The second half is just as good as the first. I have to admire Greg's hark work and dedication to making such nice action figures on his own. That's really loving a story. Thank you.
I have to believe that they gave the #1 spot to Vehic Voltron, and made him so much taller than Lion was, was in anticipation of Lion being more popular, and all that, plus the moniker on the box , “The Most Powerful of it’s Kind!” probably did serve as a buffer to get more buy Vehic. I remember my brother pointing to the “most powerful” on the box, and feeling like he’d get a leg up in getting that while I’d get Lion. Of course he phased from wanting Vehic over time.
Awesome video! It's a thrill to see my work-in-progress Panosh Place-style Vehicle Team Voltron in your video -- as well as the figures made by the amazing pock63! Vehicle Team Voltron toys are definitely a mixed bag, although I'm quite fond of many of them (obviously). :) I sure wish Panosh Place had secured enough sell through in 1986 for the company to proceed with the second wave of toys. Keep up the great work!
Me, too! Unfortunately this work-in-progress custom project is probably the closest thing that we will ever get. facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151835700911828.1073741826.656581827&type=1&l=e49ede5b52
I was one of those kids who asked for lion Voltron, but the parents ended up with this one. However, I enjoyed the hell out of playing with this one. The two frustrating things for mine was that the doors for the face eventually loosened and would pop open when not transformed and the left hand (the part that shot off) broke so I had to tape it back on. But damn, I loved this toy as a kid.
I was one of those kids who preferred vehicle Voltron to the extent that I owned all three versions you mentioned in this video. I don't recall the chest jet being as finicky as you present but then when you're a kid you don't think about breaking stuff as much.
The gx-88 is amazing. Probably toy of the year for 2019. Hopefully you guys at retroblasting do a review, would be incredible to hear your thoughts on that figure.
🤯🤯 I remember those pics of the never made panosh toys, I forget if it was box or an insert in one of lions or other panosh toys I opened, cause I had like entire line as kid, but I remember seeing that and being so excited n then never happened lol
Can you do a video of nothing but outtakes? I like watching you two as a couple. It brings a sense of teamwork that i know you guys have. Thanks and keep posting!
If one follows the evolution of chogokin toys, Dairugger is a great toy! 15 vehicles combined, and you can still move the robot arms!! There was actually a third version that was made partly of diecast. It even had suspension built into the legs. However, that version can only separate into three parts rather than 15 parts. Golion toy was developed before Dairugger. It too was a product of evolution from Daltanious and then Godsigma. Great engineering at the time!
Another great video, I really learned a lot. I was not much of a Vehicle Voltron fan growing up but the history of the toy and cartoon are fascinating. Keep these videos coming !
Been waiting for this. Thanks a lot guys. You guys are great and have inspired me to broaden my collections horizons. This was the Voltron I had when I was a kid. Picked it up at a swap meet in great condition when I was about ten. Gone to my younger cousins with the rest of my toys as I was growing up. I found one of the helicopter arm pieces at my grandmothers house around a year ago. Instantly went home and looked into getting hold of one again. Ended up going over the top and winning an auction on a great condition DairuggerXV in the box. One of my favorite pieces in my collection.
We found a Matchbox one a few years ago at a flea market in a plastic shopping bag and my friend Freddy ended up buying it fairly cheap and spent time being sure it was complete before he bought it.
Well with the Netflix Defender of the Universe series, I was hoping they'd revisit the Vehicle Voltron as a future series, since they already have Pidge's Brother Matt on the show, who was one of the air team pilots. Ultimately I'd hope they would reduce the team to 6-7 vehicles from 15, as it's just too many pilots and vehicles as it makes the individual parts too small to do anything useful alone. 15 different characters is just too large of a team to give solid character development and story arcs . I feel the show coming to it's end is perfectly setting up the potential for this concept, so it could very well happen with Earlh needing it's own defenses, and Vehicle Voltron was the team set as one nearest to earth. If they do pull it off, may be they eventually even do the long long Voltron 2, as it has yet to really see the light of day in the west. I have to believe someone roadmapped these ideas, and they are all too aware of the original mythos to not be planning for the possiblity. As for Earth not being able to build more Voltrons and having defect with the 5 mins. If the limited time ever matter it could been an interesting idea. In universe I accept the notion humans would study ancient voltron tech and make it in a less than perfect copy modeling after earth craft instead of lions. Also that it wasn't cost effective to mass produce them. Other than them needing all 15 pilots and having no replacement staff is completely silly. That's how I'd explain it, and I hope that they take another crack at it.
Never really had a problem with the chest jet. For me the most finicky vehicle was Cliff's crotch ship - it always pinched my fingers when the leg connectors retracted.
Great work Mike & Melinda. Its a damn shame Vech. Voltron doesnt get the respect due him like the Lion Force. I have to agree with your friend's belief that the 2 Voltrons are part of the same universe. There was Fleet of Doom where Zarkon on his last legs teamed with the Drool Empire in a final stand and it took both Voltrons to stop Lothor's five combiner ro-beast. It was n't bad. Now are you two going to do a Gladator Voltron video? Actually my brother was in that "Not that Voltron...." catagory when for his b-day he got the Blue Robot instead of the Lion Force set. lol Actually they were decent toys I wound up getting Red Robot and they fit together very well and were solid toys with a good combination of metal parts and plastics.
I remember the Fleet of Doom. I really enjoyed that cartoon. I had the Black Gladiator Voltron robot from Voltron II's set. No one believed me when I told them he was a Voltron robot. They thought I had bought some kind of knock off.
