Gaiking

The Mecharobo Gaiking is better known in the US as the Shogun Warriors ZARGON.

First things first – this toy comes from the collection of one Mr Joshua Fraser (aka Josh C-10 Fraser). For those of you not familiar with Josh, he is not only a legend in the collecting world, but also a dear friend of mine. He doesn’t have the biggest collection – not in the least. What makes him a legend is his particular fascination with 2 things – Gaiking, and mint C-10 boxes. He will upgrade toys from a C-9 box to get a C-10 box. He has custom containers made to make sure they stay C-10. It’s an obsession that goes beyond the bounds of normal collecting. For him, nothing less than deadstock will do. It makes for and impressive, and respected collection.

That being said, Josh came up one night to photograph some items for auction, and he asked if I wanted him to bring anything. I asked for “that Gaiking that comes apart and is battery operated”.

“The Mecharobo” he tells me.

Of course I want to get this classic toy photographed for CDX. SO he brings it up, components wrapped separately from the box so not to get damaged.

What makes the Mecharobo Gaiking unique is its construction. The main torso has a motor in it that turns various connection points to the body. All of the parts are modular; so you can swap limbs, heads, etc, and then switch it on, and watch the appendages start flailing. There were only two Mecharobo toys released in the line – Combattler being the first.

First off – the box. Beautiful. You will notice that the printing is a bit off on this specimen, looking like you need 3-D glasses to view it.

The toy itself is absolutely stunning. It is one of the best representations of Gaiking, in my opinion (in toy form).

All the parts are hard ABS plastic. Each part is removable from the core body, including the skull face.

I asked Josh about the red missiles in the chest. They do not shoot. He thinks they move back and forth, but I was surprised to find out he’s never turned one on. Ok, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. But that’s our best guess.

The fists fire by pressing a yellow button on the upper arms. Unfortunately, the hands cannot hold the leg crosses.

In theory, there are hundreds of different combinations you can make with this toy. Unfortunately, we can’t show them to you. First of all there are two large yellow wheels that attach to the side that were left in his display case at home. Secondly, the rubber tank treads had never been removed from their plastic bag, and Mr. C-10 was not about to tear them out now. Such is life.

But hey, I got pictures – and what a glorious thing this is. Its huge, maybe a foot tall, and even un-motorized it has a great shelf presence.

I mentioned that this came to the US as Zargon, from the Shogun Warriors line in 1978. The only change made to this toy was that the upper arms on Zargon are white instead of blue.

Thanks again to Josh Fraser for allowing me to shoot this toy for CDX.