Well, I finally tracked down a vintage goal of mine. These robots are cheap, arguably crappy, and not that old, but I have been in love with them for ages, and because of their bootleg nature, have never been able to track one down. Anyways, I sure didn't find one for 2$ (though I am considerably jealous about that) but I am happy with him. If anyone has any more from the set they think aren't up to snuff with their high calibre collections, I would love to add some more.
^^That is fucking AWESOME, man! I remember years ago seeing repros of the nice tin batt-op ones that could breathe smoke...and I immediately fell in love with these designs. Of course, even the repros were over $300, but they were still so damn good. I'm glad you were able to score one. Boot or not, that's a helluva fun design!
This was sitting on a top shelf in shop for so long the owner couldn't even remember the price. Needless to say the cleaning took quite a while.
I have been admiring that guy from you flickr shots. I really love the classic 'futuristic' design aesthetic on him. The combination of chunky, clean lines with the Hermes-esque helmet wings and strange organisation logo is excellent, but what really tops it all off for me is the eyes and squared facial features. Throw in a clear face mask and that silver neck seal and wow; this guy is just excellent.
The colours are really nice ... I saw one of those go on ebay toward the end of last year for more than $200
I love this thread . . . so much cool and unusual stuff. I never see anything like this for sale in the UK
I guess this might be considered a robot? Anyway, thought this would be the best place to post this hot mess.
Hahahahaa, that is so awesome! Best Mr. T bootleg I have seen yet, and as a massive A-Team fan, that is a lot. Does the head go up and down when it moves? He is lookin' to lay a mighty hurt on some fools. Damn you for all these amazing finds.
Picked these up recently . . . . nowhere near as clean and minty fresh looking as ultrakaiju's but they were dirt cheap so i don't mind. I haven't put batteries in and tried them out yet but I'm loving the boot-leggy charm of these two anyway! Kaiju Robots by The Moog Image Dump, on Flickr Green Kaiju Robot by The Moog Image Dump, on Flickr Red Kaiju Robot by The Moog Image Dump, on Flickr
More great finds! You are on a real roll with the bargains. That lion one is pretty damn stellar. Works so well in line with all the vintage kaiju figures, and I love the antennae that ones has too. And bonus clear panels on the front - I definitely need more of these.
^^ Yeah, i think its the monster heads that make these toys for me . . . adds a whole heap of charm I have no idea how old they are or how many are in the series. Do you know the official name for them? These ones just say 'Made in Taiwan' with a different symbol for each on the battery compartment on the back. The green one has a symbol that looks like 2 G's intertwining . . . . the red one has a symbol like three rice stems.
I don't think they have an official name that I know of, as these are cheap bootlegs, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were released under a few different lines. As far as dates go, I would estimate them to be from the mid-80s. The quality and construction seems to fit in there. These kind of light up and electronic toys were all the rage, and the usual robot crazy of course. Ah, lost childhood. Here is a pic with the box, but it doesn't add much more in the way of information.
Thanks for posting the pic . . . i did a search and they are definitely bootlegs of an original Japanese-made Dino Robot. You are correct about the date too . . . most likely mid-80's by the looks of it. Here's a pic i found of them . . . I'm not sure if this is all of the versions though. And a clip of one working: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmj8YUdmS98
Ah, this is getting more interesting all the time. The one I have is marked 'Made in Japan' on the back battery panel. I still don't think it is much older though.
Yeah, maybe you have the original . . . general consensus online is the original robot was by 'Horikawa' and distributed outside of Japan by Alps Toys. Then the Chinese went into overdrive bootlegging a whole bunch of different versions. Alps catalog page:
Alright, one last post so as not to saturate anyone with this robot guy, but here is a pic of his encounter with The Doctor.
Those are so cool. A lot of charm and they sure as heck make one nostalgic. That picture of it lit up is great. Thanks for the info and pictures!
LOVE the old Dino Head Robots. I have a handful of various tin repros in my collection, but here's a giant walking/talking/smoking robot from the 80's. More toys definitely need to pour smoke out of their mouths.
I have the red, white and blue guy in the lower left corner. It was one of the toys that started my adult collecting phase. It walks, stops and the whole upper body spins in a circle with flashing lights and gun noises. I also have the green dino head robot, bought in the late 80's. Now I want to track down one of the lion heads!
