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Henshin Collection Series Collection 01 - Silver Cyborg-1 as Ultraman Jack (8/03) |
Henshin Cyborg |
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Ultraman Jack (8/03)
Henshin Collection 02 Mirror Man (1/04)
Henshin Collection 03 Casshern (4/04)
Henshin Collection 04 Mazinger Z (7/04)
Henshin Collection 05 Devilman (9/04)
Kaijin Collection 01 Skeleton King (9/04)
REISSUE COLLECTION
Reissue Cyborg-1 Silver Cyborg-1 (9/04) Gold Cyborg-1 (9/04)
Reissue King Walder-1 Green King Walder (9/04) Red King Walder (9/04)
EXCLUSIVE COLLECTION
Kaijin Collection Exclusive Black Dokuro King - Warp Magazine Exclusive (9/04)
Henshin Collection Exclusive Mazinger Z Metallic Version - Toy's Dream Project (9/04)
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Cyborg-1 as Ultraman Jack (reproduction) |
Ultraman Jack featured vinyl mask that fit over Combat Joe or Cyborg-1 head.
Ultraman Jack head view from the side.
Ultraman Jack came with reproduction version of Cyborg-1 (silver version).
Silver Cyborg-1 was replica of the original Cyborg toy. Shown here with his cyborg head exposed.
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| After lukewarm reception at the two new Henshin Cyborgs series Takara decided instead to follow Microman and Transformers formula and reissued the reproduction versions of the old Henshin Cyborg toys. The reissued line began with the re-released of Cyborg-2 or Shonen Cyborg series. Only three versions of Cyborg-2 were reissued, however Takara also released 8" version of King Walder called King Walder Jr. along with the Reissue Shonen series. King Walder Jr. was actually not a reissued toy in the truest sense since the 8" version of King Walder were only sold in England as Muton by Denys Fisher company as part of their Cyborg line. Takara probably recognized the market demand for this rare toys and decided to added 8" King Walder to the reissued Shonen line. Beside the King Walder Jr., Takara also released "Kaijin set" which featured King Walder various monster costumes (Skeleton, Satan & Plant-man) for the new Jr. version. The reissue Shonen was short live and by 2002 the series went into another hiatus. In 2003, Takara finally announced the plan to reissue the very first Henshin Cyborg toy - Cyborg-1. Beside reproducing the Cyborg-1 body Takara also plan to reproduce Ultraman Jack costume to be sold in a set as part of their new "Henshin Collection" series. The new series took the idea from Transformers collection series and for the first time Takara finally moved away from using the facsimile packaging style and used a more stylist looking collector-style die-cut window box as packaging for the reissued Cyborg toys. |
Henshin Collection 01
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Takara reissued Ultraman Jack (originally known as New Ultraman) costume as a debut set for the Henshin Collection. It was a bit of a surprise that Takara was able to reissue any Ultraman toys at all since Bandai was the current holder of most Ultraman merchandise license. The license probably was granted since it was reissued of an old toy and was most likely done for the upcoming 40th Anniversary of Tsubaraya studio (producer of Ultraman and many other sci-fi live action shows). The original Ultraman Jack costume actually pre-dated Henshin Cyborg line and was sold as part of the Takara Combat Joe series in 1971. (This was probably why Takara decided to release Ultraman Jack as the first costume for the new Cyborg reissue series since he was part of the pre-Cyborg 1971 series) It was not until a year later that Takara began to sell Henshin Cyborg toys and the Cyborg-1 body was then used as the body for the various sci-fi costume heroes. Since I do not own any of the original Cyborg costumes, there was no way to compare how the reproduction version would compare to the original. The costume fit well over the reproduction Cyborg-1 body with nice painted job. Takara even included Ultraman Jack's trademark weapon - the Ultra Bracelet given to him by his predecessor Ultraseven.) The outfit however seem to be a bit small and limited the movement due to the very stiff material used for the repro costume. (Same material as those used to make cheap raincoat. Again I am not sure if this was the same material as the vintage version) The costume was definitely a retro early 70's style so if you were expecting realistic look of Medicom or even semi-realistic look of Cyborg99 costume series then you should really look elsewhere. However, if replica of old 70's style was something you want then you probably would be happy with this set. Ultraman Jack was the third Ultraman series produced by studio Tsubaraya in 1971. The series was originally known as "The Return of Ultraman" and he was actually called the New Ultraman or Ultraman 2. It was not until much later that he became officially known as Ultraman Jack. (For more info about Ultraman please check out this site- Absolute Ultraman!) |
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| Beside the costume, the main attraction for this new Henshin Set Collection series was the reproduction of vintage Cyborg-1 toy. The vintage toy was very much sought after and very expensive. Takara did an acceptable job at reproducing the original Cyborg. The figure appeared to be closely resemble that of the vintage version with just some minor different. The only main gripe was the fact that the reproduction version seem to have slightly loose joints and the plastic quality was not quite as good as those used for the recent Neo Cyborg and Cyborg Double-Nine. Takara did however included new set of hands for Cyborg-1 including trigger-style hands. The set also came with small booklet that details the history of Henshin Cyborg from the Combat Joe day up to the Henshin Collection series. |
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