You are totally right when you last in Part 1 about the tonal shift in the show being a bit of a put off. One thing that always bugged me was the sheer number of vehicles and characters, 15 and that's Just the Voltron Team. For me that filled every half hour episode being hard to follow as there just was never enough time to get to know everyone to any degree. While the Toy was indeed cool as 15 pieces made a robot that was pretty Big, he looked great save for the feet. That did take away from the design for me. Now when I see those feet the Simpsons pops into mind..."Canyonerooooo!" Kinda takes away from the whole Ancient Universal Defender notion. And you calling the team Cartographers, which is 100% accurate, I noticed back then which kinda made things silly to me. All the political Drama took away from the Basic Giant Robot genre I'd known up until that point starting with Shogun Warriors and Force Five. It was...too much. I learned about the third Voltron, the 3 Robots that would combine into a multi armed monstrosity. And honestly with the box art with the Old West looking town just didn't jive with the previous standard set by other shows. I think Dairugger the original series before it was imported and adapted was an Experimental series as I haven't seen such a Bloated Cast and Super Robot design since Vehicle Voltron in any other anime that I'm aware of. And I'm glad the "Goro" Voltron was never released as I found that idea considerably less impressive that Vehicle or Lion Force Voltron. I had the Imported Voltron Die Cast toy, I remember that packaging as well with All the Accessories, sword, shield and missiles, lion muzzle blades. It was Great, the die cast metal parts gave it some serious weight. I also remember there being a news report about some of the Imported toys like I had apparently had Lead Paint, hence the consumer warning. But I never had any problems with the toys. Didn't get sick from playing with it, so I had a Sneaky suspicion that it was the North American distributors trying to send off the third party import market from cutting into their profits as they weren't hard to find. Mine was bought for 100 dollars CDN at a Flea Market that imported a limited range of Japanese toys and models. I got a bunch of model kits and toys from that vendor. Original Macross toys and the various Macross Veritech Fighters that actually transformed, the Super Veritechs just like the Transformers Jetfire toys with the extra armor and missile pods. Kinda fragile model plastic where you had to swap out the cockpit fuselage for the robot mode and reconnect the legs, but that model kit transformed into all 3 modes making it super cool to me. I had several of those kits, like 4 or 5 plus a bunch of the Robot only Mode kits where I painted them like their main character pilot versions. Anyways, sorry that memory was triggered thinking about Voltron and how i got the toys. I had thought at one time another Super Robot was another Voltron from Advertising done at the time. The bot I cant remember its name had a Big Lion head on its chest, you know the one. I think in some of the import materials I'd seen, maybe from the OG manufacturer,might have been advertised on the same ad spread with Lion Voltron. I know I wasn't the only kid to make that mistake, but that Bot would have made a Natural Progression to carry the Voltron name instead of the Multi Armed one we never saw outside of the toys. I remember that Old West backdrop for Goro Voltron because that same vendor had one of the three bots, if I recall correctly they didn't come in One Set, you had to buy each separately. Thanks to that vendor I was exposed to other japanese characters, shows and such beyond what little I knew at the time, I discovered Ultraman and what would later become Power Rangers and The Masked Rider from Saban. All from Images from various magazines and such in Japanese so I because familiar with the Imagery and didnt discover the names for things until I was in high school or even later as a lot of stuff wasn't as easily available in North America let alone Canada. But I lucked out I guess. Still it was such a great time to be a kid in the 80's.
The Popy Dairugger DX / Matchbox Vehicle Team Voltron chest jet is a pain to remove, for fear of breaking the jet's white clips, but almost as bad is when the lower torso vehicle's (#11's) release lever, beneath the flip-open "belt buckle," gets jammed. I've *never* been able to get a jammed release lever to work again.
A family member of mine had Vehicle Voltron and I played with it a lot. I loved the thing. There was just so much to it. As an adult I think his design is way too busy and ridiculous but as a kid I did not care one bit. I don't know how I never broke it.
I just watched the finally of Legendary Defender, at the very end Chip and vehicle Voltron have small cameos. I thought that was a nice nod to the past.
It's hard to tell if it was just a tribute to the Vehicle Voltron show of the past, or maybe hinting at another Netflix Voltron series, this time about vehicle Voltron. I hope for the latter but I'm not holding my breath.
The individually sold, larger plastic Voltron lions (the ones with clear cockpits that you could put the small pilot figures in) actually did come with all those weapons that you mention were stripped out of the smaller die cast set. This includes the daggers the lions would sometimes form and hold in their mouths and shoulder-mounted weapons. Black lion came with its own lion weapons as well as the large Blazing Sword. I don't know if the plastic version came in a 'gift set' with all the lions so I don't know if the weapons would have been included there. Cool video/review. :D
I didn't have Dairugger, but I did have the Matchbox Lions. What "killed" my Voltron was my child self having it on a high banister,and it falling backwards and breaking one or two of the lions, making formation impossible ( yeah, yeah, I know I'm mad at that kid too now! I don't have the money to get another one). Dairugger looks to stand fairly solid even though it's got roller skates.
Thanks for the video. I had owned the original Japanese version of this Dairugger Toy but no longer owned it so I Just bought the Miracle Productions Improved Version 3 on eBay for $279. I am collecting the Robots/mechs of my Childhood. So far I have Unifive Astroboy, Bandai SOC Voltron (lions), Yamato Danguard Ace, Cm's Brave Gokin Grendizer. Next on my list may to get a Valkyrie from Macross/Robotech.
Actually, BANDAI did! A Super Minipla ver. for the Lion Force Voltron though.... And the packaging design is based on the Dreamwork's ver. of Voltron. Buy BANDAI also have the original Japanese Super Minipla for the Lion Force, which was "King of Beasts Golion". But as for a possible Super Minipla ver. for Dairugger XV..... It may be a-bit blurry for that to have its version.
My parents knew my brother and I liked Voltron when we were kids so I got the Lion and my brother got the Vehicle version for Christmas. Both were a mixed bag. The vehicle version was tedious to put together and often pieces just fell off and many of the the vehicles looked wonky looking but, the finished robot looked better than the lion version. My dad worked on the joints to make them stiffer and we left him in robot form except some of the better looking vehicles like the head jet, red jet, helicopters etc. I thought the lions looked better as single vehicles and most of the time just left them in lion form. Both were great toys and I would love to have a super version of both again. The recent lion releases just look too cheap to put money into. It is hard when I remember the original was mostly metal.
