Space Wars 1977

Christmas 1977 is such a unique period of time, every kid in the country had space toy fever thanks to a certain movie. However, no physical toys existed  (the cardboard promissory note was clever but come on) meaning it was a golden age for the Ideal Star Team (hastily slapped together to captilize on the movement) and pre-existing space toys like Mego's Micronauts, Mattel's Shogun Warriors and Zee Toy's Metal Man.  

It all hit the fan in 1978.

And now, a whole page of diecast Shogun Warriors

This page is from the 1980 Popy toys catalog and even though i wasn't born in Japan, it feels like childhood.

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Colouring Book Theatre: Shogun Warriors starring Great Mazinga

It's been a long time since I did a CBT here at PlaidStallions but yesterday I found a treasure trove of books at a local shop including this gem.

I love the Shogun Warriors colouring books because they're kind of nuts but in a real good way. 

They were the creation of Canadian cartoonist Owen McCarron (who also created the Marvel "Fun and Games" comic) and it's painfully obvious that he was probably given no back story to the characters and free reign to do whatever he wanted.

So he just had fun with it, it's so super absurd with no thought to scale or science that just kind of has a wonderful childlike charm to it. I imagine very few kids would complain.

 Check it out after the jump and when you're done, check out this other book from the series.

Your 1977 Robot Selection

Tomy's Mighty Max is a really neat toy that often gets mistaken for a Micronaut or a Shogun Warrior.




I wish more records were included with playsets, I think it adds a neat quality. 

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BIG Toys Week: Rodan by Mattel

I cap off this theme week with one of my absolute favorite BIG toys of all time, Rodan! Toho movies were a treat for me growing up, rarely playing on TV, I can vividly remember watching each one I did catch.

The weekly Godzilla cartoon and monthly Marvel comic were also enabling my love for Japanese Kaiju cinema. My single attempt to get a Mattel Godzilla toy was begging my parents to buy me one at Woolco.

It didn't go over great.

Rodan was not released in Canada, so I was blissfully unaware of it. When I began toy collecting in high school, Godzilla and the Shogun Warriors were on my short list, basically I was fixing Santa's mistakes.

 I started by visiting kids I grew up with and asking if they still had their toys, I got a lot of weird looks, I also got a lot of cool old toys. I eventually graduated to late night calls to the shadow network of dealers and collectors in the United States.

Everybody knew somebody and you'd get off the phone with one guy and have a new contact to call. One of them mentioned he had a Mattel Rodan, I probably swallowed my gum, I'd never heard of this toy, I NEEDED it.

So after some negotiation, at 17 years old, I had a Mattel Rodan hanging over my dresser mirror complete with a cigarette in his mouth and a pair of tiny sunglasses. I wish I had a picture of this.

He would be the first thing I saw every morning until college when I sold him for car money. It kind of stung to see him leave at that toy show...

Flash forward to 2007 when I encountered a great deal on a boxed Rodan, I snapped it up and put it on display. It was pretty magnificent, I'd hate to think what it would sell for now.

 But for some reason, it brought me little to no joy. I eventually sold it to a friend for a friend price, he still mentions it.

Later on, it dawned on me that sometimes "Mint in Box" isn't as fun as loose. The Rodan I had as a teen didn't have a box, heck he was missing his feet! So if I wanted a Rodan, it would have to be loose.

And here he is, my 3rd Rodan toy hanging with some of my childhood toys,  hung over my workspace, he's often one of the first things I see every day (after my dog). He never fails to bring me joy.

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More French Shogun Warriors!

"Invincible defenseur de la Planete Terre" is going on my next business card.

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Superheroes: European Style

My pal Eddie sent me this wonderful page from France yesterday and it's all the reasons I collect catalogs, a wonderful smattering of what Superhero toys were available in 1977.

A little Mego, some AHI rack toys and a whole bunch of cool as hell stuff we never saw like the Goldarak Action figures!

I love catalogs....

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Circus World Toy Sale!

All i want for Christmas is a MIB Stretch Monster......and some Mego Superheroes.....and a Blip....covered in Shogun Warriors.

Les Super Heros!

This catalog page from France is like every other thought i had when i was eight. Nowadays I sadly think a lot about sandwiches more than Shogun Warriors....

The Mattel Shogun Warriors Collection Commercial

I am thrilled to unveil this new transfer from my collection. This is the Mattel Shogun Warriors collection diecast commercial that I doubt I've seen since I was nine.

I have a few more like this coming up this summer. Hope you enjoy!

