian Jumbo and it used the Robot Factory method of assembly employed by Popy near the end of their Jumbo Machinder run. When the first boxed specimen surfaced, it was confirmed that the toy was made in Italy by the same company that made Titan, Ceppi Ratti. Furthermore, even though I consider it a "knockoff" since it re-uses parts from existing toys, it is indeed licensed. But the theory that the toy was really from an un-made Clover toy only seemed to be re-enforced by close examination of the toy since it's quality was so far in advance of any other known Italian Jumbos, even the Titan by Ceppi Ratti. This thing is just head and shoulders above any of it's peers. I mean, does it seem likely that the same company made these two toys, of the same character, at roughly the same time?

Ceppi Ratti Gundam Jumbo Machinder

Ceppi Ratti Gundam Junior Machinder

Personally, I find it hard to believe that Ceppi Ratti did this one on their own. Especially when you start to factor in all the bells and whistles that this toy has, which would rival, or even surpass, the best that Popy ever did.

Gundam comes with a variety of great weapons. It has an axe that comes molded in four parts; a big yellow blade with a supplemental blade on the back, a long yellow handle and two red attachments. One of the attachments is where the two yellow pieces connect and the other is mostly ornamental on the bottom.

There is a sword that can be stored over it's left shoulder, but unfortunately it does not fit in it's hand. More on that in a second.

If melee weapons aren't your thing, it also comes with a nice red gun that you can put in either hand. Personally, I prefer the axe.

Now, I know you noticed that GIANT awesome shield, right? It looks absolutely beautiful and has a handle that can be inserted into either fist. Unfortunately, mine is a bit yellowed with age.

Do you like projectiles? Well, besides both fists firing like most Machinders, Gundam also has a big removable cannon sitting on it's right shoulder with a firing missile! It even had a cool scope on the side and if you wanted to, you could even store the tightening tool for the nuts on the back of it.

Now about that sword. Well, what is the point of having a sword that doesn't fit in the hand? I know, I know, I feel your pain. But what if the trade-off was that it could fire out of the arm!?!?!

Yes, once the fist has been launched, it's not out of ammo yet. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only Jumbo out there that has a weapon that can be fired in place of it's hand. I had no idea about this until getting mine and I think it's a great feature.

The box for this toy is similar to other Italian robot factory style Jumbos and measures 15.5"x12"x5". It appears to show a prototype of the toy with silver on the head in place of blue and the axe is silver instead of yellow. Action features are shown on the sides and the back has a parts list/assembly blueprint.

Box Front

Box Sides (both are the same)

Box Rear

You may notice that my example is missing a few stickers here and there. But remember my friend who ended up paying through the nose for his because of me and my snipe? Well, fortunately he doesn't take things like that personally and has promised to send me a scan of the sticker sheet at some point.

Once assembled, Gundam stands about 25" tall. The sculpt as well as the fit and finish is fantastic. This is real quality work here, unlike other cheap Italian knockoff Jumbos, such as the lovable, yet lamentable, Space Valour. It holds together as well as a Popy toy and stands solidly. Everything fits. It's truly a one of kind masterpiece and has probably surpassed Dangard Ace as my favorite Machinder.

I've been wanting to review this one for a long time and after years of searching for an upgrade, I finally get to share it with you all.

The world of bootleg Jumbos is one of my favorite things to delve into. I've always taken great pleasure in finding, and hopefully even acquiring, some of the strange toys that few others would be interested in, those toys that would offend the sensibilities of the collecting purist. This Mexican offering might be one of the strangest out there, perhaps rivaled only by the Mazinger Z: Paladin de la Justicia and the Ring Toss Mazinga for just plain blow your mind craziness. Or perhaps ugliness, depending on your point of view.

I've known about this toy for a long time, nearly as long as I've been collecting in fact. It was featured in an article on the old Cool Japanese Toys website. Unfortunately, the toy is extremely rare and it's been a real challenge to get my hands on one. I did manage it several years back, but the specimen I got was nowhere near complete and I chose not to review it for that reason. But I've recently been able to upgrade so I'm glad to finally be able to do it now.