Man... I freakin had a Die Cast Metal Chinese version of Go-Lion that was Called LionBot ...it was very detailed and had all the weapons for all the Lions. It was an exact replica of the Japanese GoLion ...in some ways better.... I sold it on eBay along with the Voltron II (all three Gladiators in the box) and a bunch of 1980's G.I.Joe figures in great condition and some transformers....ALL for a whopping $99 !!!!! ......I was extremely relieved at the time to let it go because of how badly I needed the money....and I did not miss them......but wow......how much could have they been worth now? And now I miss them :-(
With the advances Bandai has made both Gundam Models as well as the "Robot Damashii" line of figures they could sure do an amazing job. A "Soul of Chogokin" one would probably be more fitting though because its die-cast, similar to the Big O one they made in the past. Whatever line the put it in though, It would just be expensive as all hell.
Wow never knew they had another line planned. What I would do for a decent robeast this is what the voltron line lacked. I mean you have giant robots and a itty bitty robeast. I mean was the figures suppose to fight the robeast because it was kinda a unfair advantage for voltron. And lucky me my parents did not know which voltron I wanted so on Christmas day I had two huge presents to open. I think by far best christmas ever for me.
Panosh Place had prototyped at least three, and possibly four, large robeasts. The robeasts look a bit weird, but each transforms into a coffin, which is pretty cool!
I just found a vintage Voltron (the lions) that's a foot tall, dicast, & comes with a ton of missiles, the sword and the shield. Any chance you could help me figure out which Voltron it is that I have please? I'm a Joe collector, not Voltron. Thanks & great review!
+RetroBlasting Not that I can see. Just stickers on the individual lions. Gold holes on the hips. Small firing mechanisms on each one. What info is helpful? Thank you!
Wait a minute, there was going to be a Sven figure before Matty made one?! O_o. Oh what would have been. This was a great video. Will you be reviewing Gladiator Voltron and your friend's Vehicle Voltron once he makes it by any chance?
Yes. Sven and the VV team Capts as well as some of the Drule Generals were going to be made in a later wave as Mike pointed out. The Sven figure that came out in the Mattycollector series was done up in the Panosh style figure blister package style. They should have sold Sven in that version for MISB collectors and the resealable box style that the other pilot figures came in. I doubt Mike will do a Gladiator Voltron video. Not unless he does an Albegas one and goes into detail how it was meant to be included in the Voltron series.
Bandai has 2 lines of SOC and SRC. But no Voltron was made, wasn't that popular in Japan I guess. Also the show was a joint venture between Toei and World Events. If the show was totally own Toei there might be a SOC or SRC of Voltron already : )
Finally the second part....LOL. Great video as usual. I liked Voltron as a kid but was not heavy into it, this video series was very informative. As a kid I only had the castle, the green lion pilot and the bad king, never any of the lions. I was aware of Vehicle Voltron and I hated it. Question about Voltron II, did they have a cartoon as well that wasn't imported or was it only a toon for Voltron's I and III? Lastly are you going to do a video on what function was Voltron II, how did it fit into the expanded universe?
***** About 7 years ago, I carefully shipped 2 of the 3 robots (Alpha & Beta) of "Gladiator Voltron". Beta arrived in pieces, so yeah, they are fragile.
***** I pieced together a Voltron II from a nearly complete but non-mint set, plus a replacement leg for Beta Robo (Blue Gladiator). The toy *is* quite fragile. Popy's blue plastics at that were brittle, making Beta Robo subject to snapping at the back connector and bisecting the robot Darth Maul-style. The combined robot looks a lot better in person than it does in photos, mostly because Matchbox mistransformed the toys; the "extra" arms are supposed to be tucked behind the torso.
1980Triumph I've given up on trying to getting any of the boxed Matchbox Deluxe versions for Go Lion, Dairugger or Albegas as I don't feel comfortable dropping $400+ for something that I'm never going to use or have space for. I can't really say which one is the rarest, but in person, I've seen more boxed Voltron III 's and I's than I have Voltron II. I've also seen dealers selling 1 or 2 of the 3 robots that make Voltron II and them not knowing that it's actually a Voltron.
sgzartan I checked ebay and I saw those 400+ prices so I completely understand. That is hilarious about dealers selling Voltron II and not knowing what they are. I vaguely remember Voltron 1 but never knew about 2. Also it seems the US so far hasn't received a translated version of the toon. I would love to watch it.
Mom got me the Air Team vehicles because she couldn't find any of the lions, and she knew I liked spaceships. I did eventually get the whole set, but then the problem was there was 15 characters-i had to draw a diagram (in crayon of course) to keep track of who flew what
***** I never had a problem with the chest piece. Still works to this day (I have have the individual Matchbox team sets). However, just about all the white plastic connectors have broken.
***** Separating the chest jet is nerve-wracking, although I have yet to break one. I generally remove it by pulling the jet's nose upward. Having said that... I know *exactly* what you mean, and Popy Dairugger DX ain't cheap!
Yeesh. Vehicle Voltron fans got hosed. Actually, it was 80s kids who got hosed. I remember the die-cast toys from Japan in the late 70s, and they ALL had firing weapons--from the prerequisite missiles to attack claws. Sorry, kids, but y'all missed out.
***** My mother hid the missiles from the Raider in a vase. When I asked her as a teenager about the missing missiles, she gave them to me with all the usual conditions. I could not believe how powerful the springs were (significantly more than my lion heads, vehicle fists, and Transformers and M.A.S.K. related launchers). At that time I just wanted them to complete the vehicle as I already had an appreciation for what it was. Unfortunately, I have to tape the cockpit to keep it shut.
