Going to Vegas, Baby !

Straight from the Time-Bokan / Yatterman series is this little guy. Remember the fuzzy dice people installed in their cars ? Well, here you have the bot-version. Strangely enough, it even appeared in a Gatchaman spin-off later on !

Yatterman Omotchama Robot, Tatsunoko, Japan,
2014

I'm finally seeing clear...

For all the would-be engineers between us, it is nice to see that beneath each wonderfull mecha design of Go Nagai, there is a very planned structure of how these robots really do work.

Grandizer, Banpresto, 1999, China

Great Mazinger, Banpresto, 1999, China

Mazinger, Banpresto, 1999, China

http://wardo-hayter.tumblr.com/

 

Je n'ai besoin de personne, en Harley Davidson ...

OK, not going to talk about bikes with big V-engines right now. But bikes with two pedals. Much less noise, and really a lot of fun. A "petit clin d'oeil" to the Tour de France going on as we speak.

Since I 'm living in a city with lots of hills, bicycles are not yet really a big thing here in Lisbon. I had to leave my 3-speed 20+ kg bike full of chrome and fenders in Belgium, and head on for something lighter and with a higher number of hill-climbing options (even though, in the end, it all comes down to what you have in your thighs !)

"Bikers", Different makers, ?, France and Belgium ? 1970's

Any pieces missing ?

Captain Harlock, Puzzle, ?, Japan, 1970's

OK, these are easy to make...
But, then again... I am a lazy butt and will keep it MIB, MIP, untouched and what have you not...

Oohhh ! The joys of the freaking collector !

Fresh from China...

Captain America, Decool, China, 2010's

Iron Man, Decool, China, 2010's

Robots or super-heroes ? No one could tell. But what I do know is that these were quite fun to build ! Lego Style ! And you can even combine the two to make a Giant Iron Captain America man somehow... East meets West, and (not so) communist China takes symbols of capitalistic Comic Book culture to sell back to... well, to us !

Thank you Gonçalo for bringing these in !

Little Werner... playing with rockets, again !

The real deal, unfortunately not meant to be filled  only with water or air...(V2 - Peenemunde)

Satelitte was meant to go on top, and would spin down as a helicopter...

V-X Satellit, pump and funnel (below rocket), Bebu, Germany, 1950's

And yes, ... 20 years later men landed on the moon...

Von Braun and Kennedy, watching them fly !

Green with antenas !

Mini Robot (with paper TV screen !)
Hong Kong, 1970's

Sometimes nice things go in small packages... this is one of them. all shinny and chromy. And it is small... and still affordable when you can find one...

Smoking is bad for your health, Yeah !

Turn my antenna baby !

Bender, Rocket USA, China, 2000

... Unless of course your name is Bender and you are one of the most irresponsible robots on the planet. What ? and you drink, too ? I just thought you were not allowed to make toys like this anymore... you know, openly pushing teenagers into smoking and drinking...

Totally socially unacceptable.

For more strange and weird toys check these links :

weirdotoys
digthatbox
cracked

Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime, ?, China, 2010's

The crazyness of the Shogun Warriors made way to a whole new bunch of super robots in the 1980's. And the Transformer's line were certainly some of them. Here their leader, mighty Optimus Prime.

You remember the 'toon ?

Going Black and White on the collection...

Iti is really remarkable what black and white can do to otherwise very colorfull objects ! 

Grendizer's Beauty Salon...

Goldrake (shampoo bottle), Aldimport Mestrino,
Italy, 1978

What a nice way to get your kids to have some basic respect for capilar hygiene... Just get the shampoo inside their favorite robot and... voilá !

Once again, Goldrake saved the day !

Hope it was not lead paint... 

... battledamage from H2O ?

El hombre de acero...

Superman, EURA, Spain, 1970-80's ?

Not much is known about Spanish company EURA, except that they made some nice little rubber figurines.
Here is Superman.

One extra Metro, please... it's to chew on the road !

Metro Candy Container, Bonbons MAY,
France, 1982

This one is a candy container. It had a Chewing-gum "Trésor" in its belly ! Nice addition to the rest of the gang - check them out here.

RX78 - Big scale.

Of all Gundams, this one has to be the most popular ! It is the bot that started it all. The one that defended the first Zakus attacks... it is even the one to build real size. Yes. really... they did it a couple of years ago in Tokyo (Odaiba's Shiokaze Park). - to see more, click here. 

RX78 MegaSize Model, Bandai, China, 2000's

Building was a snap !

Lots of articulations... 

...and even more decals!

Microman... and women ?

Microman (?) with sarcophagus, China, 1999

Why the Statue of Liberty ? 

In toy history, the Microman toy line from Takara (Japan) has great importance and paved the way to the oh-so-popular Transformer toys in the 80ies. The toy line started in Japan in 1974, and some of the figures soon made their way to the USA under the Micronauts toy-line (imported directly through Mego Corp.)

Some really cool web-sites are devoted to these, and are worth checking :

http://www.micro-outpost.com/

http://www.microforever.com/

Supergril, Takara, China, 2006

Packaging all pink and girly !

The nice thing about these figurines is that they are/were fully articulated. While Kenner and Palitoy were making stiffness the norm in their Star Wars / Action Force lines, Takara on the other hand was able to get about 30 (yes, thir-ty !) arculation points in their line. And all of this in a 3 3/4 inch figurine !

Furthermore, they came with ton of accessories, and could swap out parts from one figurine to another. At a certain point, they even introduced figurines with magnetized joints ! Tomy - Takara is continuing the line nowedays...

Magneforce ! or magnetic joints...

Icurus, Takara, China, 2005

Microsister Orga, Takara, China, 2005

No need for surgery, doc !

Evangelion set, Takara, China, 2007

Extra hands, weapons, display stands, ...