Raydeen
Two years after Popy released their Raideen Jumbo Machinder, the toy would be imported into North America and Europe as part of Mattel’s Shogun Warriors line-up. Mattel labeled the toy as “Raydeen” on the packaging. Depending on who’s doing the writing, you’ll see it listed sometimes as “Raideen” or “Reideen”. There are three versions of this Mattel release. I won’t focus on those differences since that’s already been done here. What I will touch on is the difference between the Mattel and Popy versions. The Mattel version I have is version 2.
The first thing that jumps out at you is that the left fist has been changed. Instead of having the original bow-fist, Mattel attached a launching “Iron Cutter” fist that was originally a part of Popy’s line of Jumbo accessory fists, designated XX-13. It’s nice that they wanted you to have another launching fist, but it really throws off the symmetry of the toy, with one hand now hanging lower than the other.
If you stand the Popy and Mattel versions side by sie, you’d notice that the Mattel one is actually taller. On the 2nd version, this can partly be attributed to the different wheel housing on the feet, but more significant is the fact that the legs have been elongated at the knees. In the picture below, notice that the Mattel version (on the left) has a lot more blue plastic above the screw before you get to the white upper leg. You’ll also see that the Popy version comes with stickers on the side of the leg, while the Mattel (2nd version at least) did not.
I have no idea why this extra material was added, but personally, I prefer the stockier look of the original toy better. One thing is sure though while replacing the Iron Cutter with a bow-fist will make your Shogun Warrior Raydeen look better, it’s still noticeably different from the Popy version.
Other than those things, it’s basically the same as the Popy toy (with the other differences detailed in the link above notwithstanding.) As with most of the Shogun Warrior Jumbos, it’s very, very common on eBay.
