Art Day - Who doesn't love ROM? 0

[PhilipB2k17]

On 2/9/2020 at 2:18 PM, comicwiz said:

Would you recognize it if you saw it?

This is an IRWIN Toys (Canadian release) Dairugger - 15 vehicle combining robot from the Voltron series. In North America, this robot would appear in the second season of the Voltron animated TV series, featuring the "Vehicle Team Voltron", which was adapted from the unrelated anime series Armored Fleet Dairugger XV. For a wide range of reasons, he is nowhere near as recognizable as the GoLion or Lion Force, but he was definitely meant to be the first combining robot to be syndicated in a North America animated TV series. I have a feeling though that if it isn't the Dairugger that @PhilipB2k17 is referring to, that it might be Godtron or Acrobunch.

I want to say they were Popy or Godaikin. But the examples I've seen seem less intricate than what I recall, which were very detailed. 

Edited February 13, 2020 by PhilipB2k17

[delekkerste]

On 2/8/2020 at 10:43 PM, comix4fun said:

Godzilla getting rolled into the Shogun Warriors toy line was brilliant....and Shogun Warriors is BY FAR the best toy line in Gene's hierarchy of toys.

Hierarchy of toys was referring to the overall cultural relevance, with a strong bias towards the comics.  Obviously, Transformers has by far the biggest cultural footprint now, with G.I. Joe a distant second on the list.  But, G.I. Joe has been and remains the bigger draw in comics (hundreds of issues have been published even post-Marvel), which is where Micronauts gets a boost as well (it's otherwise an also-ran).  Shogun Warriors may very well have been the coolest toys on the list, but, they are already in history's dustbin comics-wise and in making a cultural imprint on the Western world except through the later franchises that it partly inspired.

On 2/8/2020 at 5:23 AM, PhilipB2k17 said:

Although not a toy line, Marvel also licensed Godzilla during that same era, and that 24 issue run is pretty beloved by a lot of collectors. 

 You and I interpret "a lot" very differently.  

[comix4fun]

17 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

 Obviously, Transformers has by far the biggest cultural footprint now, with G.I. Joe a distant second on the list. 

Michael Bay & Shia LeBouf have rendered Transformers destroyed for all time. 

[JadeGiant]

On 2/8/2020 at 10:43 PM, comix4fun said:

Godzilla getting rolled into the Shogun Warriors toy line was brilliant....and Shogun Warriors is BY FAR the best toy line in Gene's hierarchy of toys.

[comicwiz]

4 hours ago, delekkerste said:

Hierarchy of toys was referring to the overall cultural relevance, with a strong bias towards the comics.  Obviously, Transformers has by far the biggest cultural footprint now, with G.I. Joe a distant second on the list.  But, G.I. Joe has been and remains the bigger draw in comics (hundreds of issues have been published even post-Marvel), which is where Micronauts gets a boost as well (it's otherwise an also-ran).  Shogun Warriors may very well have been the coolest toys on the list, but, they are already in history's dustbin comics-wise and in making a cultural imprint on the Western world except through the later franchises that it partly inspired.

The hierarchy appears like a large sign you can see from miles, that turns out to be a drive thru. It might satisfy passerby hunger, but it's a quick run through not meant to capture the reality of the true cultural imprint. Notwithstanding all the communities that exist for each of these franchises today, at the time the license holders decided to use a co-branding strategy that included comics, you could easily trace the influence and reach of the comics from the way redemption program advertising ran, packaging art, right through to offshoot weekly sequential comics running in markets outside the US which sometimes used new art and promotions. Using Marvel or DC as the tent-pole for these franchises is particularly unusual because the creative talent that were associated to their respective series were average at best. Be that as it may, even the granddaddy franchise that started the entire concept of reaching target buyers through established mediums like comics have had artists like Howard Chaykin regularly put down the work they did for the series, and saying that had he known Star Wars was going to be as big as it turned out, he would have produced better work. The strange thing is that people who grew up in those times love it, as they do the syndicated strips, and lesser known foreign market works, and this sentiment carries over to Shogun, Micronauts, Transformers and GI Joe communities in a similar way. I haven't even touched on the high regard for the original art, which is the sub-category where this dialogue is happening. So I think when you start to take some of this influence and carry it over into cross-collecting categories for each of the respective properties, such as toys or even display advertising to name a few, the only way one can truly appreciate the cultural imprint is by choosing to sit down, getting to know the wait staff, chatting with the people sitting at the bar, and taking in the dining atmosphere. The drive thru just doesn't cut it.

