Shogun Warriors (toys)

The Shogun Warriors were the main characters of a line of toys licensed by Mattel Inc. during the late 1970s. They were a series of imported Japanese toys based on several anime and tokusatsu shows featuring giant robots. They were originally manufactured in three sizes: 24-inch (610 mm) plastic versions, 3.5-inch (89 mm) die-cast metal versions, and slightly taller but much more detailed 5-inch (127 mm) die-cast versions. Several vehicles were also offered, as well as a set that could be put together to form the super robot Combattra. Toward the end of production, Mattel proposed the inclusion of plastic toy vehicles for the 3.5" figures to ride in exclusively in the United States, but these toys were never released for purchase.

Features

The toys featured spring-loaded launcher weapons such as missiles, shuriken and battle axes. Some were able to launch their fists, while the later die-cast versions also had the ability to transform into different shapes. Raydeen, for example, could become a birdlike spaceship. These "convertible" versions were the precursors to the Transformers line of toy robots, but unlike the Transformers, minor disassembling was usually required to transform the robots. There was even a robot named Megatron in issue #18 of the Shogun Warriors comic book series,[1][2] a name subsequently used multiple times for the leader of the evil Decepticons from the Transformers series. Sometimes the toys were unable to transform into their second form, one example being Gaiking's "giant skull", which was the head for Daiku Maryu, a space dragon toy released under the Shogun Warriors line as "Kargosaur".

Several of the anime-based toys from this toy line reappeared in the 1980s in Jim Terry's Force Five series. A single movie version was edited from each series and sold on home video. These features aired on the Showtime cable network in 1981 under the name Force Five.

Toy line

Giant robot characters that featured in the original toy line were:

In addition, two giant movie monsters from Toho were added to the line:

Some Super Sentai toys were also adapted for the line.[3]

Controversy

Similarly to other toy lines during the 1970s, the Shogun Warriors toys came under pressure over safety concerns regarding their spring-loaded weapons. The concern was that children might launch the weapons and hit other children or pets in the eyes. There was also a risk that small children might choke on the small plastic missiles and other parts. Toy manufacturers then faced new regulations as a result of reported injuries received while playing with these toys. Consequently, many toy companies were forced to remodel existing toy lines with child-safe variations such as spring-loaded "action" missiles that would remain attached to the toy. Because of this, as well as declining sales, the Shogun Warrior toy line was discontinued by 1980.

Comics

The Shogun Warriors characters were licensed by Marvel Comics to create a comic book series written by Doug Moench and drawn by Herb Trimpe.[4] The series (composed of 20 issues) was published from February 1979 to September 1980.[5] In the comic book series, the Shogun Warriors were created by a mysterious group called the Followers of the Light[6] and human operators were chosen from all around the world to operate the massive robots in order to battle evil.

Marvel only licensed three Shogun Warriors characters for the comic book series:

Shogun Warriors #15 (April 1980) was a fill-in written by Steven Grant with art by Mike Vosburg. The series took a dramatic turn with Shogun Warriors #16 (May 1980), as the Shogun Warriors' mentors were destroyed by the Primal One and his followers.[8] This alien force decided that Earth's technology had outpaced its morality, making it their duty to destroy the Shogun Warriors as well as other powerful humans, including Reed Richards and Tony Stark. Declining sales, as well as Moench's commitment to writing the Moon Knight comic book series that had just been started, led Marvel to cancel the Shogun Warriors comic book series.[9] After Marvel lost the rights to the characters, the Samurai Destroyer (a giant robot built from the pieces of an abandoned fourth robot that was never finished) destroy the other three giant robots off-panel, before encountering the Fantastic Four and the robots' pilots Richard, Genji and Ilongo.[10]

Between February and July 1979, Marvel had the comic book rights to both Godzilla and the Shogun Warriors. While the characters never crossed paths in their respective comics, Trimpe (who did the artwork for both of the series) drew a variation of Godzilla and Rodan alongside Daimos, Great Mazinger, Raydeen and Gaiking on the top page of a comic book advertisement soliciting the Shogun Warrior toys.[11] Mattel simultaneously had a license to produce Shogun Warriors toys (at the time) and a licence to produce toys based on Godzilla[12] and Rodan.[13] Though never appearing in the comic series, Red Ronin of Marvel's Godzilla, King of the Monsters comic book series was mentioned occasionally and was frequently written about in the letters pages.

Revival

In 2010, Toynami revived the Shogun Warriors name with a new toy line, consisting of 24-inch (610 mm) Jumbo Machinder toys. The first two robots in this line were GoLion and Dairugger XV, both of which were adapted in the Western world as Voltron.[14]

References
  1. Cassell, Dewey; Sultan, Aaron (2015). "Spotlight on Shogun Warriors". The Incredible Herb Trimpe. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 117. ISBN 978-1605490625.
  2. Moench, Doug (w), Trimpe, Herb (p), Esposito, Mike (i). "The Chaos Wars" Shogun Warriors #18 (July 1980)
  3. "Varitank". Collectiondx.com. August 14, 2013. Archived from the original on July 8, 2014.
  4. Sanderson, Peter; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1970s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 188. ISBN 978-0756641238. Writer Doug Moench and artist Herb Trimpe created Shogun Warriors, a Marvel comics series based on a line of Japanese toys imported by Mattel.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  5. Shogun Warriors at the Grand Comics Database
  6. Christiansen, Jeff (April 17, 2009). "Followers of the Light". Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017.
  7. Smith, Andy (May 2014). "Shogun Warriors The Sky-High Rise and Abrupt Fall of Three Giant Robots in Comics". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (#72): 56–57. Even maintaining the same spelling of the robots' names between the toys and the comics didn't seem to be a top priority. Fans will find multiple versions of the word 'Combatra', sometimes as 'Combattra' and 'Raydeen', at times as 'Raideen', adorning the boxes of some of the figures.
  8. Moench, Doug (w), Trimpe, Herb (p), Esposito, Mike (i). "Death of Innocence" Shogun Warriors #16 (May 1980)
  9. Smith, p. 60: "The letters section of issue #20 gave fans a practical reason for the ending of the series, attributing it to 'the precarious economics of profit and loss.' The note also added another contributing factor to the end of Shogun Warriors - the company wanted to make way for Moon Knight, Moench's new project with artist Bill Sienkiewicz."
  10. Moench, Doug (w), Sienkiewicz, Bill (p), Marcos, Pablo; Patterson, Bruce (i). "The Samurai Destroyer" Fantastic Four #226 (January 1981)
  11. "Shogun Warriors Toy Ad".
  12. "Mattel No. 2440 Godzilla!". WildToys.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012.
  13. "Rodan!". WildToys.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012.
  14. "NYTF 2010: Toynami". Collectiondx.com. February 17, 2010. Archived from the original on June 15, 2012.
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