My first experience seeing the awesomeness of the Shogun Warriors was when I was about 8 years old. My mom took me to a store in Little Tokyo in LA in the late seventies. This store from what I remember had all the stuff dreams were made out of. It introduced me to Anime before I even knew what anime was. This trip would change my life in the best way, Forever.
When you're 8 years old and you see a 2 ft tall Shogun Warrior Jumbo robot that moves and shoots things...you have to have it. Tragically, my mom DID NOT let me get the toy when I first laid eyes on it, but you better believe that I asked her every single day until I did.
So it happened, a few months later my older brother was "babysitting" me. He was going to go in the backyard and swing his gold club and he said the 4 famous words; Do Not Come Outside. So, naturally I went outside, RIGHT when he was upswinging and he almost knocked my eye out of the socket...I had to go to the hospital and get stitches down my whole face. When I got out of the hospital, my mom took me straight to the toy store, and I got my first Shogun Warrior, Godzilla. All of these toys were indestructible, but the Shogun Godzilla was mesmerizing. They sure don't make them like they use too that’s for sure. Once I saw the Shogun Warriors' feet came on wheels, I was sold for the rest of my life. Having the rolling feet made it so much more fun to battle. Its the little things that really make a difference. I would do anything to still have that toy and the box.
Man, can we talk about the box art? The colors and the vibe, it had it all. Part of what made the toys even cooler were the boxes that they came in. Now its hard to find a MIB of a Shogun, but if I could go back in time and stop my mom from throwing out the box...I would.
My second Shogun was Raydeen the Protector of MU. Man, even these toys were woke. If you are unfamiliar with MU, it is a legendary lost continent, where the civilization of Lemuria was formed. Raydeen always had the most exotic look and style, it was the most interesting to me. The bright Egyptian style armor glory, a Rocket bladed fist that would shoot out of his arm, a badass Sheild with a blade at the end to destroy his Foes and even had Birds that would shoot out of his chest. God I love this toy. I then had to have Mazinga and Dragun next. To finish my personal Army of Robots.
Mazinga was a robotic Knight that came with not 1 but 2 Red swords. And had a rocket missle Hand that shot rockets which were super dangerous, but who cared right? He also had a space ship that would dock inside his head and become the brains of the giant Robot.
Dragun was a bright Red Evil devil looking badass with a spiked red cape and saw blades on the back of his forearms he would also shoot some deadly throwing stars from his wrist or ember you could even put his wrist star launcher on and use it. Def lost a lot of those stars. He also had Giant axes he could throw at his opponents to stop them in there tracks.
Later on I was able to find the Gaiking which I always wanted but the stores never had him in stock. So I finally got one later in life to finish the fab 4. He had a Dragon skull for a chest that would also fire rockets from the eyes of the skull. He also had giant yellow horns that could turn in battle. His fist would also launch to beat his enemy to a pulp.
These toys are some of my favorite of all time. There are timeless. I plan to own all of them in the boxes again on day soon.
I come in Peace,
Brandon Schoolhouse