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Post by luclin999 on Dec 25, 2012 3:02:32 GMT -5
A few weeks ago I purchased this Mattel Daimos from Lexcars2007..  ...which as you can see was a fairly normal example of a 35+ year old, Mattel Shogun Warrior. Normally, I would clean it up, apply some repro decals and add it to the collection. However, I purchased this figure with the intention of altering it fairly radically. You see, I NEVER have liked the Mattel Daimos figure. I'm sorry but it's true. I know that many, many Americans have fond memories of this toy from the 70's however in my opinion it is the most downgraded Jumbo of the entire Shogun line and that has always bothered me. So my plan was to re-invent the figure into something more than what we Americans were given as children to play with. Mind you, I was not intending to attempt to convert the figure completely into the Popy version (a nearly impossible task) but to simply upgrade the toy into what I have always felt Mattel should have made for kids in the first place. And after several hours of work I think I that I now have what I have been looking for. Meet my Mattel Daimos V 2.0  Basically I took the original toy and gave it a good cleaning. Then I added some of the extra parts to it that were dropped by Mattel when they converted the Popy figure for the US market. I was fortunate enough to win an auction for a Popy Daimos left shooting fist which gave me an original piece to create a mold from and then reproductions of the Popy style arm cuff. Bourno sent me some rough copies of the shin blades and chest piece which I cleaned up and then made new molds and reproductions from. I stole the right shooting arm from a second Mattel Daimos and swapped it out for this one's left arm (to restore the missing aesthetic synergy of the original version) and converted a Mattel Gaiking right shooting fist into fitting into the new Daimos right cuff I made. Finally, I replaced the decals with new reproductions and added a pair of sword blades to the figure...  ...because I mean, what fun would it have been to have given the toy the Popy style arm cuffs and then give him nothing to hold with them?  Overall, I am very happy with the way this one has turned out and especially pleased that I was able to get it finished in time for the holidays (because otherwise it might have sat half finished on my bench for another week or two). I would still like to make a replacement piece for the red cover that goes over the top of the chest on the Popy version, touch up the paint on the head a bit and I will probably clean up the decals and molds just a bit more but even as it stands today this figure has become the new favorite in my collection which based upon my general dislike of the unmodified Mattel toy, is saying a lot. |
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Post by rodman75 on Dec 25, 2012 3:35:09 GMT -5
Luclin999,
That is a damn good job you have done! I share your sentiments about the Mattel Daimos. This Popy ancestor is unique and will fool a lot of people at first glance. You have a special talent and your name will soon be included along with the likes of Kitsir, Bourno & WillOhio as a Jumbo repro expert. Congrats again!
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Post by 1oldrobot on Dec 25, 2012 5:43:25 GMT -5
wow, great work! i hate the mattel daimos and love the popy. this is a really good conversion. you should sell copies of that daimos fist (hint hint).
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Post by bourno on Dec 25, 2012 7:14:55 GMT -5
SWEET job on the Daimos conversion. It looks fantastic !!
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Post by willohio on Dec 25, 2012 8:09:10 GMT -5
Great work! The Popy General Daimos is a great jumbo bristling with weapon attachments and firepower. You gonna do some Red Missiles?
I need those red cuffs & blue swords and I'd have a complete General Daimos (sand red chest hood as well). Dont know if i'll ever see an Open grasp fist. And thigh missiles will need to just be directly from a Popy. Don't see a conversion possible since the American
version molded some of its shape into the Mattel.
I did a complete Popy set of decals. But kept the ones you used on and the one silver waist belt only on mine.
Will
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Post by Mr. Ginrai on Dec 25, 2012 10:03:09 GMT -5
This is a masterpiece in the making. I think you should run through the pics on the net and make repros of the rest of the popy/godaikin Daimos accessories you see in the foam tray (blades, missiles in yellow, etc), that would make this totally epic. This is the first time I've actually seen a "custom" jumbo (other than the Bioman hybrid from the chest bust that someone did) and said "I want that". Very nicely done. Give yourself a major round of applause and keep us posted on the progress.
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Post by KingboyD on Dec 25, 2012 10:33:09 GMT -5
Awesome job! I'll be sending you my boring Mattel Daimos in the mail for an overhaul. |
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Post by bourno on Dec 25, 2012 13:22:11 GMT -5
If you don't mind, would love to see pics of the mold for the cuffs. My e-mail is bourno (at) gmail.com When I did my Daimos ones, I made the end cap separate in case I wanted a non-shooting or shooting shoulder piece. But, then had a small seam when I glued the 2 pieces together. I didn't feel like making 2 different molds. I should have just made the non-shooting piece as don't believe I have needed to use the end cap for a static arm  The cuffs with the standard fist look better than expected with only some bow of the cuff. The popy Daimos left fist is appears quite squished down to keep the piece straight. Or did you angle in the fists slightly? A year ago, I thought about making a custom general Daimos cuffs and was going to angle in the fists to allow more room. But, been quite busy on other items. Gotta ask, where did you get the swords from? Were they from another toy or made up your own custom swords? Again, your project turned out really good and glad I could assist you a little on it. |
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Post by bourno on Dec 25, 2012 13:24:57 GMT -5
Taking a look, I do have 2 Daimos myself that I had thought about doing similar mod. May have to be in touch with you around Spring time for converting them in the like manner.