This version of Mazinger stands 21" tall and actually uses a modified version of the body from the Reideen Jumbo Machinder. Some of the changes made include using a mirror image of the right hand for the left, both fists minus the shield. Also, the missile launching mechanism in the stomach has been removed and simply filled in, although you can still see the outline of it. And of course, a new sculpt of the head of Mazinger now rests on it's shoulders. And it's a, shall we say, "interesting" take on the subject.

As you can see, the colors of the face are painted right on to the polyethylene. Since paint doesn't stick to polyethylene as well as to something like vinyl, it's not uncommon to see it in poor condition. The paint of my last specimen was no where near as nice as this one. It should also be noted that the white of the stomach is painted right on.

Now, the best part of the head is the cockpit. It's very crudely made and all the more charming for that. The red upper part is shaped much like the bottom of a cup, with a clear dome in the center. What appears to be an action figure that has been cut in half is screwed into the bottom.

Mazinger's chest plate is a simple flat piece of plastic that has been screwed directly into the chest, despite the fact that there are two small holes in the chest that appear to be there to allow two pegs to connect. This is the way the wings on the back connect. And, oh man, those wings! BAT WINGS!!!

The thing I love about those bat wings is how small they are in relation to the rest of the toy. You would think that by choosing bat wings you would want it to have a sinister appearance, but by being so small, it ends up being somewhat cute, like a fairy.

Even though this toy is very rare (I only know of 4 as of this writing), not all are the same. Some have white hands, while some have black. And even amongst the limbs that should be all the same color, there seems to come in varying shades. Some pitch black, some dark grey, etc.. At least one that I've seen has the head piece cast in white.

A comparison of both specimens I've owned. Note the white fist and lighter colored legs on the left.

This toy is probably the rarest known Jumbo to originate in Mexico. It's very, very difficult to find, but due to it's crude sculpt and inaccurate portrayal of such a popular collector, it's not one that I think too many people desperately want. Like many of these bootleg toys, it's a curiosity and desirable more as a historical artifact than as a toy. I believe this toy is rumored to have been sold in a bag with a header card. If there are indeed two others in the series as the old CJT article suggests, they have yet to surface. But if and when they do, you know I gotta get'em!

After a bit of a hiatus, CDX's resident Jumbo apologist returns with another JM review and makes a case for the much maligned Five Robo. With video!

Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman (地球戦隊ファイブマン) was the 14th show in the Super Sentai series and aired for 48 episodes from March 2, 1990 to February 8, 1991. It's main mecha, Five Robo (ファイブロボ), was released as in 1991 under the Jumbo Machinder banner. It was the first toy to feature the brand name since 1982's Dol Dragon and would be the last such toy, although later there would be model kits of Dangioh and Nu Gundam from B-Club that bore the name. However, those are generally not considered real Jumbo Machinders. In fact, depending on who you ask, the same could be said of Five Robo, too.

The reason for this is due mostly to the fact that the toy is made entirely out of hard plastic, unlike the polyethylene or vinyl of traditional Jumbos. This really sets the toy apart from it's brethren. It just really sticks out like a sore thumb in a lineup of vintage Jumbo Machinders. Besides that main detriment, there are a few other things that make this a pretty unpopular toy. At 21" tall, it's a bit smaller than a full sized JM. The proportions looks a bit goofy, too, especially the legs and feet, which seem quite large.

Some people also don't like the box, which is also different from classic Popy JM boxes. It's made out of thick, sturdy cardboard with full color graphics all around it and a lid on the top. Come to think of it, it's actually a lot like the first series Jumbo villain boxes, only with a lot more effort put into it.

One thing I never knew until getting the toy myself is that the image from the front of the box actually continues on to the right side, which I think it pretty neat. Also, the instructions for the toy are printed directly on the back side.

Ok, so what are this toy's good points? Well, if you look at it on it's own merits, there are actually quite a few. And when I say to look at it on it's own merits, I mean, think of it from the perspective of a child instead of a collector. First, it's still pretty large and though it looks a bit goofy compared to older JMs, it actually does look very much like the robot in the show.

Five Robo also has some neat gimmicks, including light and sound features. If you press a button on the shoulder, his chest and eyes flash and you hear a beeping sound. The next feature is similar, but a bit cooler. You can place a clear sword in his right hand and when you press the button there, the sword lights up and you get the previous sound again. On top of that, you can remove the sword and replace it with one of two different guns and then they will light up if you press the button. When not in his hand, both guns can be stored halfway up the arms. So Five Robo is fully armed and ready for battle at all times.

Unfortunately, because of the electronics involved, you do lose some other features. For instance, the head cannot be turned at all and the right fist does not launch. You have to store the batteries inside the right fist and right behind the head on the back. However, you do still get rocket punch action from the left fist so it's not a total loss.

Ok, now the next gimmick is really something that it gets a lot of flack over and rightfully so. It's quite silly. Five Robo "transforms" into a vehicle, but the transformation consists entirely of laying the robot down on it's back. That's it. Seriously. I didn't even bother taking a picture of it. There are 20 plastic rolling wheels on the back (6 on each leg, and 4 on both sides of the back) and the arms also have stickers on them the mimic wheels there. Those stickers, as well as all the others on the side, need to be applied but many collectors do not bother since the toy looks exactly the same from the front without them. All the sticker ornamentation on the front of the robot is already there when you open the box.

The Jumbo Five Robo is probably the easiest Jumbo to acquire. Not only is it very common, but most people don't even want it, which of course helps keep it very affordable. It's a very common sight on both Yahoo!Japan auctions, as well as in shops in Japan, but it's seen less frequently on Ebay so prices there are usually higher. If you're interested in one, make sure you shop around before buying.

Far less common than this toy is it's Korean counterpart. I remember seeing one on Yahoo!Japan auctions many years ago, but I was just beginning to collect at the time and I didn't know for sure that it was an actual Jumbo. It was listed under "Jumbo Machinder", but there was no mention of size nor anything in the pictures for scale. The legs on that version opened up and you could place action figures inside. For many years, I questioned my own memory of whether or not I really saw it until recently JoshB unearthed this picture. Now I just gotta find one!

A cheap toy, but a worthy placeholder for the real thing.

Popy released a Daitetsujin 17 Jumbo Machinder in 1977, but your average collector is much more likely to own this Taiwanese bootleg than the much more expensive original and you can count me among them. I'd love to have the real deal, but for the time being, this guy will have to do. This toy has affectionately become known as the "Disco Daitetsujin 17" (or just D17, for short) due to the hilariously loud stickers on it. And since the same company made a bootleg Giant Gorg Jumbo, that toy has assumed the same nickname, deserved or not.

Now, as I said, I have no original D17 to compare this to, but just by looking at this and knowing the high quality one expects from Popy, I think I can confidently say that this one is lacking refinement. The plastic feels cheaper and has all sorts of bumps all over it it. The paint on the head is not very good either.

One problem that is very common on these is that the springs used in the firing fists are too strong and crack the tab on the fists, which then fire off on their own. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to just unscrew the arms and remove the springs entirely. The fists will stay on ok and it'll still display well, without it attacking you unexpectedly. I kid you not, I literally got hit in the head with a random flying fist just walking by this thing one time.

Even though the quality is not up to par, the toy itself did come with the same features as the original, including the aforementioned launching fists. Additionally, the toy can transform into a ride-on fortress. It's a bit of a silly gimmick (like most "transforming" Jumbos) in that you just bend the ankles back and the legs forward and add the tower to his back and an extra set of wheels between it's legs.

I guess it's neat that they maintained this feature, but on my specimen at least the toy has a tendency to lean backwards a bit because of the joint at the ankles. And the seam at the hips where the legs bend doesn't match up quite right, which makes it look a bit awkward from the side. Personally, I'd rather have a more stable toy than a gimmick I'll never really use. But maybe the kids in Taiwan liked it. The artwork on the header card sure seems to suggest that they would have.

And yes, this is one of the very few Jumbos to have been packaged in a huge bag with a header card. At 23" tall, I can't imagine there are bigger toys out there sold bagged.

