Goro Goro

A couple of years ago I was in the process of purchasing a Geta 1 Jumbo from a well respected Mexican dealer. This fellow knew mostly Mego action figures, but dealt in other toys as well and had a vague recollection of these Jumbo sized Jugarama figures from when he was a child. At this time, the only figures from this line that were known were the Geta 1 as well as the Aquaman. But in the course of our conversations, naturally I asked him if he knew of any others. He said that he remembered having one that was vaguely Egyptian so I assumed he must have just had a Shogun Warrior Raydeen. But then he mentioned one that could “fold down on caterpillar legs”. Immediately, I knew he meant Poseidon!

I was really surprised to hear this at the time, but in retrospect I shouldn’t have been. Obviously the two previously known Jugarama toys were based on Popy Jumbo Machinders so why shouldn’t they have made Poseidon? In my excitement, I continually pestered the poor guy to find out more about these for me and hopefully find some specimens. Sure enough, he came through and a few months later, boxed examples of both Geta 1 and Goro Goro appeared for sale on ebaY, as the owner refused to make a private sale. Unfortunately for me, the timing of this was bad as I had just bought my Rokuron Q9 and didn’t have any money left to spend and both toys were won by a well-known Italian uber-collector.

As with the other Jugarama Jumbos, this one’s box is designed to mimick the Popy version.

Jugarama Goro Goro box

Popy Getter Poseidon box

I had been warned by my Mexican dealer friend that these toys were quite rare and he turned out to be right. It would be another 1.5-2 years before I was lucky enough to come across another example of this toy. It did not have the box and, as you can see, had severe sticker damage, but I felt I just had to get it anyway.

Goro Goro is nearly identical to the Popy Poseidon. The only differences are that Goro Goro is slightly shorter and was molded in slightly different colors. Whereas Poseidon has black fists and treads, Goro Goro has dark blue. The orange of the torso is duller on Goro Goro and his pelvis is darker blue as well. I believe that Goro Goro had the “Poseidon” sticker removed from his stomach, but all other sticker placements are the same and he has the same missile launching gimmick.

So far only three specimens of this toy have come to light. This one, an excellent condition, but loose one and the initial boxed one.

Discovering these toys was one of the most exciting times I’ve had as a collector. And though discoveries from Mexico have since slowed, with only the Jugarama Raydeen being found, I’m hopeful that there may still be ore to be mined from that country. That dealer thought there might be a Jugarama version of Getter Dragon and the very first Geta 1 found had evidence to support that. He also said he knew a collector who owned a boxed “Mazinger”, though whether that was Mazinger Z or Great Mazinger, I’m unsure since he was unable to get pictures. Hopefully someday these mysteries will be solved.

Oh yeah, one last thing. The dealer also told me that he remembered that these toys were sold in supermarkets! I think that’s hilarious. “Let’s see, today I need to buy bread, milk, Jumbos, cereal……etc”