Edited February 10, 2020 by comicwiz

[Michaeld]

Who doesn't love Rom? My cousin Armando. He was a few years older than me and he is the one who got me into comics. I loved toys as much as comics so when Rom came out it was a dream. It was like Christmas once a month when a new issue came out. But of course Armando would poop all over Rom. He would always say "But he's got mittens!" I hated hearing that. I'm 52 years old and I'm still defending Rom from my cousin. Here is my original art Rom cover. Issue #3 by the great Frank Miller. Miller Rom   

[JadeGiant]

3 minutes ago, Michaeld said:

Who doesn't love Rom? My cousin Armando. He was a few years older than me and he is the one who got me into comics. I loved toys as much as comics so when Rom came out it was a dream. It was like Christmas once a month when a new issue came out. But of course Armando would poop all over Rom. He would always say "But he's got mittens!" I hated hearing that. I'm 52 years old and I'm still defending Rom from my cousin. Here is my original art Rom cover. Issue #3 by the great Frank Miller. Miller Rom   

Great cover - congrats!

[comix4fun]

1 hour ago, Michaeld said:

Who doesn't love Rom? My cousin Armando. He was a few years older than me and he is the one who got me into comics. I loved toys as much as comics so when Rom came out it was a dream. It was like Christmas once a month when a new issue came out. But of course Armando would poop all over Rom. He would always say "But he's got mittens!" I hated hearing that. I'm 52 years old and I'm still defending Rom from my cousin. Here is my original art Rom cover. Issue #3 by the great Frank Miller. Miller Rom   

Fricken Armando!

[Doc McCoy]

5 hours ago, Michaeld said:

Who doesn't love Rom? My cousin Armando. He was a few years older than me and he is the one who got me into comics. I loved toys as much as comics so when Rom came out it was a dream. It was like Christmas once a month when a new issue came out. But of course Armando would poop all over Rom. He would always say "But he's got mittens!" I hated hearing that. I'm 52 years old and I'm still defending Rom from my cousin. Here is my original art Rom cover. Issue #3 by the great Frank Miller. Miller Rom   

So you subconsciously purchased the Rom cover that didn't clearly show his hands? 

[Blastaar]

On 2/7/2020 at 8:37 PM, delekkerste said:

 

Just as there is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, allow me to present...

                            

So, now you know!

 

 

[Michaeld]

2 hours ago, Doc McCoy said:

So you subconsciously purchased the Rom cover that didn't clearly show his hands? 

Veddy intadesting.

 

[Nexus]

On 2/9/2020 at 11:54 AM, PhilipB2k17 said:

I remember visiting Ghirardelli Square in the late 1979’s in San Francisco, as a kid, and seeing these incredible imported Japanese super robot toys with moving parts, missiles, fists you could fire, and that they could be broken down into a smaller group. This was before transformers, & shogun warriors were introduced in the US. 

I remember my father buying me one, and I loved it. 

That would have been Jeffrey's Toys. Although long gone from Ghiradelli Square, they're still around in SF. Same owner, too.

[MyNameIsLegion]

10 hours ago, Blastaar said:

 

Masters of the Universe does hold the distinction of having been licensed to DC and then Marvel.

and hey, what about Thundercats?

I'd say Master of the Universe and Thundercats are 2 glaring omissions to Gene's Hierarchy - much more prominent than Crystar and Sectaurs 

 

[ESeffinga]

Thundercats was a comic?

Was there a MoTU comic other than the minis that came with the early figures? I mean, there were comics for that, but i don't remember any on the spinners. Their success was all about the cartoons.

[jjonahjameson11]

Good Grief!  I thought collecting Comic Art was just about as nerdy as it can get, but this thread has proven me wrong

[PhilipB2k17]

9 hours ago, Nexus said:

That would have been Jeffrey's Toys. Although long gone from Ghiradelli Square, they're still around in SF. Same owner, too.

Yep. Thanks for reminding me! I recall it now because that’s my brother’s name and he asked if the toys were all his. 

[Doc McCoy]

2 hours ago, ESeffinga said:

Thundercats was a comic?

Was there a MoTU comic other than the minis that came with the early figures? I mean, there were comics for that, but i don't remember any on the spinners. Their success was all about the cartoons.

Yes, it was released by Marvel through their Star brand. 

[Rick2you2]

1 hour ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

Good Grief!  I thought collecting Comic Art was just about as nerdy as it can get, but this thread has proven me wrong

How about people who collect live snakes?

[The Voord]

4 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

How about people who collect live snakes?

. . . or bottles of fine ales

[ESeffinga]

8 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

How about people who collect live snakes?

Nothing nerdy about live snakes!