This toy was released twice. Although neither version has a manufacturer name or date on it, the general consensus was the the first release was in the 1980s, with the second in the 90s. In fact, I think this version was being cranked out even into the new millennium, causing it to be the far more common of the two. Later releases came with just the robot/wheels and not the wings and tower. If I remember right, the factory had a bunch of the robots made, but stopped production without ever finishing all the accessories and the overstock was sold off anyway. I got mine during this time so that's why mine is incomplete. (JoshB has pics of his old complete one that he contributed to this review.) Most that you see on Ebay these days are like that.

This release featured red wings, while the other had green. Furthermore, and this may be hard to believe, but the green wings version actually came with stickers that looked even uglier than those shown here. Unfortunately, it's been years since I've seen one of those for sale, I don't have a picture saved and I can't even remember what it looked like. But I remember thinking it was hideous. Just awful. (And of course now I really want it!)

Fortunately, for you collectors who are more discriminating than I am, you'll sometimes see sticker sheets for sale on Ebay that reproduce the stickers from the original Popy version, so that you can make it look much nicer. Tempting, but for me, I like to keep all my toys in their original condition, regardless of how much of an eyesore they may be.

Space Valour is a composite Jumbo Machinder bootleg, utilizing parts from Daimos, Leopardon, Daikengo and others...

I admit, I have a bit of a soft spot for Space Valour because it's one of the very first Jumbos I ever got when I started collecting, right after all the Unifive Jumbo Machines and some Shogun Warriors. I suspect I'm not the only one that this was the scenario for since this one is often on Ebay at a relatively cheap $100. It's far and away the most common full size Jumbo bootleg so it's often a quick way for the new collector to add something to their lineup.

But is it a good toy? Well, not really. Most bootleg Jumbos are pretty poor quality and these Robot Factory style ones that were released in Italy are often among the worst. Because there are so many pieces, many of which were taken from molds that were never intended to be combined with other pieces, they often don't line up very well. When an original Popy Robot Factory Jumbo is put together, it feels like one solid piece. Not so with Space Valour. Everything stays together, but nothing seems to "fit", if you know what I mean. If any of you have a dad who isn't a carpenter, but likes to imagine he is, then you know what I'm talking about. That homemade bookcase he made looks like a bookcase and it does hold books, but owning it only makes you want to get a real bookcase. That's Space Valour.

The arms and legs both feel floppy. The plastic is not high quality and tends to crack, especially the clips that hold the missiles on the legs and sometimes the clip that holds the firing fists in place. This can cause the fists to shoot off themselves and they can be a pain in the neck to load, too.

With that said, the makers of this toy were at least ambitious. They loaded it up with tons of firepower. Almost too much. Both fists can shoot, it shoots two spinning discs from launchers in the midsection and the legs also have missiles launchers. All the missiles and discs can be stored on the sides of the legs, which makes the toy look even more heavily armed. A sword rounds out the weaponry.

On top of that, they actually sculpted an original head for this toy. Most of the other Italy Jumbos, and most of this toy, are cast right off of existing molds, but Space Valour has his own unique look. Not only is the mold original, it's even an original design. No other robot has the same head as Space Valour.

Ok, so now you may be wondering where the rest of Space Valour originates. Well, you probably recognize the main torso from Daimos, even though it's been modified to hold those disc launchers and the shoulder shields. Speaking of which, both them and the legs come from Battle Fever Robo, but four small wheels have been added on the bottom. The arms are from Leopardon and the fists...well, I just noticed the fists seem to be unique, too. Although they are very similar to the fists from Battle Fever, Daltanious and GodSigma, they are in fact different. The circular "layer" nearest to the elbows is actually raised up, whereas it's lower on the others. Interesting.

Anyway, back to the rundown, the sword is from the Takatoku "Daikengo" Jumbo and although I'm not sure if it's the exact same mechanism, the "Super Jumbo Jeeg" from Takara utilizes the disc launching gimmick. It wouldn't surprise me if it's from there considering the popularity of Jeeg in Italy. The missiles look very much like the missiles from the Nakajima line of Jumbos, but are a different size and usually not interchangeable. Of course, there's always slight variations on these things so your experience may be different, but I wouldn't count on it. Lastly, you can see nods to both Dangard Ace and Daltanious among the sticker designs. Oh, speaking of the stickers, you'll notice that mine is missing the stripes that go around the forearms.