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Post by luclin999 on Dec 25, 2012 14:29:05 GMT -5
1oldrobot & Will: I may be willing to sell repros of the arm cuffs however I do want to take another shot at remaking the mold first as this version has a fair amount of flash around the edge that I would like to minimize on the next attempt. Will: I agree with you on the decals. While I love the Popy version, to me it does seem a bit cluttered if you add all of the decals onto the figure that come with the toy. That's why I minimized the number of add-ons I put onto this one. I would also love to be able to make a copy of the Popy right fist but feel that I was already insanely lucky in having found an auction for even just the left one. I could mount some red missiles onto the thighs where the Popy has launchers but they would extend out so far that the toy would not be able to hold its arms straight down at its sides. Mr. Ginrai: I would consider adding the blade extensions for the chest piece however right now there would be no practical way to display the completed accessory without the Popy style right hand to hold the chest hilt. Bourno: I can send you pics of the mold, but as I mentioned before I will be making another one shortly now that I have done it once and seen where I can improve upon the first attempt. All said though, this was my first attempt at roto-casting a cuff like this and I was very pleased overall with how well it worked. The custom right hand had the back flattened down (dunked in really hot water, pressed down flat then immediately dunked into cold water to set) and has been angled slightly at the wrists to compensate for the cuff extension. The left one is the Popy version. I need to make molds of the fists before I can replicate them but that is relatively simple to do. The sword blades were taken from a toy sword for kids I found at Toys R' Us however I am probably going to refine them a bit more by making a custom roto-casting mold that will more closely match the Popy original blow molded ones. I also want to tinker with the color ratio for the cuffs as I would like to get them both to be as near to identical in color as possible. 
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Post by mikedeco on Dec 25, 2012 17:15:21 GMT -5
What a great improvement, it's really the kind of project that I like.
Big congrats, and like you said, that's how the Mattel Daimos should have be.
Just adding both arms but not like the Popy version is a great idea, and putting the yellow parts back without the extra stickers is really a great balance.
I really like the yellow missiles like the Mattel and not the red one like the Popy as they really fit with the other accessories.
Big congrats again.
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Post by lexcars2007 on Dec 26, 2012 2:19:37 GMT -5
super awesome buddy...happy to see he looks better in your home than mine....want to sell him back...LOL
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Post by christ on Dec 26, 2012 3:18:15 GMT -5
I love your theorizing about what hybrid Mattel model they might have made if they hadn't been given so many mold cutting limitations.
I agree- the yellow missiles and not the red are an excellent choice.
And I recognize those sword blades!!! They're exactly what I used too!
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Post by rodman75 on Dec 26, 2012 15:57:00 GMT -5
Luclin,
If you can somehow get the 'Fighting Daimos' waist sticker like the one shown on Christ's Daimos, I think that would make an impact as well. The more I look at the Popy Daimos, the more of an appreciation I have and the more I now desire to set out and try to find one! Thanks for helping me deplete my bank account guys!!
Rodman75
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Post by luclin999 on Dec 26, 2012 17:03:09 GMT -5
From what I have read, both the Japanese and English versions of the waist decal are considered "correct" on the Popy figure while Mattel only used the Japanese one..
From Collection DX's review..
Strangely, although there were both English and Japanese language waist stickers on the Popy version, Mattel only used the Japanese language one, an odd choice since this was released in an English speaking country. Of course, this was also released in Europe, but it still seems sort of bizarre to me. Perhaps they wanted some consistency with the other imported jumbos in the line.
That being said, I do have an image file of the English "Fighting Daimos" waist decal that I could print out as an alternate to the current one.
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Post by rodman75 on Dec 26, 2012 17:21:44 GMT -5
Just a thought, either way works. I was thinking that it would bring your Daimos that much closer to Popy territory since, although both languages were offered on the Popy version, the Mattel version only had the Japanese waist decal.
Rodman75
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Post by luclin999 on Dec 26, 2012 17:46:24 GMT -5
The more I look at the Popy Daimos, the more of an appreciation I have and the more I now desire to set out and try to find one! Thanks for helping me deplete my bank account guys!! Rodman75 You'll probably have a bit of time to save up for one. The last Popy version sold on YJ looks to have been in march '12. All of the more recent Daimos YJ listings have been for the Mattel version. So it is a moderately rare Jumbo. That's one of the reasons which prompted me to give the Mattel version a makeover. This way I can still have a fairly respectable representation of the character in my collection. |
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Post by luclin999 on Dec 26, 2012 18:57:01 GMT -5
I was taking a look at the fists from the Mattel Daimos figures that I had used to build my custom from and I noticed this.  While I have been aware that the Mattel Daimos toy was shipped with two different versions of the right shooting fist I had never noticed until now that the one with the rounded cuff is actually the right fist for Dangard. Right down to having the punch out impression for the hole in the fist to allow the hand to hold the swords. |
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Post by willohio on Dec 26, 2012 19:07:07 GMT -5
I don't own a Daiku Maryu but I believe it also had a hole in the right fist that held the removable red shins as a sword
as well. Is it one that is also shared with Dangard?
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Post by luclin999 on Dec 26, 2012 19:38:02 GMT -5
From the Photo of Rodman's Dangard:  It certainly seems to look like a match. The cuff even has the indentation for where the decal on the wrist is supposed to go. |
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