Merchandise
Possibly the real success expected from a sci-fi giant robot show would be the toys and merchandise sales they can produce. In fact, the Super Robot genre spawned a new type of toys that became the defining items of the genre.
In late 1972, a Japanese toy company called Popy released a die-cast metal version of Mazinger Z, whose series was airing at that time. The figure was about 4 inches tall, it launched spring-loaded fists like the robot "Rocket Punch" on the series and was quite heavy, being made of metal.
This toy revolutionized the Japanese toy industry, spawning lots of toys for almost every Super Robot show that was aired on Japanese TV. Sometimes the case was the opposite: a giant robot anime TV series was created based on the toys produced. The Chogokin line of robots (the name given by Popy to the toyline), eventually lost its popularity in the early 80's after its rival company, Bandai, took the industry by storm with their Gundam franchise and their new plastic toy lines. The original die-cast Popy SR toys have become rare collector's items, with those in mint condition fetching thousands of dollars in the collector's market.
Ironically, it was Bandai itself that revived the Super Robot die-cast toys in recent times. Having acquired the Popy toys rights, and due to the renaissance in popularity of the giant robot of the past, Bandai began release a line of solid, highly detailed and quite expensive models made of die-cast metal. This line is called Soul of Chogokin, and is currently producing a fine line of toys that is aimed primarily at collectors. One of them, a super deluxe model of the Super Robot called Grendizer (complete with the die-cast robot, a flying saucer, four ships and other accessories), which currently is out of production, is known to reach over US$400 in specialized stores and auctions.
A good quantity of "Soul of Chogokin" toys from different Super Robot series of the past have been produced, like Mazinger (which has over 12 models based on different robots from the anime), Gaiking, Dancougar, Tetsujin 28-go, and a few others.
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