***** I never did understand why companies just don't disable the launchers when importing these toys. Sure, it's a lame solution, but at least it preserves the form factor of the original toys.
Thanks for the videos on VV! He was my introduction to Voltron. I was disappointed when the Lions came out. I loved that cone headed Voltron. One of the things I liked most about VV, was that he was much more dominant than LV. Many times I'd see LV getting owned by some cheezy robeast. VV would always be beating some robust down. The story line was crap, but I prefer to see the battles anyways..
Ya know how stupid I was as a kid? My mom bought me lion Voltron that had all the weapons, sword, shield. the yellow and blue lions had missile launchers that came out on them with missiles you put in. But I wasn't happy with it because it wasn't "the Voltron" my friends had, think they had the one without the extra weapons and just came with a sword, maybe a shield. Plus the one my friends had cost more then the one I got. I always thought of it as a "knock off" Voltron.
If you got that toy in the '80s, then it probably *was* a knockoff called Lionbot. Having said that, arguably it's superior to the Matchbox toy, since it had all the extras that you mentioned.
I really think Dairugger's main gimmick is both its best feature and its own worst flaw from a toy engineering standpoint. Its difficult to make a sturdy and articulated robot when EVERY joint is supposed to come off. If you want each piece to have at least one diecast part, the combined weight will still be difficult to hold together specially with joints that have to pull double duty as connectors AND articulation points. The only possible way one can make a diecast show accurate, sturdy and articulated figure is by parts swapping (which I think bandai will resort to if ever)
suggestion: take some free time each year to rest about the organization and curating of the toys. I Have many of my toys but my collection is a mixture, and i dont have the space to display it, only boxes,sometimes i forgot where are specific things , and this get me mad hahaha, i believe its a take of the trade, also happens with mi cómics,books and music collections.
Matchbox brought Voltron in America in 1985 not 1984, Lion Force Voltron and Vehicle Team Voltron was produced by Bandai Toys. Lion Force Voltron was manufactured in Japan in 1981 the original Bandai labels was on each lion on the Matchbox products. Vehicle Team Voltron was manufactured in 1982 Bandai's name was molded on each of the vehicles, Vehicle Team Voltron and Lion Force Voltron was reissued in summer 1985 as their titles and their packages had open flaps that showed the product.
Thimothy Ward- The ORIGINAL copyright on Vehicle Team Voltron reads BANDAI 1982 AND JAPAN 1982 ON EACH PART NOT THE PACKAGE. Bandai Toys made the product in Japan in 1982, Matchbox brought the product to the United States in 1985.
Timothy Ward- MATCHBOX DID NOT PRODUCED ANY OF THE VOLTRON PRODUCTS THEY DISTRIBUTED THEM! VEHICLE TEAM VOLTRON WAS PRODUCED BY BANDAI TOYS IN JAPAN IN 1982 THEIR NAME AND DATES WERE MOLDED ON EACH VEHICLE, THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE PRODUCTS CAME WITH WEAPONS AND LABELS RETROBLASTING EMPHASIZED THAT VEHICLE TEAM VOLTRON WAS BROUGHT TO AMERICA BY MATCHBOX WITHOUT IT'S LABELS AND ACCESSORIES!
A lot of people dislike the LJN Voltron toys, but I like a lot of them. The box art is really nice. The original artwork of the robots is on par with the animated series.
Oh hell yeah! VV was dope. Loved both of the Voltrons immensely!!
After 5 years, your wish of a SOC Dairugger has been granted.
And they put DaiRugger up in its entirety on Bandai Spirits channel. So happy I can watch that.
Yes and it is beautiful, just got mine today after 37 years.
Yep! Probably my favorite SOC figure. It's beautiful.
The second half is just as good as the first. I have to admire Greg's hark work and dedication to making such nice action figures on his own. That's really loving a story. Thank you.
I really love the RertroBlasting theme! I often find myself singing along.
The way I separate the jet from the chest vehicle is by doing a "twist and lift" method. Try that the next time you handle Vehicle Voltron!
I have to believe that they gave the #1 spot to Vehic Voltron, and made him so much taller than Lion was, was in anticipation of Lion being more popular, and all that, plus the moniker on the box , “The Most Powerful of it’s Kind!” probably did serve as a buffer to get more buy Vehic. I remember my brother pointing to the “most powerful” on the box, and feeling like he’d get a leg up in getting that while I’d get Lion. Of course he phased from wanting Vehic over time.
The size was based merely on the size of the original Japanese toys which Matchbox repackaged as Voltron.
Awesome video! It's a thrill to see my work-in-progress Panosh Place-style Vehicle Team Voltron in your video -- as well as the figures made by the amazing pock63! Vehicle Team Voltron toys are definitely a mixed bag, although I'm quite fond of many of them (obviously). :) I sure wish Panosh Place had secured enough sell through in 1986 for the company to proceed with the second wave of toys.
Keep up the great work!
Awesome folks. Would have loved to have seen an official Panosh Place Vehicle Voltron.
Me, too! Unfortunately this work-in-progress custom project is probably the closest thing that we will ever get. facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151835700911828.1073741826.656581827&type=1&l=e49ede5b52
I was one of those kids who asked for lion Voltron, but the parents ended up with this one. However, I enjoyed the hell out of playing with this one. The two frustrating things for mine was that the doors for the face eventually loosened and would pop open when not transformed and the left hand (the part that shot off) broke so I had to tape it back on. But damn, I loved this toy as a kid.
I was one of those kids who preferred vehicle Voltron to the extent that I owned all three versions you mentioned in this video. I don't recall the chest jet being as finicky as you present but then when you're a kid you don't think about breaking stuff as much.
I wish vehicle Voltron would get a brand new anime series.
The gx-88 is amazing. Probably toy of the year for 2019. Hopefully you guys at retroblasting do a review, would be incredible to hear your thoughts on that figure.
