Takemi licensed Blocker Gundan IV Machine Blaster sometime during the program's airing, (ブロッカー軍団IVマシーンブラスター, Burokkā Gundan IV Mashīn Burasutā) is an anime series aired from 1976 to 1977 in Japan. There are 38 episodes aired at 25 minutes each. It is also known as "Blocker Army IV Machine Blaster", "Blocker Corps IV", "Blocker Army IV", "Blocker Corps", "Machine Blaster" and in Italian as "Astrorobot Contatto Ypsilon" ("Blocker Corps IV Astrorobot" for the DVD release).
From wikipedia:
Earth is being attacked by the Mogul civilization, a super advanced
people that live beneath the ocean. Professor Yuri, having studied the
ancient super-technology in Astro base, anticipated such an invasion
would take place. Using what he had learned of their technology, he
created a team of four super robots,
piloted by four youth pilots, to help repel the Mogul invasion, and
they are known as the Machine Blaster Corps. Led by the pilot Ishida,
the Blocker Corps stands firm against the attack of the Mogul rulers,
Hellqueen V and Kaibuddha.
The number 4 comes from the team of 4 robots. The robots individually
have their own weapon, but they can also be combined to form a fire ring
which cuts through the enemies
Takemi Bull Caesar is what I normally call a Mini-Machinder - I picked this one up due to the superior condition - it's unplayed with in a minty box with inserts. Bull Caesar has a missile firing feature in his waist - you remove the clip-on belt to expose the firing tube and depress a button on his back to load. His right fists also fired. He comes with two rockets and a short yellow soft-plastic axe/spear. The figure is about 15 inches tall but about an inch of that are the "ears" coming from the side of his head so he scales a bit smaller. The box features colorful graphics on 5 sides with photos of the actual toy - there's also a shot of the Boss Palder Target Game on one side and the remaining Machine Blockers on the other side.
Takemi Bull Caesar Box Contents
Takemi Bull Caesar Box Front
Takemi Bull Caesar Box Side 1
Takemi Bull Caesar Box Side 2
Takemi Bull Caesar Box Ends
Takemi Bull Caesar Left Side
Takemi Bull Caesar Back
Takemi Bull Caesar Left Side Right Side
Takemi Bull Caesar Head Detail
Takemi Bull Caesar Instructions
Takemi Bull Caesar Missile Firing Detail
I'd say the quality of the figure is on par with most of Popy's releases with about the same amount of articulation (you can turn the head and raise the arms at the shoulders). I'm not sure why Takemi is so maligned, but based on the size and weight of their diecast figures, it's probably due to those, although really they aren't much different from what Clover was making during that time. In all this is a good quality figure with equivalent play features - I'm glad to have him in my collection.
I've been writing about stuff that interests me for many years, initially with some free web space provided by my ISP back in the 90's and continuing with various blogs and websites today, separated by interest. Many I haven't touched in a few years due to time constraints but the subjects are still on my mind.
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