Back to variations for a second here. Although this toy is most often called "Space Valour", you might find it from time to time in other boxes. The second most common one is called "Zork", but there is a third. I can't remember the name of it right now since I've only seen it once and apparently forgot to save the picture. But I think it's something like "Warrior Of Space" in Italian or something like that. I'll try to find out. All three boxes feature similar artwork on the front.

So, basically, if you're looking for a quality toy, you can give Space Valour a pass. If you're just looking for a cheap jumbo to tide you over until something more appealing comes along, it might be a good option for you. Just know what you're getting into ahead of time and don't expect too much.

Only quality issues prevent this toy from being better than the Mattel Shogun Warrior that it knocks off.

Sometime in the late 1970s, Spanish toy makers "Nacoral" produced at least four bootleg versions of the Mattel Shogun Warriors Jumbos. Although the original toys were produced by Popy in Japan, it was clearly the US Mattel versions that were being mimmicked. The four toys that were released were Dragun (Robot Lanza Discos), Daimos (Robot lanza cohetes), Great Mazinger (Robot lanzamisiles) and Gaiking (Robot lanza punos).

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Daimos was probably second on my personal want list in terms of Nacoral Jumbos, right after Dragun. It looks significantly different than the Mattel version, while still maintaining a high visual appeal. In fact, some might suggest that the Nacoral version is even better than the Mattel one. The addition of a second joint on the left arm solves the symmetry problem that the Shogun Warrior possesses. Additionally, now both fists have launching capabilities.

Among the most prominent of the other differences between the two toys is the change in color scheme. The chest and fists have been changed from black to blue, while the red of the arms and legs is a lighter shade. Strangely, some parts of the feet and fists have a sort of blending of colors, as you can see both blue AND black clearly.

A similar thing is true of the missiles that came with this specimen of the toy. It's quite difficult to see in photos, but these missiles have an orange hue to them, even a blending of red and yellow. This is significant to me because many years ago I was involved in a transaction between two friends for a Nacoral Daimos and that toy had red missiles, much like the Popy Daimos. I remember it vividly because it was missing one missile and I gave my friend a red missile that I had from an Italian bootleg "Super Warrior" jumbo. I just assumed that all Nacoral Daimos jumbos came with red missiles and that the specimens that I had seen in pictures with yellow missiles likely were missing theirs and the owners simply substituted yellow Mattel missiles. But recently several people told me that they had bought boxed Nacorals that came with yellow missiles. The sort of hybrid missiles I have here lead me to think we were all correct and that the Nacoral Daimos was released with both red and yellow missiles.

There are still more differences between the Nacoral and Mattel versions of this toy. The back wheels on the feet are different. Where the Mattel toy has one large wheel on the back, the Nacoral has to thin ones. The heads are also quite different as well. While the Mattel is soft vinyl with painted detail, the Nacoral is polyethylene with stickers. The blue and silver stripes as well as the eyes are all stickers. The colors have been changed and furthermore, there is even a slight difference in the mold. If you look from the side, you will notice that Nacoral is missing the four circles just behind the "ear" of the head. And above that, the area that is blue on the Mattel version extends further up than it does on the Nacoral. Here you can see how it slants down toward the back.

One last thing that I just noticed is that the stickers on the legs have been inverted and for some strange reason, it appears that the circles on the right leg of the Nacoral Daimos are off-center. On the front of the lower legs, you'll notice that there is no molded lines around the stickers like the original. You can also see that like most bootlegs, it is slightly shorter..

Just like the other Nacoral jumbos, Daimos actually shows the Shogun Warrior version on the box lid and the box is a much harder, and therefore more durable, cardboard than we are used to seeing on Jumbos. Outside of that though, the toy does suffer some quality issues like many bootleg toys do. The plastic knob of the fists is prone to cracking and the fist tends to shoot off by itself as a result. The mold lines on the legs aren't as clean as they could be and overall it just feels less durable than the official toy.

The Nacoral Daimos is a fine addition to your jumbo or bootleg collection. It doesn't show up too often though. However, when it does, sometimes it seems to show up in bunches. I have no idea why that seems to happen with some toys, but it does. You'll go two years without seeing one, then all of a sudden 3 are available. Go figure.