🤯🤯 I remember those pics of the never made panosh toys, I forget if it was box or an insert in one of lions or other panosh toys I opened, cause I had like entire line as kid, but I remember seeing that and being so excited n then never happened lol
ZOMG! That 3D puzzle! I think I actually had that, and I'd completely forgotten it even existed!
Can you do a video of nothing but outtakes? I like watching you two as a couple. It brings a sense of teamwork that i know you guys have. Thanks and keep posting!
Excellent as always! You guys really put out some incredible quality videos!
If one follows the evolution of chogokin toys, Dairugger is a great toy! 15 vehicles combined, and you can still move the robot arms!! There was actually a third version that was made partly of diecast. It even had suspension built into the legs. However, that version can only separate into three parts rather than 15 parts. Golion toy was developed before Dairugger. It too was a product of evolution from Daltanious and then Godsigma. Great engineering at the time!
Thank you again for another awesome review. As much as I know about toys, there is is always room for more knowledge. Keep up the good work!
I never was into voltron
2018 and still wondering if the chest jet is still attached
That was the first piece we all lost😁☺️
Another great video, I really learned a lot. I was not much of a Vehicle Voltron fan growing up but the history of the toy and cartoon are fascinating. Keep these videos coming !
Great video. I guess you know Bandai is doing a Soul of Chogokin GX-88 Vehicle Voltron. I can't wait to get it!!!!!
Been waiting for this. Thanks a lot guys. You guys are great and have inspired me to broaden my collections horizons.
This was the Voltron I had when I was a kid. Picked it up at a swap meet in great condition when I was about ten. Gone to my younger cousins with the rest of my toys as I was growing up. I found one of the helicopter arm pieces at my grandmothers house around a year ago. Instantly went home and looked into getting hold of one again. Ended up going over the top and winning an auction on a great condition DairuggerXV in the box. One of my favorite pieces in my collection.
Bandai GX-88... finally a proper Dairugger/Voltron 1 !! coming soon!!
Mystery solved, I must've gotten the sword and shield pack with it. Well done Dad. The shield is gone
We found a Matchbox one a few years ago at a flea market in a plastic shopping bag and my friend Freddy ended up buying it fairly cheap and spent time being sure it was complete before he bought it.
ahhh love those Voltrons!
Well with the Netflix Defender of the Universe series, I was hoping they'd revisit the Vehicle Voltron as a future series, since they already have Pidge's Brother Matt on the show, who was one of the air team pilots. Ultimately I'd hope they would reduce the team to 6-7 vehicles from 15, as it's just too many pilots and vehicles as it makes the individual parts too small to do anything useful alone. 15 different characters is just too large of a team to give solid character development and story arcs . I feel the show coming to it's end is perfectly setting up the potential for this concept, so it could very well happen with Earlh needing it's own defenses, and Vehicle Voltron was the team set as one nearest to earth. If they do pull it off, may be they eventually even do the long long Voltron 2, as it has yet to really see the light of day in the west. I have to believe someone roadmapped these ideas, and they are all too aware of the original mythos to not be planning for the possiblity.
As for Earth not being able to build more Voltrons and having defect with the 5 mins. If the limited time ever matter it could been an interesting idea. In universe I accept the notion humans would study ancient voltron tech and make it in a less than perfect copy modeling after earth craft instead of lions. Also that it wasn't cost effective to mass produce them. Other than them needing all 15 pilots and having no replacement staff is completely silly. That's how I'd explain it, and I hope that they take another crack at it.
Never really had a problem with the chest jet. For me the most finicky vehicle was Cliff's crotch ship - it always pinched my fingers when the leg connectors retracted.
Great work Mike & Melinda. Its a damn shame Vech. Voltron doesnt get the respect due him like the Lion Force. I have to agree with your friend's belief that the 2 Voltrons are part of the same universe. There was Fleet of Doom where Zarkon on his last legs teamed with the Drool Empire in a final stand and it took both Voltrons to stop Lothor's five combiner ro-beast. It was n't bad. Now are you two going to do a Gladator Voltron video? Actually my brother was in that "Not that Voltron...." catagory when for his b-day he got the Blue Robot instead of the Lion Force set. lol Actually they were decent toys I wound up getting Red Robot and they fit together very well and were solid toys with a good combination of metal parts and plastics.
I remember the Fleet of Doom. I really enjoyed that cartoon. I had the Black Gladiator Voltron robot from Voltron II's set. No one believed me when I told them he was a Voltron robot. They thought I had bought some kind of knock off.
You are totally right when you last in Part 1 about the tonal shift in the show being a bit of a put off.
One thing that always bugged me was the sheer number of vehicles and characters, 15 and that's Just the Voltron Team. For me that filled every half hour episode being hard to follow as there just was never enough time to get to know everyone to any degree.
While the Toy was indeed cool as 15 pieces made a robot that was pretty Big, he looked great save for the feet. That did take away from the design for me. Now when I see those feet the Simpsons pops into mind..."Canyonerooooo!"
Kinda takes away from the whole Ancient Universal Defender notion.
And you calling the team Cartographers, which is 100% accurate, I noticed back then which kinda made things silly to me.
All the political Drama took away from the Basic Giant Robot genre I'd known up until that point starting with Shogun Warriors and Force Five. It was...too much.
I learned about the third Voltron, the 3 Robots that would combine into a multi armed monstrosity. And honestly with the box art with the Old West looking town just didn't jive with the previous standard set by other shows.
I think Dairugger the original series before it was imported and adapted was an Experimental series as I haven't seen such a Bloated Cast and Super Robot design since Vehicle Voltron in any other anime that I'm aware of.
And I'm glad the "Goro" Voltron was never released as I found that idea considerably less impressive that Vehicle or Lion Force Voltron.
I had the Imported Voltron Die Cast toy, I remember that packaging as well with All the Accessories, sword, shield and missiles, lion muzzle blades. It was Great, the die cast metal parts gave it some serious weight.
I also remember there being a news report about some of the Imported toys like I had apparently had Lead Paint, hence the consumer warning.
But I never had any problems with the toys. Didn't get sick from playing with it, so I had a Sneaky suspicion that it was the North American distributors trying to send off the third party import market from cutting into their profits as they weren't hard to find. Mine was bought for 100 dollars CDN at a Flea Market that imported a limited range of Japanese toys and models.
I got a bunch of model kits and toys from that vendor. Original Macross toys and the various Macross Veritech Fighters that actually transformed, the Super Veritechs just like the Transformers Jetfire toys with the extra armor and missile pods. Kinda fragile model plastic where you had to swap out the cockpit fuselage for the robot mode and reconnect the legs, but that model kit transformed into all 3 modes making it super cool to me.
I had several of those kits, like 4 or 5 plus a bunch of the Robot only Mode kits where I painted them like their main character pilot versions.
Anyways, sorry that memory was triggered thinking about Voltron and how i got the toys.
I had thought at one time another Super Robot was another Voltron from Advertising done at the time. The bot I cant remember its name had a Big Lion head on its chest, you know the one.
I think in some of the import materials I'd seen, maybe from the OG manufacturer,might have been advertised on the same ad spread with Lion Voltron.
I know I wasn't the only kid to make that mistake, but that Bot would have made a Natural Progression to carry the Voltron name instead of the Multi Armed one we never saw outside of the toys.
I remember that Old West backdrop for Goro Voltron because that same vendor had one of the three bots, if I recall correctly they didn't come in One Set, you had to buy each separately.
Thanks to that vendor I was exposed to other japanese characters, shows and such beyond what little I knew at the time, I discovered Ultraman and what would later become Power Rangers and The Masked Rider from Saban. All from Images from various magazines and such in Japanese so I because familiar with the Imagery and didnt discover the names for things until I was in high school or even later as a lot of stuff wasn't as easily available in North America let alone Canada.
But I lucked out I guess. Still it was such a great time to be a kid in the 80's.
The Popy Dairugger DX / Matchbox Vehicle Team Voltron chest jet is a pain to remove, for fear of breaking the jet's white clips, but almost as bad is when the lower torso vehicle's (#11's) release lever, beneath the flip-open "belt buckle," gets jammed. I've *never* been able to get a jammed release lever to work again.
A family member of mine had Vehicle Voltron and I played with it a lot. I loved the thing. There was just so much to it. As an adult I think his design is way too busy and ridiculous but as a kid I did not care one bit. I don't know how I never broke it.
5:01 caught me off guard and I started laughing out loud. lol we have all been there.
What's good is if u get another keith or lance figure, u can customize it as Sven
I just watched the finally of Legendary Defender, at the very end Chip and vehicle Voltron have small cameos. I thought that was a nice nod to the past.
It's hard to tell if it was just a tribute to the Vehicle Voltron show of the past, or maybe hinting at another Netflix Voltron series, this time about vehicle Voltron. I hope for the latter but I'm not holding my breath.
The individually sold, larger plastic Voltron lions (the ones with clear cockpits that you could put the small pilot figures in) actually did come with all those weapons that you mention were stripped out of the smaller die cast set. This includes the daggers the lions would sometimes form and hold in their mouths and shoulder-mounted weapons. Black lion came with its own lion weapons as well as the large Blazing Sword. I don't know if the plastic version came in a 'gift set' with all the lions so I don't know if the weapons would have been included there.
Cool video/review. :D
Daltanious should've been the V2 instead of Albegas because it felt more like it would be the glue to keeping the trilogy going
hoping Bandai will do all three Voltron's even the Tonami new diecast lion voltron that came out last year (or this year) isn't the best
I didn't have Dairugger, but I did have the Matchbox Lions. What "killed" my Voltron was my child self having it on a high banister,and it falling backwards and breaking one or two of the lions, making formation impossible ( yeah, yeah, I know I'm mad at that kid too now! I don't have the money to get another one). Dairugger looks to stand fairly solid even though it's got roller skates.
"Is there a certain amount of money I can give u to disassemble " - Mr.French
Thanks for the video. I had owned the original Japanese version of this Dairugger Toy but no longer owned it so I Just bought the Miracle Productions Improved Version 3 on eBay for $279. I am collecting the Robots/mechs of my Childhood. So far I have Unifive Astroboy, Bandai SOC Voltron (lions), Yamato Danguard Ace, Cm's Brave Gokin Grendizer. Next on my list may to get a Valkyrie from Macross/Robotech.
Did anything ever come of Greg's panosh style vehicle Voltron 3d print?
Yes, although it took a bit longer than I thought. :-) ua-cam.com/video/GSIdS9AqHZs/v-deo.html
Actually, BANDAI did! A Super Minipla ver. for the Lion Force Voltron though.... And the packaging design is based on the Dreamwork's ver. of Voltron. Buy BANDAI also have the original Japanese Super Minipla for the Lion Force, which was "King of Beasts Golion".
But as for a possible Super Minipla ver. for Dairugger XV..... It may be a-bit blurry for that to have its version.
the wheels on the back of the head I just can't get over that lol
My parents knew my brother and I liked Voltron when we were kids so I got the Lion and my brother got the Vehicle version for Christmas. Both were a mixed bag. The vehicle version was tedious to put together and often pieces just fell off and many of the the vehicles looked wonky looking but, the finished robot looked better than the lion version. My dad worked on the joints to make them stiffer and we left him in robot form except some of the better looking vehicles like the head jet, red jet, helicopters etc. I thought the lions looked better as single vehicles and most of the time just left them in lion form. Both were great toys and I would love to have a super version of both again. The recent lion releases just look too cheap to put money into. It is hard when I remember the original was mostly metal.
I had a good laugh at the montage on the floor. Very funny!
