Post by krimpov on Oct 16, 2015 15:55:51 GMT -5
I'm going to be a godfather soon and that makes it my duty to slowly reel the little one into the world of giant robots. So I looked around a bit and, while there are lots of Transformers-themed children toys, most Japanese giant robot toys seem geared toward the adult collector. I suppose it's to be expected from older franchises that have yet to be resurrected, like Grendizer, or the modern Getter Robo which were not exactly suitable for children, but I expected to find something interesting more easily.
My search was mostly geared towards the classic Dynamic series : Grendizer, Mazinger and Getter Robo. But as I said, I realize they're older franchises and we're already lucky enough to have adult-oriented figures being made after all these years. I wouldn't expect North American Toys 'R Us aisles to be overflowing with Six Million Dollars Man and '60 Batman playsets; I don't expect Japan to be much different in that regard. So, other franchises (classic or modern) would do too, as long as they're cool children toys. Locally, it seems limited to Transformers, Power Rangers Megazords and the latest robot-related Hollywood blockbuster (Iron Man, Big Hero 6, Pacific Rim, etc.) Yeah, though I'd rather go for actual GIANT robots, I'm considering smaller robots and mechsuits like Iron Man and Baymax (BH6) too. Because if you don't want Transformers, there's not much left in Canadian stores. In Japan - I mean, on the Internet - I did find a few interesting items, but most were long sold out and the overall results to that search were quite meager.
Now, it's not an emergency. The little guy is only expected this January and I'm not going to give him action figures until he can enjoy them without trying to digest them; that gives me a few years. Most of the local picks (like Baymax) will probably be long outdated and not cool anymore by then, but coming back so empty-handed from my search bugged me a little, so I thought I'd see if you guys know of any better options if I had to buy some right now, today.
Some finds :
HL PRO Plush Robots
Unless it's of really dodgy quality and the stitches are weak, they should be suitable for the very young. Not a huge fan of the design, though. Not ugly, but pretty meh. They could have done better, more "adorable", SD plush reditions than this, IMO. Grendizer is supposed to be released very soon, if it hasn't already. Not sure about the others.
Various Panda-Z toys
Most of them from MegaHouse. At first I was going to exclude the Chogokin, but looking at it, it doesn't look more dangerous than the toys I used to play with when I was a kid. Obviously, I wouldn't give one to a toddler, but in a few years it could be a cool gift. I wouldn't give a Soul of Chogokin to a 6-year old, not with all the easily lost small parts and breakable bits, but a diecast brick like the MegaHouse Chogokin Panda-Z doesn't look like a worst choice for a kid than a G1 Optimus Prime or the "Tankbot" Sankan-Oh knock-off were back then. He's probably going to lose the fists and break some bits off, but my Prime and Tankbots barely survived my childhood with severe losses and dismemberment. I'm not too worried that. I'm more worried about the price. I haven't checked its current market value, so I don't know how much more expensive it got (or not).
Besides the Chogokin, there's a bunch of plastic figures (again, mostly from MegaHouse) and some cute stuffed toys. Amongst them, a few of Panda-Z with Pan-Taron in the pilot seat :
The one above, I found it at a store called Forbidden Planet - discontinued. The description says it's a 10" tall plush toy from a company called Jun Planning. Another one, very similar but 15" tall and said to be from Banpresto, can be found on eBay. Then there's this Alibaba listing (for retail mass-orders) from a manufacturer called Happyisland, which apparently makes them the size you want them (oh oh ooooh!). Considering they're also making some "sea creature plush stuffed toy" that are obviously bootleg Pokemons, I seriously doubt it's an official product.
HL Pro 12" Action Figure Collection
HL Pro again, this time with much better-looking items. Though some will say they're too expensive and are really collector items, they look suitable as children toys to me (recommended for children 3 and up). Mazinger Z's pointy horns seem to be the most worrisome part. Anyone here got one, who could tell me how pointy they actually are? Are they soft vinyl? I know cheaper plastic figures of that size can be found in our local stores, but they're just not Mazingers. I could currently get Grendizer for around CAD$100 from a local brick & mortar store, which sounds like a reasonable price for a locally-available import considering how weak our dollar is these days - HLJ had it for approx. US$65, but most US sellers seem to have it for US$100 now (when they have stocks) I could get Mazinger Z for a bit more on eBay. Great Mazinger seems to be a bit more difficult to find for a reasonable price; there's one for US$199 on eBay (BIN) right now. Maybe it's yet another scalper, maybe it's just normal rise in value for a collector's item; either way, it's putting it out of my budget for a kid's toy. Anyway, Great isn't really at the top of my list. The fight will be between Mazinger Z as the iconic Grandfather of Super Robots and Grendizer for its equally legendary status in French-speaking territories.
