The League: Robots!

Straight from the heart and soul of The League of Extraordinary Bloggers, Cool and Collected, comes this week's assignment--

Danger! Danger! Danger! Pacific Rim has finally hit the theaters, and it seems like everyone is now an expert on giant monster-fighting robots. I thought it would be fun to talk about all the different mechanical wonders that have appeared in our pop culture. This week’s assignment for the League of Extraordinary Bloggers…

ROBOTS! 

Yeah, this is quite the topic, rife with possibilities for someone who grew up during the '80s and early '90s. It was a time of Transformers and Robotech, Gobots and Short Circuit, and goddamn Vicki from Small Wonder. Hell, even Screech had a robot hanging out in his bedroom and it is totally surprising that Lisa Turtle never wanted to sleepover because of that. There are enough robotic "friends" from my childhood that I could compile a Top 100 list and still have room left over to rave about the ED-209.

Instead, I'm gonna take a look at one of the more recent additions to the ever-growing list of mechanical wonders who have tugged at my heart-strings.

The Super Robot Red Baron.

I discovered this incredible tokusatsu program while wandering my local Best Buy a few years back. The now defunct BCI Entertainment had just released a six-disc set which featured all 39 episodes from the show's original run (1973 to 1974). I was previously unaware, far from blissful, of Red Baron's existence, but the appearance of a giant robot on the cover caught my eye. Within moments of reading the description on the back of the package, I had purchased the box-set and was on my way home to introduce myself to the colorful world of Red Baron.

The premise is a pretty simple one-- the villainous Dr. Deviler and his "criminal" organization, The Iron Alliance, raid an international exposition, stealing all but one of the giant robots on display and kidnapping several super-scientists. Only one, Kenichero Kurenai, resists the evil empire and manages to entrust his own creation, Red Baron, into the care of his younger brother, Ken. Now, it's up to Ken and his allies in the S.S.I [Secret Science Investigation, 'natch] to stop the mechanical hordes unleashed by Dr. Deviler and save the world.

Having grown up watching tons of Japanese "monster" flicks like Godzilla and Gamera, I immediately fell in love with the low-fi, practical effects that the show uses to stage battles between Red Baron and his monstrous, mechanical opponents. There's painted backdrops and guys in rubber suits that don't look the slightest bit metallic. Miniature cities that exist for the sole purpose of being trampled and torched by gigantic machines. There are so many goofy and endearing things to gush over in the show's single season.

Red Baron really is just a child's favorite toy brought to life. Piloted by a young secret agent and armed with all sorts of powers and ridiculous gadgets. He has missiles that fire from his chest and the "Elec-Trigger", which can shock his opponents into submission or just totally annihilate them with a single blast.

I would definitely recommend seeking out a copy of Super Robot Red Baron on DVD. Amazon has a couple different copies up for sale, and while one, the more recent release by Mill Creek, is certainly very affordable, I'd suggest skipping it. Like their releases for both Ultraman and Iron King, the company reduced the number of discs from six to four, which means the episodes are more compressed and lose quality. I've also read reviews that mention the extremely poor quality where subtitles are concerned, which is not an issue with the earlier BCI releases. In either case, I strongly recommend the series for anyone who loves giant robots, '70s-style action and Bicycle Inspectors.

Meanwhile, with the rest of the League--

Over at AEIOU & Why, they take a look at the "Sandminers" from classic, Dr. Who, which is only one of the incredible picks you'll find there.

Miss M goes from fearing our eventual robot-masters to adoring them. She may even want to become one someday!

Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks shows off some of his collection and it's okay to be envious, right?

Vikki Verka features some classic kaiju-fightin' mechs and they are beautiful.

And a good place for those who need input, The Nerd Nook, has a Top Ten list that highlights a certain Number Five who is near and dear to my mechanical heart.

The League: Shopping Spree at Hake's Americana and Collectibles

I took a few weeks off from The League of Extraordinary Bloggers to sorta' focus on other posts and projects, but I'm back to partake in one of the group's more popular topics--

Go on a fictional shopping spree at Hake’s current auction #209 to make your collection a little more amazing.

This blog didn't exist the first time the League took a crack at this topic, so I'm glad it's back, allowing me the opportunity to peruse the site's current auction and pick out some favorites. It was a little disheartening at first glance, because while there is an absolutely overwhelming amount of incredible items, there wasn't much that appealed to me as a collector. Most of the items up for bid are from before I was born, and where I'm not against collecting stuff that's older than I am [especially comic books], my main areas of interest didn't seem to be covered.