Man... I freakin had a Die Cast Metal Chinese version of Go-Lion that was Called LionBot ...it was very detailed and had all the weapons for all the Lions. It was an exact replica of the Japanese GoLion ...in some ways better.... I sold it on eBay along with the Voltron II (all three Gladiators in the box) and a bunch of 1980's G.I.Joe figures in great condition and some transformers....ALL for a whopping $99 !!!!! ......I was extremely relieved at the time to let it go because of how badly I needed the money....and I did not miss them......but wow......how much could have they been worth now? And now I miss them :-(
Yess ! My night went from yeah to Radical ! Oh yeah
He’s beautiful high Japanese toy art. He can just stand there and look pretty
I thought you almost had him with your shrewd negotiation skills lol... FUNNY
One under Rated Super Robot Series exported to USA is Space Musketeers Bismark AKA Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs
you two are awesome in my book
With the advances Bandai has made both Gundam Models as well as the "Robot Damashii" line of figures they could sure do an amazing job. A "Soul of Chogokin" one would probably be more fitting though because its die-cast, similar to the Big O one they made in the past. Whatever line the put it in though, It would just be expensive as all hell.
Awesome video as usual.
Wow never knew they had another line planned. What I would do for a decent robeast this is what the voltron line lacked. I mean you have giant robots and a itty bitty robeast. I mean was the figures suppose to fight the robeast because it was kinda a unfair advantage for voltron. And lucky me my parents did not know which voltron I wanted so on Christmas day I had two huge presents to open. I think by far best christmas ever for me.
Panosh Place had prototyped at least three, and possibly four, large robeasts. The robeasts look a bit weird, but each transforms into a coffin, which is pretty cool!
Interesting the toy and its development reflects its telivision series complex and hard to sell.
Well done as always.
We didn't even get Voltron properly in the UK so count yourselves lucky you got something interesting.
Loved the video.
My mom got me the right wrong Voltron. Loved it
6:38 Poor Sven, hosed again 😄
Ok now I am going crazy...
My lions voltron had all of the weapons.
Like blades missiles the entire thing....
Did i not have the match box one?
I just found a vintage Voltron (the lions) that's a foot tall, dicast, & comes with a ton of missiles, the sword and the shield.
Any chance you could help me figure out which Voltron it is that I have please?
I'm a Joe collector, not Voltron.
Thanks & great review!
Does it have silver stickers on the lions that say Gb-36?
+RetroBlasting
Not that I can see. Just stickers on the individual lions.
Gold holes on the hips.
Small firing mechanisms on each one.
What info is helpful?
Thank you!
I remember when both voltron's got together and made a movie
Speaking of Voltron,ever thought of getting the Infinity Gokin King of Beast by Mad Toys. Also,it's me..MultiDrJekyll.
Fragility aside, I preferred Vehicle Voltron over the lions...
I would love to have both a soul of chogokin Golion and Dairugger XV.
How many seasons did Vehicle Voltron go for?
Wait a minute, there was going to be a Sven figure before Matty made one?! O_o. Oh what would have been. This was a great video. Will you be reviewing Gladiator Voltron and your friend's Vehicle Voltron once he makes it by any chance?
Yes. Sven and the VV team Capts as well as some of the Drule Generals were going to be made in a later wave as Mike pointed out. The Sven figure that came out in the Mattycollector series was done up in the Panosh style figure blister package style. They should have sold Sven in that version for MISB collectors and the resealable box style that the other pilot figures came in. I doubt Mike will do a Gladiator Voltron video. Not unless he does an Albegas one and goes into detail how it was meant to be included in the Voltron series.
Bandai has 2 lines of SOC and SRC.
But no Voltron was made, wasn't that popular in Japan I guess.
Also the show was a joint venture between Toei and World Events. If the show was totally own Toei there might be a SOC or SRC of Voltron already : )
Hi Mike, did you purchase the GX-88 Dairugger?
ua-cam.com/video/b7FbtGXgyk8/v-deo.html
Finally the second part....LOL. Great video as usual. I liked Voltron as a kid but was not heavy into it, this video series was very informative. As a kid I only had the castle, the green lion pilot and the bad king, never any of the lions. I was aware of Vehicle Voltron and I hated it.
Question about Voltron II, did they have a cartoon as well that wasn't imported or was it only a toon for Voltron's I and III? Lastly are you going to do a video on what function was Voltron II, how did it fit into the expanded universe?
***** About 7 years ago, I carefully shipped 2 of the 3 robots (Alpha & Beta) of "Gladiator Voltron". Beta arrived in pieces, so yeah, they are fragile.
sgzartan Wow, that is insane. Does that make them the rarest and most expensive Voltron?
*****
I pieced together a Voltron II from a nearly complete but non-mint set, plus a replacement leg for Beta Robo (Blue Gladiator). The toy *is* quite fragile. Popy's blue plastics at that were brittle, making Beta Robo subject to snapping at the back connector and bisecting the robot Darth Maul-style. The combined robot looks a lot better in person than it does in photos, mostly because Matchbox mistransformed the toys; the "extra" arms are supposed to be tucked behind the torso.
1980Triumph I've given up on trying to getting any of the boxed Matchbox Deluxe versions for Go Lion, Dairugger or Albegas as I don't feel comfortable dropping $400+ for something that I'm never going to use or have space for. I can't really say which one is the rarest, but in person, I've seen more boxed Voltron III 's and I's than I have Voltron II. I've also seen dealers selling 1 or 2 of the 3 robots that make Voltron II and them not knowing that it's actually a Voltron.
sgzartan I checked ebay and I saw those 400+ prices so I completely understand.
That is hilarious about dealers selling Voltron II and not knowing what they are. I vaguely remember Voltron 1 but never knew about 2. Also it seems the US so far hasn't received a translated version of the toon. I would love to watch it.
