TOY NEWS FOR 9/4/2014 - THREEZERO - MAZINGER Z - APHRODITE A

I don't report much on Japanese toys for two reasons-- 1) It's a nitch collector's market and chances are, if you're into Japanese toys, there are many more places that specialize in that stuff that makes me reporting on it sort of moot, and 2) I don't have as much time as I'd like to put into the blog here, so rather than cut back on more mainstream stuff or keep reporting on things late, I cut out [most] of the Japanese stuff to give me more time.

That being said, there are times when a Japanese toy-- of which I collect many-- is so cool that I think it has cross-over appeal and want to share with the regular US toy collectors. Such is the case with ThreeZero's Mazinger Z figures. (You can see Mazinger himself here.)

Some of you who aren't familiar with the original Japanese character may either remember him from Mattel's Shogun Warriors line or from the US imported version of his original cartoon series renamed "Tranzor Z".

ThreeZero, in conjunction with Mazinger's creator GoNagai, have re-imagined Mazinger in a steampunk form, and now they show us Mazinger's companion robot Aphodite A-- who I think actually looks way cooler than the Mazinger re-imagining. She even has her famous "boob rockets"!

I wasn't too keen on picking up the Mazinger, mainly due to how ThreeZero placed his hips which I thinks makes him look to much like a gorilla rather than the heroic character he's always been, but this Aphodite A is so amazing that I might be tempted to pick up the pair as I have to admit look awesome together in the final pic below.

She stands 15" tall and is scheduled to ship in 1st Q 2015 for around $290