Robocon

“You go inside the cage, cage goes in the water, you go in the water, Robocon’s in the water … our Robocon.” – Rog

So maybe Robocon is a Massive F*ckup, but he is adorable. I had no real interest in Robocon until we watched some raw episodes at the summit one year. I instantly saw the charm of the little red robot with the best of intentions.

Shotaro Ishinomori created Robocon in 1974 as the central character in the live action TV series “Gambare!! Robocon”. This children’s show featured a cast of robots who have to go to school among humans.

When I say Robocon is a Massive F*ckup, i’m not kidding. Everything this little guy touches goes wrong, despite his best intentions. Cars crash, floors get broken, nothing is spared.

In 1999 the series got a “reboot” in the form of “Burn!! Robokon” This series featured updated versions of the classic Robocon characters.

In honor of the new series, Bandai reissued the classic GA-14 Chogokin Robocon. The GA-14R is actually an entirely new toy, made with new molds, but it is VERY close to the original.

Robocon is almost entirely diecast metal. It feels like a hand grenade in the palm of your hand. The arms are made out of a tightly wound metal not unlike conduit for electrical work. This enables the arms to bend in a variety of ways. One way to tell a reissue from the original is that the reissue has much tighter wound arms, making for smaller segments.

The main body is a solid chunk of metal with an opening chest plate. The detail inside feels like stamped tin.

The lower section of Robocon is again, the wound metal with jointed solid metal feet.

You can remove this lower section and place Robocon onto a wheeled cart to create the Robocon Car. The wheels on the car are rubber.

Other accessories included with Robocon include a chrome antennae that clamps to the back of his head, a propeller that plugs into the back, rubber cockroaches, heart stickers and number cards (for his grades, I think.)

This is a great entry-level piece to collecting vintage-style Chogokin. Getting this piece will give you an idea of what vintage gokin collecting is all about, and whether or not it is right for you.