So do you have kids? Ever gave them giant robot toys that didn't send them straight to the hospital? I'd like to hear from you.
My search was mostly geared towards the classic Dynamic series : Grendizer, Mazinger and Getter Robo. But as I said, I realize they're older franchises and we're already lucky enough to have adult-oriented figures being made after all these years. I wouldn't expect North American Toys 'R Us aisles to be overflowing with Six Million Dollars Man and '60 Batman playsets; I don't expect Japan to be much different in that regard. So, other franchises (classic or modern) would do too, as long as they're cool children toys. Locally, it seems limited to Transformers, Power Rangers Megazords and the latest robot-related Hollywood blockbuster (Iron Man, Big Hero 6, Pacific Rim, etc.) Yeah, though I'd rather go for actual GIANT robots, I'm considering smaller robots and mechsuits like Iron Man and Baymax (BH6) too. Because if you don't want Transformers, there's not much left in Canadian stores. In Japan - I mean, on the Internet - I did find a few interesting items, but most were long sold out and the overall results to that search were quite meager.
Now, it's not an emergency. The little guy is only expected this January and I'm not going to give him action figures until he can enjoy them without trying to digest them; that gives me a few years. Most of the local picks (like Baymax) will probably be long outdated and not cool anymore by then, but coming back so empty-handed from my search bugged me a little, so I thought I'd see if you guys know of any better options if I had to buy some right now, today.
Some finds :
HL PRO Plush Robots
Unless it's of really dodgy quality and the stitches are weak, they should be suitable for the very young. Not a huge fan of the design, though. Not ugly, but pretty meh. They could have done better, more "adorable", SD plush reditions than this, IMO. Grendizer is supposed to be released very soon, if it hasn't already. Not sure about the others.
Various Panda-Z toys
Most of them from MegaHouse. At first I was going to exclude the Chogokin, but looking at it, it doesn't look more dangerous than the toys I used to play with when I was a kid. Obviously, I wouldn't give one to a toddler, but in a few years it could be a cool gift. I wouldn't give a Soul of Chogokin to a 6-year old, not with all the easily lost small parts and breakable bits, but a diecast brick like the MegaHouse Chogokin Panda-Z doesn't look like a worst choice for a kid than a G1 Optimus Prime or the "Tankbot" Sankan-Oh knock-off were back then. He's probably going to lose the fists and break some bits off, but my Prime and Tankbots barely survived my childhood with severe losses and dismemberment. I'm not too worried that. I'm more worried about the price. I haven't checked its current market value, so I don't know how much more expensive it got (or not).
Besides the Chogokin, there's a bunch of plastic figures (again, mostly from MegaHouse) and some cute stuffed toys. Amongst them, a few of Panda-Z with Pan-Taron in the pilot seat :
The one above, I found it at a store called Forbidden Planet - discontinued. The description says it's a 10" tall plush toy from a company called Jun Planning. Another one, very similar but 15" tall and said to be from Banpresto, can be found on eBay. Then there's this Alibaba listing (for retail mass-orders) from a manufacturer called Happyisland, which apparently makes them the size you want them (oh oh ooooh!). Considering they're also making some "sea creature plush stuffed toy" that are obviously bootleg Pokemons, I seriously doubt it's an official product.
HL Pro 12" Action Figure Collection
HL Pro again, this time with much better-looking items. Though some will say they're too expensive and are really collector items, they look suitable as children toys to me (recommended for children 3 and up). Mazinger Z's pointy horns seem to be the most worrisome part. Anyone here got one, who could tell me how pointy they actually are? Are they soft vinyl? I know cheaper plastic figures of that size can be found in our local stores, but they're just not Mazingers. I could currently get Grendizer for around CAD$100 from a local brick & mortar store, which sounds like a reasonable price for a locally-available import considering how weak our dollar is these days - HLJ had it for approx. US$65, but most US sellers seem to have it for US$100 now (when they have stocks) I could get Mazinger Z for a bit more on eBay. Great Mazinger seems to be a bit more difficult to find for a reasonable price; there's one for US$199 on eBay (BIN) right now. Maybe it's yet another scalper, maybe it's just normal rise in value for a collector's item; either way, it's putting it out of my budget for a kid's toy. Anyway, Great isn't really at the top of my list. The fight will be between Mazinger Z as the iconic Grandfather of Super Robots and Grendizer for its equally legendary status in French-speaking territories.
So do you have kids? Ever gave them giant robot toys that didn't send them straight to the hospital? I'd like to hear from you.
And he won't be ready for action figures before a few years. Toynami has the time to re-release them a few times by then. But if I can get my hands on a Lion Voltron for close to MSRP, I guess I could buy it immediately and put it in storage.