So, I was originally content to sit out another week with the League, checking out all the other member's blogs and admiring their picks. And then I saw this--

Vincent, over at The Robot's Pajamas, picked out this particular item and I had to do the same. It's original art for the Gobots: War of the Gobots Golden Book done by Steve Ditko. This immediately jumped out at me for a number of reasons.

There's my love and admiration for the works of Ditko, easily one of my favorite talents in the entire history of the comic industry. I've mentioned his character, The Creeper, before, but never fully expressed how important the man's work has been in my life. My very first comic [Eclipse Comics Monthly #1] featured one of his stories, a quick tale starring a bizarre hero by the name of Static. Without even realizing it at a young age, I was constantly finding myself drawn to his numerous contributions to both Marvel and DC, as well as titles and characters from smaller companies.

And this particular Golden Book Super Adventure.

Yeah, that's right, I actually owned a copy of the book this art is featured in when I was a kid. It was lost sometime over the years, its fate unknown, which is unfortunate, because I wasn't aware that Steve Ditko was responsible for the art until seeing this auction. Even to this day, I'm still kinda' partial to all things Gobots, and combining them with a true legend of the comic industry like Ditko is too damn sweet to pass up.

Another piece of my childhood that I would love to own. Here's a framed, original poster for the "classic", 1961-release, Gorgo. This is one of the movies that I used to rent constantly on VHS when I was a kid [along with Godzilla 1985 and Dinosaurus!] from our local, mom 'n pop video store. It's a British made knock-off of Toho's Godzilla and a pretty fucking fun one at that.

Plus, there's an interesting connection to my previous pick. Steve Ditko illustrated 23-issues of a Gorgo comic book for Charlton Comics from 1961 to 1965.

This is another find that I saw on a few other members' posts which I likewise couldn't resist. It really shouldn't be too surprising that it would jump out at so many of us, right? My very first topic with the League briefly touched upon my shaky relationship with all things Star Wars, but nothing has ever diminished the flame within me that burns for Burger King. I am practically charbroiled infatuated with the fast-food franchise.

Oh, and Peter Cushing.

I was first exposed to the man's career thanks to his portrayal of Grand Moff Tarkin, so it would be nice to commemorate that with a poorly rendered image of his face on a Coca-Cola collectible glass. I only want to pay 59-cents for it, though.

Hello there, Funky Phantom watch, you beautiful thing. While the short-lived cartoon featuring a Revolutionary War-era ghost and a gang of teens aired a decade before I was born, I was able to discover it thanks to the early days of Cartoon Network. A time when the station was showing dozens of fantastic Hanna-Barbera programs like this, Jabberjaw, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, and Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics. I was smitten with so many of those cartoons, but finding any sort of related memorabilia was difficult. Sure, I could find Scooby-related merch easily enough, but this is the kind of thing I would have loved owning when I was younger.

Does it also come in Grape Ape?

Speaking of apes.

I have no idea what "Mech-Gorilla" is, except for something that I need to own right now, please. According to the auction, it is a 5.25" tall die-cast gorilla Arkron Space Robot by Ark Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan. It also apparently shoots knives from its chest and is interchangeable to form my own space robots. You might be asking what it is interchangeable with and god, the answer is incredible and such a goddamn tease.

The back of the box shows several other robotic creatures, all with pieces that you can remove and add to any of the others. The limbs and weapons can be intermixed between each of the six monsters shown. And these aren't just any generic, robotic beasts. Even with my limited knowledge of tokusatsu programs, I recognize a few of the featured robots as enemies of the heroic Ultraman.

Which is where the tease comes in. As cool as it would be to own "Mech-Gorilla" and pretend that he's Mechani-Kong from the brilliant, Toho-released King Kong Escapes, nothing is going to top owning a robot-version of Baltan or Red King.

Meanwhile, with the rest of the League--

A big thanks to The Robot's Pajamas for inspiring me to post by featuring so many great finds.

Shezcrafti found a lot of great '80s goodness, from Pee-Wee to Betty White.

AEIOU and Sometimes Why... wants to score with Space Invaders, which sounds a little risque to me.

Over at Branded in the 80s, we discover there's a "chicken-walker"-shaped hole in Shawn's heart.

And welcome to G.I.Jigsaw, who tackles their first League-topic and features some amazing, vintage finds.