1975
In his Encyclopedia of Jumbo Machinders, Kazunori Saito describes the shape of Getta Liger's winged legs as "strangely alluring." Personally, I couldn't agree more. While nearly every other Machinder features thick, chunky, and bulky limbs, Liger has a lithe, feminine charm all its own. Getta Liger is one of the three robot characters from the series "Getta Robo G" (the others being Getta Dragon and Getta Poseidon). And although it's not particularly rare, it remains the most difficult to find out of the set.

Liger's most interesting feature, besides his charming fleur-de-lis head, is the flower-shaped missile launcher on his left arm. It throws huge, hollow, polyethylene bullets that are unlike any of the missiles used by the rest of the gang.

I'm a die-hard fan of Liger (who's also called "Ryger," "Lyger," or "Riger," depending on who's translating that day). And finally getting my hands on one was the culmination of years -- literally -- of searching.

In the early 1990s, I was living in Tokyo on a foreign-exchange program through my university. And one fateful afternoon, while exploring the city after classes had let out for the day, I stumbled across a set of the three Getta Robo G Jumbo Machinders at the very first Mandarake, that famed chain of used-toy stores that now stretches across Japan (and even across the Pacific). It was a watershed moment. There was the beloved Dragun from my childhood -- but this time, he was flanked by a pair of huge brothers that I'd never seen growing up the US. I had always suspected that Popy produced Jumbo-sized toys other than the five "Shogun Warriors" that Mattel had sold in America and Europe, but I'd never even seen a photograph, let alone had the chance to examine a specimen up close and personal.

Tokyo was an expensive city as it was, and much as I wanted to grab the guys, I just couldn't afford it. (They were a whopping $300 a pop at the time, which is less than a third of what they go for today.) God, I wanted 'em. But the prospect of eating nothing but "Cup O' Noodles" for the remainder of my time in Japan was less than thrilling, so I had to pass them by. I swore I'd find them again. Over the next few years after college, I managed to find a Dragun and a Poseidon. But Liger continued to elude me.

It'd eventually take seven years, but I finally managed to score a Liger from a Japanese online auction service. It's a beautiful toy, a total classic, and was totally worth the wait.

Matt Alt