Dolls: Big Figures from Fantasy!

I recently came across this wonderful article about action figures circa 1977, it mentions Micronauts, Pulsar, Metal Man, Electroman, Stretch Monster, Shogun Warriors and their impact on the toy market place. It features interviews with not only toy buyers but toy makers from Hasbro, Mego, Zee Toys and Mattel.

Seeing as these are things that haunt my dreams 40 years later, I thought it might be of interest to all of you, read on after the jump!

Shogun Kits

I've never actually owned one of these but they seem well withing my skill set for a change.

Mexican Aquaman

Tracked down a toy I've wanted for ages recently and it's certainly not the Aquaman, let alone a Shogun Warrior you're probably familiar with but I can explain some of this mystery after the jump. 

Shogun Warriors at your command

I always feel like a kid with my nose up to the bakery window when it comes to Shoguns...

Vintage Toy Store Pictures Volume 18

For this year's last Friday feature, I bring you my favourite of all sections of PlaidStallions another volume of vintage toy store pictures!

Celebrating the time when we had unique independent retailers dotting our landscape and came up with colourful and and interesting ways of selling us toys.

Volume 18 is our biggest yet and loaded with shots across the USA dating from the 1970s to the 1990s. Maybe even your favourite childhood toy haunt is included in this mix!

Notable sites include Kenner Six Million Dollar Man, Barbie, Hot Wheels, Mego 2 XL, Muppets, Fisher Price Little People, Electronic Games, Atari Consoles,  Kenner Star Wars, Gabriel Lone Ranger and much, much more.

"Take my advice kids, keep one of these in the box!"

Vintage Toy Store Photos Volume 18

Don't forget to visit our archive of Vintage Toy Store Photos, it's a timewarp!

Pod Stallions 37 : Godilla

Episode 37 is our first "lost episode" as we had to re-record half of it after a computer glitch (sorry), so we know it's not October. This one has J & B discussing all things Godzilla and his Toho pals, something we're both fans of.

Subjects include our highlights (and lowlights) of his film series, the Hanna Barbera cartoon series, the Marvel comic and of course the many, many awesome toys that take money from (mostly Brian's) our wallets. Sidetrack conversations include Majin monster of Terror, Rack Toys, Johnny Yuma, Ultraman, Rodan,  Psychotronic magazine and the Big Bopper.....

We also want to keep the conversation going on the Pod Stallions Facebook page, please drop a line as to your favourite Godzilla movie and toys. We anxiously await your thoughts.

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Show notes

• The HG ToysGodzilla vs the Tricephalon playset
• That Ultramanplayset Brian mentioned
• Knickerbocker Godzilla store display
• Combat JoeGodzilla set by Takara
• The amazingGLJ Toys Godzilla rack toy
• The ImperialToys Godzilla assortment from the 1980s
• The original commercial for Mattel Shogun Warriors Godzilla
• Popy Godzilla
• The MattelGodzilla game
• Godzilla'sgang toys
• The theme toJohnny Yuma
• The awesome new Shogun Warriors Godzilla by Toynami
• Jason's FlashGordon celebration at BAFTA still has a few seats left, click here to get tickets. 

Plenty more content on the PodStallions Facebook page!






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Spotlight: Toynami Shogun Warriors Godzilla

What better time to do a photo review of a shiny new Godzilla toy than the month of October?

This isn't any Godzilla but Toynami's retake of our childhood classic, the Shogun Warriors Godzilla. I tried to resist  this but seeing as I was denied the original as a kid, it was inevitable. 

So let's take a long loving look at the king of all monster shall we? A very comprehensive after the jump!

Shogun Warriors Model Kits by Monogram

 

The World was a better place when the Shogun Warriors guarded our freedom.....

Battlestar Shogun-lactica

As a kid, had I seen this page I would just torn it out and handed it to Santa...

Vintage Toy Store Photos Volume 17

Yes! A new installment of  one of my favorites, vintage toy store photos. A journey back to the days of oddly named department stores and independent mall toy stores and chains that are fondly remembered but sadly mostly gone.



Vintage Toy Store Photos Volume 17 covers the US and Canada this time and features appearances by Big Jim, Kenner Bionic Woman,  Barbie, Shogun Warriors, Mego Star Trek, Space:1999,  Ideal Star Team, Mattel Donnie and Marie and Kenner Star Wars.

I hope this edition brings back some powerful memories like it did for me.

And hey, check out volumes 1 through 16 when you're done.