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Popy
Popy (ポピー) was a Japan, Japanese toy manufacturer of the 1970s and early 1980s. The company was owned by Bandai. It was founded in 1971 and merged back into the parent company in 1983. The company is best known for its groundbreaking Chogokin Super Robot, robot figures. History Popy was formed by Bandai in July 1971 to distribute products intended for candy shops and other retail outlets outside of the usual toy stores. Before long, the company began to license characters and vehicles from popular live-action (Tokusatsu), Anime and Manga series. Its first major success in this vein was a child-sized version of the "Henshin Belt" worn by the hero of the ''Kamen Rider'' television series. Although other companies selling similar products, only Popy's incorporated a light-up mechanism, making it a smashing success despite its then-high retail price of 1500 yen. (It would eventually go on to sell some 3.8 million units.) In the wake of the success of the "Henshin Belt," Popy intr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jumbo Machinder
Jumbo Machinder is the name of a series of large-scale plastic robots sold by Bandai's character toy subsidiary, Popy in the 1970s. Although a trademarked brand name, in common usage Jumbo Machinder is often applied to any large-size robot toy roto molded out of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a sturdy plastic also used for shampoo bottles. Jumbo Machinders are generally (but not always) 24" in height. After Popy's success with the Jumbo Machinder series, several other Japanese companies, including Takatoku, Nakajima, and Clover began producing large-size plastic robot toys as well. Several of the Jumbo Machinders were retooled for sale in the USA and Europe in the late 1970s as '' Shogun Warriors''. Initial Jumbo Machinder line The first Jumbo Machinder, released in 1973, was a portrayal of manga artist Go Nagai's character Mazinger Z, a fictional Super Robot. Originally planned to stand a meter (roughly three feet) tall, the toy was scaled down out of safety concerns. The Jumbo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chogokin
{{nihongo, Chogokin, 超合金, Chōgōkin, Chō: ''Super'', gōkin: ''alloy'', Sometimes spelled either Chougokin or Cho-gokin is a fictitious material which first appeared in Go Nagai's ''Mazinger Z'' manga and anime and is later adopted by Popy in 1972 as the name of a new line of die-cast metal robot and character toys sold in Japan - the first of these is "GA-01" Mazinger Z, which, in spite of questionable engineering that led Popy to offer a free replacement campaign, ignited a craze that changed the face of the Japanese toy industry in the 1970s. Bandai, the parent of Popy, continues the Chogokin line to this day, branded under their own name. Vintage Chogokin Chogokin toys were generally produced in ST (short for "standard" and usually in the range of 5" in height) or DX ("deluxe" and usually much larger; additionally this class of Chogokin product usually came with more features such as separating parts and more complex weaponry, usually with launching projectiles (which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |