In 1980, toys from the ’50s and ’60s were considered vintage, and transformable robots like the DX Daimos (far right) were the hot new thing.
Today, toys from the ’50s and ’60s are forgotten relics, transformable robots are vintage, and the hot new thing is selling vintage toys (and replicas thereof) to 40-year-olds because kids don’t really play with toys anymore.
The “Thank you, Canada” sign refers to what’s now known as the Canadian Caper, the 1979 rescue of American diplomats in Iran fictionalized in Ben Affleck’s Argo.
(Photos via ed/Flickr)
2 Warps to Neptune 
Aw man, if there was ever a time I felt like smashing a window.
I went to the Philippines in 1980, and while I was in Manila (the capital) my aunt took me to the “mega mall” downtown. Of course I made a bee line to their toy section, and wow, you would not believe the immense collection of die-cast robots they had there, of every freakin’ size you could imagine. I specifically remember Daimos and Voltes V, whose cartoons were aired constantly on Philippine TV at the time. It was incredible. They had the toys out of the box on display, and I could held and played with each one of them, trying unsuccessfully to transform them to whatever they appeared to transform to (I believe the Daimos transformed to some kinda mega-truck thing). I can still remember how heavy they felt in my hands. Totally well-made toys!
I didn’t understand the exchange rate at the time, but I remember seeing a 500.00p (peso) price tag on one of the larger Daimos toys, which at the time would’ve translated to $65 USD (according to a quick Google on peso to dollar exchange rates in December 1980). Hoo boy, that was a pretty penny at the time. If my mom (understandably) pulled me away from that toy when I asked for it, I could only imagine that only the super-filthy-rich folks there would even bother browsing that toy section. Nevertheless, it was an awesome sight to behold, and for the short time I was there, I was in heaven.
Yeah, these things were ridiculously expensive. For me, it was the giant Voltron that was totally out of reach. I got one Transformer for Christmas, and that was a big deal.
Oh, forgot to tell you, since I couldn’t get a die-cast robot, I got a coloring book instead, which was packed to the brim with all those robots in epic fight scenes. They were actually really brutal (in an awesome way). I specifically remember one page where Voltes V was totally slicing this enemy robot in half (from head to crotch), and you could see all the hydraulic/electronic “innards” spilling out. Those “guts” were totally fun to color.
Btw, speaking of Voltron: did they ever explain how or why Voltron made the transition from the vehicles to the lions? Is there a crossover episode, or…? I remember the intros to both versions.
Man, you should see this guy’s collection of “Super Robot” memorabilia from the Philippines (ca. 1979). What’s interesting is after reading his article, I realized that I must’ve been there in 1979, the peak of the robot era, just before President Marcos banned all those cartoons for being “ultra-violent!” Crazy!
I’m also convinced that I had more than one coloring book. I totally remember the two Voltes V spreads that he has in his post. Argh.
Check this vid out. It’s a story about Kim Castro, a filipino vintage japanese robot collector. The video is in Tagalog, but at 1:37 you’ll see the transforming Daimos from 1978 which I’m certain was the one I saw when I was there in ’79.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/100314/mga-pilipinong-toy-collector