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Sears ad from Christmas 1977

You first saw the Shogun Warriors in the Sears Christmas Wishbook in 1977 with the introduction of Mazinga and Raydeen at the introductory price of $10.97!



JC Penny's ad from Christmas 1977

This black and white ad was one of the first and featured Raydeen the "Shield of Justice" and Mazinga the "Sword of Peace." Where they got these goofy nom de plumes is beyond me as they appear nowhere else. Probably the best deal in town at $10.97!

Montgomery Ward's ad from Christmas 1977

A very cool color ad, Wards probably didn't sell many at the 14.99 price point as careful shoppers went to JC Penny's. The ad features Mazinga, Dragun and Raydeen (if one looks closely...they're all first issue!). In this magnification of the text, the ad reads..."Space-age Samurai robot"...and "Die-cast metal"...which is probably a misprint due to confusion with the chogokin line.


Sears ad from Christmas 1978

Not to be outdone, Sears introduces the first (and only US release) of a battery-operated Gaiking...called Zargon (probably to avoid confusion and make prior Shogun owners want the "new Shogun.")




Montgomery Ward's ad from Christmas 1978 

Here Wards introduces Gaiking and Godzilla, and shows later issue Great Mazinga and Dragun. They also drop their prices to $11.77, I guess to be more competitive with Sears' earlier pricing. 

 

Sears ad from Christmas 1979


For 1979 Sears only offers Zargon and Godzilla - sounds like they anticipated sales to be lower for that year - neither appear in the 1980 Wishbook.


However in a strange twist of fate Sears does offer up a Dragun Perma-Prest Knit Pajama featuring Dragun from the "Shogun Collection."





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