Mom got me the Air Team vehicles because she couldn't find any of the lions, and she knew I liked spaceships. I did eventually get the whole set, but then the problem was there was 15 characters-i had to draw a diagram (in crayon of course) to keep track of who flew what
The Soul Of Chogokin preorders are sold out ☹️☹️☹️
I would like to see a bootleg Gladiator Voltron.
When you tried to take off the jet on the voltron it look hard like disarming a nuklur bomb
*****
I never had a problem with the chest piece. Still works to this day (I have have the individual Matchbox team sets). However, just about all the white plastic connectors have broken.
*****
Separating the chest jet is nerve-wracking, although I have yet to break one. I generally remove it by pulling the jet's nose upward. Having said that... I know *exactly* what you mean, and Popy Dairugger DX ain't cheap!
I preferred this to Lion Voltron as a cartoon. I thought Lotor was a pervert and the plot always circles around him trying to get Allura.
Bandai: Announces and then reveals SOC GX-88 Dairugger XV
Miracle Metal Works: I don't feel so good.
Vehicle voltron toy was better than lions. Anyone remember go bots.
how do i get ahold of greg?
Yeesh. Vehicle Voltron fans got hosed.
Actually, it was 80s kids who got hosed. I remember the die-cast toys from Japan in the late 70s, and they ALL had firing weapons--from the prerequisite missiles to attack claws.
Sorry, kids, but y'all missed out.
*****
My mother hid the missiles from the Raider in a vase. When I asked her as a teenager about the missing missiles, she gave them to me with all the usual conditions. I could not believe how powerful the springs were (significantly more than my lion heads, vehicle fists, and Transformers and M.A.S.K. related launchers). At that time I just wanted them to complete the vehicle as I already had an appreciation for what it was. Unfortunately, I have to tape the cockpit to keep it shut.
***** I never did understand why companies just don't disable the launchers when importing these toys. Sure, it's a lame solution, but at least it preserves the form factor of the original toys.
Thanks for the videos on VV! He was my introduction to Voltron. I was disappointed when the Lions came out. I loved that cone headed Voltron. One of the things I liked most about VV, was that he was much more dominant than LV. Many times I'd see LV getting owned by some cheezy robeast. VV would always be beating some robust down. The story line was crap, but I prefer to see the battles anyways..
I’ve always wanted a vehicle Voltron but I could never afford it it is my favorite one
Ya know how stupid I was as a kid? My mom bought me lion Voltron that had all the weapons, sword, shield. the yellow and blue lions had missile launchers that came out on them with missiles you put in. But I wasn't happy with it because it wasn't "the Voltron" my friends had, think they had the one without the extra weapons and just came with a sword, maybe a shield. Plus the one my friends had cost more then the one I got. I always thought of it as a "knock off" Voltron.
If you got that toy in the '80s, then it probably *was* a knockoff called Lionbot. Having said that, arguably it's superior to the Matchbox toy, since it had all the extras that you mentioned.
I still have gingers ship and it never snapped 25 years later lmfaoooooo
The old and newer ones jets are completely iptisite one can't be removed the other can by breathing on it
5:16,get a date with Arcee. XD
I really think Dairugger's main gimmick is both its best feature and its own worst flaw from a toy engineering standpoint. Its difficult to make a sturdy and articulated robot when EVERY joint is supposed to come off. If you want each piece to have at least one diecast part, the combined weight will still be difficult to hold together specially with joints that have to pull double duty as connectors AND articulation points. The only possible way one can make a diecast show accurate, sturdy and articulated figure is by parts swapping (which I think bandai will resort to if ever)
Lupin Vs Patranger did this
suggestion: take some free time each year to rest about the organization and curating of the toys. I Have many of my toys but my collection is a mixture, and i dont have the space to display it, only boxes,sometimes i forgot where are specific things , and this get me mad hahaha, i believe its a take of the trade, also happens with mi cómics,books and music collections.
Can you do battle of the planets 1978 they 1980
I'll get you a date with arcee.
Then proceeds to pull out the drill
Matchbox brought Voltron in America in 1985 not 1984, Lion Force Voltron and Vehicle Team Voltron was produced by Bandai Toys. Lion Force Voltron was manufactured in Japan in 1981 the original Bandai labels was on each lion on the Matchbox products. Vehicle Team Voltron was manufactured in 1982 Bandai's name was molded on each of the vehicles, Vehicle Team Voltron and Lion Force Voltron was reissued in summer 1985 as their titles and their packages had open flaps that showed the product.
Thimothy Ward- The ORIGINAL copyright on Vehicle Team Voltron reads BANDAI 1982 AND JAPAN 1982 ON EACH PART NOT THE PACKAGE. Bandai Toys made the product in Japan in 1982, Matchbox brought the product to the United States in 1985.
Timothy Ward- MATCHBOX DID NOT PRODUCED ANY OF THE VOLTRON PRODUCTS THEY DISTRIBUTED THEM! VEHICLE TEAM VOLTRON WAS PRODUCED BY BANDAI TOYS IN JAPAN IN 1982 THEIR NAME AND DATES WERE MOLDED ON EACH VEHICLE, THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE PRODUCTS CAME WITH WEAPONS AND LABELS RETROBLASTING EMPHASIZED THAT VEHICLE TEAM VOLTRON WAS BROUGHT TO AMERICA BY MATCHBOX WITHOUT IT'S LABELS AND ACCESSORIES!
that day might come soon because Bandai are making a soul of chogokin go lion
I've heard there was a second edition of the bootleg that fixed a lot of the problems. Here's a video ua-cam.com/video/N5XcqSWu0vU/v-deo.html
The ceiling tiles are craptastic.
and good job on buying that jeep
I had Daltanias.
Well,this may have augmented the hate of the toy.
Dairugger - it means love - except for the toy manufacturing process.
Wait, LJN made toys? I thought they just made crappy video games. Were the toys of equally bad quality?
A lot of people dislike the LJN Voltron toys, but I like a lot of them. The box art is really nice. The original artwork of the robots is on par with the animated series.